Being Realistic About The Amex Platinum vs Other High End Travel Cards

To most of you I’m sure this is obvious but I hope this helps any new comers to the CC game.

I’ve been a Platinum Card holder since 2019 and I’m most likely canceling it this year, especially after getting the Venture X.

There was a time in my life when carrying the platinum card made sense and paid for its annual fee 10 times over. I was traveling for work basically once a month and I was allowed to put all expenses on my personal credit cards. I was absolutely raking in the points. Hotels and flights went on the platinum and all food went on the gold. I was able to take advantage of the premium hotel collection when traveling outside of work because I was paying with points, most airports I used had an Amex or Delta lounge it was great. Now all my work expenses go on a corporate card I was forced to get, and the annual fee for the platinum is now $895….

Sure one YouTube search will make it look like the platinum is still a great option with a bunch of hype behind all those benefits you rack up, but realistically I feel like most of us can can barely justify that annual fee. I think people get swept up around the hype of having a platinum card and seeing that long list of benefits, without realistically thinking if those benefits actually work for them.

$600 towards hotel collection or fine resorts hotels… most of these hotels are around 400-500 dollars a night at minimum and you need to stay for more the 2-3 nights for the benefits of them to kick in sometimes.

I also don’t shop at Lululemon or sakes.

The benefits of the card I can actually take advantage of just about barely pay me back for the annual fee.

The biggest take away for anyone considering a premium travel card is basically just ask yourself this, do you WANT to travel more or do you ALREADY travel a lot.

If the answer is the first one then the VX or the CSR is the card to go with giving you better everyday spending bonuses that can go TOWARDS your travel. Rather than a card that elevates your experience if you already travel frequently. Get a card that will let you travel more not one meant for someone who already travels a lot.

I ended up going with the VX as it made more sense for me personally than the CSR and I’m loving it so far, and it absolutely pays for its $395 annual fee. It’s the only card of the big three that actually pays for everyday spending with the 2X back on everyday purchases, and unlike American Express you can cover purchases with miles at a .01 per 1 mile rate which allows you to double dip points wise. (Chase does this too but it’s $795 a year for that card) If I wanna pay for travel with the card using either the portal or direct with the airline or hotel or whatever, I’m earning points for the purchase with the card and the hotel or airline absolutely for free after I go back in and cover the purchases with my existing miles.

The VX also has a lot of great shopping multiples on websites we shop at everyday, and loads of other great perks that have been talked to death like lounge access, TSA pre check credit, etc.

I will say I hope they add a US Domestic airline soon as a transfer partner, i’ve been able to leverage my miles without this, but that would be nice.

I also have yet to go to an airport with a Capital One lounge, but I know what to expect for most Priority Pass lounges and I’ve heard the Capital One lounges are very nice. Honestly all I look for is a decently quiet place I can stretch my legs and get a free bite or drink.

As someone who has been in the credit card game since I was 18, having a sock drawer full of cards for different purposes, The Venture X’s straightforward and simplified rewards and benefits structure is a breath of fresh air. Very easy to track and make sure there’s no money being left on the table.

I plan on upgrading my Quicksliver card I got back in college to the Savor card because it seems like a no brainer move with its no annual fee and 3X earnings on food, streaming, and entertainment that can be transferred to the VX. The QS card is one of my oldest cards too so I’d rather keep it open and upgrade it to a card that’s gonna get swiped a bit more rather than close it and open a new account.

Seems a little redundant as I plan on keeping my AMEX Gold Card, but honestly I’m in a everyday spending position where I can leverage combining my VX miles and my Gold points thanks to Amex having Travel Partners I use frequently when I do travel and VX allowing me to cover purchases with my miles like mentioned above. Allows me to pay half and half to cover a flight or anything really, entirely.

And honestly AMEX earned me as a customer for life after a fantastic customer support experience with a vendor not wanting to give me a refund on something and American Express making that transaction go away with no headache on my end. A story for another time.

A side note I want to mention for new comers is you should absolutely have a Mastercard or Visa in your wallet if you plan on traveling internationally. Good fucking luck trying to find someone that takes American Express outside of the US not in a major metropolitan area. I was in the UK last year all over the country and basically no one outside of London accepted Amex. A friend of mine was in Amsterdam and Italy around the time and he said a merchant would accept his card about 60% of the time during the whole trip. Thank god I had the Apple Card on my phone or I would’ve been screwed.

TLDR; Don’t let the hype of a card or a YouTuber with 72 cards get to your head and force yourself into benefits that don’t already work for you. Ask yourself what you already spend money on and the answer as to what card you need should be obvious to you.

And the capital one duo shows you don’t need 7 different credit cards with $2000+ in annual fees to maximize your earnings and rewards.