Review: American Express Platinum Card

The American Express Platinum Card is our pick for the best travel credit card. The benefits you get with the American Express Platinum Card outshine all other credit cards in Canada.

The welcome bonus, travel perks, and ongoing annual credits are what sets the American Express Platinum Card apart from the competition.

That said, the Platinum Card also has the highest annual fee for any personal publicly available Canadian credit card.

In this review, we look at whether the American Express Platinum Card is the right card for you, or if the price tag is too high.

What we love: airport lounge access, $200 annual travel credit, American Express Membership Rewards loyalty program. What we’d change: lower the annual fee, include more category earning rates, remove foreign transaction fees, add more annual credits.

Welcome Bonus

The welcome bonus of the American Express Platinum Card fluctuates, with recent offers at around 100,000 Membership Rewards (MR) points.

A majority of these points (currently 70,000) are earned after spending $10,000 (all figures in CAD) in the first three months, with additional points earned if you make a single purchase in months 14–17.

We value MR points at 2.2 cents per point, and using this valuation, we value the full welcome bonus of 100,000 MR points at $2,200.

However, you do have to pay the card’s significant annual fee a second time to access the second portion of the welcome bonus.

If you choose not to keep the card past the first year, we value the 70,000 MR points earned in the first year at $1,540.

Depending on how you choose to redeem the MR points, their value could end up being worth more or less than these amounts.

Earning Rates

The earning rates for the American Express Platinum Card are fairly lacklustre when compared to other standout features on the card.

The rates may be competitive with other travel credit credits, but keep in mind that the American Express Platinum Card has a significantly higher annual fee than most cards.

With the American Express Platinum Card, you earn Membership Rewards points at the following rates:

• 2 MR points per dollar spent on travel and dining purchases in Canada
• 1 MR point per dollar spent on all other purchases

As we mentioned, these rates are not remarkable, and there are certainly other credit cards, even other American Express cards, with far better earning rates, which we’ll explore further on.

Redeeming Points

American Express Membership Rewards (MR) points are the most valuable points currency in Canada. This is primarily because MR points are flexible and can be transferred to other loyalty programs.

In fact, American Express in Canada has six airline transfer partners and two hotel transfer partners.

The airline transfer partners are as follows:

• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France KLM Flying Blue
• British Airways Executive Club (Avios)
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Delta SkyMiles
• Etihad Guest

The two hotel transfer partners are:

• Marriott Bonvoy
• Hilton Honors

By transferring MR points to an airline program you get outsized value by booking business class or First Class flights.

For example, if you transfer MR points to Aeroplan, the American Express Platinum Card’s first-year welcome bonus of 70,000 points is enough to book a one-way business class flight between North America and Europe.

If you’d prefer to maintain more flexibility with your MR points, you can redeem them through Amex Fixed Points Travel.

With this option, you can redeem your MR points against the base fare of a flight. This redemption option allows you the most flexibility since you aren’t limited to award availability.

With Amex Fixed Points Travel, you can redeem points at a fixed rate for any flight that you can purchase with cash.

However, keep in mind that while you have more flight options, your redemption rate is fixed at between 1.5–2.0 cents per MR point depending on your chosen route and class of cabin.

MR points can also be redeemed for statement credits, purchases through Amazon, and more, but these options don’t provide you with the best value.

Insurance Coverage

The American Express Platinum Card travel insurance coverage is very strong, but the card does lack in terms of retail insurance coverage.

In terms of travel insurance, the card offers the following:

• Out-of-province Emergency Medical Insurance: Up to $5,000,000 per insured person for up to 15 days if you’re 64 years old or younger.
• Trip Cancellation Insurance: Up to $2,500 of coverage per insured person per trip, with a maximum of $5,000 for all insured persons.
• Trip Interruption Insurance: Up to $2,500 of coverage per insured person per trip, with a maximum of $6,000 for all insured persons on the same covered trip.
• Lost Baggage Insurance: Up to $1,000 of coverage total for lost or stolen baggage.
• Baggage Delay Insurance: Up to $1,000 (aggregate total with Flight Delay insurance), for items purchased within four days when your baggage is delayed by more than six hours.
• Flight Delay Insurance: Up to $1,000 in coverage (aggregate maximum with Baggage Delay Insurance) for necessary and reasonable accommodations, restaurant expenses, and sundry items purchased within 48 hours when delayed or denied boarding for 4 hours or more.
• Travel Accident Insurance: Up to $500,000 in case of accidental death or dismemberment.
• Hotel Burglary Insurance: Up to $1,000 in coverage against the loss of most personal items (excluding cash) if your accommodation is burglarized.
• Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance: Covered for theft, loss, and damage of your rental car with an MSRP of up to $85,000 for rentals of 48 days or less.

Keep in mind that specific travel insurance benefits are only available if you charge the full travel expense to your American Express Platinum Card.

The American Express Platinum Card insurance benefits are not available for award travel redemptions, so if you want coverage for these bookings, you need to use a credit card that covers award travel or separately acquire third-party insurance.

In terms of retail insurance, if you purchase an item with your American Express Platinum Card, you’ll receive purchase protection up to 120 days from the date of purchase for a maximum of $1,000 per occurrence in the event of theft or accidental damage.

You also receive one year additional warranty protection when you use your American Express Platinum Card for an eligible purchase.

Most of the American Express Platinum Card insurance benefits are similar to those found on other premium travel cards.

However, the American Express Platinum Card is missing mobile device insurance that would cover more than 120 days after the date of purchase of an eligible mobile device.

Mobile device insurance can be found on other premium credit cards, including the US-issued American Express Personal Platinum card.

Hopefully American Express will consider adding this benefit in the future.

Other Features

The main reason to get the American Express Platinum Card lies in its features and benefits. With the American Express Platinum Card, the benefits can best be divided between recurring credits and travel perks.

By holding the American Express Platinum Card, you receive three recurring credits:

• $200 annual dining credit
• $200 annual travel credit
• $100 NEXUS credit provided every four years

The dining credit is limited to transactions of at least $200 at specific Canadian restaurants found on the American Express website, and the travel credit covers any flight, hotel, car rental, or vacation booking made with Amex’s Platinum Travel Service.

The combined $400 annual credits, plus the $100 NEXUS credit, help justify the $799 annual fee. But that said, it would still be nice to see more credits added.

For comparison, the US-issued American Express Platinum Card comes with over $1,000 (USD) worth of credits, including credits for hotel bookings, Uber rides, airline fees, digital entertainment subscriptions, and more.

In addition to the recurring credits mentioned above, the American Express Platinum Card also provides you with ongoing travel perks.

The best of these travel benefits is the complimentary membership with Priority Pass, alongside access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection.

With the American Express Platinum Card, you also receive elite hotel status as an ongoing benefit. As a cardholder, you are automatically given Marriott Gold Elite status and Hilton Gold Elite status.

Hotel elite status can get you room upgrades, late checkout, and with Hilton, complimentary breakfast.

For even more hotel benefits, the American Express Platinum Card gives you access to the American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts program.

By booking a hotel through this channel, you enjoy daily breakfast, hotel credits, room upgrades, and more.

The American Express Platinum Card also offers priority security lane access at Toronto Pearson Airport, upgrades and discounts on car rentals with Hertz and Avis, the Platinum Concierge benefit, and ongoing Amex Offers.

If you can take advantage of the many American Express Platinum Card benefits, the steep annual fee is easily worth it.

Other Cards to Consider

The American Express Platinum Card is the best overall travel card in Canada; however, if you aren’t able to use the annual credits or the travel benefits, it may not be worth the $799 annual fee.

Instead, let’s look at three other cards worth considering.

If you still want to earn the powerful American Express Membership Reward points, the American Express Cobalt Card has the best earning rates in Canada.

With the American Express Cobalt Card, you earn points at the following rates:

• 5 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on groceries and dining in Canada (up to $2,500 per month)
• 3 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on eligible streaming services
• 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on travel purchases, transit, and transportation
• 1 Membership Rewards point per dollar spent on all other purchases

Additionally, the Cobalt card comes with a monthly membership fee of $12.99, instead of the hefty $799 annual fee imposed by the Platinum card.

For this fee, you won’t get any of the same annual credits or travel perks as you do with the Platinum card, but you do earn more Membership Rewards points on your purchases.

Now, if you’re only interested in earning Membership Rewards points to transfer them to the Air Canada Aeroplan loyalty program, you could consider earning Aeroplan points directly with the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card.

The American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card earns Aeroplan points at the following rates:

• 3 points per dollar spent with Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations
• 2 points per dollar spent on dining and food delivery
• 1.25 points per dollar spent on all other purchases

The annual fee for the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card is $599, and for that you receive Aeroplan specific benefits, including:

• Priority boarding, priority check-in, and a free first checked bag on all Air Canada flights for the primary and supplementary cardholders
• Complimentary visits to Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges within North America for the primary and supplementary cardholders
• Preferred pricing when redeeming Aeroplan points for Air Canada flights
• The ability to earn 1,000 Status Qualifying Miles (SQM) and 1 Status Qualifying Segment (SQS) for every $5,000 you spend on the card
• The ability to rollover up to 200,000 SQMs and 50 eUpgrades per year
• The ability to earn an Annual Worldwide Companion Pass after spending $25,000 on the card per year
• Your Aeroplan points won’t expire for as long as you’re a cardholder

As a final credit card option, the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card should always be considered if you have expenses that aren’t in Canadian dollars.

With the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card, there’s no additional foreign transaction fee for purchases made in a foreign currency.

Comparatively, the American Express Platinum Card charges an extra 2.5% foreign transaction fee.

Given this, despite the fact that the Scene+ points you earn with the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card aren’t as valuable as American Express Membership Rewards points, you could wind up saving a lot of money with this card if you often spend abroad.

The annual fee for the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite* Card is also significantly less at $150, plus you still receive six complimentary airport lounge visits each year to make your travel more comfortable.

Conclusion

The American Express Platinum Card is by far the best travel card in Canada, but only if you’re able to take advantage of the annual credits and travel perks.

After you account for the $400 annual credits, the American Express Platinum Card costs $399 per year.

If you fly multiple times a year, the airport lounge access can easily make up the remaining $399, alongside the benefit of having hotel elite status, access to Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts, Amex Offers, and more.

That said, if you aren’t able to use the annual credits and you don’t travel enough to make the most of the travel benefits, you’re better off choosing a different credit card.