Amex Platinum hits $895 (but wait til you see the math)

Good morning and welcome back to Points Daily — the newsletter that treats your wallet like it's allergic to paying retail prices.

Yesterday at 12:01 AM, American Express officially dropped their biggest Platinum refresh in four years. The annual fee jumps from $695 to $895 starting immediately for new applicants.

But here's where it gets interesting...

If you already have the card, you're catching a huge break. Your next renewal before January 2, 2026 stays at $695. That means you get all the new benefits NOW but don't pay the extra $200 for up to 15 months.

The math actually works if you're strategic. The card now offers "$3,500 in annual value" — though honestly, that's if you somehow use every single credit perfectly. (Spoiler: you won't. But you don't need to.)

Let's break down what actually matters:

The hotel credit alone justifies the fee increase. You now get $300 twice a year for Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings through Amex Travel. That's up from $200 total annually. Book a $350 room at the Park Hyatt New York in January and another at the Four Seasons Miami in July. You just got $600 back on hotels you were booking anyway.

The Resy credit is the sleeper hit. $100 per quarter at any U.S. Resy restaurant. No reservations required — just pay with your Platinum at participating spots. In Manhattan alone, that's 1,200+ restaurants including Carbone, Gramercy Tavern, and Le Bernardin.

Warning: These are quarterly use-it-or-lose-it credits. Miss the September 30 deadline? That $100 vanishes.

The Lululemon credit feels random but works. $75 quarterly for athletic wear might sound niche, but here's the hack: Stack it with Rakuten's 2% cash back and shop the "We Made Too Much" section. Those $128 Align leggings? After credit and portal, you're paying $51.

The earning structure didn't change — still 5x on flights and prepaid hotels through Amex Travel (up to $500k annually), then 1x on everything else. And honestly? That's the real weakness here. At $895, you'd expect better than 1x on general spending.

Bottom line: If you can naturally use $1,200 worth of credits (hotel + Resy alone), you're getting the rest of the card for free. Centurion Lounge access, Delta Sky Club visits, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold — all gravy.

Heads up: New applicants might see welcome bonuses up to 175,000 points after spending $8,000 in six months. That's worth $3,500 at 2 cents per point. But it's targeted — you won't know your offer until after you apply.

While everyone's freaking out about the personal Platinum, Amex quietly made the Business version significantly better.

Same $895 fee, but the earning categories got a serious upgrade. You now earn 2.5x points on purchases over $5,000 (up from 1.5x). For a business dropping $10,000 on new laptops? That's 25,000 points instead of 15,000 — an extra $200 in value right there.

The business card also gets the same $600 hotel credit, but adds something unique: $400 annual Dell credit and $360 Adobe credit. If you're running any kind of online business, you're using Adobe Creative Cloud anyway. That's $29.99/month you're getting back.

Plus, there's a public 200,000-point welcome bonus after $20,000 spend in three months. No guessing games like the personal card.

Quick math: Spend $20,000 on a combination of inventory and equipment over $5,000 each. You earn 50,000 points from the 2.5x category, plus the 200,000 bonus. That's 250,000 points worth $5,000.

The catch? If you don't spend big on business purchases or travel much, this isn't your card. The credits are harder to maximize if you're a solopreneur working from your kitchen table.

Here's what dozens of readers already figured out yesterday — the arbitrage opportunity.

Apply today, pay $695 for your first year while getting all the new perks immediately. Use the $300 hotel credit before December 31, another $300 in January. That's $600 in hotel credits before your first renewal even hits.

Add in two quarters of Resy credits ($200) and Lululemon ($150), plus the existing Uber credits ($200 annually), and you've extracted $1,150 in value before paying the higher fee.

The strategy: Triple-dip the airline credit. Apply in late September 2025, select your airline, use the $200 credit immediately. Get another $200 in January 2026. When you renew in September 2026 (now at $895), grab your third $200 credit, then downgrade to the Gold or Green card for a prorated refund.

That's $600 in airline credits plus a year of benefits for a net cost of roughly $400 after the downgrade refund.

Not everyone will qualify for the 175,000-point bonus, but even at 80,000 points (the minimum we've seen), you're looking at $1,600 in value.

The window closes when the calendar flips to 2026, so you've got three months to decide.

At $895, the Platinum isn't for everyone anymore. (And honestly? It never was.)

But if you're already spending $10,000+ annually on flights and hotels, eating out twice a month at nice restaurants, and flying enough to value lounge access, the math works.

Just don't convince yourself you'll suddenly start shopping at Lululemon four times a year because you have a credit.

Not a bad day. See you tomorrow with Chase's inevitable panic response.

-Miles & Points Daily

P.S. — If you're on the fence, at least check what welcome bonus you'd get. Amex shows you the offer before the hard credit pull. Worst case, you walk away knowing you're not missing out on 175,000 points.