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There’s never a dull moment in the race for the best premium card, and today is no exception. Today, September 18, 2025, American Express officially pulled back the curtain on what it’s been not-so-secretly teasing — a major overhaul of both The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.
In short, a lot is changing with both cards — from new benefits to, you guessed it, higher annual fees — but plenty is staying the same. Here’s an overview of this big overhaul.
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Amex Overhauls Two Iconic Premium Cards
If one thing is clear, it’s that competition in the premium card market is as fierce as ever. This year alone, we’ve seen the launch of several new products and the refresh of others. So it’s no surprise that American Express is joining the party and updating two of its most iconic premium travel cards — the Amex Platinum and the Business Platinum Card.
As Amex puts it, the goal was to build on what cardmembers already have and enjoy and add more value in a few key areas:
“These enhancements build on the existing benefits Card Members already enjoy, delivering even more value in relevant categories across travel, dining, entertainment, shopping, wellness, and business solutions.”
If that sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve seen similar language in other recent launches and overhauls. And this one follows that same playbook. So, let’s go card by card and break down what’s changing and what’s staying the same.
Amex Platinum Changes
We’ll start with the Amex Platinum. In announcing the changes, Amex claims that Card Members can now “access over $3,500 in annual lifestyle benefits” while still enjoying the perks that have long made this card popular. Here’s a look at where that number comes from.
New benefits and changes
There are plenty of new benefits and changes coming to the Amex Platinum. But in exchange, the annual fee is rising to $895. If you already have the card, the higher fee will kick in at your next renewal date on or after January 2, 2026.
To help offset the increase, though, Amex has rolled out tons of new and enhanced perks, and they apply to not only the Amex Platinum, but also to The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley and American Express Platinum Card® by Charles Schwab:
- $600 Hotel Credit (Enhanced): Up to $300 in statement credits twice per year (up to $600 annually) on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or Hotel Collection bookings through Amex Travel, now valid at more than 3,100 hotels worldwide.
- $400 Resy Dining Credit (New): Up to $100 in statement credits each quarter (up to $400 annually) for eligible purchases with Resy, including dining at over 10,000 U.S. restaurants (enrollment required).
- $300 Digital Entertainment Credit (Enhanced): Now $25 per month (up to $300 annually) with added partners Paramount+, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV, alongside Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, and The Wall Street Journal (enrollment required).
- $300 Lululemon Credit (New): Up to $75 back each quarter (up to $300 annually) for eligible purchases at Lululemon stores or on lululemon.com in the U.S. (enrollment required).
- $120 Uber One Membership Credit (New): Up to $120 in statement credits each year after purchasing an auto-renewing Uber One membership, in addition to the existing Uber Cash benefit.
- $200 Oura Credit (New): Up to $200 back annually in statement credits when purchasing an Oura Ring through Ouraring.com (enrollment required).
- Complimentary Premium Hotel Status (New): Leaders Club Sterling Status with The Leading Hotels of the World, including daily breakfast for two, on-property perks, and upgrade opportunities when available (enrollment required).
- Card Art (New): Amex has also introduced a limited-edition mirror design. You can select it when applying for a new account, or switch your existing card to this design in your account management screen.
Per the calculator, that’s up to $1,920 in credits plus the value of Leaders Club status, in exchange for a $200 increase in the annual fee.
Benefits that remain the same
In addition to all the new changes, many core features of the Amex Platinum are sticking around. Here’s what’s staying the same:
- Earning Rates: You’ll continue to earn 5X points on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel® (on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year) and 5X points on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com.
- Global Lounge Collection: Access to Centurion Lounges and partner lounges including Delta Sky Club® (when flying Delta), select Lufthansa lounges (when flying Lufthansa), Plaza Premium lounges, and Escape Lounges. Enrollment in Priority Pass Select is also included.
- Hotel Elite Status: Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status after enrollment.
- Rental Car Elite Status: Complimentary elite status with Avis Preferred Plus, Hertz President’s Circle, and National Car Rental Emerald Executive Club after enrollment.
- $200 Uber Cash: Up to $15 in Uber Cash each month plus a $20 bonus in December after adding your Card to your Uber account, valid on U.S. rides and Uber Eats orders when you select Amex as the payment method.
- $200 Airline Fee Credit: Receive up to $200 in statement credits each calendar year after selecting one qualifying airline and charging incidental fees to your Card.
- $100 Saks Credit: Up to $100 in statement credits each year for purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue, split into $50 every six months (enrollment required).
- $300 Equinox Credit: Up to $300 in statement credits annually across all Cards on the account for U.S. Equinox memberships or Equinox+ subscriptions (enrollment required).
- Walmart+ Credit: Up to $12.95 back each month when you use your Card to pay for a Walmart+ membership (enrollment required).
- $199 CLEAR Plus Credit: Up to $199 in statement credits per year for a CLEAR Plus membership when paid with your Card.
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Credit: Receive up to $120 every 4 years for Global Entry or up to $85 every 4.5 years for TSA PreCheck application fees when charged to your Card.
- Travel Insurance Coverages: No changes were made to the travel insurance protections included with the Card prior to the September 18, 2025 overhaul.
Business Platinum Card
Lots of similar changes are coming to the Business Platinum Card. The annual fee is increasing to $895, and the authorized user fee is rising from $350 to $400. For existing Card Members, the new fees will apply at your next renewal date on or after December 2, 2025.
There’s also a negative change to the Pay with Points 35% rebate on eligible Amex Travel bookings. Amex had flagged this ahead of time, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the change officially took effect as of today, September 18, 2025.
New benefits and changes
- Earning Rates (Enhanced): Earn 2X Membership Rewards points on eligible purchases in key business categories, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more. This is in addition to the Card's existing earning rates.
- $600 Hotel Credit (New): Get up to $300 in statement credits twice per year (up to $600 annually) on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or Hotel Collection bookings through Amex Travel at more than 3,100 properties worldwide.
- $1,150 Dell Technologies Credit (Enhanced): Up to $150 in statement credits on U.S. purchases with Dell Technologies plus an additional $1,000 in credits after spending $5,000 or more per calendar year (enrollment required).
- $250 Adobe Credit (Enhanced): Get a $250 statement credit after spending $600 or more on U.S. purchases directly with Adobe each calendar year, valid for products like Acrobat and Adobe Express (enrollment required).
- Additional Statement Credits After Eligible Spending (New): Unlock up to $3,600 in additional credits for the following calendar year after spending $250,000 in a year, including:
- $1,200 Flight Credit: Up to $1,200 in credits for flights booked on AmexTravel.com.
- $2,400 One AP Credit: Up to $2,400 in credits for monthly fees with American Express One AP®, Amex’s accounts payable platform that automates supplier payments.
- Complimentary Premium Hotel Status (New): Leaders Club Sterling Status with The Leading Hotels of the World, including daily breakfast for two, on-property perks, and upgrade opportunities when available (enrollment required).
- 35% Airline Bonus (Devalued): Receive 35% of your points back when you Pay with Points for flights booked through Amex Travel with one of nine selected qualifying airlines, up to 1,000,000 points returned per calendar year. Previously, this rebate applied more broadly but now only covers your selected airline.
- Card Art (New): Amex has also introduced a limited-edition mirror design. You can select it when applying for a new account, or switch your existing card to this design in your account management screen.
The Business Platinum Card‘s marketing points now suggests it offers up to $3,500 in annual value, the same figure as the personal Amex Platinum even though the benefits aren't identical. It’s another eye-popping number that may be hard to fully maximize. But you can still come out ahead if you use the credits strategically.
Benefits that remain the same
And just like the personal version, many benefits are staying the same with the Business Platinum Card. These include:
- Existing Earning Rates: You’ll continue to earn 5X points on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel® (on up to $500,000 of these purchases per calendar year) and 5X points on prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel.com, in addition to the new bonus category.
- Global Lounge Collection: Access to Centurion Lounges and partner lounges including Delta Sky Club® (when flying Delta), select Lufthansa lounges (when flying Lufthansa), Plaza Premium lounges, and Escape Lounges. Enrollment in Priority Pass Select is also included.
- Hotel Elite Status: Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status after enrollment.
- Rental Car Elite Status: Complimentary elite status with Avis Preferred Plus, Hertz President’s Circle, and National Car Rental Emerald Executive Club after enrollment.
- $199 CLEAR Plus Credit: Up to $199 in statement credits per year for a CLEAR Plus membership when paid with your Card.
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Credit: Receive up to $120 every 4 years for Global Entry or up to $85 every 4.5 years for TSA PreCheck application fees when charged to your Card.
- $360 Indeed Credit: Up to $90 in statement credits each quarter for eligible Indeed purchases (enrollment required).
- $120 Wireless Credit: Up to $10 in statement credits each month for eligible wireless phone service purchases (enrollment required).
- $200 Hilton Credit: Up to $50 in statement credits each quarter for eligible purchases at Hilton properties (enrollment required).
- $200 Airline Fee Credit: Receive up to $200 in statement credits each calendar year after selecting one qualifying airline and charging incidental fees to your Card.
- Travel Insurance Coverages: No changes were made to the travel insurance protections included with the Card prior to the September 18, 2025 overhaul.
Our Take
The most obvious takeaway from the changes to the Amex Platinum and Business Platinum Card is that a lot of value was added in the form of new and enhanced benefits, in exchange for what’s ultimately a comparatively modest increase in the annual fee. Whether you personally care for the new perks or not, there's theoretically more value to these cards.
But if you’re able to use most of the new and existing credits, this refresh will work nicely in your favor. It’s also worth noting that almost everything was a value add, with very little changed for the worse.
Still though, you have to wonder at what point fatigue starts to set in for the cardholding public. These changes push two already “coupon book” cards even further in that direction. Holding either card now requires more time and attention to maximize quarterly, biannual, and annual credits just to offset the sting of the now-higher fee.
At some point, it would be nice to see issuers strike a balance by offering premium benefits at a premium price without simply racing to stack the most credits in exchange for the highest annual fee. Even writing out this long list of perks borders on exhausting, so it’s easy to imagine how overwhelming it might be for someone who’s only casually into the hobby.
For now, the gauntlet has been thrown. Amex holds the crown for both the highest annual fee and the richest set of benefits on a premium card. Time will tell if any other issuer wants to challenge for that top spot.
What do you think about the new Amex card changes?
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