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The Platinum Card® from American Express offers a $240 annual Digital Entertainment Credit to help offset the card's hefty $695 annual fee (Rates & Fees). This credit provides up to $20 per month toward popular streaming and digital subscriptions — including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Peacock, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. But to maximize its value, you’ll need to be strategic in how you use it.
Here’s how to utilize your Amex Digital Entertainment Credit.
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How the Amex Platinum Digital Entertainment Credit Works
- You need to enroll to receive the digital entertainment credit.
- Only card members or authorized account managers can enroll.
- Card accounts are eligible for up to $20 of credits per month for a total of $240 credit per year.
- Credits expire at the end of each month they're available.
- Allow up to eight weeks for purchases and credits to post to your account. However, the statement credit typically posts much quicker than that.
Related: All About The Platinum Card® from American Express
Digital Entertainment Credit Eligible Services
There are plenty of ways you can spend your Amex Platinum‘s monthly digital entertainment credits. Here are the eligible merchants, including which purchases do (and don't) count.
Disney+
Purchases of Disney+ made through disneyplus.com are eligible. These include a Disney+ Bundle (including Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+) and Disney+. Interestingly, this also can work for bundles with MAX, as any bundle charged through Disney+ qualifies for this credit.
At the time of writing, no bundle includes both ESPN+ and MAX, so you'll have to choose which service you'd use more. Eligible purchases do not include subscriptions bundled with cable services or purchased through third parties, promotional offers through third parties, advertising services, or gift cards.
ESPN+
Purchases of ESPN+ services made directly through plus.espn.com are all eligible. This includes Pay Per View (PPV) purchases, Hulu, and a Disney+ Bundle. Eligible purchases do not include subscriptions bundled with cable services or purchased through third parties, promotional offers through third parties, advertising services, or gift cards.
Hulu
Purchases of Hulu services made directly through hulu.com are eligible, including purchases of ESPN+, Hulu, and a Disney+ Bundle. Eligible purchases do not include subscriptions bundled with cable services or purchased through third parties, promotional offers through third parties, advertising services, or gift cards.
The New York Times
Purchases made through nytimes.com/subscription are eligible, including print and digital subscriptions, New York Times Games, Wirecutter, NYT Cooking, and The New York Times All Access bundle. Excluded purchases include advertising services, NYT conferences, gift cards, TimesDigest, or purchases from the NYTimes company store.
Peacock
All Peacock subscription purchases made through peacocktv.com are eligible, including Peacock Premium and Premium Plus. Eligible purchases do not include subscriptions bundled with cable services or other bundles, promotional offers through third parties, or gift cards.
The Wall Street Journal
Subscriptions, news bundles including The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, and MarketWatch and/or Investor’s Business Daily made directly through wsj.com/amex are eligible. Eligible purchases do not include advertising services, WSJ events, gift cards, or purchases from The Wall Street Journal Online Store.
Best Ways to Maximize Your Digital Entertainment Credit
Maximizing your digital entertainment credit will ultimately depend on your spending patterns. However, as part of an overall credit card strategy, you should always seek the best return for every cent you spend.
To make the most of the credit, use your Amex Platinum for a purchase that is as close as possible to $20 per month. If you spend much less, you are losing out on the credit. However, spending much more means not all your costs are reimbursed.
For instance, if you spend $80 per month on eligible subscriptions, you'll get a $20 statement credit. However, you'll only get 1X Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on the additional $60, and you can do much better. We've written a guide to the best credit cards for streaming services, which is worth a read if this is something you spend a considerable amount on.
Looking at the various subscriptions on offer, there are a few go-to options for using your digital entertainment credit. The Disney Duo Basic and Disney Premium Bundle are excellent value, pricing at $10.99 and $19.99 per month, respectively. Assuming you live in a state that charges taxes on these purchases, you'll pay a small amount out of pocket after receiving your $20 in monthly statement credits.
The above example only looks at a single subscription. However, the credit works with multiple subscriptions paid for with your card. For instance, if you have a Disney+ Duo Basic subscription at $10.99 per month and a Peacock Premium subscription at $7.99 per month, that is $18.98 per month (before taxes) on eligible digital entertainment credits.
You could potentially add other services or check your local tax rate to see how much of your credit goes unused, helping you strategize how to maximize this benefit.
Other Streaming Payment Options
Once you have hit your $20 monthly maximum for your Amex Platinum digital entertainment credit, your go-to card for streaming services should be the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express. The card earns a whopping 6% cash back on select streaming services (cash back is earned as Reward Dollars), and the list of eligible services is extensive.
Splitting your spending this way maximizes your returns for every dollar you spend on streaming services and digital subscriptions. And it's also worth pointing out that the Blue Cash Preferred offers its own streaming credits.
- Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.
- $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
- Buy Now, Pay Later: Enjoy $0 intro plan fees when you use Plan It® to split up large purchases into monthly installments with a fixed fee. Pay $0 intro plan fees on plans created during the first 12 months from the date of account opening. Plans created after that will have a monthly plan fee up to 1.33% of each eligible purchase amount moved into a plan based on the plan duration, the APR that would otherwise apply to the purchase, and other factors.
- Low Intro APR: 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months from the date of account opening. After that, your APR will be a variable APR of 20.24% - 29.24%.
- 6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%).
- 6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions.
- 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations and on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more).
- 1% Cash Back on other purchases.
- Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.
- $84 Disney Bundle Credit: With your enrolled Blue Cash Preferred® Card, spend $9.99 or more each month on an auto-renewing Disney Bundle subscription, to receive a monthly statement credit of $7. Valid only at Disney Plus.com, Hulu.com or Plus.espn.com in the U.S.
- Apply with confidence. Know if you're approved for a Card with no impact to your credit score. If you're approved and you choose to accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
- Terms Apply.
- Rates & Fees
- 6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions
- 6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%)
- 3% Cash Back on transit including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more
- 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations
- 1% Cash Back on other purchases
- Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit or at Amazon.com checkout.
And, remember that your Amex Platinum comes with Walmart+, which includes Paramount+ as part of its offering.
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
Our Take
The Amex Platinum Digital Entertainment Credit is a valuable perk, but only if you use it wisely. By aligning your subscriptions to maximize the full $20 monthly benefit, you can effectively reduce the cost of your card.
While the eligible services are somewhat limited, the lineup covers a variety of streaming and news platforms. Hopefully, Amex will expand its offerings in the future, making this credit even more flexible.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), and Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
