In focus: American Express Platinum Card

American Express offers a high-end experience with its Platinum card, but this comes at a price. Access to 1,200 airport lounges, hotel benefits and worldwide travel cover are included with this nifty piece of plastic. But at £575 a year, users pay a steep price for the privilege.

This offering from American Express is a ‘charge card’ and shouldn’t be confused with the more familiar credit card. As such, there is no pre-spending limit nor representative APR.

Providing you pay off your balance every month, there’s no interest to pay. Late payments incur a £12 fee.

This card offers one Membership Reward point per £1 spent both at home and abroad (in foreign currencies). This rises to two points for every £1 spent at amextravel.co.uk

New card customers can earn 30,000 Membership Rewards points if they spend £4,000 within three months of becoming a member.

Points can then be commuted to an array of hotel and airline schemes.

This card comes with wide-ranging travel benefits as well. These include access to hotel lounges across the world (via the ‘Priority Pass’), status with hotel programmes, access to hotel booking schemes and hotel benefits (such as room upgrades), car hire insurance and private taxi credits.

The card offers comprehensive worldwide travel insurance to both the cardholder, his/her family and supplementary card members.

The Amex Platinum is not a credit card and, as such, does not fall under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

Instead, as a charge card, Amex issues its own purchase and refund protection. Cardholders receive up to £2,500 towards repair or replacement if an eligible item bought with the card is stolen or damaged within 90 days of purchase. Maximum cover of up to £20,000 is extended over a period of 12 months.

In addition, all Amex cards come with ‘Chargeback’ rights allowing the user to dispute transactions. Contact Amex direct for more information on this facility.

This card may be best suited to someone with a permanent UK home address and no history of bad debt. There is no longer a minimum income requirement for approval.

Make use of free eligibility checkers before formally applying for this card. This will enable you to find out quickly the likelihood of being accepted, but without affecting your credit rating in the process.

While you will earn Membership Reward points when you use your charge card abroad and spend in a foreign currency, you’ll be levied a fee. With this in mind, think carefully about spending the card overseas, because the charges you face could end up greater than the points you earn.

ATM cash withdrawals with this card incur interest charges from the time of the transaction.

This card is probably most appropriate for big spenders and travellers who can make use of perks such as airport lounge access and hotel benefits. Families on the move globally can benefit from the worldwide travel cover that comes with this card.

The large annual fee could put off potential customers. It’s a case of weighing up whether the perks from which you’re likely to benefit outweigh the cost of the annual fee. Other cards may charge a lower fee, but you’ll potentially have to settle for less generous rewards and benefits.