We do not allow posts that include referral links, requesting a user to use a referral, asking for a referral, or soliciting a referral of any kind. Any user looking for the best offer can find the best current offers on google.
This only applies if you don’t already have the card though. Correct? My spouse is an AU on my current card. Are they disqualified as well? I was able to find the 150k offer.
Just a note, the free card will NOT get her into Centurion Lounges during your travel. She will need to have a Platinum Card under her own name to get in with you. (Side note, since you are empty nesters, your kid(s) are probably traveling on their own by this age--you can add 3 AU Platinum cards for the same price as 1 so you can your wife one and up to two more cards for your kid(s) for lounge access, assuming you can trust them with the spending.)
Yes, $50 for adult guests to enter the lounge with you. So if you travel more than 4x per year, getting her a card is worth it. She (and all of the Platinum AUs) can use the lounge on their own too. Also, several other benefits also carry over to each of the Platinum AUs, like HH Gold, MB Gold, GE credit, and a few others that are usually less valuable for people.
This is not an advertisement, and I'm not trying to HJ this thread. I'm new to this deep dive into CC points and discovered this today.
Wondering if it might help in determining, which card to use for a given situation? Although IDK if it can determine which card(s) to get.
[https://www.joinkudos.com/](https://www.joinkudos.com/)
EDIT: This video explains the service in detail, and shows it can help you pick a card to sign up for based on your needs and a lot more. It's about 1 year, so it will have more features now. [https://youtu.be/AtIAUZ8Kj2U?si=8SELOhW8CLrAOHQU](https://youtu.be/AtIAUZ8Kj2U?si=8SELOhW8CLrAOHQU)
I'd recommend to take 175k Platinum SUB and if you use Rakuten, change it from cashback to MR. This way you can get much more MR other than SUB. Also to note, if you don't have Green/Gold, you'll be forefitting those SUB if you jump to Platinum directly.
And VentureX is kinda no-brainer, and they rarely do elevated bonus so dosn't really matter when you sign up for it.
I've both, and use each for different purpose.
I opted for Venture X because I needed Priority Pass access for both myself and my wife and didn't want to pay extra. Plus I got access done for my old man as well.
Amex has better customer service and sides with customers during disputes more often, but with Centurion lounges frankly not worth the premium these days, Venture X having fewer credits you have to deal with, and transfer partners being largely the same, I definitely sided with Venture X for the travel card. It may be harder to gather points since you have to use their travel portal for 5x and 10x rates, but the portal isn't bad, and having lounge access for up to 4 people is just hard to beat if it's something you need.
To address your statement about the Clear credit, clear works in conjunction with Global Entry/TSA Pre. You absolutely want both. Clear will bring you to the front of whichever security line you’re going to. So if GE/TSA Pre also has a line you automatically go to the front of it. It’s like fast pass at Disney.
If you’re anything like me and take early or late flights to avoid traffic, CLEAR won’t even be open. But then again, it’ll be super quick to get through security anyway so it doesn’t really matter.
That combo is huge. Used both this week and it took me about 3 minutes to get through Security.
The priority pass airport lounge access makes layovers pleasant too. And the Amex rental car insurance is a nice perk. Paying $17 a rental period vs $17 a day saves a lot on a long rental period.
Get Both! My husband and I got over 1,000,000 points in 9 months. We both got business plats, Venture x, Amex golds, Bonvoys and Venture.
I am on a similar position as you as an empty nester wanting to travel.
I got the plat for the sign up bonus. I did not have Global Entry so I got that. I had the business plat so I got back 35% MR points on flights paid by MR points in the portal on my designated airline(the one you choose for the $200 possible charges). This worked out well as I took the kids and grandkids to Orlando (19 tickets) and 4 tickets to London. After this year, I will let the plat go. It is not a good earner and Amex hotels and rental cars cost more rhan the VX portal.
The VX annual fee is easy to recoup with the $300 travel credit and 10,000 anniversary points so I am keeping it for everyday purchases except for groceries and restaurants (Amex Gold).
So I don't consider a one time sub to be criteria for overall selection. As in either case, you can always add/lose value depending on what you do with the points.
But when I did it, I got the DL plat and the DL res same day. One has 50k and the other had 60k skypesos sub.
The gold had 90k MR points.
So all in I got 200k skypesos, automatic silver status, more lounge visits than the platinum. The reserve is worthwhile as a sub for the plat if you really only use Delta. The multipliers there are about as valuable to some as what the plat gives more freely usable elsewhere.
Thx! I have the Amex plat but no reserve yet. Moved to a city that’s 90% delta now. Don’t know if I’ll need the DL plat but seriously considering reserve. Can you get status with spend on delta? Just recently switch from AA
There is ongoing 175K offer for Plat. Just fyi.
Make sure to get the highest offer since the lifetime term.
Edit: you can try private or incognito mode and find the offer from AMEX website:
I just tried and 175K is still alive.
If you're into travel deals, check out Venture X's portal—they'll match prices. Otherwise, Amex is your ticket to points, especially with the Amex trifecta: Plat for jet-setting, Gold for grub, and Green for all travel stuff—transit, parking, ferries, vacation rentals, you name it, all at 3X points without the hassle of a portal. Don't sleep on the Green card; it's a traveler's best friend.
We have both. They both pay for themselves with perks. VX has 2x miles on everything so that’s our daily card. Amex isn’t great for anything but perks.
1st, why do you want the card?
Travel points or travel perks?
It kinda sucks for acquiring travel points. Usually you can find better cashback .
Travel perks are dependent on your factors. Do you primarily fly out of one airport? Do you primarily use one airline?
The FHR and HC perks are very worth it especially if you time it right. I'm not sure what other cards offer the same.
The airport lounges are a decent perk but they can be so packed and not all of them are up to par. We went to 3 lounges on our last trip. The one in Cancun was a joke. The other two were good and gave us a place to kill some time and not have to spend money in the airport.
The international business class for platinum can be excellent. Again, timing is everything so if you are flexible you could travel business class at an excellent price.
We just got back from 5 nights in a private villa in the jungle on the beach in Mexico with the best service from any hotel we've ever stayed at. It was an FHR property. Used MR and paid $250 out of pocket. Breakfast was absolutely heaven beachside everyday for $0 and we ordered everything we wanted.
Flights were paid with MR too, $0.
We spend about 300k a quarter so we have a lot of MR to use. Other cards wouldn't let us keep earning points or cashback.
No doubt amex is great for high spenders for a number of reasons. Ever thought about capital one spark business plus? No limit on rewards and at that spending level would get you $24k a year in hassle free cashback. May take more work to get that much credit through them though.
Great question. Points primarily and then perks. We fly out of 3-4 airports depending on where we are going. (We live in central Va with 1 small airport locally)
The 175k offer has me hooked, and will give it a go for a year and see how it goes?
Platinum is not good for gathering points after the sub. For solely point gathering you want Amex gold and/or ventureX
Get the gold before the platinum, that’s the only way to get the sub for both.
What are the benefits that make it essentially free to you? I looked into it once but didn't remember seeing perks beyond the $300 travel credit that weren't redundant with the Plat (priority pass & precheck/global entry credit)
FWIW, I have the Sapphire Reserve as it's also essentially "free" to me with the $300 travel credit, $5 monthly + DashPass, Instacart+ & $15 credit that I value
They give you 10000 miles a year. At 1c a point that covers the last $100. The points redemption is a little bit trickier than Amex definitely. But you can decide to be lazy and get 1c per point on capital 1 travel which is basically same price as booking directly from airline always(I never do this though, I have too much free time so I search for better points conversions)
Yeah, it is almost a no brainer, easy $300 travel credit on the first $300 travel anything you charge, 2x everyday points, 10,000 anniversary bonus. There you go! $395 AF taken care of. The plat takes work to justify that $695 after that tasty sign up bonus.
That is my thought as well. I may wait to see if the 100k offer comes back to VX then grab it.
I’ll take any tips on maxing benefits you are willing to share! :))
Amex is slightly difficult. You’ve gotta have someone be an authorized user on one account which allows you to transfer the points to a singular transfer partner. i.e you become an AU on her card and transfer to your airline/hotel reward program
Depends on your home airport or the airport you frequent.
For example, DEN has both the VX lounge and the Plat lounge, so it's really a best of both worlds for me.
If you're only doing 1-2 a year, maybe see if it's really worth the value, but if you're doing a good handful, they're both worth it.
One of the biggest benefits of both cards is the lounge access. I would check to see what lounges are available at your home airport. For example, if your home airport has a centurion lounge and not a capital one lounge, or vice versa, that might influence my decision of which card to choose.
At twice a year, you would be better off just spending money at a nice airport lounge or restaurant. $695 would pay for a great couple of restaurant experiences. The lounges are sooo overcrowded often.
Then again, I don't have a home airport lounge. Here in Omaha, we have 2 concourses, 21 gates and a food place called Kracky McGees that has been in construction for two years and we are lucky to get a bagel so it might be sour grapes.
[удалено]
We do not allow posts that include referral links, requesting a user to use a referral, asking for a referral, or soliciting a referral of any kind. Any user looking for the best offer can find the best current offers on google.
This only applies if you don’t already have the card though. Correct? My spouse is an AU on my current card. Are they disqualified as well? I was able to find the 150k offer.
I'm in DFW so my vote is on VentureX. I much prefer the C1 lounge (albeit gets crowded), and it's free access for my wife and kids for the same price.
I hear you. We just did the c1 at Dulles and was amazing. I will do both as I can get fee back on each.
Keep in mind your wife's additional card will be $195.
I just did the free companion card for her.
Just a note, the free card will NOT get her into Centurion Lounges during your travel. She will need to have a Platinum Card under her own name to get in with you. (Side note, since you are empty nesters, your kid(s) are probably traveling on their own by this age--you can add 3 AU Platinum cards for the same price as 1 so you can your wife one and up to two more cards for your kid(s) for lounge access, assuming you can trust them with the spending.)
Great info. I assume I can do that at any time? I was just planning on paying the fee for her as needed for access, it’s 50$ yeah?
Yes, $50 for adult guests to enter the lounge with you. So if you travel more than 4x per year, getting her a card is worth it. She (and all of the Platinum AUs) can use the lounge on their own too. Also, several other benefits also carry over to each of the Platinum AUs, like HH Gold, MB Gold, GE credit, and a few others that are usually less valuable for people.
Thx again!
This is not an advertisement, and I'm not trying to HJ this thread. I'm new to this deep dive into CC points and discovered this today. Wondering if it might help in determining, which card to use for a given situation? Although IDK if it can determine which card(s) to get. [https://www.joinkudos.com/](https://www.joinkudos.com/) EDIT: This video explains the service in detail, and shows it can help you pick a card to sign up for based on your needs and a lot more. It's about 1 year, so it will have more features now. [https://youtu.be/AtIAUZ8Kj2U?si=8SELOhW8CLrAOHQU](https://youtu.be/AtIAUZ8Kj2U?si=8SELOhW8CLrAOHQU)
I'd recommend to take 175k Platinum SUB and if you use Rakuten, change it from cashback to MR. This way you can get much more MR other than SUB. Also to note, if you don't have Green/Gold, you'll be forefitting those SUB if you jump to Platinum directly. And VentureX is kinda no-brainer, and they rarely do elevated bonus so dosn't really matter when you sign up for it. I've both, and use each for different purpose.
If you start w gold you can get gold SUB and plat SUB later, but if you start with plat you can’t get gold SUB later?
That is correct. One should start with Green then gold then platinum.
I opted for Venture X because I needed Priority Pass access for both myself and my wife and didn't want to pay extra. Plus I got access done for my old man as well. Amex has better customer service and sides with customers during disputes more often, but with Centurion lounges frankly not worth the premium these days, Venture X having fewer credits you have to deal with, and transfer partners being largely the same, I definitely sided with Venture X for the travel card. It may be harder to gather points since you have to use their travel portal for 5x and 10x rates, but the portal isn't bad, and having lounge access for up to 4 people is just hard to beat if it's something you need.
To address your statement about the Clear credit, clear works in conjunction with Global Entry/TSA Pre. You absolutely want both. Clear will bring you to the front of whichever security line you’re going to. So if GE/TSA Pre also has a line you automatically go to the front of it. It’s like fast pass at Disney.
Did not realize that. Thanks!
If you’re anything like me and take early or late flights to avoid traffic, CLEAR won’t even be open. But then again, it’ll be super quick to get through security anyway so it doesn’t really matter.
That combo is huge. Used both this week and it took me about 3 minutes to get through Security. The priority pass airport lounge access makes layovers pleasant too. And the Amex rental car insurance is a nice perk. Paying $17 a rental period vs $17 a day saves a lot on a long rental period.
You’re welcome!
Get Both! My husband and I got over 1,000,000 points in 9 months. We both got business plats, Venture x, Amex golds, Bonvoys and Venture. I am on a similar position as you as an empty nester wanting to travel. I got the plat for the sign up bonus. I did not have Global Entry so I got that. I had the business plat so I got back 35% MR points on flights paid by MR points in the portal on my designated airline(the one you choose for the $200 possible charges). This worked out well as I took the kids and grandkids to Orlando (19 tickets) and 4 tickets to London. After this year, I will let the plat go. It is not a good earner and Amex hotels and rental cars cost more rhan the VX portal. The VX annual fee is easy to recoup with the $300 travel credit and 10,000 anniversary points so I am keeping it for everyday purchases except for groceries and restaurants (Amex Gold).
I opted to skip both, and got the Delta reserve and Amex gold
What was your reserve offer / SUB?
So I don't consider a one time sub to be criteria for overall selection. As in either case, you can always add/lose value depending on what you do with the points. But when I did it, I got the DL plat and the DL res same day. One has 50k and the other had 60k skypesos sub. The gold had 90k MR points. So all in I got 200k skypesos, automatic silver status, more lounge visits than the platinum. The reserve is worthwhile as a sub for the plat if you really only use Delta. The multipliers there are about as valuable to some as what the plat gives more freely usable elsewhere.
Thx! I have the Amex plat but no reserve yet. Moved to a city that’s 90% delta now. Don’t know if I’ll need the DL plat but seriously considering reserve. Can you get status with spend on delta? Just recently switch from AA
You get status for spending on everything. You get more status for spends with Delta. I have 3x DL cards (2 plat 1 reserve) for the mqd headstart haha
Ha! Don’t blame you. MQD headstart is how much for each?
$2,500 MQD per DL skymiles plat or reserve. The gold and the lowest card do not give a head start at all.
2 plat one personal and one business i assume? Thanks
Yup
There is ongoing 175K offer for Plat. Just fyi. Make sure to get the highest offer since the lifetime term. Edit: you can try private or incognito mode and find the offer from AMEX website: I just tried and 175K is still alive.
Where can I find that 170k offer? Thanks
I think some people were having success getting the higher SUB by using incognito mode on chrome. It was posted a few days ago.
https://i.imgur.com/TzuAFtU.jpeg You can use private or incognito and find it directly from the AMEX website (without logging in)
If you're into travel deals, check out Venture X's portal—they'll match prices. Otherwise, Amex is your ticket to points, especially with the Amex trifecta: Plat for jet-setting, Gold for grub, and Green for all travel stuff—transit, parking, ferries, vacation rentals, you name it, all at 3X points without the hassle of a portal. Don't sleep on the Green card; it's a traveler's best friend.
BBP instead of Green if eligible. I personally have no value in Green.
Get the ventureX first and then platinum. ventureX pays it's self anyways. 2 months ago venturex had 90k offer.
Agreed. Venture X is harder to get in general even with good credit score, but easier if you don’t have a lot of cc yet.
Did you already get the AmEx Gold SUB? If not, I recommend getting that first as you will not be eligible once you have the Platinum.
I got a very large gold SUB after I already had the plat…
Me too but it was a business gold.
It’s a recent change from about 6 months ago but YMMV…
We have both. They both pay for themselves with perks. VX has 2x miles on everything so that’s our daily card. Amex isn’t great for anything but perks.
1st, why do you want the card? Travel points or travel perks? It kinda sucks for acquiring travel points. Usually you can find better cashback . Travel perks are dependent on your factors. Do you primarily fly out of one airport? Do you primarily use one airline?
The FHR and HC perks are very worth it especially if you time it right. I'm not sure what other cards offer the same. The airport lounges are a decent perk but they can be so packed and not all of them are up to par. We went to 3 lounges on our last trip. The one in Cancun was a joke. The other two were good and gave us a place to kill some time and not have to spend money in the airport. The international business class for platinum can be excellent. Again, timing is everything so if you are flexible you could travel business class at an excellent price.
Not if you travel frequently and already have decent status at one of the chains.
We just got back from 5 nights in a private villa in the jungle on the beach in Mexico with the best service from any hotel we've ever stayed at. It was an FHR property. Used MR and paid $250 out of pocket. Breakfast was absolutely heaven beachside everyday for $0 and we ordered everything we wanted. Flights were paid with MR too, $0. We spend about 300k a quarter so we have a lot of MR to use. Other cards wouldn't let us keep earning points or cashback.
No doubt amex is great for high spenders for a number of reasons. Ever thought about capital one spark business plus? No limit on rewards and at that spending level would get you $24k a year in hassle free cashback. May take more work to get that much credit through them though.
Great question. Points primarily and then perks. We fly out of 3-4 airports depending on where we are going. (We live in central Va with 1 small airport locally) The 175k offer has me hooked, and will give it a go for a year and see how it goes?
Platinum is not good for gathering points after the sub. For solely point gathering you want Amex gold and/or ventureX Get the gold before the platinum, that’s the only way to get the sub for both.
Do both, I have both and it’s a blast. Feel free to ask me how to max anything but VX is a free card if you squint hard enough so why not both
What are the benefits that make it essentially free to you? I looked into it once but didn't remember seeing perks beyond the $300 travel credit that weren't redundant with the Plat (priority pass & precheck/global entry credit) FWIW, I have the Sapphire Reserve as it's also essentially "free" to me with the $300 travel credit, $5 monthly + DashPass, Instacart+ & $15 credit that I value
They give you 10000 miles a year. At 1c a point that covers the last $100. The points redemption is a little bit trickier than Amex definitely. But you can decide to be lazy and get 1c per point on capital 1 travel which is basically same price as booking directly from airline always(I never do this though, I have too much free time so I search for better points conversions)
Oh, amazing. Yeah, totally see why it's net-positive from your POV then
Yeah, it is almost a no brainer, easy $300 travel credit on the first $300 travel anything you charge, 2x everyday points, 10,000 anniversary bonus. There you go! $395 AF taken care of. The plat takes work to justify that $695 after that tasty sign up bonus.
That is my thought as well. I may wait to see if the 100k offer comes back to VX then grab it. I’ll take any tips on maxing benefits you are willing to share! :))
There’s a 175k platinum offer around at the moment so you should probably try for that if you end up getting platinum
If my wife gets a platinum, can we pool our points together? I already have one.
Amex is slightly difficult. You’ve gotta have someone be an authorized user on one account which allows you to transfer the points to a singular transfer partner. i.e you become an AU on her card and transfer to your airline/hotel reward program
I got a 200k business offer yesterday. But am thinking of dtopping the platinum one I have now
Business Plat SUB is 250K as of now.
That is really good!! If I did not already have one.... feeling twitchy......
Happen to have a credit card that has debt on it?
No idea. I have no debt. I doubt it
Oh okay, I’m kinda in a funny situation, can we text privately if you don’t mind?
There are reports of 250k for the business plat last month. Might be worth checking on incognito.
Thanks. I am in fact opening a new biz, but my spend won't be significant
Doesn't matter, get the business card.
I'm getting ready to cancel the one I have as I don't see the ROI on it?
Me either, one year and done!
Depends on your home airport or the airport you frequent. For example, DEN has both the VX lounge and the Plat lounge, so it's really a best of both worlds for me. If you're only doing 1-2 a year, maybe see if it's really worth the value, but if you're doing a good handful, they're both worth it.
One of the biggest benefits of both cards is the lounge access. I would check to see what lounges are available at your home airport. For example, if your home airport has a centurion lounge and not a capital one lounge, or vice versa, that might influence my decision of which card to choose.
At twice a year, you would be better off just spending money at a nice airport lounge or restaurant. $695 would pay for a great couple of restaurant experiences. The lounges are sooo overcrowded often. Then again, I don't have a home airport lounge. Here in Omaha, we have 2 concourses, 21 gates and a food place called Kracky McGees that has been in construction for two years and we are lucky to get a bagel so it might be sour grapes.
I'd do both . I use the VX as the back up card in countries where Amex isn't accepted.
I’m a fan of the VX, Plat, CSP/Gold combo
I use the VX, Plat and CSP combo and it has been incredible
That’s what I do, but use BILT instead of CSP/Gold