Four Versions of the American Express Platinum Card: What You Need to Know

All information about The American Express Platinum® Card for Schwab and The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley has been collected independently by 10xTravel.

American Express Platinum Card® is often hailed as the juggernaut of travel rewards cards. And for good reason too—with over $1,500 worth of statement credits, complimentary status with Hilton and Marriott, and access to the world’s most extensive airport lounge network, the Amex Platinum has few competitors.

There are a total of four versions of the Amex Platinum Card to choose from, including:

• American Express Platinum Card®—$895 annual fee (see rates and fees)
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express—$895 annual fee (see rates and fees)
• The American Express Platinum® Card for Schwab—$895 annual fee (see rates and fees)
• The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley—$895 annual fee (see rates and fees)

Let’s take a look at the similarities and differences between the four Amex Platinum cards, as well as the eligibility criteria, to see which one is the best fit for you. Even if you already hold one of Amex’s Platinum cards, you might find value in swapping to an alternative version of the card.

Amex’s Platinum Cards: Overview

Before diving in, we’ll start with the perks that all of these cards share. These include:

• Access to The American Express Global Lounge Collection
• Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Elite Status
• Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Status
• Benefits when staying with properties in the Fine Hotels + Resorts® Program
• $100 experience credit when you book a minimum stay of two nights with The Hotel Collection through American Express Travel
• Up to $200 annual statement credit for airline incidental fees
• Statement credit for CLEAR+ membership
• Global/Entry TSA PreCheck statement credit
• Complimentary Avis Preferred®, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards® and National Car Rental® Emerald Club status
• No foreign transaction fees

Next, let’s check out a head-to-head overview of each Platinum card’s features.

Amex Platinum Card Bonus Spending Categories: Similarities and Differences

The Platinum Card from American Express, The American Express Platinum Card for Schwab and The Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley all share the same bonus spending categories.

These include the following rates:

• 5X points on flights purchased directly from the airline and on flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 per calendar year; 1X points thereafter)
• 1X points on all other purchases

Amex’s personal Platinum cards don’t have the strongest earning rates compared to other premium travel rewards cards. While you can earn a lucrative rate of 5X points on specific portal bookings and direct airfare purchases, the bonus spending categories lack breadth, making it difficult to earn a return on your everyday spending.

The Business Platinum Card’s bonus spending categories offer more breadth and utility than its sibling cards. You’ll enjoy the following rates:

• 5X points on flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 per calendar year; 1X points thereafter)
• 2X points on purchases at U.S. construction material & hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers, as well as on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more, up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year.
• 1X points on all other purchases

Keep in mind that unlike its sibling personal cards, the Business Platinum Card doesn’t earn 5X points on airfare purchases directly with the airline—only through American Express Travel.

Amex Platinum Card Perks: Similarities and Differences

The biggest difference between the four versions of the Amex Platinum Card is their cardholder perks.

The personal Amex Platinum, Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley Platinum cards share most of the same perks with a few differences, while the Amex Business Platinum Card has a variety of perks focused solely on small business owners.

Let’s check out the similarities and differences in perks on the four versions of the Amex Platinum Card.

Core Amex Platinum Perks

All four Amex Platinum cards share the following perks:

• Access to The American Express Global Lounge Collection with more than 1,550 global lounges including The Centurion® Lounge, Escape Lounges – The Centurion® Studio Partner, Delta Sky Club® when flying Delta (10 complimentary Sky Club visits), Lufthansa Lounges when flying Lufthansa Group, Plaza Premium, Priority Pass Select Lounges and other participating partner lounges
• Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Elite Status unlocking priority late checkout, 25% bonus points on stays, enhanced room upgrades (subject to availability) and more
• Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Status unlocking 80% bonus points on stays, a daily food and beverage credit or continental breakfast, space-available room upgrades, milestone bonuses and more
• Benefits when staying with properties in the Fine Hotels + Resorts® Program such as a breakfast credit, upgrades upon arrival (subject to availability), noon check-in and more
• $100 experience credit when you book a minimum stay of two nights with The Hotel Collection through American Express Travel
• Annual statement credit of up to $200 for airline incidental fees with one qualifying airline. You’ll need to select your qualifying airline and can change it in January of the following calendar year, once a year.
• Statement credit for CLEAR+ membership
• Global/Entry TSA PreCheck statement credit, every four years
• Complimentary Avis Preferred®, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards® and National Car Rental® Emerald Club status
• No foreign transaction fees

These are the core benefits of every Amex Platinum Card, offering cardholders an array of lucrative statement credits, complimentary status benefits and luxury travel perks.

The Platinum Card from American Express, as well as the Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab versions of the card offer the following perks in addition to the core Platinum perks:

• Annual hotel statement credit of up to $600 for prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings through American Express Travel. The Hotel Collection requires a minimum stay of two nights to qualify for the credit.
• Up to $200 in Uber Cash credits for Uber Eats and Uber Rides, issued in $15 monthly increments with a $20 bonus on top in December
• Annual digital entertainment credit of up to $300 for select news and entertainment providers
• Annual statement credit of up to $155 toward Walmart+ membership, given in $12.95 monthly increments
• Annual statement credit of up to $100 for Saks Fifth Avenue or saks.com, given in $50 biannual increments
• Annual statement credit of up to $300 for an Equinox+ digital subscription or membership

That’s an extra $1,355 in additional annual statement credit perks that The Platinum Card from American Express, the Morgan Stanley and the Charles Schwab versions offer, on top of the Amex Platinum’s core perks.

That works out to a total of more than $1,800 worth of value in annual statement credit perks alone, excluding the complimentary status perks with Marriott, Hilton, Avis, National and Hertz, as well as lounge access benefits. That makes any of the three Platinum cards a solid choice, as you can offset their annual fees by more than double.

Perks Unique to The American Express Platinum Card for Schwab

The American Express Platinum Card for Schwab offers cardholders a few exclusive perks, including the following benefits:

• $100 statement credit if your qualifying Schwab holdings are equal to or greater than $250,000; $200 statement credit if your qualifying Schwab holdings are equal to or greater than $1,000,000; $1,000 statement credit if your qualifying Schwab holdings are equal to or greater than $10,000,000
• Invest your Membership Rewards points in your Schwab brokerage account at a rate of 1.1 cents apiece (up to 1,000,000 Membership Rewards points per calendar year; a rate of 0.8 cents apiece applies thereafter).

To apply for the Schwab Platinum card, you’ll need to have an eligible Schwab brokerage account, which is described as the following:

“An eligible account means (1) a Schwab One® or Schwab General Brokerage Account held in your name or in the name of a revocable living trust where you are the grantor and trustee or (2) a Schwab Traditional, Roth or Rollover IRA that is not managed by an independent investment advisor pursuant to a direct contractual relationship between you and such independent advisor.”

If you have a qualifying account balance with Charles Schwab, you can be eligible for a statement credit on your Schwab Amex Platinum Card. For those with holdings of $250,000, you’ll receive a $100 statement credit; holdings of $1,000,000 will qualify for a $200 statement credit; and holdings of $10,000,000 will qualify for a $1,000 statement credit.

You can also invest your Membership Rewards points into your Schwab brokerage account, at a rate of 1.1 cents apiece on the first 1,000,000 Membership Rewards points transferred in a calendar year—thereafter, a rate of 0.8 cents apiece applies. If you have points to spare, this isn’t the worst way to use them.

Perks Unique to The Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley

The Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley offers existing Morgan Stanley customers the chance to enjoy exclusive Amex Platinum benefits.

The card comes with the following perks:

• Platinum CashPlus account holders will receive an annual engagement bonus deposit of $895 every year.
• Invest your Membership Rewards in your Morgan Stanley brokerage account at a rate of 1 cent apiece.

To apply for the card, you’ll need to hold an eligible brokerage account with Morgan Stanley.

If you want to receive the $895 engagement bonus every year—effectively offsetting the card’s annual fee—you’ll also need to open a Platinum CashPlus wealth management account.

To open a Platinum CashPlus account with Morgan Stanley, you’ll need to have an eligible Morgan Stanley investment account and be enrolled in Morgan Stanley online. The account comes with a monthly fee of $55 that you can waive by maintaining a $5,000 monthly deposit and $25,000 average daily balance.

You’ll then be eligible to receive an annual engagement bonus of $895, deposited in your CashPlus account. This effectively offsets the Morgan Stanley Platinum Card’s annual fee. The deposit is given each year upon card opening and upon renewal thereafter.

Alternatively, you can qualify for the engagement bonus if you spend at least $100,000 during the calendar year across your Morgan Stanley debit cards that are associated with your Platinum CashPlus account in your Account-Linked Group (ALG).

Similarly, Morgan Stanley Amex Platinum cardholders can invest their Membership Rewards points in their brokerage account at a rate of 1 cent apiece. That means 50,000 Membership Rewards points would work out to $500 in your brokerage account. If you’re flush with points, there are worse ways to redeem them.

The Morgan Stanley Amex Platinum Card also enables you to add the first Additional Platinum Card for free, while all other Additional Platinum Cards will cost $195 per year.

Perks Unique to The Business Platinum Card from American Express

The Amex Business Platinum Card offers additional cardholder perks with a greater focus on the needs of small business owners. The Amex Business Platinum Card comes with the following perks, in addition to the core Platinum perks:

• Up to $150 annual statement credit toward Dell Technologies purchases and an additional $1,000 statement credit after you spend $5,000 or more on those purchases, per calendar year. Enrollment required.
• Up to $360 annual statement credit for Indeed purchases, issued in up to $90 quarterly credits
• A $250 statement credit per calendar year after you spend $600 or more on U.S. purchases directly with Adobe in a calendar year. Enrollment required.
• Up to $120 annual statement credit for wireless telephone service purchases in the U.S., issued in up to $10 monthly credits
• Up to $200 statement credit for Hilton purchases, issued in $50 quarterly credits (must be enrolled in the Hilton for Business program)
• 35% point rebate on up to 1,000,000 Membership Rewards points per calendar year, when you Pay with Points for a flight
• Issue employee cards. Assign a separate account manager to manage employee spending.
• QuickBooks connection

That works out to a significant amount of annually recurring statement credit perks offered by the Amex Business Platinum Card, with a greater focus on business-related purchases.

Keep in mind that the airline you choose for the $200 airline incidental statement credit perk must be the same as the airline used for the 35% point rebate benefit on the Amex Business Platinum Card.

Welcome Offer Comparison: Amex Platinum, Business Platinum, Schwab and Morgan Stanley

The Platinum Card from American Express, as well as the Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab versions, have a typical welcome offer of 80,000 to 175,000 points after spending meeting the minimum spending requirements within the first six months of card membership.

In contrast, the Amex Business Platinum Card has a typical welcome offer between 150,000 and 200,000 points after spending $20,000 within the first three months of card membership.

Generally, the Amex Business Platinum boasts higher welcome offers but with a higher minimum spending requirement, while the other three Amex Platinum Cards have lower welcome offers with lower minimum spending requirements.

Which Card is Best for You?

While each Platinum card has its own unique offerings, it would never make sense to hold all four simultaneously. In most cases, you’d end up paying more in annual fees than you would receive in benefits.

The Platinum Card from American Express is best for frequent travelers who can use the card’s travel perks to their max, enabling you to offset the annual fee by a longshot.

The Business Platinum Card from American Express is a solid choice for small business owners who want many of the Amex Platinum Card’s travel perks in addition to statement credit perks targeted to small business expenditure. It’s also a great choice for those who have a high enough monthly expenditure to meet its minimum spending requirements for the welcome offer.

The American Express Platinum Card for Schwab can be a great option for existing Charles Schwab customers. This is particularly so if you earn more points than you can ever spend, and want to transfer some of them to your eligible Schwab brokerage account. It can also be a great choice if you meet the minimum holdings requirements to earn statement credits toward your Amex card.

Likewise, for existing Morgan Stanley customers, The Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley can offer solid benefits. Existing Platinum CashPlus account holders can have their annual fee effectively offset through the annual engagement bonus deposit of $895 every year. And if you’re consistently flush with points, the card will enable you to put your surplus Amex points toward your investment account.

In certain situations, it can even make sense to hold both the Amex Business Platinum in addition to one other Platinum Card. For a rundown of the cost-benefit analysis of such a strategy, check out our Amex Platinum vs. Business Platinum article.

Final Thoughts

Everyone knows about The Platinum Card from American Express. But few know that there are actually four Platinum Cards on the market.

Before hitting that submit button, consider which versions of the Amex Platinum Card you’d be eligible for. You might be surprised to find out that you’re better suited to holding one of the lesser-known versions of the card.