Amex Platinum Signup Bonus to Increase to 60,000 Points Tomorrow, 3/30

The Wall Street Journal reports that the signup bonus on the Amex Platinum card will go up from 40,000 points to 60,000 points. They don’t state the exact date (“in coming days”), but we can assume it’ll happen tomorrow, 3/30, based on the rumor we previously posted.

The current standard signup offer is 40,000 points after $3,000 in spend, and the upcoming offer will be 60,000 points after $5,000 in spend within three months.

This is all with regards to the personal Amex Platinum – it’ll get an increased signup bonus along with the increased annual fee of $550 which goes into effect on 3/30 as well.

If you are considering signing up, you’ll do way better signing up now; while the public signup offer is 40,000 points, there is a 75,000 offer found incognito mode. If you can get it to show, you’ll do much better applying now with the $450 annual fee and the 75,000 bonus.

If you can’t get it to show, the extra $100 fee is well worth it for the additional 20,000 points offer which will become available tomorrow. BUT it’s probably worth holding out and waiting until some better offer comes along.

Here’s part of the WSJ article:

…AmEx in coming days is expected to increase the points bonus to 60,000, from 40,000, according to a person familiar with the matter. But there is likely to be catch: To get the larger amount of points, card users will have to spend $5,000 in the first three months after receiving the card, up from $3,000 currently, the person said.

An AmEx spokeswoman said, “We’ve always had competitive sign-up bonuses combined with a range of premium benefits and services.”

AmEx’s move would come just weeks after J.P. Morgan officially concluded its 100,000-points offer to Sapphire Reserve customers and downgraded it to 50,000 points. Sapphire Reserve cardholders need to spend $4,000 in the first three months to get these points.

Competition between credit-card issuers vying for market share has been growing in recent years. One of the biggest battles is playing out between AmEx and J.P. Morgan with the luxury rewards cards that come with hefty fees and big rewards. These cards are aimed at high spenders, and a points system geared at consumers who will spend a lot on a new card is one of the main tools the lenders are using to lure new card customers.

The battle has been especially bruising to AmEx because of the intense competition it is now facing in a market that it has dominated for decades. Doug Buckminster, president of AmEx’s global consumer services group, referred to the Chase Sapphire Reserve launch during a presentation this month as “a full frontal assault” on the Platinum card.

AmEx could roll out the higher points structure on Thursday when new benefits, announced earlier this month, kick in. That is also when its higher annual fee of $550, up from $450, goes into effect for new sign-ups.

This is the third large boost to Platinum rewards that the card company has made since October—moves that several analysts see as an attempt to fend off competition from the Sapphire Reserve. …

Hat tip to r/churning