Update 4/15/19: Updated this page to reflect changes to the ameriprise card and the fact that the Mercedes Benz verison is no longer available.
A lot of people don’t realize that American Express offer multiple co-branded versions of their Platinum credit card. I thought it would be fun to look at each of these cards and also create a table to compare them. This is particularly interesting as American Express have moved to a one bonus per lifetime rule on their personal cards, but you should (YMMV) be able to get the bonus on each of these cards once.
The Cards
- Platinum Card From American Express. This is the original card that is offered directly from American Express.
Mercedes Benz Platinum Card from American Express. No longer available- The Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley.
- The Platinum Card from American Express Exclusively for Goldman Sachs
- Platinum Card from American Express for Ameriprise Financial.
- American Express Platinum Card for Schwab
There are also a few other partners with which American Express used to offer co-branded platinum cards with: First Republic Bank & Guaranty bank.
Comparison Table
All of these cards come with the same staple of benefits, so I am only going to focus on the things that are actually different: annual fees (for both primary and additional card holders).
? | Platinum Card From American Express | Morgan Stanley | Goldman Sachs | Ameriprise Financial | Charles Schwab |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Annual Fee | $550 | $550 | $550 | $550 | $550 |
Additional Cardholders | First three are $175, each additional is $175 | First one free, then $175 each per year | First three are $175, each additional is $175 | First three are $175, each additional is $175 | First three are $175, each additional is $175 |
Sign up bonus | 60,000 points after $5,000 in spend within three months. Possible to get a 100,000 point bonus? | 60,000 points after $5,000 in spend within first three months | 10,000 points after first purchase | 60,000 points after $5,000 in spend within first three months | 60,000 points after $5,000 in spend within first three months |
Spending bonus | None | $500 after $100,000 or more in spend within a card member year | 40,000 points after $100,000 or more in spend within a card member year | 5,000 MR points after every $20,000 in spend (limit of 30,000 MR points) | none |
Availability | Everybody | Must have MS account | Must have GS account | Restricted to those with AF account, but not enforced | Must have Charles Schwab account |
Additional Benefits | None | None | None | None | Redeem points for 1.25 cents per point. $100 statement credit if funds $250k+, $200 if funds 1,000k+ |
Best Card Platinum Card
On the surface the original American Express platinum looks one of the weakest (Goldman Sachs card is by far the worst option) but you need to remember that people often receive sign up bonuses of 100,000/150,000 MR points (the best way to check for these offers is with the American Express pre-approval tool). The best option will really depend on what cards are available to you and what you value more (e.g cash or MR points) – I can see benefits to getting each of these cards. Considering you can only get the sign up bonus on each of these cards once, I’d recommend getting cards when they have increased sign up bonuses. Here is what I’d look for:
- Original American Express Platinum: 100,000+ points
- Morgan Stanley: ??
- Goldman Sachs: ??
- Ameriprise: 25,000 points with annual fee waived. Annual fee is no longer waived, so anything above 60,000 would be a better offer
- Charles Schwab: Hasn’t had an increased offer
Is there an updated version of this article?
Thanks
Is the Ameriprise flavor no longer available?
Update on the MS Platinum:
The Anniversary Spend Award will no longer be available as a benefit on your Card, effective with your next anniversary date that
occurs on or after April 1, 2020.
Looks the $500 bonus will be going away
Just tried applying for the Schwab Plat, have never had the card before, but have had the vanilla Plat as well as the Mercedes Benz version that was converted to the vanilla. Upon applying for the card I was greeted by the popup stating that due to the cards I had previously had I was not eligible for the signup bonus.
Have the multiple sign bonuses been put to an end?
Don’t think so. I believe that the pop-up box refers to the number of Amex cards recently opened, not relating to a business received on another flavor of the Platinum card.
* bonus
Once I have the new AMEX Platinum credit card, do I need to open a separate online account for each one?
Since this article lists out only the differences between the various flavors, I want to know whether the AU Gold cards are available on the co-branded cards.
Referring to the table in this other article, it doesn’t explictly mention that the co-branded Platinum cards offer AU “Gold” cards for $0 AF.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/list-american-express-cards-access-amex-offers-af-au-fee/#Personal_Charge_Cards
So if that’s the case, shouldn’t the table here also mention this difference?
Thanks.
Can we own (and get sign on bonuses) for two different platinum cards at the same time? I am trying to figure out if I need to cancel my existing platinum before applying for a different one.
My understanding is that they are considered different products so it doesn’t matter.
You can have multiple at the same time, but you’ll probably need to call amex to recon the additional versions.
Now that Goldman Sachs is getting into issuing their own credit cards, I wonder if they’ll still keep the cobranded card with AmEx or if they’ll start issuing a premium card themselves?
Good question
You forgot to list the Amex Platinum Business card, no? 🙂
We are just listing the personal variations
Could you do a list of Amex Plat Business cards? Especially useful for those staying under 5/24.
Why the question around the Charles Schwab 1.25 redemption? From the card’s website:
***Earn Membership Rewards® points that you can turn into deposits to your eligible Schwab account. (For example, 60,000 points = $750).***
You need a General Brokerage Account, but when you set up a Checking Account, you automatically get a Brokerage Account. There is a hard credit pull for this
No hard credit pull. There is one box that you have to uncheck. I read it somewhere and I recently opened an account and no credit pull.
Kuskit I assume the box you are speaking of is Options trading. I avoided that box. I still got a hard pull. I did not open the Schwab checking, so I avoided a Chex pull. Opened Schwab One “Cash & Money Market” brokerage account.
Unless something has changed in the last 2 years, Schwab does a hard pull. HP took a few days to show up on Credit Karma, EQ hit in VA as I recall.
It has been 2 months since I opened the account and no hard pull. If I recall correctly the box that is checked is something about Margin… that has to be unchecked.
Yeah, margin is used in options trading. In 2017…I unchecked it. Still got hard pull, EQ pull on CK took a day to show up as I recall. Either you got lucky, or they changed the brokerage application process recently.
I applied online. They called me on the phone and asked me a few questions. I specifically asked the CSR if there was a hard pull for opening the brokerage account. Answer was Yes.
Question mark is supposed to be a cent sign, but doesn’t probably display. Updating now