To quote reddit user sharpflatclip, “word on the street” is that the new American Express Platinum benefits & annual fee increase will be accompanied by an increase in the standard signup bonus. The current standard signup bonus is 40,000 Membership Rewards (MR) points for $3,000 in spend while the new standard signup bonus will be 60,000 MR for $5,000 in spend. It’s unknown how this will change the standard incognito offer (75,000 MR for $5,000 in spend), if at all, or if this will be a new standard offer on co-branded Platinum cards (one can hope!).
This rumor is unsubstantiated and no proof is offered, so take it with a big grain of salt. At first glance it does at least appear to pass the eye test: a bigger signup bonus will make the higher annual fee more palatable. It’s a $200+ signup bonus increase versus a $100 annual fee increase and approximately a $50+ increase in interchange fees due to the increased minimum spend.
On a slightly different note: American Express re-vamped & increased their referral offers around February 1 and the Platinum was not included, even though it used to be possible to generate a referral for the card. Given the card changes, I wonder if referral offers on the Platinum will come back after the big changes on March 30.
We’ll keep you updated as more info is released, though everyone will know soon enough in any case—the new changes take place in 14 days. Barring substantiation, I would not let this rumor affect whether or not you apply for a Platinum card before March 30, in order to lock in a $450 annual fee for the first year. Especially given that the current incognito offer is 75,000 MR for $5,000 in spend, there’s little reason to wait for the possibility of an increased offer.
Questions and anything else can be dropped in the comments below. I’ll start a FAQ on this post as necessary.
h/t r/churning via u/sharpflatclip
