American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card

The American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card truly does have an edge on many of its competitors, offering all the advantages of a platinum level card at a reasonable price. It’ll spark your interest if you’re keen to earn rewards points at a very fast rate and enjoy complimentary benefits which will enhance your travelling and shopping experiences.

Great points earning potential

You can earn up to a satisfying 3 points per $1 spent. Here’s how the tiered system, which benefits everyday spending, works:

• 3.0 points per dollar at major supermarkets and petrol stations
• 2.0 points per dollar on overseas spending
• 1.0 point per dollar everywhere else, including spending on government, utilities, insurance and telecommunications

Also note that these are American Express Membership Rewards Ascent program points, which come with extra benefits not attached to the entry-level Gateway program.

Convert points to airline miles or hotel club rewards

One of the best features of the Ascent level of Amex Membership rewards is the ability to transfer points to a long list of airline loyalty programs, mostly on the basis of 2.0 Amex points = 1.0 airline mile. Airline points partners include Virgin Australia, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, Etihad, Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand (200 points = 1 Airpoints dollar), Thai Airways, Malaysian Airlines and Cathay Pacific, but not Qantas, unfortunately. The hotel loyalty programs are Hilton Honors (2.0 Amex points = 1.0 Hilton points) and Marriott Bonvoy (3.0 Amex points = 2.0 Marriott Convoy points).

Other ways to redeem points

You can also use your points to shop at David Jones online, purchase retail store and online gift cards, buy foreign currency or even reduce the balance owing on your credit card account. Additional options include using points to pay for travel booked through Webjet, Helloworld and American Express Travel Online, and entertainment experiences arranged via Ticketmaster.

Free additional cardholders

If you make use of having free supplementary cards (up to four are available), you can earn points even faster by getting your family and friends to add to your reward earning potential.

$200 travel credit every year

If travelling is something you love to do (or do out of necessity for business), you’ll appreciate the annual $200 travel credit voucher redeemable through American Express Travel online.

Built-in insurance cover

Since this is a card aimed at travellers, holding and using the card gives you a range of free insurance cover as well, including:

• Overseas medical emergency expenses cover up to $2,500,000 for you and your family
• Unavoidable travel cancellation cover up to $10,000
• Baggage, money and documentation cover up to $10,000
• Personal liability cover up to $1,000,000
• Travel inconvenience cover for flight delays (including domestic flights), missed connections or luggage delays
• Transport accident cover for when you and your family travel on planes, trains, buses and ferries
• Purchase protection cover, providing 90 days insurance against loss, theft or damage of items bought with the card
• Buyer’s advantage cover, which provides up to one year’s additional warranty on items purchased with the card
• Refund protection cover, where retailers refuse to accept return of an unused item within 90 days

Note that the overseas and domestic travel insurance policies are activated by using the card to purchase the full fare for the trip.

When you’re on the road, it’s reassuring to have access to a 24/7 customer service team that will go the extra mile for you. If you have questions regarding your account, would like to redeem a flight or report a lost or stolen card, Platinum Priority Service promise to take care of you.

Balance transfer if you need it

Transfer a balance of up to $10,000 from another (non-Amex) card and pay no interest for twelve months. However, there is a 1% credit establishment fee, meaning that you would in fact have to repay $10,100 if you transferred the maximum amount, and the revert rate at the end of 12 months is the standard purchase rate of 20.74%.

You would save around $1,806 by transferring a balance of $10,000 from a card (or cards) with an interest rate of 20% p.a.

Be aware, though, that having an unpaid balance transfer makes you ineligible for the interest-free days on purchases (up to 55 days with this card), so you might want to use another card for your purchases during the first year if you do take the balance transfer option.

American Express Connect

A platinum card means a platinum lifestyle. As a cardholder, you’ll gain access to reserved event seating through American Express Invites and will be connected to overseas dining experiences through Taste From American Express Invites.

Perhaps more usefully, you’ll also be able to participate in American Express Connect, which has constantly updated offers for Amex cardholders to either make cash savings or receive special retail and travel privileges.

Fraud protection

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of any card is its security. You want to know you’re covered if things go wrong, and this is definitely the case with the Platinum Edge credit card. You’ll get the Amex online fraud protection guarantee as well as the wide-ranging insurance benefits, all adding up to peace of mind for the traveller.

Reasonable annual fee

As is the case with any card you’re thinking of applying for, always make sure the annual fee is worth your while. In this case it’s $195 p.a., quite reasonable when all the benefits (especially the high points earning rate) are taken into consideration.

Competing cards

You can compare the features of this card with other platinum rewards cards on the ‘All rewards’ page in our Features section. Significant competitors include the Qantas Premier Platinum Credit Card, the Virgin Australia Velocity High Flyer Credit Card and the St. George Amplify Signature Credit Card.

Likely cardholder profile

You’d need to be a fairly big-spending regular traveller to get the most from this card, but you’ll certainly reap the rewards fairly quickly. The $200 travel credit and suite of insurance policies alone will justify the annual fee several times over, and there are so many ways to earn points at an elevated rate that points redemption should be a regular event.

You can't balance transfer to the American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card at the promotional balance transfer rate from:

• American Express