The Amex Platinum card has a hefty $695 annual fee but has many credits that help offset that cost. I’ve been tracking the actual value that I’ve gained from this card in the last 12 months. This is the actual value I would have paid in cash for each benefit.

1. $240 Entertainment Credit: $20/month. Value for me is $7/month. I pay $2/month for Hulu, $2/month for Disney Plus and $3/month for NYT Games. Value: $84
2. $200 Fine Hotel Resorts: $200/year. Value for me this year was $200. I booked a hotel and ended up canceling it, but they still credited me anyways. Value: $200
3. $200 Flight Credit: $200/year. Value for me is $150. I just buy Southwest credits, but I haven’t flown Southwest in awhile because their prices aren’t competitive anymore. Value: $150
4. $100 Saks Credit: $50 biannually. Value for me is $83. I have a local Saks and just buy gift cards. Value: $83
5. $200 Uber Cash: Value is me is $140, or 70% of face value. In the past 31 months I’ve used this card, I’ve used this organically 15 times for full value. In the other months, I forced myself to use the credit at the end of the month. Value: $140
6. Clear membership: Value for me is $20. I use it about 5 times a year, but only if there is a line at pre-check. I mostly use this in Las Vegas, where the pre-check line in terminal 3 has gotten longer. Value: $20
7. Walmart+ Membership: Value for me is $10. I used it for free shipping about 5 times last year. Value: $10
8. Priority Pass membership: Value for me is $20. I’ve used this 2 times a year at minute suites and sleeping rooms inside the airport. This is useful since the Capital One priority pass membership doesn’t cover these. Value: $20
9. Marriott Gold and Hilton Gold: Value for me was $20. I only stayed at Marriotts and Hiltons about 4 times this year. I think I got late checkout and some bonus points but the benefits were barely noticeable. Value: $20
10. Amex Offers: $30. The Amex Platinum had a couple unique offers as part of their 40th anniversary. Value: $30
11. Amex Centurion Access: Value for me is roughly $160. Last year, I entered a Centurion Lounge about 40 times. Mostly at the LAS location and a couple of times at LAX. Since I usually had other lounge options, I would value this at $4/visit or $160. This may seem low, but I usually get to the airport very close to departure and I honestly would not make the trek over for a 20 minute visit to the lounge if it wasn’t free. Value: $160

So the total real value, the amount I would have paid out of pocket for these benefits, was $917 per year, which more than offsets the $695 annually fee.

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