Updated on August 31, 2016

What is the Amex Ameriprise Platinum Card

The Amex Ameriprise Platinum charge card is one of several versions of the Platinum card offered by American Express. Unlike most Amex Platinum cards, the Ameriprise card waives the annual fee in the first year. It is intended for Ameriprise Financial clients, however, neither Amex nor Ameriprise check (or at least not yet). The real kicker are the benefits this card offers!

 

What are the Primary Benefits / Perks

The following are the main benefits of the Amex Ameriprise Platinum card:

• $450 annual fee waived the first year
• $175 authorized user fee waived the first year
• $200 airline fee credit for primary cardholder
  • You can use these credits towards Amazon.com electronic gift cards
• Global Entry for primary and ALL authorized users (value $100 per person)
• Centurion lounge access for primary and ALL authorized users
• Priority Pass Select access for primary and ALL authorized users
• Delta Sky Club lounge access for primary and ALL authorized users

Why are These Benefits / Perks so Valuable

The standard Amex Platinum card charges $175 for the first 3 authorized users / secondary cardholders and $175 for each additional after 3.  The Amex Ameriprise, however, waives the authorized user fee, and as Rapid Travel Chai hints towards, you can have as many authorized users as you like and the fee for all of them is waived the first year.

Since the Global Entry, Priority Pass Select, Centurion lounge, and Delta Sky Club access perks are included for all authorized users, this is very valuable, especially during the first card-member year.

I am sure we all have friends and family members who refuse to sign up for credit cards – makes me question my friendship and my family bloodline!  Taking this one step further, these individuals may be the ideal person to add as authorized users.  If you don't feel comfortable with certain individuals carrying a charge card linked to your primary account, you can simply hang onto their Platinum cards and only give them the Priority Pass Select card.

When is the Best Time to Apply

Absent of a 25k signup bonus, the best time to sign up for the Amex Ameriprise Platinum card is mid-December of any given year.  Why?  That's because of the card's $200 air fee credit that works on a calendar year basis.  So assuming you apply 12/14/16, that means you have the remainder of 2016 (~15 days) to spend $200, all of 2017 to spend a new $200, and finally, you should be able to do another $200 during the first few days of 2018 during your first card-member year. Should you decide the annual fee is not worth paying for an additional year, Amex will refund the $450 annual fee as long as you cancel within 30 days from the date the annual fee was billed.

Amex Platinum cards usually ship either overnight or 1 day shipping, so you should receive the card by 12/16/16 in the example above.  Amex has been very generous with their bonus offers over the years and they offer some of the best service out there. The $200/yr credits mentioned above can potentially more than offsets the annual fee. I generally like to give Amex some business (via annual fee) so I plan to keep the Amex Ameriprise Platinum card a 2nd year since the 1st year was comped.

However, if you really want to maximize like our friends over at Will Run For Miles, you can potentially cancel within the specified time-frame and end up paying $0 in annual fees.  She goes 1 step further and hints that you can avoid the annual fee forever (theoretically) since Amex will approve you again after a few months after cancelling the previous Amex Ameriprise Platinum card.

(WWRBD) What Would TheRewardBoss Do?

If you do NOT have any travel plans the rest of this year where you would be able to take advantage of the Global Entry, Priority Pass Select, Centurion lounge, and Delta Sky Club perks, hold off until mid-December before applying for the Amex Ameriprise Platinum card so you can potentially triple-dip the $200 airline fee credit. Maybe they will bring back a sign up bonus too.

If you DO have upcoming travel plans, you may be better off applying for the Amex Mercedes Benz Platinum card – it is currently offering the highest signup bonus ever at 75,000 bonus Membership Reward points after a mere $3,000 spend (first 3 months). The annual fee is NOT waived, but my post explains why this is worth it.

Application Link

• Apply Here (not an affiliate link)

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