Amex increases Platinum authorized user fee, changes digital entertainment credit

18.08.2023 - 07:09 / thepointsguy.com

If you've got The Platinum Card® from American Express, listen up: Some big changes are coming to the authorized fee structure — and you won't necessarily like them.

Plus, there are some minor changes to the digital entertainment credit and welcome offer in addition to another tweak coming to other American Express cards.

Let's get the bad news out of the way first.

Authorized user fees for additional Platinum cards will jump to $195 per card (see rates and fees). Previously, Amex offered three additional Platinum cards for a total of $175, then $175 for each additional Platinum card after the first three.

These changes are effective immediately for new cardmembers who sign up on or after Aug. 17. It gets a little more complicated for current Platinum cardmembers.

Amex will be sending legal notices to all existing cardmembers with a personalized date for when the updated fee structure will go into effect. Be on the lookout for your notice — until then, you'll continue to pay $175 for up to three additional Platinum cards.

As you can see, this is a massive fee increase, and it'll likely cause many cardmembers to reconsider their Platinum card strategy.

If you've only had one authorized user on your Platinum card in recent years, then this change will represent a manageable $20 increase in your total annual fee. However, if you're like me and have three additional family members on your Platinum account, expect to pay a whopping $585 in additional annual fees on top of the steep $695 annual fee for the primary Platinum card. This represents a $410 (or over 230%) increase from the previous fee structure.

It's worth mentioning that the primary Platinum card annual fee, which is $695, isn't changing as part of this update.

Authorized Platinum cardmembers receive many of the same benefits afforded to the primary cardholder, including:

Authorized users don't get the additional $200 airline fee credit or $240 digital entertainment credit that primary cardmembers do, so you'll want to crunch the numbers to see if additional Platinum cards still make sense for you and your loved ones.

While American Express declined to share why it's making these fee increases, it likely stems partly from airport lounge overcrowding. Amex (and its competitors) have built a network of top-notch lounges that often suffer from long lines and waitlists to enter.

Part of that is due to the sheer number of Platinum cards issued. Raising the annual fee for authorized users is certainly one lever that should cut down on the number of Platinum cards in circulation, which could theoretically reduce lounge overcrowding.

It's worth mentioning that the Platinum card's top competitors offer a much more economical authorized user fee