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There is a targeted offer available through creditcards.com’s CardMatch Tool for 100,000 Membership Rewards for spending $6,000 on your new The Platinum Card® from American Express within 6 months of account opening. This 100k offer resurfaces periodically. It is worth checking again if you weren’t targeted the last time as they target different rounds of customers each time.
A 100,000 bonus makes this a can’t-miss card for just about anyone. Check out this full review of the Amex Platinum Card to see why.
Even more exciting is word of a new, bigger targeted sign up bonus of 125,000 Membership Rewards for spending $6,000 within 6 months on the Amex Platinum. If you don’t see the 125k offer pop up via the CardMatch Tool, try checking within your Amex online account in Your Amex Prequalified Offers.
Membership Rewards transfer to around 20 hotel and airline programs, spanning all three alliances, like Delta, All Nippon Airways, Etihad, Virgin Atlantic, and Aeroplan. Needless to say the points are very valuable for travel all over the world.
Standard Bonus vs. Targeted Bonuses
The current public offer for the Platinum Card from American Express is 100,000 Membership Rewards for spending $6,000 in three months (terms apply), so these targeted offers are significantly better. I value Membership Rewards around 2 cents each, making it worth a whopping $1,300 more.
How to Check CardMatch to See if You’re Targeted
Click here to navigate to the CardMatch tool. Fill in the information requested on the landing page, and click GET MATCHES at the bottom of the form.
Don’t worry, the site specifically states that a hard credit score will not be performed (so your credit score will not be affected).
Hopefully you see something like this (note that creditcards.com reformatted their site since this screenshot was taken, so it looks a bit different)…
Some people’s 100k offer shows up right away on the landing page after clicking GET MATCHES, but some may need to click CARDMATCH SPECIAL OFFERS in the toolbar on the left side of the landing page in order to reveal the 100k Platinum offer. Note that not everyone will have the CARDMATCH SPECIAL OFFERS box to check, so if you don’t see it, doesn’t mean something’s wrong with yours. It just means you weren’t targeted.
I, for example, was not given the “CARDMATCH SPECIAL OFFERS” box in the FEATURES column on the left-hand side of my screen. Some people are, some people aren’t. This is what my results look like:
Try Checking Inside Your Amex Account
People have reported finding the 125k targeted bonus offer within the “Your Amex Prequalified Offers” section of their Amex accounts. Don’t forget to check there as well if you have an Amex account. Hat tip: Doctor of Credit.
Bonus Eligibility
You can only get the bonus on an American Express card once per “lifetime”. Amex records seem to drop off for most around seven years, so an Amex “lifetime” is about that long.
However, if you were targeted for an American Express offer, sometimes you can still be approved even if you have had the card before. You’ll need to check the offer terms to see if it reads, “Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product.” If it says that in the terms, then the loophole doesn’t apply. If it doesn’t say that in the terms, then it shouldn’t matter if you’ve had the card previously and you’re eligible for this offers’ bonus.
Scan the offer terms and conditions to see if the loophole applies to your targeted offer. If you currently hold or have held this card before, the terms must not contain any language referencing ineligibility. Do not apply if it does.
There are a few other things to remember when considering your eligibility for Amex cards. Read Issuing Banks Rules for Approvals and New Bonuses to learn more.
My Experience This Go Around
I was not targeted this time. BOO! I never have been, actually. But I’m not surprised as I currently don’t have an Amex card, and haven’t actively spent on one in while. My focus right now is nailing all the big Chase card bonuses before moving on to other banks. I made one exception by opening the Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard at the end of last year, as I knew it wouldn’t count in my 5/24 total.
Did the last paragraph sound like a foreign language to you? The Chase 5/24 rule refers to the fact that Chase bank denies applicants for their credit cards once they’ve opened five consumer credit cards in the prior 24 months. You do not need to count most business credit cards in that total, as most aren’t lumped in to your 5/24 total. Exceptions are cards issued by Capital One, Discover, and TD Bank, all of which will count in your 5/24 total.
Summary of Amex Platinum Benefits
The card has a $695 annual fee (Rates & Fees), which sounds intimidating. But if you travel often, you’ll earn that annual fee back and make money on top:
- Up to $200 in airline incidental fee credit in 2020, and another $200 in airline incidental fees in 2021 before your second annual fee is due. (Enrollment required)
- Up to $200 in Uber credit per year doled out monthly. (Enrollment required)
- Access to American Express Centurion Lounges (which are the nicest domestic lounges), Priority Pass lounges (Enrollment required), as well as International American Express lounges and Airspace lounges for a year for that price. That’s the most comprehensive lounge access out of all the premium travel credit cards.
- 5x category bonus for purchases directly from airlines and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com
Not to mention the massive bonus of Membership Rewards (depending on which you’re targeted for) should be worth roughly $2,000 to $2,500 if you transfer them to partners for one or several high value, international, premium cabin awards.
For more info on setting up and maximizing the benefits, see Get the Most Out of Your Platinum Card.
Keep an Eye Out for the Amex Gold
There’s also an elevated bonus for the American Express® Gold Card floating around on Cardmatch right now: 50,000 Membership Rewards for spending $2,000 within three month. You can check if you’re targeted the same way as outlined above.
Bottom Line
Check to see if you’re targeted for a 100,000 or 125,000 Membership Rewards bonus for the American Express Platinum Card. No hard credit pull is performed when using the CardMatch Tool.
Don’t see either in Cardmatch? Check Your Amex Prequalified Offers, which is where some are seeing the 125k bonus.
Good luck! Let us know if you got lucky.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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