Amex Platinum For $0 First Year Fee (For Some Consumers)

Disclosure: I do not receive a commission for this card.

First of all, this offer for the American Express Platinum does not come with any bonus offer. That’s right – a credit card with no incentive for sign-up, but this card is always a great card to have. The perks and benefits of the card are substantial (and ones that I have covered before) and include:

• Annual $200 Reimbursement for Airline Incidentals (covers things like bag fees, change fees, premium seat fees, etc. while not officially covered, it has also given automatic reimbursement for airline gift card purchases) – $200 per calendar year
• Airport Lounge Access  for Delta Skyclubs, Centurion Lounges, and gives a Priority Pass lounge membership)
• Global Entry Fee Reimbursement (a one-time fee reimbursement for a Global Entry application fee – $100)
• Insurance (covers a wide variety of travel scenarios and provides excellent coverage for many situations)
• Starwood Preferred Guest Gold Elite status
• Much more – read about it here

One of the things I had taken advantage of a few times and really appreciated was the Concierge service offered by American Express. It was helpful for the scenarios I needed it for and was something I appreciated having on the card. While I would not get the card just for this, it is nice to have!

Amex Platinum for $0 First Year Fee

So, what is the point of getting a card that gives no sign-up bonus? The reason is that this card carries a $450 annual fee – not waived for the first year! While the big point bonuses of 50,000 and 100,000 Membership Reward points help to offset that, the current bonus is only 25,000 Membership Reward points. If you are not currently eligible for a bonus (if you have had the American Express Plat card in the last 12 months) or if you do not want to pay the fee but would really appreciate the benefits, this would be a great offer to take advantage of.

YMMV (your mileage may vary)

Application Link – American Express Platinum with no annual fee for the first year

This offer is available on the Ameriprise page and it mentions that it is for Ameriprise customers. However, there have been many reports about people who did not have a relationship with Ameriprise still getting this card. If you are an Ameriprise customer, you should have no problem taking advantage of the fee free offer. For all others, just know that it is ymmv (as Gary mentioned when he wrote about this a couple of years ago). The reason I think that this may be a timely card is twofold – many people have cancelled the Amex Plat card in January after getting the 100K bonus in 2012 and American Express Plat is losing its benefit of access to AA and US Air lounges. If you do decide to go for this deal, just remember this – holding this card will prevent you from receiving a larger bonus on a Platinum card for 12 months after you close this card.