When it comes to money, I embrace my inner savvy spender. I rarely check out my online shopping without using a voucher. I watch plane ticket prices like a hawk before booking my flight and use a credit card that gives me free travel insurance. I pore through reviews of restaurants before making a booking on a restaurant reservation platform to enjoy more dining discounts. In short, I make my money count. Every. Last. Dollar.
That’s why when I first heard that The Platinum Card® by American Express comes with up to S$8,157 worth of benefits for an annual fee of S$1,728, my first thought was: “Challenge accepted”. If I’m paying that amount of annual fee, you can bet I’m gonna have a game plan to maximise every dollar.
The Platinum Card® by American Express gives you up to S$8,157 worth of benefits a year, which means you enjoy about S$680 worth of freebies in a month on average. And that’s exactly what I plan to do. Here’s what my month would look like, week by week, on my mission to max out The Platinum Card’s travel, lifestyle, access, and membership benefits.
Can this writer maximise up to S$8,157 worth of benefits that the Platinum Card® by American Express offers?
- Defining my goals—What benefits does The Platinum Card by American Express offer?
- Can you maximise The Platinum Card’s benefits?
- Is The Platinum Card’s annual fee worth it?
Defining my goals—What benefits does The Platinum Card® by American Express offer?
The Platinum Card comes with a slew of travel, lifestyle, access, and membership benefits. Here’s the breakdown:
| Benefit type | Annual benefits | Average monthly benefits |
| Travel | S$2,247 | S$187.25 |
| Lifestyle | S$2,414 | S$201.17 |
| Access | S$2,496 | S$208 |
| Membership Rewards® | S$1,000 | S$83.30 |
| TOTAL | S$8,157 | S$679.75 |
If we average out the annual benefits, we get about S$680 worth of monthly benefits. The plan for the next 4 weeks is to hit this S$680 goal and maximise that amount of benefits. Let’s go!
Week 1: Shopping and entertainment
Looking at my calendar for the next few months, it’s going to be wedding season for the rest of the year. I’d say it’s high time I invest in a dress worthy of wearing to fancy ballroom weddings.
Thus, my journey with The Platinum Card begins with a visit to shopping site NET-A-PORTER, a luxury retailer for women’s fashion, beauty and lifestyle. Here, I can use The Platinum Card’s S$150 fashion credit* to offset the cost of a swanky new dress. This S$150 is split into two lots of S$75 in statement credits every 6-month redemption period (1 January to 30 June and 1 July to 31 December). FYI, the fashion credit also applies to NET-A-PORTER’s menswear counterpart, MR PORTER.
Sitting through weddings is a tiring business. When I get home and have time to myself, I’m going to want my besties Netflix and Disney+ to relax and entertain me. With The Platinum Card, I can use their S$17 monthly entertainment credit to offset these entertainment subscriptions. If TV shows and movie streaming aren’t your thing, you can also choose to use this S$17 on news subscriptions and live events.
| Week 1 of maximising S$680 worth of The Platinum Card benefits | ||
| Category | What I bought | Benefits |
| Lifestyle | A new dress from Net-A-Porter (S$200) | S$75 (Fashion credit per 6-month redemption period) |
| Lifestyle | Entertainment subscription plan
(S$17.48/month) |
S$17 (Monthly news/entertainment credit) |
| Total benefits for week 1 | S$92 | |
This brings our savings from Week 1 to a total of S$92. That’s not a big proportion of the S$680 goal for the month, but it’s a start. Let’s see how we can continue to maximise The Platinum Card’s benefits in week 2.
Week 2: Date night
Date night starts early with a fancy dinner. My all-time favourite cuisine is Japanese (seriously, I could eat Japanese food every day) so we’re headed to Mikuni in Fairmont Singapore. Thanks to the American Express Love Dining @ Hotels dining privilege, for 2 pax dining, we can cut the bill by 50%. That means if we spend S$124 each (S$248 total) on an awabi chawanmushi ($45) to start, an unagi don ($54) as our main, and saikyo miso cheesecake ($25) for dessert, we only pay S$124 (before GST and service charge).
Next up, a movie. I personally prefer watching films at Shaw Theatres or Cathay Cineplexes, but we aren’t going to drive to and park in a shopping mall with a Shaw or Cathay cinema. That’s because I get all-day complimentary parking at Great World on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays^. What I’m going to do instead is park at Great World, then take a 15-minute ride on the Thomson East Coast Line to Shaw House. Don’t shake your head or tsk your tongue at me! I’ve told you from the start, I’m one heck of a savvy spender.
Weekend parking at Great World is S$1.65 per hour + GST but capped at a max of S$6 per entry + GST. So even though I expect to park at Great World for 3-4 hours, my total parking fee will remain at S$6.48.
| Week 2 of maximising S$680 worth of The Platinum Card benefits | ||
| Category | What I bought | Benefits |
| Lifestyle | Dinner at Mikuni (S$248) | S$124 |
| Access | Parking at Great World (S$6.48) | S$6.48 |
| Total benefits for week 2 | S$130.48 | |
| Cumulative benefits (weeks 1-2) | S$222.48 | |
Week 2 is the halfway mark of the month, and we’re still falling a little short of halfway to S$680. But we can and will make up for it in Week 3.
^Limited redemption is available, on a first-come, first-served basis.
Week 3: Golf
I like to keep an open mind and try new things. This month, that means hitting the greens with The Platinum Card’s Regional Golf Programme. This benefit gives me complimentary green fees if I bring along:
- 1 paying guest on weekdays
- 2 paying guests on weekends
I can enjoy a complimentary round of golf at over 40 golf partners around the region, including in Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. In Singapore, I have 3 choices: Orchid Country Club (OCC), Sembawang Country Club, and Warren Golf & Country Club. Based on OCC’s fees, as a golf noob and not a guest at OCC, my green fees are a whopping S$356.40 on weekends.
| Week 3 of maximising S$680 worth of The Platinum Card benefits | ||
| Category | What I bought | Benefits |
| Access | Green fees at Orchid Country Club | S$356.40 |
| Total benefits for week 3 | S$356.40 | |
| Cumulative benefits (weeks 1-3) | S$578.88 | |
S$578.88 is pretty close to our goal of S$680. Week 4, take us home!
Week 4: Scooting off to Japan
Remember how I said I love Japanese food? It’s time to take this to the next level and have Japanese food at its source. Yup, my gal pals and I are planning a visit to Japan at the end of the year.
With The Platinum Card, I get S$200 airline credit* every year (with a minimum purchase of $600) for flights on Singapore Airlines and Scoot. This even comes with worldwide travel insurance for me, my immediate family, my supplementary Card Members, and my supplementary Card Members’ immediate family.
| Week 4 of maximising S$680 worth of The Platinum Card benefits | ||
| Category | What I bought | Benefits |
| Travel | 1 round trip flight on Scoot to Tokyo, Japan (S$1,200#) | S$200 |
| Total benefits for week 4 | S$200 | |
| Cumulative benefits (weeks 1-4) | S$778.88 | |
You might be thinking, “What’s S$200 if I’m going to book a round-trip ticket to New York on Singapore Airlines?”. Well, the cool part is that Platinum members enjoy an accelerated earn rate of 5 Membership Rewards® points for every S$1.60 spent on Singapore Airlines and Scoot. That’s more than double the usual 2 Membership Rewards® points earned for every full S$1.60 spent in Singapore and abroad.
And with that, we fly past the S$680 mark with The Platinum Card.
*Enrolment required.
#Flight prices vary depending on factors such as time and date of departure and arrival.
Can you maximise the benefits of The Platinum Card® by American Express?
Yes, you can! I certainly did. In my 4-week plan, I easily exceeded the S$680 goal:
| Maximising $680 worth of The Platinum Card benefits over 4 weeks | |||
| Week | Category | What I bought | How much I saved |
| 1 | Lifestyle | A new dress from NET-A-PORTER (S$200) | S$75 (Fashion credit per 6-month redemption period) |
| Lifestyle | Entertainment subscription plan
(S$17.48/month) |
S$17 (Monthly news/entertainment credit) | |
| 2 | Lifestyle | Dinner at Mikuni (S$248) | S$124 |
| Access | Parking at Great World (S$6.48) | S$6.48 | |
| 3 | Access | Green fees at Orchid Country Club | S$356.40 |
| 4 | Travel | 1 round trip flight on Scoot to Tokyo, Japan (S$1,200) | S$200 |
| Grand total benefits | S$778.88 | ||
I’ll admit it. When I started writing this article, I was a little worried I would fail in my mission to hit S$680 worth of benefits with The Platinum Card. But it turns out, I can quite easily enjoy benefits worth S$778.88—with room to spare! There are many more perks I didn’t even get to touch just yet, such as:
- Travel: Unlimited lounge access to more than 1,400 airport lounges in about 650 cities# around the world, such as International American Express Lounges and Priority Pass™ lounges*. Platinum Members also have unlimited complimentary access to all locations of The Centurion Lounge and may bring up to 2 companions.
- Travel: Special rates and perks valued at S$800+ at over 1,300 properties worldwide that are part of Fine Hotels + Resorts
- Travel: Upgrades to higher tiers of leading hotel loyalty programmes, such as the Marriott Bonvoy™ and Hilton Honors
- Lifestyle: S$400 dining credit* each year to use at over 1,400 restaurants in 20 countries
- Lifestyle: S$400 lifestyle credit* (with a minimum purchase of S$600 in a single transaction) each year to use on wine, spa and other lifestyle experiences
- Lifestyle: Complimentary welcome drink or 1-for-1 drinks with Chillax by Platinum
- Access: Complimentary access to Tower Club Singapore’s dining and fitness facilities – the premier business club in Singapore
- Membership Rewards®: In addition to your base earn rate (2 Membership Rewards® points for every S$1.60 spent), earn accelerated Membership Rewards® points at over 50 Platinum 10Xcelerator partners. The best part about this is that your points don’t expire.
*Enrolment required.
#Guest access policies may vary internationally by location and are subject to change.
+Average value based on Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings in 2021 for stays of 2 nights. Actual value will vary based on property, room rate, upgrade availability, and use of benefits.
Is the annual fee of The Platinum Card® by American Express worth it?
If there’s one thing we’ve learnt today, it’s that you can realistically maximise The Platinum Card’s benefits by shopping, dining, and travelling. And these don’t even have to be huge expenditures, as we’ve seen above.
So we say, yes—it is worth it to pay S$1,728 in annual fees to enjoy the benefits worth up to S$8,157 that The Platinum Card gives you. In fact, some of these benefits extend to your supplementary Card Members as well, for which you can have up to 2 at no extra charge. So don’t write off The Platinum Card just because of its high annual fee. It comes with a heap of benefits which are very attainable.
For more information on The Platinum Card® by American Express, click here.
- for every S$1.60 spent
- Earn 2 Membership Rewards® points
- for every S$1.60 spent with 10Xcelerator by Membership Rewards®
- Earn 20 Membership Rewards® points
- on Membership Rewards® Points
- No Expiry Date
Receive a Samsonite Sigma Spinner 76cm Expandable (worth S$600) with annual fee payment in the first statementEnjoy this limited-time offer on top of up to 62,500 Membership Rewards® points with a minimum spending of S$10,000 within the first 3 months of card approval. For new-to-American Express Card Members only. Valid from 1-14 August 2023. T&Cs apply. Don’t have an American Express Card yet? Click here to find out more. |
This post was written in collaboration with American Express. While we are financially compensated by them, we nonetheless strive to maintain our editorial integrity and review products with the same objective lens. We are committed to providing the best information in order for you to make personal financial decisions with confidence. You can view our Editorial Guidelines here.