The 60K Mercedes-Benz Platinum AMEX will be going away by January 2019. Language on the application page now reads “Please note that the American Express and Mercedes Benz Card program will end in January 2019. Applicants can continue to apply for the Platinum Card from American Express exclusively for Mercedes-Benz, but, if approved, the Card will be replaced with a different American Express Card at the time when the Card program ends.”
The Mercedes-Benz Platinum AMEX card is only #10 on our Best Travel Credit Cards page, but it's been a good card to get for those who haven't had it before. That's because AMEX signup bonuses are once in a lifetime, so if you've previously earned a signup bonus for the regular AMEX Platinum and AMEX Business Platinum, you can't earn bonuses for those cards (or other AMEX cards) again.
But since the Mercedes-Benz Platinum is considered a separate product from the regular AMEX Platinum, you can earn the signup bonus for it if you haven't previously had this exact card. That's helpful, since it's increasingly hard to earn credit card signup bonuses, given Chase 5/24 restrictions on most attractive Chase rewards cards, and Citi's restriction of not being able to earn a signup bonus on a Citi AAdvantage card if you've opened or closed another Citi AAdvantage card within the past 24 months.
The downside? As with the regular AMEX Platinum, the Mercedes-Benz Platinum comes with a hefty $550 annual fee, which is not waived the first year. Not only is this more expensive than the Chase Sapphire Reserve's $450 annual fee; the AMEX Platinum cards, including the Mercedes-Benz Platinum, only provide for a $200 airline incidental fee credit, far less generous than the CSR's $300 annual travel statement credit, since AMEX excludes airline tickets and you must designate a single airline after you get the card.
Here are the card details:
- 60,000 Membership Rewards points after $5000 spend within the first 3 months
- Points may be transferred to Aeroplan, ANA, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Delta, Singapore KrisFlyer, and other AMEX Membership Rewards partners; there are sometimes transfer bonuses for transfer partners such as British Airways
- $200 airline fee credit (some have managed to get this twice, because it's in a calendar year)
- 5X points per $1 on eligible Mercedes-Benz purchases, 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
- $550 annual fee is NOT waived the first year
Let's say you're able to convert the $200 airline incidental credit to a near cash equivalent, with American or Delta gift card purchases. That's still a $350 annual fee, and you have to spend $5000 over the course of the first 3 months to earn the 60,000 signup bonus. That's roughly the equivalent of buying Membership Rewards points at 0.58 cents per point, which is a good deal. That said, for many folks, there's some opportunity cost as that spend could be deployed elsewhere, towards minimum spend for other cards.
Are you planning to apply for the 60K AMEX Mercedes-Benz Platinum before the offer is pulled?
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