Is It Worth The Annual Fee? The American Express Credit Card

Credit cards... are they good? Bad? 

What about ones with annual fees - are they worth it? 

Everyone has an opinion on them. If you use a credit cards in the correct way, they can be very beneficial... and maybe even make you money. 

So lets take a deep dive into one of my personal credit cards, the American Express Platinum card. This card currently has a $695 annual fee to be a member... so lets check out what we get for that membership fee each year. 

I use this card for business expenses, so I currently do not have a spending limit. But that doesn't mean I can buy whatever I want on the card - they will definitely adjust that limit if necessary. 

Not only does this card give bonus points for many purchases, but I want to specifically address the benefits that have direct money-back value to see if the card is worth the $695 each year. 

-$200 Airline Fee Credit

For this perk, I can choose an airline and receive up to $200 back for any incidentals when flying with that airline when I use my card. Unfortunately, sometimes paying for in-flight internet may not always apply to this.  You can also have Centurion Lounge Guest Access with $75,000/year in spending.

-$400 back per year with Dell Technologies

Now if you're a Mac user and may not go the PC route, Dell offers so many other things on their websites, such as laptop bags or Nest alarms. The only thing to point out is that the $400 is broken up over the year, so $200 every six months.

-$189 CLEAR Credit

CLEAR makes travelling easier to move through security at airports which is an awesome benefit.

-TSA PreCheck Credit with Global Entry Fee Credit

-$100 Credit for The Hotel Collection with American Express Travel

Right here, I've easily made the $695 back in benefits in things I'll actually use. I'm not going out of my way to force the card to work for me. 

Some noticeable features that may be useful too:

-$90 per quarter for Indeed if you hire frequently. Does not apply to me but is still a great perk if you can use it.

-$150 per year in Adobe Pro

-Gold Status with Marriott and Hilton Hotels 

-Amex Offers and Benefits at retailers, such as FedEx, Dyson, GoPro

Some benefits I want to point out that may not be most beneficial:

-$120/year cell phone bill credit. The only reason why this may not be the best option is due to many cell phone providers preferring their customers to pay with ACH or debit cards. Using a credit card may remove any promotional discount due to the company having to pay a processing fee.

-Cell Phone Protection. This does offer $50 twice a year ($100 a year total) in credit for cell phone repair. The caveat is that you need to pay the cell phone bill with the credit card instead of a debit card. 

Originally when you look into getting this card, you're going to be thinking to yourself: $695 a year?!

But if you take the time to break down all the perks for a card, you'll see it may pay off over the year. This applies to many cards with annual fees - take a deep dive into what the card can offer you and decide if the fee outweighs the benefit.