Compare the Features and Benefits of The Platinum Card® from American Express and
Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

💳 This card earns American Express Membership Rewards points. American Express often runs transfer bonuses where you can get even more points when you transfer to airline or hotel partners at designated times. Transfer bonuses are awesome. Get 20%, 30%, 40% or more bonus miles when you transfer points at the right times. But they are easy to miss!

You can see all past Transfer Bonuses from American Express Membership Rewards here.

Even better? Get notified when a new transfer bonus comes out and again before it ends (either or both, your choice). Sign up for free alerts right here. 🔔

In many ways, the American Express Platinum card is the crème de la crème of premium travel rewards credit cards. There are not only a laundry list of embedded perks — from hotel and rental car elite statuses to complimentary access to airport lounges through the Global Lounge Collection — but this card also can provide serious value in the form of statement credits with partner merchants. You can see the full list of benefits above.

Truth be told, it may require some work to fully maximize the card’s many perks but it shouldn’t be difficult to recoup at least some, if not all, of the card’s $695 annual fee (Rates and Fees).

An overhaul of the Platinum in 2021 showed Amex wanted to expand this card well beyond travel. While it’s unlikely the Platinum will ever fully shed its decades-long roots in the travel sphere, Amex also hopes to play a role at the top of your wallet whether you are at home or away.

Of course, on the travel front, the card still earns 5X on airfare purchased directly with the airlines or through the Amex Travel portal (on up to $500,000 of airfare purchases per calendar year), 5X on prepaid hotels, provides the most access to lounges of any card issuer, and has built-in travel protections and elite-status perks. This is on top of all the other relatively-recent lifestyle benefit additions — from Uber credits, Equinox credits, preferred restaurant reservations with Resy, and much, much more.

A few notes you need to know:

Amex now has language restricting you from getting the bonus on this Card if you have or have had this card OR have had this Card, the Platinum Card^® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card^® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards.

Additional Platinum cards are $195 each.

If you want an Authorized User card with none of the benefits, that is still available as the “Companion Platinum Card.” They will simply be able to make charges that post to your account.

Bottom Line:

While the Platinum is a solid choice for most cardholders looking to level up their travel experience, consider other options from both Chase and Capital One including the $550-per-year Chase Sapphire Reserve and $395-per-year Capital One Venture X credit card.

Rates and Fees for the The Platinum Card® from American Express

While there are plenty of travel rewards enthusiasts that want to earn points and miles with a trendy new credit card, the Bank of America Travel Rewards credit card is made for others that just want to earn a free trip with a few fees and hassles as possible. It also offers 1.5 points per dollar spent on all purchases, and those points are worth one cent each as statement credits towards any travel or dining purchases. Points can also be used to pay for baggage fees in addition to other travel expenses such as flights, hotels, vacation packages, and dining/takeout purchases. (Most people would assume the credits are only towards travel so it’s nice that Bank of America includes the statement credit to be applied against dining purchases.

But the best value is offered to Bank of America Preferred Rewards members who can earn a 25%, 50% or 75% bonus, depending on their status within the program. Those with top status can earn as much as 2.62 points per dollar, which is truly exceptional for Preferred Rewards members. These points never expire so long as you account remains open.

Best of all, there’s no annual fee for this card, and no foreign transaction fees imposed on purchases made outside the U.S., so you don’t have to worry about that when traveling.

Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card vs. Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card

Editor’s Note: It’s a question I had, so I thought you might too. The primary differences are that the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card has no foreign transaction fees but redeeming your points is slightly limited in that they can only be redeemed against travel and dinning purchases whereas the Bank of America® Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card has no limitations on cashing out your points for cash, but does charge a foreign transaction fee. So, they are pretty similar, but you would choose this one if you travel internationally and probably choose the Unlimited if you don’t leave the USA.