Compare the Features and Benefits of The Platinum Card® from American Express and
United Quest℠ 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. A 2025 refresh of this card added a slew of additional benefits and statement credits as the annual fee rose to $895 (Rates and Fees). On balance, the additional perks well exceeded the annual fee increase.

We see at least $1,700 in “very easy to use” statement credits on top of the benefits like Centurion airport lounge access, Priority Pass Lounge access, Delta lounge access when flying Delta up to 10 times a year), hotel status in three programs, car rental status in multiple programs, access to Fine Hotels and Resorts perks, access to Resy perks (including Resy Nights – exclusive access for Platinum cardholders on top of the statement credits of up to $100 per quarter).

The “very easy to use” statement credits we used to come up with that $1,700 is as follows:

• For the target Platinum cardholder, the $600 a year in FHR / Hotel Collection is easy to use. That’s just one reservation twice a year to get your $300 X 2 back.
• For those that live in major cities, you probably already eat at a Resy restaurant once every 3 months. That is another $400 in statement credits.
• We don’t think we know anyone that doesn’t use $25 a month in streaming services given the exhaustive list of providers (Disney+, a Disney+ bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Paramount+, Peacock, The Wall Street Journal, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV). That’s $300 more back in statement credits
• If you agree you are likely to use most or all the above, you probably already ride Uber or order Uber Eats at least once or twice a month? That’s $200 more in statement credits.
• Most travelers should be using the $200 incidental airline credit easily and that’s the last $200 in credits we consider “very easy to use.”

In this scenario, you have paid an annual fee of $895, received $1,700 in value from just some of the available credits, and we haven’t even assigned any value to the airport lounge access, hotel status (Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, and Leader’s Club Sterling), car rental program status, Resy perks, or the statement credits that many will use even if we didn’t include them in our “base case” such as the monthly Uber One membership credit, lululemon, Equinox, Oura Ring, and the Walmart+ credit.

That’s more than $1,000 in additional potential statement credit value.

Please keep in mind that enrollment is required for most benefits above, and Terms Apply; refer to the “Unique Card Benefits” section, the “Statement Credits” section, the “Grants Hotel Status” section, and the “Grants Car Rental Status” sections above for all details.

Beyond the access to Fine Hotels and Resorts and the Hotel Collection, and beyond the airport lounge access and hotel / car rental statuses, 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) as well as 5X on prepaid hotels through Amex Travel.

Since the card earns 1X on all other purchases, we recommend pairing this card with the American Express® Gold Card, which earns 4X American Express Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 a year; 1X thereafter) and 4X Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on U.S. Supermarkets* (up to $25,000 a year; 1X thereafter).

When paired, you’ve got a tremendously powerful card combo for both spend and lifestyle / travel perks.

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:

Rates and Fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express

The United Quest Card is a fantastic option for United flyers that travel with the airline at least several times per year. There are also a number of unique perks that you don’t see on other airline credit cards. Let’s take a closer look.

First, $200 in United® TravelBank cash after account opening and annually on your account anniversary, is easy to use since it’s sitting in your TravelBank account waiting for you to use it! You’ll also automatically get 10,000 United miles back into your account after you redeem United miles for an award flight once per year.

Finally, this card also benefits those that overpack when they travel — the Quest card provides not one, but two free checked bags for the primary card holder and one companion traveling on the same reservation. That’s a potential luggage reimbursement savings of up to $440 per round trip.

Two of the perks, the $200 United credit and up to 10,000 mileage reimbursement, already go far in making the $350 annual fee worth it, especially since these are unique benefits that aren’t duplicated on other United credit cards.

In addition to offering a generous United Quest Card bonus, the card also includes a 25% discount on food and beverages on United operated flights and a wide array of travel and purchase protections. On the bonus category front, there’s a wide array including the ability to earn 3X miles on United Airlines purchases (after the $200 United credit is applied), 2X miles on the broad category of travel, 2X miles on dining, including eligible delivery services, and 2X miles on select streaming services.

There are also a huge range of both Unique Card Benefits and Annual Statement credits as described in the sections above, like up to $100 in credits on rideshare purchases annually, up to $80 in Avis/Budget credits annually, up to $150 in JSX statement credits annually, and up to $180 of Instacart credits annually.

And don’t forget the ability to earn PQPs towards elite status from spend. Earn up to 18,000 Premier qualifying points per calendar year (1 PQP for every $20 you spend on purchases) plus the bonus 1,000 Card Bonus PQP each qualification year, starting in 2026.

More frequent United Airlines flyers may want to consider the $695-per-year United Club Infinite card, a more premium card that offers airport lounge access. Meanwhile, those United travelers who travel a bit less frequently may want to consider the $150-per-year United Explorer card.