What’s Inside: 2022/23 AMEX Platinum Charge membership pack

Upon approval or renewal of an AMEX Platinum Charge, cardholders will receive a membership pack in the mail. This consists of a welcome letter, benefits guide, and a set of travel, dining and lifestyle vouchers.

I’ve just received my 2022/23 membership pack, which contains a total of 27 vouchers. Unlike previous years, AMEX no longer issues physical vouchers for the S$400 airline and S$400 hotel credit. These have been completely digitised, and can be redeemed via the AMEX Travel Portal.

Of course, not all vouchers are equally useful. I sort them into three piles: Keep, Maybe & Throw. Do note that the selection of vouchers can change throughout the year, so what you get for your membership year may not match mine exactly.

AMEX Platinum Charge Vouchers: Keep

Let’s start with the biggest prize of the lot: a Complimentary 1-night Hotel Stay voucher. As of the time of writing, this is valid at the following properties: 

Breakfast for two adults is included at all hotels except the Ritz-Carlton Millennia Singapore and Mandarin Oriental Singapore. All bookings are non-changeable and non-refundable, so confirm your plans before making a reservation.

If you want to extract maximum value, you should probably avoid the Angsana properties and focus on the other brands. I redeemed my most recent voucher at the Banyan Tree Lang Co, and found it to be a pretty good experience- though Lang Co’s location might not be for everyone. 

The S$100 Tower Club voucher can be spent at Atlantic, Ba Xian or Straits Bar. Advance reservations must be made via the AMEX Platinum concierge. 

I’m not a fan of the food at Atlantic, and Ba Xian is difficult to book (everyone wants to visit on Saturday when dim sum is 50% off), so I tend to use my voucher at Straits Bar during Oyster Nights (currently Wednesday & Friday). Oysters are S$3 apiece, and on Fridays, Laurent Perrier Brut champagne is 1-for-1 (S$26 for two glasses). 

Do note that non-Tower Club members pay a 10% mark-up on everything (on top of the usual service charge and GST), so the actual value of this voucher is closer to S$91. 

The S$50 Wan Hao voucher requires a minimum spend of S$100 before GST and service charge, and is not valid with Love Dining. Why bother, when Love Dining already offers 50% off? 

• Love Dining privileges don’t apply to drinks, while the S$50 voucher does
• Love Dining privileges don’t apply to the dim sum menu, while the S$50 voucher does
• Love Dining offers 50% off only for parties of two, but the S$50 voucher has no minimum number of diners

So it’s basically a discount on a nice dim sum lunch for about 3-4 pax, depending on how hungry you are.

The S$50 Mikuni or 90-min body massage at Willow Stream Spa voucher is new this year. Unfortunately, reports indicate that the voucher is poorly worded- you get S$50 off Mikuni or S$50 off a 90-minute body massage. Since the voucher does not stack with Love Dining discounts, you’ll only find it useful if the savings outweigh the loss in Love Dining discount. 

The 2x complimentary cake or wine vouchers at Fairmont Singapore/Swissotel The Stamford require a minimum order of one dine-in item. Most people simply have a coffee or dessert and redeem both vouchers each time. The wine/cake can be taken to go; there’s no need to consume it at the restaurant. 

If you’re opting for the cake, do let them know beforehand because they need to prepare it ahead of time. 

AMEX Platinum Charge Vouchers: Maybe

The 30% off Wan Hao Restaurant voucher isn’t stackable with Love Dining benefits, but once again remember:

• Love Dining privileges don’t apply to drinks, while the 30% off voucher does
• Love Dining privileges don’t apply to the dim sum menu, while the 30% off voucher does
• Love Dining offers 50% off only for parties of two, but the 30% off voucher is valid regardless of party size

If you’re dining as a group of four or more, this could be useful…

…and if your bill at Wan Hao exceeds S$200 (before GST and service charge), you can use the complimentary bottle of house wine voucher too.

The S$100 Wooloomooloo voucher requires a minimum spend of S$250 before GST and service charge, and does not stack with Love Dining discounts. Why it might be useful nonetheless is because Love Dining discounts only apply to a specific Love Dining set menu that costs S$168++ per person. 

If you don’t fancy the items here (or if you’re dining with a larger party where the discount is <50%), then getting S$100 off S$250 would be a better deal.

I doubt I could ever rustle up a posse of 8-10 diners, but if I could, then the 50% off Asian Market Café voucher wouldn’t be the worst deal. This halal-certified buffet costs S$84-88++ per adult (and there’s oysters on weekends).

AMEX Platinum Charge Vouchers: Throw

Now we come to the trash pile, and unfortunately there’s a lot of junk to rid ourselves of. How little do I care about these? So little I’m not even going to bother censoring the vouchers’ serial numbers. 

Once upon a time, the AMEX Platinum Charge came with three (or maybe four, I forget) complimentary spa treatments. Yup, they were completely free-of-charge, provided you were willing to sit through a brief “do you want to buy a package” spiel at the end. 

These were later replaced with cash vouchers that require minimum spends:

• S$100 Adeva Spa (min. spend S$180)
• S$100 Spa Rael (min. spend S$180)
• S$130 The Spa By The Ultimate (min. spend S$180)
• S$130 The Ultimate (min. spend S$180)

Now, if you’re the sort who already visits these places, and if you enjoy the service there, then by all means keep the vouchers and value them accordingly.

But if you’re like me, they’ll just take up space in your drawer.  

I did a lot of staycations during the pandemic, but now that border restrictions have lifted, I’m much more interested in going overseas. This means the various discounted Fairmont Singapore/Swissotel The Stamford vouchers aren’t very useful to me (in fact, I haven’t used a single one since becoming a cardmember).

I just eyeballed the rates at the Fairmont Singapore/Swissotel The Stamford for the rest of the year, however, and they’re alarmingly high. If you’re planning to do a year-end staycation, then these vouchers could be good value- assuming you’re able to redeem them (blackout dates apply).

Last and certainly least are the S$50 JAAN and S$50 Basque Kitchen vouchers. It makes me sad to think that we once received 4 x S$50 St. Regis dining vouchers, which had no minimum spend and could be stacked with Love Dining discounts!

The JAAN and Basque Kitchen vouchers are miserly by comparison, limiting you to one voucher per visit with a minimum of two diners. Let me tell you that S$50 won’t even begin to make a dent on the cost of a two-person JAAN meal, which starts at S$138++ per person for lunch, and S$318++ per person for dinner. Basque Kitchen? S$288++ per person for lunch, and S$328++ per person for dinner. It’s so absurdly expensive that your S$50 voucher is at best a 15% discount, and at worst, just 6%!

If JAAN and Basque Kitchen have been on your bucket list, by all means try it once and use this voucher to offset some of the pain. Otherwise, this shouldn’t be seen as an enticement to visit.

Current AMEX Platinum Charge sign-up offer

Apply Here
	MR Points
Pay S$1,712 Annual Fee	N/A
Spend S$5,000 (Months 1-3)	35K (25K public + 10K MileLion)
Spend S$20,000 (Months 1-3)	75K
Base Points from S$20,000 (@ 2 pts/S$1.60)	25K
Total Spend	S$20K
Total Points	135K

From now till 31 January 2023, new AMEX Platinum Charge cardholders will receive up to 135,000 MR points when they sign-up, pay the S$1,712 annual fee (S$1,728 if you sign up in 2023) and spend S$20,000 in the first 3 months of approval. 

This is broken down into:

• 25,000 MR points for spending S$5,000 in the first 3 months 
  • +10,000 MR points if you apply through The MileLion
• 75,000 MR points for spending a further S$15,000 in the first 3 months (i.e. S$20,000 total)
• 25,000 MR points for spending S$20,000 (@ 2 points per S$1.60)

Do note that the spending window has been shortened to 3 months, compared to 6 months previously.

I recently shared some thoughts on how much value I got out of my AMEX Platinum Charge in 2021/22, which you can read below.

American Express Platinum Charge: 2022 Year in Review

Be advised, however, that one key perk has been scrapped: new AMEX Platinum Charge cardholders can no longer enjoy the Platinum Reserve for free, since the scrapping of the “one annual fee” policy. This means the loss of a S$100 Tower Club voucher and 2-night complimentary stay at selected Frasers Hospitality properties. 

If you obtained your AMEX Platinum Reserve prior to 1 November 2022, not to worry- nothing has changed. 

Conclusion

The AMEX Platinum Charge membership pack gives you a whole range of vouchers- some useful, others less so. The throw pile seems to get larger each year, and I do miss the early days of St. Regis vouchers and free spa treatments. 

If anyone wants my throw pile, let me know. Fast deal bro. 

Which vouchers are in your keep and throw pile?