Should you downgrade to the AMEX Platinum Credit Card?

With all the recent nerfs to the AMEX Platinum Charge—including tighter restrictions on Platinum Statement Credits, underwhelming renewal vouchers, and cuts to lounge access for supplementary cardholders—it’s no surprise that many cardholders have decided against paying another S$1,744 this year. 

But where do you go from here? 

In my AMEX Platinum Charge: Keep or Cancel? article, I covered several alternatives, including the Citi Prestige or StanChart Beyond Card. In this post, I want to drill down further on the option I’m personally leaning towards: downgrading to the AMEX Platinum Credit Card.

I should state upfront that this article is intended for those who have already held the AMEX Platinum Charge for one or more years. If you don’t have an AMEX Platinum Charge at the moment, you’re entitled to a welcome bonus (currently: 93,750 miles + S$100 cashback) which dramatically boosts the value of the first year. In the second year, however, you might want to give this article a detailed read!

Why switch to the AMEX Platinum Credit Card?

Apply
Income Req.	Not stated*	Points Validity	No expiry
Annual Fee	S$327	Min. Transfer	450 MR points (250 miles)
FCY Fee	3.25%	Transfer Fee	None
Local Earn	0.69 mpd	Points Pool?	Yes
FCY Earn	0.69 mpd	Lounge Access?	No
Special Earn	3.47 mpd on 10Xcelerator merchants	Airport Limo?	No
*AMEX no longer publishes minimum income requirements for any of its cards, but the MAS-mandated minimum is S$30,000
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

Leaving aside the push factors for leaving the AMEX Platinum Charge, which I’ve already discussed to death, here’s what I see as the biggest reasons to make the switch to the AMEX Platinum Credit Card.

You save big on the annual fee

The most obvious reason to downgrade to the AMEX Platinum Credit Card is its much lower annual fee of S$327, just 20% of the AMEX Platinum Charge’s S$1,744. 

Moreover, while the AMEX Platinum Charge’s annual fee is strictly non-waivable, it is possible to get a fee waiver, or at the very least a fee reduction for the AMEX Platinum Credit Card.

The Lifestyle Credit is much easier to use

	AMEX Platinum Credit Card	AMEX Platinum Charge
Annual Fee	S$327	S$1,744
Statement Credits	S$200	S$1,354
As % of Annual Fee	62%	78%

The AMEX Platinum Credit Card offers an annual S$200 Lifestyle Credit, split into 2x S$100 half-yearly allotments.

At first glance, the AMEX Platinum Charge appears to have the upper hand, as cardholders are “rebated” 78% of the annual fee in credits, versus 62% for the AMEX Platinum Credit Card.

But numbers don’t tell the whole story. There’s no point having more credits if you can’t spend them, and the Lifestyle Credit is a lot easier to use. The Lifestyle Credit can be spent at more than 75 merchants across Singapore, including restaurants and fashion boutiques.

If you choose to spend your Lifestyle Credit on dining, almost all the participating restaurants are part of Love Dining, so you could stack the credit with up to 50% off the bill.

In contrast, the AMEX Platinum Charge’s Local Dining credit is limited to 13 fine dining restaurants, none of which are Love Dining eligible. 

If you choose to spend your Lifestyle Credit on fashion, there are more than two dozen brands to choose from, all with physical locations in Singapore so you can try before you buy. Moreover, several of them are 10Xcelerator partners, offering 3.47 mpd instead of the usual 0.69 mpd. 

 In contrast, the AMEX Platinum Charge’s Fashion credit is only valid at Mr Porter and NET-A-PORTER.

So to sum it up, the Lifestyle Credit is much simpler to use. It can be redeemed without leaving Singapore, covers a wider range of dining and fashion merchants, and has no minimum spending requirement. While the credits are also issued in half-yearly intervals, they are easier to manage since there’s only one category to deal with, unlike the six categories of the AMEX Platinum Charge.

You still get Love Dining and Chillax benefits

Both the AMEX Platinum Credit Card and AMEX Platinum Charge enjoy identical Love Dining and Chillax benefits. 

This includes up to 50% off the food bill and 1-for-1 drinks at participating bars and restaurants, for both the principal and supplementary cardholders.

👨‍🍳 Restaurants (24)
Alegria Barossa Steak & Grill Cali Escape Restaurant Harry’s Jia He Grand Chinese Restaurant L’Angelus La Nonna Lawry’s The Prime Rib Les Bouchons Napoleon Food & Wine Bar Peach Garden at OCBC Centre	Quenino by Victor Liong Santi’s Pizza & Produce Sen of Japan Si Chuan Dou Hua at UOB Plaza Spizza Tablescape Tapas 24 Verandah @ Rael’s Vineyard at HortPark Wooloomooloo Steakhouse Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant YAN
T&Cs
🏨 Hotels (50)
Copthorne King’s Hotel Connections^ New Princess Terrace Cafe New Tien Court^ New Fairmont Singapore Asian Market Cafe Anti:dote Prego The Eight Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel Food Capital New Riverside Terrace New SanSara New The Lobby Lounge New JW Marriott South Beach Akira Back New Beach Road Kitchen New M Hotel Singapore Cafe 2000 New The Buffet Restaurant New J Bar New Orchard Hotel Singapore Bar Intermezzo New Hua Ting Restaurant^ New The Orchard Cafe New Pan Pacific Orchard Florette* New Mosella New  Paradox Singapore Merchant Court Blue Potato Crossroads Bar* Ellenborough Market Cafe	Pullman Singapore Hill Street Madison’s MOGA Resorts World Sentosa CHIFA! Soi Social Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Crossroads Cafe Crossroads Buffet Lobby Lounge Wan Hao Sofitel City Centre 1864 New Racines New St Regis Singapore Astor Bar Brasserie Les Saveurs The Drawing Room Yan Ting Swissotel The Stamford SKAI Bar* SKAI Restaurant The Stamford Brasserie CLOVE The Capitol Kempinski 15 Stamford Lobby Lounge The Bar at 15 Stamford  The Fullerton Singapore Town Restaurant The Robertson House Entrepot W Singapore Kitchen Table SKIRT WooBar
T&Cs
*No Love Dining @ Hotels savings available; cardholders instead enjoy 20% off total bill ^No Love Dining @ Hotels savings available; cardholders instead enjoy 35% off total bill

Is there a downside to switching?

Replacing the AMEX Platinum Charge with the AMEX Platinum Credit Card will obviously mean losing perks like airport lounge access, hotel elite status, and the Platinum Statement Credits, but apart from that there’s two other things worth flagging. 

Inferior conversion ratio

If you downgrade from the AMEX Platinum Charge to the AMEX Platinum Credit Card, your Membership Rewards points won’t be forfeited; they’ll simply be retagged to the latter.

However, that will also result in a loss of value, since the AMEX Platinum Credit Card has an inferior transfer ratio to airline programmes of 450 MR points = 250 miles (versus 400 MR points = 250 miles for the AMEX Platinum Charge).

Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (AMEX: Partner)
	Plat Charge & Centurion	Others
	400 : 250	450 : 250
	450 : 250	450 : 250
	400 : 250	450 : 250
	400 : 250	450 : 250
	400 : 250	450 : 250
	400 : 250	450 : 250
	400 : 250	450 : 250
	400 : 250	450 : 250
	400 : 250	450 : 250
	1,000 : 1,000	1,000 : 1,000
	1,000 : 1,250	1,000 : 1,250

An 11% loss of value will certainly sting, so those downgrading may want to cash out their points first (there is no loss in value if you plan to convert points to Marriott Bonvoy or Hilton Honors, as the ratio is the same across all cards).

Alternatively, you might wait two years before reapplying for an AMEX Platinum Charge, when you’ll be eligible for a welcome bonus again. If approved, your MR points will be “upgraded” to the better ratio. 

A lower 10Xcelerator rate

Card	Base Reward (no enrolment)	Bonus Reward (requires enrolment)
AMEX Platinum Charge	10 MR points per S$1.60 3.9 mpd	10 MR points per S$1.60 3.9 mpd
AMEX Platinum Credit Card	10 MR points per S$1.60 3.47 mpd	N/A
	No cap	Max S$16K per calendar year
The difference in earn rates is because AMEX Centurion and Platinum Charge cardmembers enjoy a rate of 400 MR points = 250 miles, versus 450 MR points = 200 miles for all other cardmembers.

When it comes to spending at 10Xcelerator merchants, the AMEX Platinum Credit Card earns 3.47 mpd, compared to 7.8 mpd for the AMEX Platinum Charge.

That’s a much lower rate obviously, though it’ll only be an issue if you shop at 10Xcelerator merchants in the first place. Moreover, the 7.8 mpd with the AMEX Platinum Charge is capped at S$16,000 per calendar year, after which it decreases to 3.9 mpd. 

Lower travel insurance coverage

The AMEX Platinum Charge, to its credit, offers a fairly comprehensive travel insurance policy that covers key areas like overseas medical expenses, trip cancellation or curtailment, and flight delays. 

On the other hand, the AMEX Platinum Credit Card doesn’t really offer travel insurance. Rather, it offers “travel accident” insurance, and you should not be relying on this as your primary source of coverage.

What am I doing?

Barring some miraculous reversal of fortunes for the AMEX Platinum Charge over the next few months, I’ll likely be cancelling my card and replacing it with the AMEX Platinum Credit Card.

However, that doesn’t mean I’m gone forever. American Express has a 24-month timeout period for the AMEX Platinum Charge, after which you’re considered new-to-card and eligible for a welcome bonus. And say what you will about the recurring perks; the welcome bonuses tend to be very generous.

In the meantime, I’ll continue enjoying Love Dining and Chillax privileges, an easy-to-spend S$200 Lifestyle Credit, while taking that 80% and spending it on things that I actually like, and not what American Express tells me I should be liking. 

Conclusion

Apply

With all that’s happened to the AMEX Platinum Charge, the AMEX Platinum Credit Card is starting to look like a better and better deal.

Its S$200 Lifestyle Credit is refreshingly simple compared to the cognitive load of six categories of the AMEX Platinum Charge, you’ll still retain Love Dining and Chillax benefits, and oh— did I mention it’s 80% cheaper?

Sure, there are some features of the AMEX Platinum Charge that you’ll need to replace, such as airport lounge access, but there are alternative cards out there. And even though the earn rate is lower at 0.69 mpd, you shouldn’t be using American Express cards for day-to-day spend anyway.

Anyone else trading down to the AMEX Platinum Credit Card?