What is Amex Platinum's minimum spending requirement for the initial bonus?

The best travel credit card signup bonus is 75,000 miles for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months, offered by the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card. The card also earns 5 miles per $1 spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, and 2 miles per $1 on all other purchases. You can easily redeem your points using the … read full answerCapital One Travel Portal.

Capital One Venture has a $95 annual fee. And as with all of the best travel credit cards, Capital One Venture features a $0 foreign transaction fee.

Best Travel Credit Card Signup Bonuses

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers 75,000 miles for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. Rewards are worth more when redeemed for travel. The card has a $95 annual fee. Capital One Venture requires a credit score of 700, at a minimum. That means you need good credit or better to get approved.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 60,000 bonus points for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. Points are worth more when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. The card has a $95 annual fee. Chase Sapphire Preferred requires a credit score of 700, at a minimum. That means you need good credit or better to get approved.

The Citi Premier® Card offers 80,000 points for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. The card has a $95 annual fee. Citi Premier requires a credit score of 700, at a minimum. That means you need good credit or better to get approved.

The IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card offers 140,000 points for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. Points are worth more when redeemed for IHG Rewards hotel reservations. The card has an annual fee of $99. IHG Premier requires a credit score of 700, at a minimum. That means you need good credit or better to get approved.

The United Explorer Credit Card offers 60,000 miles after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months, plus 10,000 miles after spending $6,000 in the first 6 months. Points are worth more when redeemed for airline miles. The card has an annual fee of $0 intro 1st yr, $95 after. United Explorer Credit Card requires a credit score of 700, at a minimum. That means you need good credit or better to get approved.

The Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card offers 50,000 points for spending $3,000 in the first 90 days. The points benefit from a flat redemption rate and multiple redemption methods. The card has a $95 annual fee. Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card requires a credit score of 750, at a minimum. That means you need excellent credit to get approved.

In general, the best travel cards are those that reward you extra for every travel purchase and have no foreign transaction fees. Add on huge signup bonuses, and there's even more reason to apply if you have the good-to-excellent credit needed for approval. The best travel credit card signup bonuses are generally tied to credit cards with annual fees. But the bonuses you'll get are worth several times more.

You might get your American Express Platinum card annual fee waived if you are calling the Amex retention line at (800) 452-3945, but it is not guaranteed that it will work. Alternatively, you should consider applying for the Amex financial relief program.

Here’s how to get the American Express Platinum card annual fee waived:… read full answer

• Call the retention line: You can ask Amex to waive the annual fee by calling (800) 452-3945. However, it’s important to understand that this approach may not be successful. American Express typically does not waive annual fees entirely, but it may offer a side benefit to offset the Platinum card’s $695 annual fee. Retention offers traditionally include statement credits, bonus points or spending bonuses. But make sure your account is in good standing before calling.
• Apply for the Amex financial relief program: If you’re having difficulty paying your annual fee due to unforeseen financial difficulty, apply for the financial relief program online or call Amex at (866) 703-4169. You could potentially have your annual fee waived. Or you might receive other assistance such as lower monthly payments or lower interest rates. If you decide to enroll in a financial relief program, though, your spending ability will likely be greatly reduced for the duration. Your credit score may be impacted by the reduction in credit limit. And if you don’t comply with the terms of the program, that will appear as a negative on your credit report.
• Other options: You might be able to get your American Express Platinum card annual fee waived if you’re an active member in the military. Downgrading to an American Express card with a lower annual fee is also an option.

However, if you don’t end up getting the $695 annual fee waived, you should consider keeping the card for its rewards. With the American Express Platinum card, you’ll earn 5 points per $1 on flights booked with airlines or with American Express Travel (up to $500,000 spent per year), 5 points per $1 spent on prepaid hotels booked through Amex, and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases.

If you spend a lot on these categories, the rewards you’ll get will more than make up for the cost. But if you can’t take advantage of its travel-focused perks, you’ll end up overpaying.

The American Express Platinum card is a hybrid card, combining the features of a charge card and a traditional credit card. A charge card usually requires the cardholder to pay off the entire balance every month to continue making purchases. A regular credit card, on the other hand, allows users to carry a balance from month to month, but they pay interest on the unpaid balance. Charge cards usually come with … read full answerno preset spending limit, too, as opposed to regular credit cards, which disclose a set maximum amount that a user can spend on the account.

The American Express Platinum card, however, is different than some charge cards. It has a Pay Over Time feature, which allows you to carry certain eligible balances between months with interest, up to a limit. Pay Over Time purchases are moved into a separate balance from regular purchases. The regular purchases balance must still be paid in full every month. If that’s not paid in full, there’s a late payment fee up to $40, along with a penalty APR.

In addition, the American Express Platinum card’s no preset spending limit doesn’t mean unlimited credit. American Express periodically adjusts the spending power on the American Express Platinum card card based on your card usage, along with other factors such as your payment history and credit standing. The drawback is that you don’t know your exact spending limit, making it difficult to determine if any future purchases will be approved.