Can I Earn Bonuses for Different Amex Platinum Cards?

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

TPG reader Vishal sent me a message on Facebook to ask about Amex cards:

"Is the Mercedes-Benz Amex Platinum card considered the same product as the regular Platinum card? Can I earn a sign-up bonus for each one, and do they have the same benefits?"

Most credit card issuers have application restrictions that limit how many accounts you can have and when you can earn a sign-up bonus. American Express falls on the conservative end of the spectrum, typically allowing applicants to earn a bonus once per lifetime for a given card. However, many cards come in multiple versions that are actually considered separate products, which means you may be able to get more than one.

The Platinum Card from American Express is a great example. Apart from the standard personal card and the business version, there are several co-branded Platinum cards such as the Mercedes-Benz Credit Card and a number of others from financial institutions like Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley. While they're all technically Amex Platinum cards, they're really individual products, and you should be able to earn a sign-up bonus for each one so long as you haven't done so previously.

That's good news if you want to get a card for the lucrative Platinum benefits and you've already been a cardholder in the past. Ordinarily you could apply a second time, but you'd be ineligible for any bonus offer. By applying for another version of the card, however, you can still get that extra incentive to sign up (which can give you a huge return based on some of the increased bonuses we've seen lately).

Daily Newsletter

Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter

Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts

Email address

Sign up

By signing up, you will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

The regular Platinum Card and the Mercedes-Benz Platinum Card have mostly similar benefits: They both offer an annual $200 airline fee credit, lounge access, a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application credit and more.

Since the benefits most relevant to award travelers are identical, having more than one of these cards at a time would be redundant. I think the Platinum Card is worth the annual fee, but it doesn't make sense to pay two annual fees for such similar cards. If you're deciding between them, I'd go with the original Platinum Card to save $25 each year unless you can use the Mercedes-Benz discounts.

For more on maximizing the Platinum Card and its benefits, check out these posts:

• 10 Things to Do When You Get Amex Platinum
• Why You Should Add Authorized Users on Your Amex Platinum
• Maximizing the American Express Concierge

If you have any other questions, please tweet me @thepointsguy, message me on Facebook or send me an email at info@thepointsguy.com.