The Platinum Card® from American Express is loaded with benefits — from its fantastic bonus categories to special perks it provides. Now, Amex is targeting cardholders with a special offer to earn bonus Membership Rewards points for adding authorized users on to their account. If you were targeted, you can earn up to 20,000 bonus points for adding additional cardholders.
If you're a cardholder and were targeted, you can earn 5,000 bonus points for each authorized user you add, up to a maximum of four. The catch is that they must spend at least $500 in the first three months in order for you to get the bonus points. If you add four users and they all hit the minimum spend requirement, you'll earn the full 20,000 Membership Rewards points.
Based on TPG's most recent valuations, 20,000 points are worth $380. As a reminder, you can add three authorized users on the Platinum Card for a total annual fee of $175. Each card after that has an annual fee of $175. So, effectively, you could add four authorized users and get the bonus 20,000 points for $350 in annual fees.
Authorized users of the Platinum Card are entitled to many of the same benefits the primary cardholder gets. For example, they get access to the Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts program, a fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, access to Amex Centurion Lounges, a Priority Pass membership, SPG Gold status (and therefore Marriott Gold status), Hilton Honors Gold status and Boingo Wi-Fi access. Two perks of the card that the primary cardholder gets but authorized users do not include the $200 annual airline fee credit and the $200 in annual Uber credits.
Several TPG staffers who have the Platinum Card were targeted for the offer, so it looks like this might be widely available. If you're a cardholder, it'll be worth checking your email to see if you were targeted. And if you were, you'll want to add the authorized users to your account through the link in the email to make sure you're eligible for the bonus points. This offer comes just a couple of days after Amex began targeting Business Platinum Card® from American Express cardholders with a surprise 50,000 points after meeting a minimum spending requirement (subject to change at anytime).
If you're not yet a cardholder of the Platinum Card, you can apply now for a bonus of 60,000 points after you spend $5,000 in the first three months. The card comes with an annual fee of $550, but there are plenty of perks that come along with it, such as lounge access, airline fee credits and annual Uber credits, among others. Plus, on the earning side of the equation, you'll get 5x points on airfare booked directly through the airline and 5x points on hotel stays booked through amextravel.com.
