The Platinum Card by Amex True Best in Class

The Platinum Card is American Express's top of the line card that you can apply for, and is one of the best travel cards in Canada. Even though the Platinum Card has an annual fee of $699 it can still make a lot of scene for to get it.

Annual Fee & Signup Bonus

  • $699 Annual Fee
  • 25,000 MR Points when you spend $2,000 in the first 3 months

Earning rates + Bonuses

  • 3x per dollar spend on dining and takeout in Canada
  • 2x per dollar spend on travel purchases
  • 1x on everywhere else
  • +1 on perches on amextravel.com on hotels and card rentals
  • $200 Annual Travel Credit
  • Fine Hotels + Resorts late check out at 4PM, free daily breakfast for 2 and more
  • Amex Offers will give you exclusive discounts or bonuses
  • Platinum Concierge
  • American Express Global Lounge Collection
  • Priority Pass Unlimited
  • Pearson Priority Security Lane
  • Hilton Honors Gold Status
  • Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status
  • Radisson Rewards Gold Status
  • 5,000 MR Points per referral up to a maximum of 75,000 MR Points per calendar year
  • Toronto Pearson Valet Service
  • Toronto Pearson 15% Parking Discount

Redemption Options

  • Transfer to airlines partners form ratios of 1:0.75 to 1:1
  • Transfer to hotel partners from ratios of 1:1 to 1:1.2
  • Amex Fixed Point Travel with a value of between 1.5–1.75 CPP and 2 CPP on popular routes in Economy Class and a value of between 1.6–1.8 CPP in Business Class
  • amextravel.com
  • Statement Credits at 1000 points = $10 on travel a value of 1 CPP
  • Statement Credits at 1000 points = $7 on everything else a value of 0.7 CPP
  • Amazon.ca Credits at 1000 points = $7 a value of 0.7 CPP
  • Gift Cards at a value of roughly 0.8 CPP

Insurance

  • Out of Province/Country Emergency Medical Insurance up to $5,000,000 for people under 65 in the first 15 days
  • Trip Interruption Insurance up to $1,500 per person per trip to a max of $6,000
  • Baggage Delay Insurance up to $1,000 (aggregate maximum with Flight Delay Insurance)
  • Flight Delay Insurance up to $1,000 (aggregate maximum with Baggage Delay Insurance)
  • Hotel Burglary Insurance up to $1,000
  • Travel Accident Insurance up to $500,000
  • Car Rental Theft and Damage Insurance
  • Travel Emergency Assistance
  • Buyer’s Assurance Protection Plan
  • Purchase Protection Plan
  • Fraud Protection Guarantee

Thoughts

The American Express Global Lounge Collection can get you into more then 1,200 lounges all around the world. The Lounge Collection includes: An unlimited Priority Pass membership and access to The Centurion Lounge, International American Express Lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges, Delta Sky Club, Airspace Lounges, Escape Lounges and because it is a Canadian Platinum card you also get access to the Executive Lounges by Swissport and the Québec City ’s Jean Lesage International Airport VIP.

The Platinum card is a harder card to calculate if you get good value from as many of the benefits are not things most people would spend more money on. For this card to make seance you need to travel a lot because or else you will not make use of the hotel status and the lounge access. So the annual fee is $699 and there is a $200 travel credit bringing the annual fee to $499. At $499 it is still one of the most expensive credit cards in the world but if you travel a lot you can probably get good usage of the unlimited lounges with Priority Pass and of course you should check if you get a good amount of points that offsets the annual fee. If you travel less frequently there are many other credit cards in Canada that give you Priority Pass membership with a limited amount of entries.

With RM Points you can transfer them to many different airline and hotel partners at a rate of 1:1.2 to Marriott Bonvoy, a rate of 1:1 to Air Canada, British Airways Avios, and Hilton Honors, and a rate of 1:0.75 to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Etihad Guest, Delta SkyMiles, and Alitalia Millemiglia.

For more information on the Fixed Point Travel Chart read my Amex Cobalt Review.

Gift cards don't make sense as they have very low redemption options.