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AMEX Platinum & Business Platinum Authorized User Benefits

Additional Card Benefits & Fees
Find out if the benefits outweigh the additional fees that come with adding an authorized user to the American Express Platinum and Business Platinum credit cards.
By Robert Flowers III - 2023-08-17

Adding supplementary cards to the The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express will provide access to a bunch of elite perks for additional users that can be well worth the additional card fee.

Benefits includes extensive lounge access, complimentary elite status with two hotel chains, travel and purchase insurances, and so much more.

Additional Platinum Card User Fees

Before I dive into the benefits offered on these cards, lets address the fees that comes with adding additional Platinum cards to both The Platinum Card and The Business Platinum Card.

The Platinum Card Additional Cardholder Fees

The annual fee for The Platinum Card is $695 per year (See Rates & Fees).

Every additional Platinum Card you add to your account will cost $195 per year.

The Business Platinum Card Additional Cardholder Fees

The annual fee for The Business Platinum Card is $595 per year (See Rates & Fees).

Each additional cardholder added to The Business Platinum Card will cost you $300 annually. So the 1st authorized user will cost you $300, the second will cost you another $300, and so on. It's pretty straightforward in terms of cost.

The Global Lounge Collection

The best reason for adding additional users to the The Platinum Card and The Business Platinum Card (in my opinion at least) is for the American Express Global Lounge Collection. This grants access to:

  • American Express Centurion Lounges & International Lounges
  • Delta SkyClub Lounges (when flying Delta)
  • Priority Pass Lounges
  • Escape Lounges
  • Plaza Premium Lounges
  • Air Space Lounges

Each additional Platinum or Business Platinum cardholder will have their own individual access to these lounges. The Primary Cardholder does not need to be present.

The amount of value that comes with access to all of these lounges is pretty high, but the real stand out here is Centurion Lounges and Delta SkyClub Lounges.

Centurion Lounges

American Express has a little over 40 Centurion Lounges (includes Escape Lounges) scattered across the globe. These offer food and drink from award-winning chefs and top mixologists, as well as your normal lounge benefits designed for work or relaxation.

There's not really a value you can put on this since you have to have an eligible American Express credit card. It really depends on how often you visit airports that feature these lounges.

Delta SkyClub

If you fly Delta Airlines and you're looking to access the Delta SkyClub, having either of these cards is a big money saver.

Delta SkyClub Membership will cost you between $545 or $845 depending on if you want Individual or Executive Membership. Individual Membership grants unlimited access to member only and guests will cost $39. Executive Membership allows access for yourself and two guests per visit.

Basically, if you know that your authorized users are going to be visiting the lounge at least a few times per year, adding them as authorized users can be worth it.

amex global lounge collection
You'll have access to more than 1,000 lounges with the AMEX Platinum and AMEX Business Platinum credit cards.

Global Entry and TSA PreCheck Credit

The Global Entry and TSA PreCheck credit is pretty much an industry standard as it's featured on pretty much every premium travel card now-a-days.

The good thing about this benefit is that each additional user on the The Platinum Card and The Business Platinum Card will have their own individual credit.

Each user can use their own supplementary Platinum card to pay for a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application and have the full amount reimbursed.

If a user already has Global Entry/TSA PreCheck or they don't want access to the program, that user's supplementary card can be used to pay for any person's application fee and the credit will still be triggered.

This is because the credit is not tied to the individual cardholder. It triggers automatically within a day or two after the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee hits the card.

Hotel Benefits

Additional users of The Platinum Card and The Business Platinum Card will receive complimentary gold elite status with the Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors hotel loyalty programs as well as be able to book hotels that are part of Fine Hotels & Resorts and The Hotel Collection programs.

Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status

Marriott Bonvoy Elite Gold Status comes with a bunch of useful benefits for anyone staying at a Marriott International brand hotel. Benefits include:

  • 25% Bonus Points
  • Late Check-Out
  • Complimentary Hotel Gift of Points
  • Complimentary Enhanced Wi-Fi
  • Enhanced Room Upgrades
  • Member Discounts

Gold status is normally obtained after spending 25 nights at Marriott brand hotels during a calendar year. You can also obtain it with Marriott credit cards by running heavy spend through their cards or by receiving it complimentary on Marriott's premium cards.

Each authorized user of either Platinum Card will be given their own complimentary Marriott Gold Elite status. They will need to sign up for a Marriott Bonvoy account and then log into the American Express website to enroll for this benefit.

Hilton Honors Gold Status

Hilton Honors Gold offers useful benefits when staying at Hilton brand hotels. These benefits include:

  • 80% Bonus Points
  • Complimentary Room Upgrades
  • Welcome Points, Food, or Snack
  • Access to the 5th Night Free Benefit
  • Complimentary Water
  • Complimentary Wi-Fi
  • Late Check-Out
  • Choose Your Room Number
  • Member Discounts

All four of Hilton's elite status levels can be obtained complimentary by holding various Hilton Credit Cards. The standard requirements for Gold requires 20 stays at Hilton Hotels, 40 nights at Hilton Hotels, or earning 75,000 Hilton Honors Base Points (spending $7,500 at Hilton).

Each authorized user of either Platinum Card will be given their own complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Elite status. They will need to sign up for a Hilton Honors account and then log into the American Express website to enroll for this benefit.

earn 5x platinum card
You'll earn 5x when booking pre-paid hotels on the American Express Travel Portal.

AMEX Fine Hotels & Resorts

Authorized users of The Platinum Card and The Business Platinum Card will be able to book hotels that are part of Fine Hotels and Resorts through the American Express Travel Portal.

They will have access to the benefits that come with booking a 2-day or longer stay at properties through this portal. Those benefits include:

  • Room Upgrade Upon Arrival (when available)
  • Daily Breakfast For Two People
  • Guaranteed 4pm Late Check-Out
  • Noon Check-In (when available)
  • Complimentary Wi-Fi
  • Unique Property Amenity (such as Spa or Food/Beverage credit)

When on the American Express Travel Portal, AMEX Fine Hotels & Resorts bookings are listed at the top of the page and the listings will generally tell you what the unique property amenity will be.

Do note that this is a benefit specific to personal and business cardholders of Platinum and Centurion credit cards. Other American Express credit cardholders do not have access to this benefit.

You can also redeem AMEX Points for Fine Hotels & Resorts for 1 cent each which is a better value than booking hotels through the American Express Travel Portal that are not part of the program.

fine hotel and resorts ritz-carlton atlanta
Receive great benefits at top hotels around the world.

The Hotel Collection

The Hotel Collection is open to those with personal or business Gold, Platinum, or Centurion American Express credit cards. It's basically a "lite" version of Fine Hotels & Resorts.

Additional cardholders will receive the benefits of booking through this portal which includes:

  • A $100 Hotel Credit (For Dining, Spa, Resort Activities)
  • Room Upgrade At Check-In (when available)

Overall Value

So overall, is it worth adding additional Platinum cardholders to The Platinum Card or The Business Platinum Card? Well it depends on the authorized users you're adding.

For The Platinum Card, you're looking at a cost of $195 per card. Whether or not it's worth it will depend on how often your authorized users travel.

The authorized user fees for the Business Platinum Card is little harder to justify, but again... if you have authorized users or employees that plan on using the card benefits, it can be worth it. You just have to make sure that they will get $300 in value out of the benefits which is not hard to do if frequent travel is involved.

Summary

The Platinum Card and The Business Platinum Card both feature costly annual fees. Whether the fee is worth it or not as a primary cardholder depends on if you're able to make use of the benefits and many credits these cards offer.

But when it comes to adding authorized users to either card... especially those who travel, you'll be getting a lot bang for your buck.

Regardless of whether you plan on applying for a Platinum card or already have one, I highly suggest adding authorized users if you have family or friends that frequently travel.

  • Best For Lounge Access & Luxury Travel
    Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
  • Best For Lounge Access & Luxury Business Travel
    Earn 120,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with your Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
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