Over the summer we saw The Platinum Card® from American Express (review) undergo a refresh, whereby the card’s annual fee was increased, but it also got a variety of new perks, including many new credits. Well, the Amex Platinum has just added two more perks, and this time there’s no downside.
In this post:
Amex Platinum Walmart+ monthly credit
The Amex Platinum now offers up to $12.95 per month in credits towards a Walmart+ membership, which covers the full cost of a membership. You can register for the Amex Platinum Walmart+ credit here.
For those not familiar with Walmart+, it offers a variety of benefits and savings for Walmart purchases, inclduing:
- Free shipping with no order minimum
- Free delivery from Walmart stores for orders of $35 or more
- Save on Prescriptions — get select prescriptions for $0, and save up to 85% on thousands more
- Save five cents per gallon on gas at Walmart and Murphy stations
- Scan & go — scan items as you shop in stores and pay with your phone
Amex Platinum SoulCycle at home bike credit
The Amex Platinum now offers a $300 credit when purchasing a SoulCycle bike:
- Get a $300 statement credit when purchasing a SoulCycle at-home bike
- This credit can be used for up to 15 bikes per year (you know, for those who like to buy a new SoulCycle bike every few weeks)
- Bikes retail for $2,500 plus taxes and fees, and you must purchase the bike in one transaction with your Amex Platinum in order to qualify for the savings
On the fitness front, this complements the existing Equinox credits that the card offers. The Amex Platinum offers up to $300 in statement credits each year on a digital or club membership at Equinox. (Enrollment required)
My take on the new Amex Platinum benefits
Are these new Amex Platinum benefits useful?
- The Walmart+ membership may be useful to many, though it seems like an odd pairing for a premium credit card
- The SoulCycle benefit will likely be of use to very few people; the $300 savings only applies when buying a bike for home, so for most people this isn’t a repeated monthly credit, or anything
The play from Amex lately seems pretty simple — Amex presumably has data on the average income, spending patterns, etc., of those with the Amex Platinum. It’s a very marketable customer base. Presumably Amex is paying next to nothing for all of these benefits, since these partner companies want access to Amex’s consumer base.
And as consumers we shouldn’t be upset — we’re getting more benefits without it costing us anything extra. At the same time, I can’t help but feel like the Amex Platinum has truly turned into a coupon book… but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Bottom line
The Amex Platinum has added even more credits, including a monthly $12.95 Walmart+ credit (which covers the cost of a membership), as well as a $300 credit when you purchase a SoulCycle card (which you can use up to 15 times, but I can’t imagine many people are buying 15 bikes).
Hopefully these benefits are useful to some people. Personally I won’t get value out of either of these, but the beauty of the Amex Platinum is just how many credits there are nowadays.
What do you make of the new Amex Platinum Walmart and SoulCycle credits?
What the hell is a soul cycle and why are souls stuck in this rut?
Current Amex offer for Walmart.com Get +5 Membership Rewards® points per eligible dollar spent. Up to 2,500 points.
There are people that go to Walmart to buy sneakers. They are not the target demographic. The target are the people that buy everyday items in greater quantities, with greater frequency, and are going to throw some non-essential items into the cart without a second thought. Impulse purchases at the click of a button from the convenience of your home, delivered to your door for free. The type that has unopened Amazon boxes piled up,...
There are people that go to Walmart to buy sneakers. They are not the target demographic. The target are the people that buy everyday items in greater quantities, with greater frequency, and are going to throw some non-essential items into the cart without a second thought. Impulse purchases at the click of a button from the convenience of your home, delivered to your door for free. The type that has unopened Amazon boxes piled up, contents since forgotten.
There are no Walmarts in NYC. I just ordered some scented candles.
I can't imagine this conversation going well: "Honey, you can wait outside the Centurion lounge and shop on Walmart.com while I am inside the lounge drinking, eating, and taking a nap on the recliner."
AMEX lost me when they announced the reduction at Centurion lounges from two guests to zero guests.
Why not drop from two guests to one guest and see how that goes for a year?
With one guest, my wife could accompany...
I can't imagine this conversation going well: "Honey, you can wait outside the Centurion lounge and shop on Walmart.com while I am inside the lounge drinking, eating, and taking a nap on the recliner."
AMEX lost me when they announced the reduction at Centurion lounges from two guests to zero guests.
Why not drop from two guests to one guest and see how that goes for a year?
With one guest, my wife could accompany me once a month and I would keep paying for AMEX.
Bu bye, AMEX
I have nothing against Walmart, but the Amex Plat has become a very expensive coupon book.
I’d never pay for the Walmart benefit but since I’ll get it for free, I’ll try it and see. Competition with Amazon is a good thing. This will allow me to take the cheaper option. Probably Walmart is giving this away to drive traffic.
I’ll never use the cycle benefit.
So AMEX thinks their Plat holders go to Equinox and SoulCycle, travel in premium cabins, stay at FHR hotels, but shop at Wal-Mart? Whole Foods would've been a much better pairing.
lol. amazon IS walmart.
Yes. Amex CEO says that’s the trend they see on their earnings call
Time to downgrade this now overpriced card to something cheaper and more in line with my shopping habits!. Getting "credits" at places I would not normally use is just chasing offers for the sake of offers.
The soulcycle thing is only useful to someone who was already going to buy one. For everyone else it seems like a waste. The walmart thing isn't much use to me as I don't have a walmart nearby and I haven't really found them to be more competitive than something like Amazon when I need to order online. Maybe that prescription benefit could be useful to some? I dunno how useful the gas benefit is....
The soulcycle thing is only useful to someone who was already going to buy one. For everyone else it seems like a waste. The walmart thing isn't much use to me as I don't have a walmart nearby and I haven't really found them to be more competitive than something like Amazon when I need to order online. Maybe that prescription benefit could be useful to some? I dunno how useful the gas benefit is. I guess that depends on how walmart prices their gas compared to the local stations. Also, if you fillup at walmart does it code was a gas station or walmart? For people with credit cards that give a bonus on gas stations the way it codes could change the calculation.
I'll just add in I noticed that I had a special offer on my plat to give me four additional amex points for every dollar spent at walmart. That along with the free shipping of walmart+ is enough for me to at least give them a closer look next time I need to order something online before I check amazon.
Partnership between Walmart and Amex Plat…didn’t see that coming
Amex Plat is exhausting me with all these obscure credits. I feel like I'm just being sold at all the time by merchants I would not otherwise do business with. I know it's possible to extract full value from this card but the task is just exhausting now that I may choose to cancel the card.
It is becoming much more difficult and time consuming and not worth the effort any more to maximize this card. That said i have had some great centurion visits lately and will keep this card as long as i can bring in a guest then im canceling this card.
I received a contactless card offer: Spend $5 or more, get $2 back, up to 5x ($10).
I’ve been very happy with the Amex Platinum. I also live in NYC and travel 3-4x a year. FHR, IAP, JFK Terminal 4, Uber, Avis, it is travel card first for me. Everything else is gravy.
Right. I use the plat for the travel benefits. All this extra stuff is not going to make me want to pay the increased AF when it hits on my card later this year. If they don't come up with more travel perks I will likely opt for a lower AF card with similar travel benefits.
Eh, I can see Wal-Mart being very interesting in getting a hook into the AmEx Platinum client base. They might be paying AmEx for this exposure, rather than AmEx paying Wal-Mart. Without an impact on the annual fee from AmEx, it actually reminds me more of the ShopRunner benefit that comes with many AmEx cards in that it gives me another option for deliveries. Honestly, there are a fair number of boxed staples that go...
Eh, I can see Wal-Mart being very interesting in getting a hook into the AmEx Platinum client base. They might be paying AmEx for this exposure, rather than AmEx paying Wal-Mart. Without an impact on the annual fee from AmEx, it actually reminds me more of the ShopRunner benefit that comes with many AmEx cards in that it gives me another option for deliveries. Honestly, there are a fair number of boxed staples that go in my pantry or whatever where I don't care at all where they come from, so I could see some occasional shopping through it.
Would I have considered paying $13 for this service if I were paying cash - absolutely not. But as an extra coupon shoved into the AmEx coupon book, I'll be happy to use it (just as happily as I used the Publix coupon from the Entertainment Books when they were still a thing).
You can't pay me enough to enter a Walmart, but it's not because I have anything against them, they just run their stores like a shit show. If something is cheaper there than on Amazon and I don't have to pay for the shipping, I'll use it. Are we really complaining about the prestige level of where people online shop? Who the hell cares if it's cheaper. If you told me I had to pay inside a Walmart for a credit, I'd piss and moan about it.
It is not about being against it. It is about the experience. Go to a Target store and go to. Walmart and tell me which one you have a better overall experience. Walmart could not save me enough money to make me go there.
That is the whole point, did you even read the blog?
People like us with Platinum cards dont like going into walmart but we like saving money. This gives us the ability to save money and take advantage of the savings walmart offers without actually having to go. Free delivery on everything is huge. Why pay $20 for stuff at amazon when walmart can also do 2 day delivery or same day for $15?
That's my point. You don't have to go into the freakshow that is Walmart. I'll order online from anywhere if they're saving me cash.
I cannot wait for the Greyhound credits next.
This may prove to be a useful benefit, the optics of Platinum and Walmart in the same sentence notwithstanding. It gives me another option for comparison shopping without factoring in shipping charges or minimum purchase requirements. And unlike Target which has a decent physical footprint in the urban center where I live, the only nearby Walmart is a shopping experience to be avoided. So whereas I don't mind an errand to my local Target, the...
This may prove to be a useful benefit, the optics of Platinum and Walmart in the same sentence notwithstanding. It gives me another option for comparison shopping without factoring in shipping charges or minimum purchase requirements. And unlike Target which has a decent physical footprint in the urban center where I live, the only nearby Walmart is a shopping experience to be avoided. So whereas I don't mind an errand to my local Target, the only way I'm shopping at Walmart is online. I would never do so often enough to justify $12.95 month out of pocket, but reimbursement on a card where I'm already easily making back the annual fee is a decent additional perk even if I only use it occasionally.
Very low value for the Walmart+, theres usually no line at my local walmart self checkout and am definitely not interested in ordering home delivery with the implicit mandatory tipping to the contracted drivers of Doordash I think.
Walmart grocery charges $10 delivery fee. Why am I expected to tip when I already paid $10 delivery for $50 in grocery.
For all the haters of a 500 billion dollar company per year that provides accessibility and affordability to all - stop being pretentious. The people who hate and chastise walmart are the ones who secretly shop there. Making a lot of money doesn’t mean you have to give it away.
It is not about giving money away. I live in Target Land. There is simply no way to compare the customer experience at a Target with the one you get at Walmart. Try asking anyone at a Walmart store for help finding something. They will either ignore you or simply do not understand what you need. At Target, anyone will stop doing what they are doing to walk you over to the product you need....
It is not about giving money away. I live in Target Land. There is simply no way to compare the customer experience at a Target with the one you get at Walmart. Try asking anyone at a Walmart store for help finding something. They will either ignore you or simply do not understand what you need. At Target, anyone will stop doing what they are doing to walk you over to the product you need. The lights, the colors, the layout, the product offers, the overall experience at a Target is way superior to what you get at a Walmart. BTW, I drive in front of a Walmart on my way to the Target store.
Ben -
I think you've kind of missed the boat on the Walmart credit "product fit" with the stereotype of Amex Platinum holders. I've had an Amex Platinum for >20 years. And I'm the sort of person who is dead center in the sights of progressives in Congress right now. But when I read about the new credit, I said "Cool!"
Until Nieman Marcus starts selling cat litter, I'm probably going to be...
Ben -
I think you've kind of missed the boat on the Walmart credit "product fit" with the stereotype of Amex Platinum holders. I've had an Amex Platinum for >20 years. And I'm the sort of person who is dead center in the sights of progressives in Congress right now. But when I read about the new credit, I said "Cool!"
Until Nieman Marcus starts selling cat litter, I'm probably going to be buying it from Amazon or Walmart, and most of the time Walmart is about 30% cheaper. When you're buying $75 of cat litter a month for a pair of 18 lb cats, that's free money. I didn't have a Walmart+ membership, because I didn't think it was quite worth it, but now I will, and I'll probably do more competitive shopping between Walmart and Amazon Prime. Win for Walmart.
It's one thing to make a lot of money, it's a very different thing to keep a lot of money. A good way to do that is to not be a snob and not spend extra money where it doesn't move the needle in a positive direction.
Or you can not have cats
What? Are you crazy? And give up that completely unconditional indifference that a cat gives to its human?
Walmart and not Target? Really? Same as offering benefits on Spirit Air.
Love how the commenters here like you blast people for shopping at walmart then you all complain when people say they dont care about points and just pay cash for business and first class. Why is not ok to pay 10k for something but its also not ok to save money at walmart. So its not ok to be rich but its not ok to be "poor".
The savings I would probably get by shopping at a Walmart are not substantial enough to make me go there and have a worst shopping experience.
Maybe go to a different walmart then. I don't have them near me but when I travel to see family there is one nearby and it is perfectly fine to shop in.
A f**king Walmart credit? Pffft. Unless the Plat gives me a discount at Crystal Bridges' special exhibits, the Waltons won't be seeing my money.
Is Walmart+ the traditional premium benefit we've seen on the Platinum Card, no. However Walmart has been trying to make a play for premium customers with their website for years. And the reality is for quite a few more premium destinations, Walmart is one of the best options in town for grocery shopping
Every item at your local cvs and Walgreens are $2 less at Walmart. Stock up while you still can. I’m starting to see more Mercedes and range rovers in Walmart parking lots.
"The Walmart+ membership may be useful to many, though it seems like an odd pairing for a premium credit card"
$12.95 monthly credit for Walmart on a $695 annual fee card is peak 2021
Do platinum card holders even shop at Walmart??
Also Ben/other blog authors: please stop advertising it in general terms as an “Equinox credit”. The credit is limited to only the most expensive “all access” membership option, which here in Brickell is $90/month more than the single-club membership and $75 more than the all-Florida membership. It’s a joke of a coupon, not a card benefit
305
Swallow your pride and save some money at Walmart. Especially with inflation.
A Walmart credit on a ~$700 AF card? Absurd. This feels like customer segmentation whiplash. First they go after the LA/NYC crowd with their Equinox credit and now they’re going after Walmart shoppers??? Whomever’s in charge of their partnerships needs to be reigned in. So glad I cancelled my card earlier this year.
Unlike us, Amex and Walmart know precisely who shops with them with credit cards. They would not be doing this if they didn't think there was meaningful money to be made. I strongly suspect that the two companies have determined that there are a lot of Platinum cardmembers who (a) shop periodically online with Walmart, (b) have Amazon Prime memberships, and (c) predominantly shop on Amazon. I'm certain they're trying to shift some of that...
Unlike us, Amex and Walmart know precisely who shops with them with credit cards. They would not be doing this if they didn't think there was meaningful money to be made. I strongly suspect that the two companies have determined that there are a lot of Platinum cardmembers who (a) shop periodically online with Walmart, (b) have Amazon Prime memberships, and (c) predominantly shop on Amazon. I'm certain they're trying to shift some of that high-end Prime traffic to Walmart, and crediting the membership fee for Walmart+ removes the friction.
I for one will take advantage of it. I could care less what online company delivers a box to my door.
I'll stop in at walmart when I am near one for basic items that I want to buy in bulk. After awhile people get tired of being price gouged by higher end stores when you can get almost exactly the same item at walmart for a fraction of the cost. I'm sure there are a number of plat holders that live near walmarts out in the rural areas and they probably have easier access to...
I'll stop in at walmart when I am near one for basic items that I want to buy in bulk. After awhile people get tired of being price gouged by higher end stores when you can get almost exactly the same item at walmart for a fraction of the cost. I'm sure there are a number of plat holders that live near walmarts out in the rural areas and they probably have easier access to walmart than some of the high end stores. I find the people who bash walmart are typically the people who have very limited or no knowledge about them.
Yes I shop at Walmart. Walmart grocery delivery is great prices and convenient delivery saves me time from grocery stores. You can buy everything online with free delivery without actually going into the store. Sorry any wealthy person who buys an item from a different store if Walmart has it for less with free delivery just for 'prestige' is a fool.
Pathetic. I cannot wait to cancel my Amex platinum.
Do it. Quit complaining and do it.
Mike drop by Reno Joe. Boom. Love it.
Exactly Reno. This is just an article about benefits being added and nothing being taken away. Maybe it is not enough to get people to keep the plat card but to make them want to cancel it just because some benefits got added just sounds silly.