New list of uninspiring Amex Platinum member events loaded on the website

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If you have an American Express Platinum charge card, you may be interested to know that the latest batch of ‘exclusive member events’ have been loaded onto the website (log-in required).

You will no doubt receive an email about them in the next day or so, but you could book now without any competition for them.

However, unfortunately, the deals are poor in my opinion. I’m really not sure what Amex is playing at here.

Last year, they relaunched their Platinum events programme with some free events. Here is my review of their evening at Berry Bros wine merchants.

Since then, ‘free’ has disappeared from their vocabulary. Fair enough. But there is still a difference between a fair price and a crazy price.

Take their Private View of the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy in June. The Summer Exhibition is primarily a bit of fun in the art calendar, it is – by no means – on a par with a ‘blockbuster’ exhibition such as the Degas show last year.

A standard ticket to the Summer Exhibition is £10. A ticket to the Amex Platinum Private View evening is a whopping £46 per person! Unless they are serving Dom Perignon in unlimited quantities together with caviar canapés, I struggle to see the value in that. (Knowing Amex, it will be some dodgy £7 prosecco!) It is difficult to see this event as a special reward for my £450 Platinum membership fee.

To be fair, some of their other offerings with English National Opera and the Othello theatre evening are better priced (ie closer to the cost of a standard ticket).

However, Mastercard runs regular ‘meet the cast and have a free drink’ evenings for cardholders (see this website) and those are open to anyone with any MasterCard – no £450 membership fee required!

(I have also been to private James Morrison and Jessie J gigs courtesy of Mastercard in the last couple of years, which topped anything that Amex has ever offered me.)

So, again, Amex has failed again to offer an additional reason to justify the card fee. There are also rumours of another Membership Rewards partner pulling out as I will write about tomorrow.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus.

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending: