American Express Replaces Hotel Stay Welcome Bonus with Extra Points for The Platinum Card - Get 215,000 Points (and up to 440,000 Points) with First S$20,000 Spend

The American Express Platinum Card comes with an annual fee of S$1,712 each year and when it was relaunched back in 2018, I was quick to apply for it because the benefits definitely outweighed the cost for me personally. In fact, even though The Platinum Card is not great when it comes to mileage accrual (unless you are spending at Platinum EXTRA Partners), it is actually my favourite card in Singapore! While the card used to come with up to two free nights at selected Banyan Tree/Mandarin Oriental properties in the region, American Express has now tweaked the welcome and spend offer to offer 150,000 Membership Rewards (MR) bonus points for spending S$20,000 in the first 6 months of card membership instead.

Click HERE to apply for The Platinum Card and start enjoying hotel upgrades and huge savings!

Photo Credit: American Express

No More 3D/2N Stay at Selected Banyan Tree/Mandarin Oriental Property for Now

One of the main draws to The Platinum Card for me personally is the welcome offer - I redeemed mine at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental, Taipei (I have stayed here back in 2015 and absolutely loved the property) as it was almost S$1,300 (NT$ 28,875) for a two-night stay. However, due to the current restrictions on travel, as well as the global pandemic situation, American Express replaced the hotel stay benefit (which you would not be able to utilise if you apply for it now anyway) with additional MR Points.

Photo Credit: American Express

So, What Changed Exactly?

Previous Offer

2-night stay at selected Banyan Tree/Mandarin Oriental properties
(Welcome Bonus)

75,000 bonus Membership Rewards points for spending S$20,000 in first 6 months of card membership
(Spend Bonus)

New and Current Offer

75,000 bonus Membership Rewards points
(Welcome Bonus)

75,000 bonus Membership Rewards points for spending S$20,000 in first 6 months of card membership
(Spend Bonus)

To put it simply with the changes on The Platinum Card, you now get 75,000 MR Points as a welcome bonus instead of the 2-night stay at selected Banyan Tree/Mandarin Oriental properties - you get this if you are an eligible new Platinum member without any required spend. You will continue to get 75,000 Bonus MR Points if you spend S$20,000 within the first 6 months of card membership.

Membership Rewards Points can be converted into miles, hotel loyalty points, and cash rebates (and you should seriously consider using it to offset your annual fee this year if you are renewing your membership) - you can also redeem it for a range of vouchers, experiences, and even a Mini Cooper (yes, I am not actually kidding) but you should not.

If you sign-up for The Platinum Card now, you can earn up to 150,000 bonus MR Points if you spend S$20,000 within the first 6 months of the card membership. The card earns 2 MR Points per S$1.60 typically but you can earn 20 MR Points per S$1.60 (yes, 10 times more!) for the first S$20,000 spend across Platinum EXTRA Partners - this is especially great if you have plans to get a high-value item like a watch (from The Hour Glass) or to pay for the downpayment on your new Mazda.

How Do I Earn 215,000 MR Points On The First S$20,000 Spend?

If you are planning to sign-up for The Platinum Card soon, you should definitely try to hit the S$20,000 spend bonus to get as much value as you can in the first year. Depending on what you spend on, you can essentially get up to 240,000 MR Points (or 465,000 if you spend across Platinum EXTRA Partners) for the first S$20,000 of spend and here's how you do it:

• Welcome Bonus: 75,000 MR Points

• Base Spend of S$20,000: 25,000 MR Points (Regular) OR 250,000 MR Points (Platinum EXTRA Partners)

• Spend Bonus: 75,000 MR Points

• MGM Referral Bonus: 40,000 MR Points (from using this specific referral link to sign-up)

• TOTAL: 215,000 MR Points (Regular Spend) or 440,000 MR Points (across Platinum EXTRA Partners)

As mentioned earlier, Platinum Members can convert MR Points to a range of frequent flyer airline miles at a preferred rate of 400:250. They may also choose to convert it into Marriott Bonvoy points at a 1:1 rate (or to Hilton Honors Points at a 1:1.25 rate). Depending on where you end up spending on in the example above, you may end up with 215,000 (134,375 Miles) or 440,000 MR Points (275,00Miles) with your first S$20,000 spend on The Platinum Card - this is 6.71 mpd and 13.75 mpd respectively - but just make sure you sign-up for The Platinum Card using my referral link if you want that extra 40,000 bonus points.

Photo Credit: The Hour Glass

Sign-up Links for The Platinum Card

• The Platinum Card - Get 150,000 Bonus MR Points on First S$20,000 Spend

• The Platinum Card (Referral) - Get 190,000 Bonus MR Points on First S$20,000 Spend (40,000 more points for using a referral link)

Planning to get a different American Express card? Using any of the following MGM referral links will earn you either bonus MR Points of KrisFlyer miles depending on the card that you will be applying for:

• American Express Platinum Credit Card - 12,000 MR Points Bonus

• American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Ascend Credit Card - 7,500 KrisFlyer Miles Bonus

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