A Review of Amex Platinum Charge 2025 Vouchers

Amex Platinum Card - That Hefty Metal Card

It's called the 1744 card affectionately by users in Singapore because that is the price of the annual card fee. This card is not for everyone, but in recent times, the annual income required has dropped to 30,000 SGD, which makes it accessible to most Singaporeans. The question is really whether you have the kind of lifestyle that is supplementary to this card. It is at its core meant to be a premium card for individuals who seek luxurious travels, lifestyle privileges, value exceptional service and therefore has the equivalent price tag to match.

We thought we should share our perspectives on this new set of vouchers that we have just received for our Amex Platinum Charge Card. We also have the Amex Platinum Reserve, which has its own set of vouchers which we will look at as well in a separate post. Before we dig right in, I must say that I am not sure that we look forward to these vouchers as much as we did in the past. There used to be extremely good vouchers in the past. But since the card has become more mass market, we are starting to see an overall reduction in values and many just go straight to the recycling pile. I am hoping that with enough feedback, Amex will start to up their game again and focus on vouchers that are actually value add to its clients.

The Vouchers We Make Sure To Use

The One Voucher We Look Forward To Every Year

The first voucher we make sure to use is the complimentary night stay at one of the listed hotels on go.amex/platstay. This year is no different and we are again going to look at best value for this free night stay against our travel plans. It is extremely easy to coordinate this voucher, just write directly to the reservations team listed in the link above and we have not had any issues securing the hotel and date we want. Just remember to bring the voucher with you when you travel because a physical voucher is required.

Currently we still see a good list of properties but some hotels are valued more than others, so do take note, especially when breakfast is not provided:

• Fullerton Hotel, Singapore (no breakfast)

• St Regis, Singapore (no breakfast)

• Mandarin Oriental, Jakarta

• Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur

• Banyan Tree, Hangzhou

• Banyan Tree, Bintan

• HOMM Saranam BAturiti, Bali

• Banyan Tree, Phuket

• Banyan Tree, Bangkok

• Banyan Tree, Yangshuo

• Banyan Tree, Lang Co

• Banyan Tree, Kuala Lumpur

• Pavilion Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

• Banyan Tree, Tamouda Bay, Morocco

• Banyan Tree, Lijiang

• Banyan Tree, Ringha

• Banyan Tree, Tianjin Riverside

• Banyan Tree, Shanghai

• Banyan Tree, Doha

• Banyan Tree, Mayakoba, Mexico Angsana Teluk, Penang

• Angsana Maison Soucannaphoum, Laos

• Angsana Laguna, Phuket

• Angsana Corfu, Greece

• Cassia, Phuket

• Dhawa, Quchou

• Dhawa Yura, Kyoto

The next voucher that we typically use is the Wan Hao 30 % off Ala Carte Voucher. Wanhao is on the Love Dining Program, so if you have parties of less than 3, this is not a great voucher to be using. However, if you have a dining party larger than 4, then this voucher comes in handy. Applicable for both dine in and takeaway. We would typically save this for a family dinner or when we have friends in town.

Free Wine x2

There are 2 vouchers for Free Wine or Cake and we make it a point to always pick them up. When we want a no fuss meal, we would go to Stamford Brasserie, eat with 50 % off Love Dining and then pick up 2 bottles of complimentary wine each time. It is that simple. These wines are by no means anything fancy, but sufficient for that stew or risotto that you make at home. Alternatively, you can always preorder a cake for pick up. From what I have seen, you can either get a Mango cake or Chocolate cake, though Amex has seemingly reduced the size of these cakes over time. Shrinkflation?

The Ambiguous Vouchers

The Voucher that is decreasing in value every year. It started out as a nice touch, but this year, the value has dropped from 100 SGD to 50 SGD. Annoying at best, considering tower club slaps on an additional 10 % surcharge for Amex users and has all sorts of restrictions and booking at one of their restaurants requires calling the Amex concierge. Perhaps, we will try to get some wine or mooncakes this year at Tower Club.

The Spa Vouchers:

• Spa Rael 100 SGD off ala carte services with minimum spend of 180 SGD

• The Spa by the Ultimate 130 SGD off ala carte services with minimum spend of 180 SGD

• The Ultimate 130 SGD off ala carte services with minimum spend of 180 SGD

• Adeva Spa 100 SGD off ala carte services with minimum spend of 180 SGD

If you don't mind the hardsell after your massage or facial, these vouchers are pretty good value. We do enjoy these vouchers when we remember to use them. I'll leave them under the Ambiguous portion because these vouchers often seem to be an after thought and a last minute utilisation before their expire which makes me think, perhaps we wont actually miss them if they get nerf-ed.

The remaining Ambiguous Vouchers

• Wan Hao Complimentary Wine - The Complimentary Wine is applicable with a minimum spend of 200 SGD after love dining discount with a requirement to be during the primary card birthday month or the month after that. So its a nice addition for when we happen to have plans with friends and spend above the 200 SGD. But not something we would go out of our way to utilise.

• The Wooloomooloo Voucher is 100 SGD off 250 SGD spend. Again, Wooloomooloo is on the Love Dining Program, so make sure to check which is of better value for you.

• Restaurant Jag 100 SGD voucher - Restaurant Jag's dinner menu is at 298 ++ and chances are you wont be going alone.. So a 100 SGD voucher is not really going to be terribly appealing for a meal that is likely going to cost 1K for 2 pax... So unfortunately, this is under the ambiguous, not sure what the actual benefit is kind of voucher

  
  

The Vouchers We Recycle

Plenty of Fairmont and Swissotel Singapore Vouchers

There are a total of 8 Swissotel and Fairmont vouchers that offer certain rates on the weekend of complimentary upgrade. Honestly, staycations seem to be a thing of the past now but we did use these vouchers once when we had guests visiting from overseas. It was a good rate, however do note that breakfast is not offered with these vouchers.

The other vouchers that get sent to recycling are:

• Mikuni or Willow Stream Spa: 50 SGD off. Mikuni has since closed which makes this voucher rather useless. Not saying that the food at Mikuni is anything to be excited about. But giving be 50 SGD off for a 90 min spa that costs 280 SGD seems like terrible value.

• Asian Market Cafe: 50 % off total food bill for 8-10 adults. On paper this is a good deal. However, we dont seem to get our act together every year to organise an event that is exactly 8-10 people.

• Crossroads Buffet: 50 SGD off 100 SGD minimum spend. This voucher is also one that is rather interesting. Considering Crossroads Buffet is part of Love Dining and it is difficult to get a benefit outside of love dining that makes this voucher value for money. This goes into the recycle pile too.

As you can already see, whilst the voucher packs seem full, only a handful are considered of value to us. Therefore the earlier statement of hoping Amex will up their game and curate a better selection of vouchers moving forward. On saying all of that, there are other benefits that Amex has provided through the year which has been of extremely good value for us and remains as one of our staple cards. We will shortly review how our 2024 year has been for the Amex Platinum Charge Card and why we are choosing to renew this card. Till then!