American Express is offering $0 Annual Card Fee (usually $195) in the first year for new Card Members who apply for the American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card. Terms & conditions apply.

The American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card comes with a Smartphone Screen Cover and includes a $200 travel credit each year the card is renewed. It is a solid option for serious points collectors who would like to earn points from their day-to-day spend— it offers 3 Membership Rewards points at major supermarkets and petrol stations, with a standard ongoing annual fee of $195.

It is worth knowing that Membership Rewards points are transferable to 11 key frequent flyer programs, including Velocity Frequent Flyer, KrisFlyer, Asia Miles, Etihad Guest and more.

Why the Platinum Edge Credit Card?

The key benefit of the Platinum Edge Credit Card is opening the door to more points earned from your everyday spend rather than an offering to reduce fees or a large number of sign-up bonus points.

The American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card is one of the cards that can maximise your points return over the long-run. Thanks to the bonus points on offer at supermarkets and for fuel, it can be one of the best cards to hold for those trying to collect points outside of Qantas Frequent Flyer – points can be transferred to Virgin Australia Velocity, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, and more.

Card Details

CardAmerican Express Platinum Edge
Loyalty programAmerican Express Membership Rewards can transfer to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and more
Points earned from spend3 points per $1 on spend at major supermarkets and petrol stations, 2 points per $1 on overseas spend, and 1 point per $1 everywhere else
Points capNone
Earns points at ATOYes - 1 points per $1
Travel benefits$200 Travel Credit each year, plus Travel Insurance coverage for travel booked on the card
Included insurancesSmartphone Screen Cover
Trip Cancellation and Amendment Cover
Personal Accident Cover
Travel Inconvenience Cover
Medical Emergency Expenses Cover
Personal Baggage, Money and Travel Documents Cover
Personal Liability Cover
Card Purchase and Refund Cover
(PDS)
Overseas transaction fee3% of the converted amount
Mobile walletApple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay
Annual fee$195 p.a. ongoing

Effective Frequent Flyer Program Point Earn Rates

Frequent Flyer ProgramPoints earned from spend
Velocity PointsUp to 1.5 point / $
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer milesUp to 1 Mile / $
Cathay Pacific Asia MilesUp to 1.5 Mile / $

There’s also a $200 travel credit that can be used through Amex Travel which can offset some of the annual fee.

All up, the earn rate on everyday spend of 1 point per $1 is good, but it’s the 3 points per $1 spent in supermarkets and on fuel, as well as the number of transfer partners that American Express Membership Rewards offer that make it a potentially great points earner.

Digging into the American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card benefits: earning Membership Rewards points

The Platinum Edge Credit Card accrues points in American Express Membership Rewards, which is one of the most versatile and flexible points programs in Australia.

You can earn 3 points per $1 on spend at major supermarkets and petrol stations, 2 points per $1 on overseas spend, and 1 point per $1 everywhere else including the ATO, other government charges and utilities.

For regular credit card users, this is one of the best points-earning cards out there, given the potential to triple your points haul on your everyday shopping.

Here’s where you’ll be able to earn higher points:

Supermarkets qualifying for bonus points with American Express
Bi-Lo
Coles and Coles Online
IGA and Foodland
Flemings
Safeway
Woolworths and Woolworths online, Thomas Dux & BigW
Food For Less
Fishers
Fresh Provisions
Macro Wholefood
Superbarn
Franklins
Harris Farm Markets
Petrol stations qualifying for bonus points with American Express
Coles Express
Ampol
Shell
7-Eleven
BP
Safeway Petrol
Woolworths Petrol
Peak, Gull
Caltex, Caltex Woolworths
Mobil, Quix

This card earns Membership Rewards Ascent Points, which means they transfer to most frequent flyer partners at a ratio of 2:1. Note that Ascent points are different to Ascent Premium points, which are earned through the Amex Platinum and Business Platinum Charge cards and offer transfers to Qantas – this card doesn’t.

You can earn and transfer Membership Rewards points from your daily spend to Virgin Australia Velocity, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Malaysia Airlines Enrich, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Marriott Bonvoy.

The large number of partners allows for a greater amount of flexibility in how you use your hard-earned points, giving you options you might not have had with a single airline card.

Velocity, Asia Miles, KrisFlyer and Marriott Bonvoy are the four key transfer partners for the Platinum Edge Credit Card. Velocity points can be used to redeem for Virgin Australia flights, Asia Miles is great for redemptions with the oneworld alliance airlines – including Qantas – while KrisFlyer is great for long-haul Business and First Class flights with Singapore Airlines. Marriott Bonvoy is a solid hotel partner with a large range of premium hotels.

You can also often get extra points through other areas of American Express, such as American Express Travel bookings, Travel Insurance and Foreign Exchange.

Read the Point Hacks guide to American Express cards acceptance here.

The $200 Travel Credit

The $200 annual Travel Credit that comes with the American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card can be booked through American Express Travel (online only) and used for a single flight, hotel, or car rental (limited to rentals to/from airports) booking with a cost of $200 or more. You can use the $200 credit each year after you pay your annual fee.

Note: You will need to use your annual $200 Travel Credit on a single travel booking of $200 or more on your eligible Card, made through American Express Travel Online. Your booking will be charged in full to your American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card and American Express will then credit $200 to your Account within 3 business days but may take up to 30 days. You will still receive your $200 Travel Credit each year, and your Travel Credit anniversary will remain the same. Click here for the full Terms & Conditions.

American Express Plan It

American Express launched ‘Plan It’ in mid-2020, which allows cardholders to create instalment plans that allow for equal payments to be distributed over a 3, 6 or 12 month payment period. There is a monthly fixed fee to access this feature, with up to 10 Plan It plans with a minimum of $150 balance able to be created.

Other card benefits

The other key benefits that come with the Platinum Edge Credit Card are:

  • Smartphone Screen Cover: up to $500 of screen repairs if you accidentally break your smartphone screen, with a 10% claim excess
  • Medical Emergency Expenses Cover
  • Travel Cancellation and Amendment Cover
  • Baggage, Money and Travel Documents Cover
  • Personal Liability Cover
  • Travel Inconvenience Cover

Worth noting–the Smartphone Screen Cover is activated when you are paying for your smartphone contract, or paid for your phone outright, on your Platinum Edge Credit Card.

Similar conditions, just like most other credit card insurances, apply to the Travel Insurance —you’ll need to have paid for the travel expenses on your card, with Amex Travel Credit, or with your Membership Rewards points to be covered.

You can read the full PDS here.  

This guide references some of the benefits of insurance policies provided with this card. You should read the PDS and obtain independent professional advice before obtaining this product.

Unparalleled mobile wallet integration

American Express cards support Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, meaning you can use this card on your smartphone for easier payments.

Read the Point Hacks guide to using Apple Pay or for using Google Pay and Samsung Pay, including instructions on how to add your American Express card to those services.

With this feature set up, it means you could still use your NFC-enabled phone to make purchases with your American Express account, even if your physical card is lost or stolen and pending replacement.

Maximising the value you get from your American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card

There are a few ways you can really earn the most points out of your Edge card if you plan and purchase carefully.

Spend in supermarkets on gift cards and use them to buy elsewhere

It’s possible to bump up the earn on Membership Rewards points earnt at supermarkets, over to spend at other merchants and it’s a way of increasing your points earn across many retailers, not just at the major supermarkets.

It relies on both Coles and Woolworths (for the examples given here) selling gift cards for a wide variety of other merchants in-store, where you’ll receive triple points for the spend.

Membership Rewards will return triple points on all purchases that can be made with a credit card in supermarkets, including purchases of gift vouchers. You can also earn triple points using the Card online at www.giftcards.woolworths.com.au for Woolworths cards and www.giftcards.com.au for Coles cards.

Woolworths and Coles offer gift cards for a range of partners. So for any of the partner merchants, you may be able to, for example, turn a $500 purchase into 1,500 Membership Rewards points by buying a $500 voucher at a supermarket to make the purchase.

Obviously, this is simplest to accomplish for large purchases, such as electronics or hotel stays, or frequent purchases, such as alcohol or iTunes. One-off or smaller purchases from gift-cardable merchants may not be worth bothering with.

Using gift cards from supermarkets with the Platinum Edge Credit Card triple points earn is an easy way to supercharge your Membership Rewards balance with minimal effort, and just a bit of planning

Read the Point Hacks guide to using credit card points for cashback here.

Use Amex Offers with the Platinum Edge Credit Card

Platinum Edge Card Members can access ‘Amex Offers‘, which are immediate statement credits for hitting a spend target with a specific retailer.

These offers are saved to your card account online or in the American Express app and are worth keeping an eye on in case they hit the mark for any retailers you happen to shop with.

Remember to check the American Express referral program offers for the American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card

Often there can be a few more points available from referral offers if you know someone who has a Platinum Edge Credit Card, in which case it could be worth taking up a referral from a friend or family member. Here’s our guide to the referral program.

Summing up: American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card

Hopefully, this guide gives you the overview of why we think the Edge is one of the best cards on the market out there for day-to-day expenditure – unless you’re tied to Qantas Frequent Flyer for any reason, such as work travel, or a specific redemption opportunity that you know Qantas can only supply for you.

$0 Annual Card Fee (usually $195) in the first year plus a $200 Travel Credit with The American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card was last modified: February 22nd, 2024 by Daniel Sciberras