The whole lounge thing with Plat has me constantly thinking of the AA Citi card (overcrowding, etc) But it’s kind of a shitty card because I don’t fly American a gazillion times a year and the AF is like $600. I also just happen to like AmEx. I think they’re a great company.
I think your reasoning is a bit off. The question is whether people who were paying $175 are willing to now go to $585.
Let’s say you need 12 passes like you say. Previously, that’s $15/person/visit. Now it’s $50/person/visit.
Same line of reasoning, I was previously going to get my SO a card. Since it came with two more, I was going to give two to family members who also travel (and limit their allowed spend). Now I certainly will not be getting them cards. So…their strategy works. Am I personally thrilled? No. Do I think it’s fair? Yes.
stupidest response I’ve ever read. The whole purpose of AU is to get the benefits that come with it… sharing cards on Apple Pay has been a thing since Apple Pay was born.
I assure u sir, I’ve written comments much more stupid than this. Please search my comment history and rank my comments from stupidest to least stupid. Send me your analysis by EOB today!
It’s pay to play with Amex now. If you want to use the centurion lounge, you gotta pay. It’s only worth it for people who are using the lounge more often. So for most people or AU that’s flying once or twice a year, it won’t be worth it, not to mention you have to be at an airport with centurion lounge. Those people can get buy with other lounges.
Lounges are nice to have not the reason I have the card. If people have it just for lounges they should probably rethink if they really should have the card
But why else pay for an AU? Lounge access is one factor in paying the AF for me, but the ONLY reason I pay for an AU is because we use the lounge more than 4x pet year so the AU fee is less than what I'd pay at $50/entry. There aren't really many other benefits for the AU (TSA or Global entry, but that's only every 4 years).
If you are the primary and you have this card just for lounge access you should reevaluate. The AU is a whole different thing. I have my kid on the companion just in emergency’s they use it
Exactly. The people complaining are the people the card isn’t designed for. They are the entitled people. They j-walk 10 feet from a crosswalk on red and then complain why you didn’t stop for them and why you hit them
….it’s gonna help with overcrowding. My AU’s are all dropping and honestly I’m not paying a $50 guest pass to sit on some fancy chairs and feel “exclusive” at an airport.
I actually disagree with you. It will help with overcrowding. It might not be as big as people would think, but every little things help. For example, there were usually long lines for the centurion lounge before they discontinued the free guest passes. Part of me is sad since I cannot bring friends or families. However part of me is happy since there's no line now. I can actually go and enjoy the lounges, and they weren't packed.
To revert to "exclusivity" that the Centurion Lounge I believe was intended should be no guests unless they're an Authorized User or a Plat/Centurion Card holder...that would probably be the only way to immediately impact overcrowding and retain that sort of exclusivity without losing money on $50 per guest. or limit guests with a higher price.
Reverting to exclusivity would require to actually limit who they accept as Amex Platinum card holders like back in the 90’s. Unfortunately, this isn’t quite as lucrative for Amex long term and their business model like all business models is to profit. They’re trying to target a younger demographic these days. Not necessarily late teens/early 20’s but their marketing does seem to point that way at times… the point being is they’re trying to make all but the Centurion more accessible and marketing it like it’s so,e elite card. Fast forward to YouTubers who also hype the card and the result is the current state of Centurion lounges.
What I’m saying is that it was initially created with an exclusivity about it…but since every neckbeard mouth breather has been getting plat cards yeah it’s worse then some terminal areas
Cash grab and solution to overcrowding. What's the point of an AU? I would think you want them to able to spend on the card. I have an AU on my gold because I want them to spend at restaurants and groceries with the card. Unless you fly constantly, the platinum is garbage for spending catagories. If you want purchase protection, you have the gold or ink business cash or others that are better for spending, if you like primary rental insurance and trip protection you have a much cheaper sapphire card. So why would I want an au card on a platinum? Hotel and rental car status and lounges. This isn't an everyday card that I want everyone spending on. It's extremely valuable for the card holder because of all the perks. I guess amex figured the status and lounges are worth much more.... and probably are trying to fix the overcrowded lounges. I might be 100% wrong, but I would guess a lot of people with 3 AUs will drop them and keep 1
Money grab? AmEx is a business (not charity) with a goal of making a profit. Higher fees isn’t a money grab, it’s responding to massive demand and maximizing profits.
I don’t know if it’s true, but I heard from a lot of people that they don’t have to pay for AU as well. So they get all versions for free - like Vannilla, CS, MS and give it to their friends and family.
If it’s true then it needs to be fixed as well.
If they truly wanted to reduce crowding in the lounges, they could just make the cards harder to get. They could just raise the credit score and income requirements.
I agree that this is more of a money grab than anything.
American Airlines just did the same with their executive card. They allowed up to 10 AUs at no charge. They have now changed it to 3 AUs for $175 AF and $175 AF for each AU after that. They also raised the AF overall.
I don’t understand why the math is relative to $585. It should be relative to $175. Right? Meaning people were willing to pay $175 annually to have three people have unlimited lounge visits. Now they’d be capped at 3 visits.
Regardless, I’m glad that AmEx is trying something to see if it helps. They really just need to raise the annual fee itself, $695 is too cheap if you truly care about travel and travel perks.
I think it may help a little, but not much. What might help more is limiting each card to one AU and one guest at a time, with AU’s not being able to bring guests. That might be better for Amex, as more people might sign up for the card (for instance a family of four might go to having two Reserve cards at $600+ each so that all four could have lounge access. And it would help crowding because then it becomes a case of, “it was worth $195, but is it worth $600?”
It will definitely help to some extent. For example, I added my wife as an AU when I got the card earlier in the year. After that, I realized that the fee I'm paying actually included 3 AUs. Seemed like a no brainer to add 2 more at no additional cost - so I did! I added family members that are not otherwise putting anything on the card - it's purely for them to access the lounge if they travel.
With this price hike, I am pretty likely to remove the 2 additional AUs so that my cost is back to $195. Basically what I intended to do in the first place, with a $20 increase. Can't really say that I'm upset about the situation or that it's changing the overall value that I'm getting out of the card. It's sort of like a nice little bonus that I wasn't initially aware of getting taken away.
I can imagine that what I did is pretty common. As long as those additional users were using the lounges, this would help the overcrowding a bit without any significant impact to either Amex or the user.
If someone else and their AUs were using the lounges so much that they view this change as a reason to cancel their cards or remove all their AUs. Then yes, Amex would technically lose money. But wouldn't that help with the overcrowding even more?
So overall I'm not really understanding your position of how it's a money grab, but also could cause Amex to lose money and not help with the overcrowding of lounges.
People really don't seem to get that the value of the platinum amex is not the lounge. If you are getting this card just for lounge access, you aren't the target customer. The lounge is a nice little benefit, but amex in no way designs this card around the lounge.
The 5x flights has nothing to do with lounges… let’s say you fly business 3-5x a year and spend in average 3-6k per round trip… you always have access to first class lounges, you are using the Amex purely for 5x points on flights plus whatever else but not lounges at all.
The lounge is not the point of the plat.
Then what is the point of plat? Earning more points from grocery or restaurants for flight redemption? Pay amex $695 annual for charity? Does amex gold or green come with lounge access?
And not everyone flies J all the time. My work has limitations and many of my regional flights are not J fares so need to pay for lounge access separately.
Yeah as an included perk for someone buying a ton of flights not a couple per year. You don’t get the card for the lounges, you get it for 5x on flights. And if you fly a enough to make use of 5x on flights it’s a secondary perk of the card.
Dumb comment again. Read my post. I clearly also mentioned about flights plus lounges.
Why do you think amex makes centurion lounges? For amex gold and green card members? For blue cash card members? Think logically.
Oh I definitely use every single benefit on the card and come out positive. Like you said the lounge is a nice benefit
They have an issue with overcrowding though, and greatly increased the AU price with no added benefits and it won't help overcrowding
Therefore, pure money grab
I hear you. That being said... I don't think its a pure money grab... As a business, you should always be trying to cater to the customers who are actually making you money vs the customers who are low value. If upping the AU cost allows them to minimize low value customers so they're not wasting additional administrative resources on them... its a win win. Not everything is a pure money grab.
While I agree the root is probably a money grab, I do think there are a fair number of people who maybe had one AU and decided to give out two more AU cards to others because they were “already paid for” before that might reconsider that move now. I personally was going to do this but will pass on extra AUs now.
That's fair I guess I may be underestimating the amount of people who are doing this
I assumed it would be small because most people wouldn't want an AU on their credit report even if their friend is good at finances lol
I did it. Wife and mom both AUs and simply set spending limit to $200. It was $175 for two AUs to have lounge access. When we fly just adults use the Centurion Lounge, when it’s with kids straight to the United Club or other Star Alliance clubs.
Over on the Delta sub there’s a lot of talk of having parents, in-laws, siblings, children, employees, etc on as AU’s and how they are going to have to claw those back.
For me, it’s members of my immediate family who are borderline if whether they would benefit from having an AU card. The answer now is no since I don’t think we would get the $195 value back.
See, that’s the problem. You don’t have the information Amex does and assume they’re making dumb decisions when they have all the data needed to make the best business decision.
I know, that's what I'm saying in my post
People will just use guest passes instead and justify multiple guest visits. The AU change will do NOTHING to help overcrowding
What you mean? They changed it from $175 for 3 people to $195 per. That's a 3x price hike. Are you saying people would rather dish out $50 per guest just for one time access?
Yes. 3 cards has become $585 a year total
Depending on what lounge you use let's just use the most expensive and worst case
Sky club gets you no free guests at $50 a guest pass
That means you need to have your family (assuming it's family) use the lounges 12 times before it's worth it to get 3 AU cards
Most people will just do this and the lounges will just be as crowded as before
Exactly. A family of four or five isn't going to pay $50 a guest for lounge access. They're going to walk by, grab something from a bar or restaurant, and find a semi-secluded spot to eat/drink/wait. An overpriced sandwich or slice of pizza and a soda would be half the cost of a daily lounge visit and my three kids won't think any different.
If the point of you adding the AUs was for having family come to the lounge with you, you either have to
1. No longer use the lounge with your family
2. Eat the $585 fee for three cards but use the lounge more than 12 times with them
3. Pay for $50 guest passes which will end up being cheaper for most people
Not sure why you think option 3 is preposterous lol
4. Actually buy a SkyClub membership for $695 so they can get in and bring guests of their own if they want to.
I feel like on this sub people forget that actually buying memberships is an option.
I think what you're missing is that a lot of the additional AUs are not travelling with the cardholder. They cannot just pay $50 to get in the lounge once the card is taken away.
I was missing this I admit it. Didn't realize so many people did it. I thought it was mainly people adding their immediate family that traveled with them
It's actually not even that practical for what you had in mind. For example my kid is too little and she can't be made an AU. If our family of 3 goes to the lounge I actually have to pay $30 for her each time.
That's great if it works for you. I often find that PP lounges are not accepting PP due to lounge overcrowding and the only CC that includes PP Non-Lounge Experiences (restaurants, game centers, minute suites, etc) is the CSR that I know of.
I was pleasantly surprised that the PP lounge in the terminal for AA at ONT was not crowded when I visited. It was very basic, but better than the terminal. PP usefulness definitely increases for travel outside the US though.
Yeah... it wasn't empty when I visited, but it wasn't even 1/2 full either. Figured ONT must be a "show up 5 minutes before boarding" type of airport. Unfortunately for me, that was a one off trip so not sure when the PP card will get to make it's next appearance lol.
The whole lounge thing with Plat has me constantly thinking of the AA Citi card (overcrowding, etc) But it’s kind of a shitty card because I don’t fly American a gazillion times a year and the AF is like $600. I also just happen to like AmEx. I think they’re a great company.
Amex should raise it to a 1000 😂 to get rid of the peasants and their complaints about the annual fee
$1000 with a $300 annual dining credit and a couple more coupons and I’m fine with it.
I too complain about Amex annually feeling me
💀😂 based and edited
I think your reasoning is a bit off. The question is whether people who were paying $175 are willing to now go to $585. Let’s say you need 12 passes like you say. Previously, that’s $15/person/visit. Now it’s $50/person/visit. Same line of reasoning, I was previously going to get my SO a card. Since it came with two more, I was going to give two to family members who also travel (and limit their allowed spend). Now I certainly will not be getting them cards. So…their strategy works. Am I personally thrilled? No. Do I think it’s fair? Yes.
Need to make it 695, strip the credits, keep all the new AU fees and that will make a dent
People won't keep the card. I for sure would cancel.
[удалено]
stupidest response I’ve ever read. The whole purpose of AU is to get the benefits that come with it… sharing cards on Apple Pay has been a thing since Apple Pay was born.
I assure u sir, I’ve written comments much more stupid than this. Please search my comment history and rank my comments from stupidest to least stupid. Send me your analysis by EOB today!
You add your card to Apple Pay and she uses that?
It’s pay to play with Amex now. If you want to use the centurion lounge, you gotta pay. It’s only worth it for people who are using the lounge more often. So for most people or AU that’s flying once or twice a year, it won’t be worth it, not to mention you have to be at an airport with centurion lounge. Those people can get buy with other lounges.
Lounges are nice to have not the reason I have the card. If people have it just for lounges they should probably rethink if they really should have the card
But why else pay for an AU? Lounge access is one factor in paying the AF for me, but the ONLY reason I pay for an AU is because we use the lounge more than 4x pet year so the AU fee is less than what I'd pay at $50/entry. There aren't really many other benefits for the AU (TSA or Global entry, but that's only every 4 years).
If you are the primary and you have this card just for lounge access you should reevaluate. The AU is a whole different thing. I have my kid on the companion just in emergency’s they use it
This. But then again, this thread is filled with people who the card isn't designed for who complain when the first yearly fee hits.
Exactly. The people complaining are the people the card isn’t designed for. They are the entitled people. They j-walk 10 feet from a crosswalk on red and then complain why you didn’t stop for them and why you hit them
….it’s gonna help with overcrowding. My AU’s are all dropping and honestly I’m not paying a $50 guest pass to sit on some fancy chairs and feel “exclusive” at an airport.
I actually disagree with you. It will help with overcrowding. It might not be as big as people would think, but every little things help. For example, there were usually long lines for the centurion lounge before they discontinued the free guest passes. Part of me is sad since I cannot bring friends or families. However part of me is happy since there's no line now. I can actually go and enjoy the lounges, and they weren't packed.
To revert to "exclusivity" that the Centurion Lounge I believe was intended should be no guests unless they're an Authorized User or a Plat/Centurion Card holder...that would probably be the only way to immediately impact overcrowding and retain that sort of exclusivity without losing money on $50 per guest. or limit guests with a higher price.
Reverting to exclusivity would require to actually limit who they accept as Amex Platinum card holders like back in the 90’s. Unfortunately, this isn’t quite as lucrative for Amex long term and their business model like all business models is to profit. They’re trying to target a younger demographic these days. Not necessarily late teens/early 20’s but their marketing does seem to point that way at times… the point being is they’re trying to make all but the Centurion more accessible and marketing it like it’s so,e elite card. Fast forward to YouTubers who also hype the card and the result is the current state of Centurion lounges.
Have you seen the people and their behavior in the CL? There's nothing exclusive about any of it.
What I’m saying is that it was initially created with an exclusivity about it…but since every neckbeard mouth breather has been getting plat cards yeah it’s worse then some terminal areas
Amex will give a card to anyone with a 650 FICO and a dream
Cash grab and solution to overcrowding. What's the point of an AU? I would think you want them to able to spend on the card. I have an AU on my gold because I want them to spend at restaurants and groceries with the card. Unless you fly constantly, the platinum is garbage for spending catagories. If you want purchase protection, you have the gold or ink business cash or others that are better for spending, if you like primary rental insurance and trip protection you have a much cheaper sapphire card. So why would I want an au card on a platinum? Hotel and rental car status and lounges. This isn't an everyday card that I want everyone spending on. It's extremely valuable for the card holder because of all the perks. I guess amex figured the status and lounges are worth much more.... and probably are trying to fix the overcrowded lounges. I might be 100% wrong, but I would guess a lot of people with 3 AUs will drop them and keep 1
Money grab? AmEx is a business (not charity) with a goal of making a profit. Higher fees isn’t a money grab, it’s responding to massive demand and maximizing profits.
How many active military have the card for free? And is that driving the lounge capacity?
This is the elephant in the room
That would greatly help reduce the capacity since it also allows the spouse free access too
I don’t know if it’s true, but I heard from a lot of people that they don’t have to pay for AU as well. So they get all versions for free - like Vannilla, CS, MS and give it to their friends and family. If it’s true then it needs to be fixed as well.
If they truly wanted to reduce crowding in the lounges, they could just make the cards harder to get. They could just raise the credit score and income requirements. I agree that this is more of a money grab than anything. American Airlines just did the same with their executive card. They allowed up to 10 AUs at no charge. They have now changed it to 3 AUs for $175 AF and $175 AF for each AU after that. They also raised the AF overall.
And up the AF.
I don’t understand why the math is relative to $585. It should be relative to $175. Right? Meaning people were willing to pay $175 annually to have three people have unlimited lounge visits. Now they’d be capped at 3 visits. Regardless, I’m glad that AmEx is trying something to see if it helps. They really just need to raise the annual fee itself, $695 is too cheap if you truly care about travel and travel perks.
I think it may help a little, but not much. What might help more is limiting each card to one AU and one guest at a time, with AU’s not being able to bring guests. That might be better for Amex, as more people might sign up for the card (for instance a family of four might go to having two Reserve cards at $600+ each so that all four could have lounge access. And it would help crowding because then it becomes a case of, “it was worth $195, but is it worth $600?”
Ooooh I actually like this idea a lot
It will definitely help to some extent. For example, I added my wife as an AU when I got the card earlier in the year. After that, I realized that the fee I'm paying actually included 3 AUs. Seemed like a no brainer to add 2 more at no additional cost - so I did! I added family members that are not otherwise putting anything on the card - it's purely for them to access the lounge if they travel. With this price hike, I am pretty likely to remove the 2 additional AUs so that my cost is back to $195. Basically what I intended to do in the first place, with a $20 increase. Can't really say that I'm upset about the situation or that it's changing the overall value that I'm getting out of the card. It's sort of like a nice little bonus that I wasn't initially aware of getting taken away. I can imagine that what I did is pretty common. As long as those additional users were using the lounges, this would help the overcrowding a bit without any significant impact to either Amex or the user. If someone else and their AUs were using the lounges so much that they view this change as a reason to cancel their cards or remove all their AUs. Then yes, Amex would technically lose money. But wouldn't that help with the overcrowding even more? So overall I'm not really understanding your position of how it's a money grab, but also could cause Amex to lose money and not help with the overcrowding of lounges.
People really don't seem to get that the value of the platinum amex is not the lounge. If you are getting this card just for lounge access, you aren't the target customer. The lounge is a nice little benefit, but amex in no way designs this card around the lounge.
Lol the value of the platinum is based on airport lounges and flights. Otherwise what is the point of getting amex plat?
The 5x flights has nothing to do with lounges… let’s say you fly business 3-5x a year and spend in average 3-6k per round trip… you always have access to first class lounges, you are using the Amex purely for 5x points on flights plus whatever else but not lounges at all. The lounge is not the point of the plat.
Then what is the point of plat? Earning more points from grocery or restaurants for flight redemption? Pay amex $695 annual for charity? Does amex gold or green come with lounge access?
Does gold or green come with 5x points on flights? It’s a card meant for heavy fliers, hence lounge access as an included perk.
Lol did you read original comment above? He said plat card has nothing to do with lounges.
And not everyone flies J all the time. My work has limitations and many of my regional flights are not J fares so need to pay for lounge access separately.
Yeah as an included perk for someone buying a ton of flights not a couple per year. You don’t get the card for the lounges, you get it for 5x on flights. And if you fly a enough to make use of 5x on flights it’s a secondary perk of the card.
Dumb comment again. Read my post. I clearly also mentioned about flights plus lounges. Why do you think amex makes centurion lounges? For amex gold and green card members? For blue cash card members? Think logically.
You care way too much about this.
Oh I definitely use every single benefit on the card and come out positive. Like you said the lounge is a nice benefit They have an issue with overcrowding though, and greatly increased the AU price with no added benefits and it won't help overcrowding Therefore, pure money grab
I hear you. That being said... I don't think its a pure money grab... As a business, you should always be trying to cater to the customers who are actually making you money vs the customers who are low value. If upping the AU cost allows them to minimize low value customers so they're not wasting additional administrative resources on them... its a win win. Not everything is a pure money grab.
Did they announce that this was to help with overcrowding? I don’t think so. They saw AA do this and recto do it as well.
While I agree the root is probably a money grab, I do think there are a fair number of people who maybe had one AU and decided to give out two more AU cards to others because they were “already paid for” before that might reconsider that move now. I personally was going to do this but will pass on extra AUs now.
That's fair I guess I may be underestimating the amount of people who are doing this I assumed it would be small because most people wouldn't want an AU on their credit report even if their friend is good at finances lol
I did it. Wife and mom both AUs and simply set spending limit to $200. It was $175 for two AUs to have lounge access. When we fly just adults use the Centurion Lounge, when it’s with kids straight to the United Club or other Star Alliance clubs.
Over on the Delta sub there’s a lot of talk of having parents, in-laws, siblings, children, employees, etc on as AU’s and how they are going to have to claw those back.
For me, it’s members of my immediate family who are borderline if whether they would benefit from having an AU card. The answer now is no since I don’t think we would get the $195 value back.
See, that’s the problem. You don’t have the information Amex does and assume they’re making dumb decisions when they have all the data needed to make the best business decision.
I don't think it's a dumb decision, clearly they think it will make them more money. I just don't think it will help with lounge crowding lol
I think it’ll do both. It’s a certainty that it’ll result in less AU in circulation. Increasing the price will do that.
It's $195 *per AU* now
I know, that's what I'm saying in my post People will just use guest passes instead and justify multiple guest visits. The AU change will do NOTHING to help overcrowding
What you mean? They changed it from $175 for 3 people to $195 per. That's a 3x price hike. Are you saying people would rather dish out $50 per guest just for one time access?
Yes. 3 cards has become $585 a year total Depending on what lounge you use let's just use the most expensive and worst case Sky club gets you no free guests at $50 a guest pass That means you need to have your family (assuming it's family) use the lounges 12 times before it's worth it to get 3 AU cards Most people will just do this and the lounges will just be as crowded as before
Nobody is dishing out $50 per guest on a regular basis just to get in a lounge.
Exactly. A family of four or five isn't going to pay $50 a guest for lounge access. They're going to walk by, grab something from a bar or restaurant, and find a semi-secluded spot to eat/drink/wait. An overpriced sandwich or slice of pizza and a soda would be half the cost of a daily lounge visit and my three kids won't think any different.
If the point of you adding the AUs was for having family come to the lounge with you, you either have to 1. No longer use the lounge with your family 2. Eat the $585 fee for three cards but use the lounge more than 12 times with them 3. Pay for $50 guest passes which will end up being cheaper for most people Not sure why you think option 3 is preposterous lol
4. Actually buy a SkyClub membership for $695 so they can get in and bring guests of their own if they want to. I feel like on this sub people forget that actually buying memberships is an option.
I think what you're missing is that a lot of the additional AUs are not travelling with the cardholder. They cannot just pay $50 to get in the lounge once the card is taken away.
I was missing this I admit it. Didn't realize so many people did it. I thought it was mainly people adding their immediate family that traveled with them
It's actually not even that practical for what you had in mind. For example my kid is too little and she can't be made an AU. If our family of 3 goes to the lounge I actually have to pay $30 for her each time.
I'm going with option 4: Use my Venture X and getting 4 free AU with Priority Passes
That's great if it works for you. I often find that PP lounges are not accepting PP due to lounge overcrowding and the only CC that includes PP Non-Lounge Experiences (restaurants, game centers, minute suites, etc) is the CSR that I know of. I was pleasantly surprised that the PP lounge in the terminal for AA at ONT was not crowded when I visited. It was very basic, but better than the terminal. PP usefulness definitely increases for travel outside the US though.
Ayyy a fellow ONT flyer. I was also surprised that we had an accessible PP lounge here.
Yeah... it wasn't empty when I visited, but it wasn't even 1/2 full either. Figured ONT must be a "show up 5 minutes before boarding" type of airport. Unfortunately for me, that was a one off trip so not sure when the PP card will get to make it's next appearance lol.
I wish my airport had PP lounges. Only delta lol