12,000 grads of the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course already know why
The Platinum Card® from American Express is my #1 recommended card
Military Money Manual has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Military Money Manual and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Thank you for supporting my independent, veteran owned site.
The American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab is one flavor of The Platinum Card® from American Express, the most popular card for servicemembers and military spouses.
Just like the classic Amex Platinum, the annual fee on the Charles Schwab Amex Platinum is waived for active duty military and military spouses.
The Schwab Amex Platinum allows you to cash out American Express Membership Rewards® at 1.1 cents per point. This is a huge benefit and greatly increases the flexibility of your Amex points.
If you can't find a good Amex airline or hotel transfer partner, you can always cash out your Amex Membership Rewards points for 1.1 cents each with the Schwab Amex Platinum card. 100,000 Amex points could turn into $1,100 cash. That's a significant cash boost!
You can learn how to apply for the Schwab Amex Platinum on the Schwab credit card page.
*All information about American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab has been collected independently by MilitaryMoneyManual.com
Amex Platinum Versions
Currently there are 4 flavors or versions of the Amex Platinum card:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express, also known as the “vanilla Platinum”
- American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab
- The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley
- The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley
You can apply for all 4 versions of the card and hold multiple accounts of all 4 versions at once. For instance, I have 7 Amex Platinum cards. I pay no annual fees since I opened the cards while on active duty.
Charles Schwab Amex Platinum Benefits
The Charles Schwab Amex Platinum has all the same benefits as the original Amex Platinum. This allows you to double up on annual benefits such as:
- Get $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings, which requires a minimum two-night stay, through American Express Travel when you pay with your Platinum Card®
- $240 Digital Entertainment Credits: Up to $20 in monthly statement credits when you use your Platinum card to pay for: Peacock, Audible, Sirius, Disney+, The Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, and the New York Times. Enrollment Required.
- $200 Uber Cash: Uber VIP status and up to $200 in Uber savings on Uber Eats and rides
- $200 Airline Fee Credit: Up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year in baggage fees and more at 1 qualifying airline
- $100 annual Saks Fifth Avenue credit, can be used for gift cards, enrollment required
- $189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Breeze through security with CLEAR® Plus at 45+ airports nationwide and get up to $189 back per year on your membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Platinum Card®.
All of the above benefits are offered per open account. So if you have an original Amex Platinum and a Charles Schwab Amex Platinum account opened at the same time, you will double up on your annual benefits. Your spouse can also double up, allowing you to 4x your annual Amex Platinum benefits!
You can learn how to apply for the vanilla Amex Platinum card below:
The Platinum Card® from American Express
Learn how to apply on our partner's secure site
- Annual fee of $695* See more details about military protections for you and your spouse
- Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
- Earn 5x points on airfare booked directly with airline or on amextravel.com up to $500,000 per calendar year
- Earn 5x points on prepaid hotels at amextravel.com
- $200 Annual Hotel Credit: Get $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings with American Express Travel when you pay with your Platinum Card®. Note that The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay.
- $240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 back in statement credits each month when you pay for eligible purchases with the Platinum Card® at your choice of one or more of the following providers: Disney+, a Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Peacock, Audible, SiriusXM, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
- $200 Uber Cash: Uber VIP status and up to $200 in Uber savings on Uber Eats and rides
- $200 Airline Fee Credit: Up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year in baggage fees and more at 1 qualifying airline
- $189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Breeze through security with CLEAR® Plus at 45+ airports nationwide and get up to $189 back per calendar year on your membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Platinum Card®.
- $300 Equinox Credit: Get up to $300 back each year on an Equinox+ subscription, or any Equinox club memberships when you pay with your Platinum Card. Enrollment required. Membership subject to auto-renewal.
- $155 Walmart+ Credit: Cover the cost of a $12.95 monthly Walmart+ membership with a statement credit after you pay for Walmart+ each month with your Platinum Card. Cost includes $12.95 plus applicable local sales tax.
- Up to $100 annual Saks Fifth Avenue credit, enrollment required
- Access 40+ Centurion Lounges and 1,200+ Priority Pass airport lounge for free
- No foreign transaction fees
- The Platinum Card® from American Express – learn how to apply
- Read my full review of the Amex Platinum card for military, terms apply
You are eligible for the welcome bonus offer on the Schwab Amex Platinum card, even if you already earned a welcome offer on the The Platinum Card from American Express. The Schwab Amex Platinum is considered a different product from the classic Amex Platinum.
Therefore the Amex lifetime restriction on one welcome bonus offer per lifetime per card doesn't matter here. That means you can double up on your Amex Membership Reward points earned through the welcome offer!
I recommend that most military servicemembers and military spouses open up the vanilla Amex Platinum first and then a Charles Schwab Amex Platinum afterwards. The Schwab Amex Platinum adds more Amex points to your stash, adds increased flexibility for cashing out Amex points, and doubles your recurring annual benefits.
The easiest way is to apply for a Charles Schwab investor checking account and put a few dollars in there. Then you should be eligible to apply for a American Express Platinum Card® for Schwab.
Yes, you can apply for a Charles Schwab Amex Platinum even if you already have a Amex Platinum. You can even earn the welcome bonus offer on the Schwab Platinum since it is considered a different product than the vanilla Amex Platinum.
Is there a reason AMEX would deny the 100K (80K in your article) membership points for the spending bonus? I have held the AMEX Plat for about 4 years. I opened a Schwab brokerage account about a month ago, funded it, performed some trades to demonstrate activity – all in the effort of opening Schwab’s AMEX Plat. While filling out the application, AMEX now indicates eligibility for the spending bonus prior to a hard pull on your credit. I was told I was not eligible. I have never cancelled an AMEX credit line; I have the Gold (2021), Aspire (2020) as my other AMEX products.
Is there successful evidence of calling AMEX and getting them to fulfill the spending bonus despite the webform’s apparent exclusion? Love the content and podcast, Spencer!
It sounds like your in the “Amex popup jail” I have a few strategies on how to escape in my article on the topic.