18,122 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 and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the cards that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. All information about the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Card, American Express Hilton Honors Card, American Express Green Card, World of Hyatt Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card, and the Chase Freedom Flex has been collected independently by Military Money Manual. These cards are no longer available through CardRatings.com. 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 reduced to $0 for active duty military, Guard and Reserve on 30+ day active orders, and military spouses. This is in accordance with Amex's Military Lending Act rules.
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
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, 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
- $695 annual fee*. Reduced to $0 with American Express special military protections
- Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible 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 through American Express Travel using 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+, Hulu, Peacock, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
- $200 Uber Cash: Platinum Card® Members can get $15 in Uber Cash each month, plus a bonus $20 in December after adding their Card to their Uber account. Use your Uber Cash on rides and orders in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction. Enrollment required.
- $200 Airline Fee Credit: Up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year in baggage fees and more at 1 qualifying airline. Enrollment required.
- $199 CLEAR® Plus Credit: CLEAR® Plus helps to get you to your gate faster at 50+ airports nationwide and get up to $199 back per calendar year on your Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Card. CLEARLanes are available at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues.
- This is a MAJOR time saver–$120 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck® (through a TSA PreCheck® official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Platinum Card®! Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
- With American Express Global Lounge Collection®, enjoy access to over 1,400 airport lounges globally, including The Centurion® Lounge, Unlimited Delta Sky Club® Access when flying an eligible Delta flight, EscapeLounges, Lufthansa Lounges when flying Lufthansa Group, Plaza Premium, Priority Pass™ Select Lounges, & Additional Global Lounge Collection Partner Lounges subject to visit limitations. Lounges may have their own rules, like additional access rules and guest fees, and for Priority Pass Select, you need to enroll and there are unlimited airport lounge visits for Card Members. With Delta Sky Club Access, Card Members will receive 10 Visits to the Delta Sky Club to be used from February 1 until January 31 of the next calendar year and can unlock Unlimited Delta Sky Club Access by spending $75,000 in eligible purchases on their Card in a calendar year. To find a lounge, visit the membership section in the American Express® App or visit http://www.americanexpress.com/findalounge#/loungefinder.
- $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
- Know if you're approved for a Card with no impact to your credit score. If you're approved and choose to accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
- No foreign transaction fees
- Enrollment is required for select benefits
- 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.
“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”
Spencer, is there something I’m missing from above or are there now only 3 Amex Platinum cards? Thanks so much for everything you do to educate the masses on these benefits. This website is my go to with any questions related to credit cards.
That was a typo, there’s 3 versions I know of for the personal Amex Platinum card.
“For instance, I have 7 Amex Platinum cards. I pay no annual fees since I opened the cards while on active duty.”
Hi Spencer, this statement you made was interesting. I am a veteran who married an active duty service member and I’m now a military spouse, trying to educate my wife on all the benefits.
From what I understood, once she retired or seperated it was only a matter of time until annual fees would be reinstated. Are you saying if we racked up 20 or so high annual fee cards while she’s active duty, those fees will continue to be waived forever? This would be huge for me to get her onboard.
Correct, sometimes the fee are waived forever. Here’s my advice for fee waived credit cards after you leave the military. My wife and I have 8 Amex Platinums, 4 Amex Hilton Aspires, an Amex Gold card, 3 Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliants, some Chase cards, etc. After separating 2 years ago, only 1 of my wife’s Amex cards has had the annual fee charged and I have only had 1 Amex Platinum with an annual fee charged.
Also, why not open the cards while you’re on active duty and then have a plan for when you leave active duty? It’s pretty easy! You’ll be warned by the credit card companies before they charge you an annual fee. Then, just decide if you want to keep the card or not. Close it if you aren’t getting value from it. Keep it open if you are. Your credit score will not be affected that much for very long. My wife closed dozens of cards when I left active duty. Her score dropped 30 points to 790 and then recovered to 820 within a few months. It was not a big deal at all.
The benefits are just too good while you’re active duty to worry about what happens afterwards. Even if you mess up and get charged an annual fee, if you close the account within 30 days Amex will refund you the annual fee.
Spencer, does my spouse have to open a separate CS IBA for the annual fees to be waived if she decides to apply for her own CS Plat?
Yes, she’ll need her own Schwab account to apply for the Schwab Amex Platinum. Fee waiver will come from Amex if she’s eligible in the MLA database.
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.