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Centurion Lounge access is one of the best benefits of American Express’ The Platinum Card(r). These lounges are a welcome respite from airport chaos. Local chefs may offer a better incentive to arrive at the airport earlier than Transportation Security Administration recommendations. You might find yourself wishing your flight was delayed.

The Centurion Lounge perk will be significantly changed next year, for better or worse. Centurion Lounges can be accessed by Platinum Card members and their guests for no additional cost. However, this will change on February 1, 2023. American Express’s annual fee of $695 threatens to take a large chunk off the value of The Platinum Card(r). These terms apply.

Most cardholders will no longer be able to bring two guests into the Centurion Lounge at no extra cost after February 1, 2023. If you don’t spend $75,000 per calendar year with your card, $50 will be required to bring an adult guest into the Centurion Lounge. Children 2-17 years old must pay $30. These terms and conditions apply.

The Centurion Lounge guest policy changes are good news for travelers who have been frustrated by crowded lounges that make it difficult to get in line. This is a problem for cardholders who frequent the lounges with at least two friends.

It will be more difficult for some to justify the $695 annual fee for The Platinum Card(r), American Express, especially if their home airport has a lounge. If you are a lounge addict who doesn’t travel alone, the question is: Should you stop using lounges? Or should your travel companion be an authorized user? These terms and conditions apply.

Your spending habits will determine the answer. Two calculators are provided below to assist you in adjusting the Centurion Lounge guest passes policy to reflect your spending habits.

American Express Platinum Card(r), one per person, annual fee $695 These terms apply.

Many perks are focused on luxury. These include a $200 hotel credit for prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts(r), or The Hotel Collection, a $100 Saks Fifth Avenue credit and a $300 statement credit towards a SoulCycle at home bike. There is also a $300 Equinox credit per year. Enrollment required. These terms apply.

While other perks may be more accessible, such as the Walmart+ credit and $20 monthly digital entertainment credit, or cell phone protection, they are only worth what you actually use. Walmart+ is not likely to be of much value if you have an Amazon Prime account. The digital entertainment credit does not cover a few services such as Disney+ or Hulu. This does not include your Netflix subscription. These terms and conditions apply.

It is unlikely that everyone would use all benefits. Even if they were, their value will vary depending on how often you use them. A Centurion Lounge visitor who visits twice a year, uses the showers and has a full meal plus a few complimentary cocktails might be more valuable than someone who only enters once a month to get a banana before they fly.

Use our calculator to calculate the value of American Express card.

Now you know the value of American Express , it’s time for you to think about whether you and your lounge buddy are better off being authorized users or if they should apply for their card on their own.

You can add up to three cards for $175 (plus $175 per authorized user). It comes to $58 per authorized person per year if you take full advantage of the offer and add three more people.

But here’s the catch. The catch? Authorized users only get some of the benefits mentioned above. You will not receive two sets Uber credits and two sets Saks credits. These terms and conditions apply.

However, Authorized users of the Platinum Card(r), from American Express get a substantial portion of the benefits.

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  Lounge access.
  

• Earn points for every dollar spent on flights or prepaid hotels booked through AmEx Travel Portal HTML3_ HTML4_ HTML5_ HTML5_ HTML3_ HTML4_ HTML5_ HTML3_ HTML3_ HTML5_ HTML3_ HTML3_ HTML3_ HTML5_ HTML3_ HTML3_ HTML5_ HTML3_ HTML4_ HTML5_ HTML5_ HTML5_ HTML3_

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  Get a $100 statement credit for Global Entry every four years or an $85 credit for TSA PreCheck every four years.
  

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  Equinox statement credits can be up to $300 per calendar year Enrollment required.
  

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  $300 SoulCycle credit at-home for bike purchases, up to 15 per year (worth up $4,500 per person assuming that you bought 15 bikes).
  

These terms and conditions apply. Enrollment required.

Equinox and SoulCycle – If you are looking for an Equinox membership, becoming an authorized user can be a great way to save money. If you have 30 SoulCycle bikes and you don’t have any other discounts, you are practically making money. These terms and conditions apply.

Global Entry and PreCheck. If you don’t need an Equinox membership, or a SoulCycle bicycle, there are other ways to add authorized users. This is done via the TSA PreCheck credit or Global Entry credit. However, you can still get a complimentary TSA PreCheck and Global Entry. These terms and conditions apply.

Lounge Access: For those who don’t care about lounge access, let us break it down when you add authorized people:

Let’s suppose you value a lounge visit as $30. That’s roughly the cost of a typical airport meal. To break even on the authorized user costs ($175/30=5.83 span), your guests will need to visit the lounge at least six times per year. This could be the same person six times, each of the three authorized users twice, or a combination of both.

This calculator can help you determine if it is worth adding an authorized person based on how they use all authorized user benefits (and the value of lounge access).

You have now calculated the card’s value to you. The value that your travel buddy(s) could get by becoming authorized users was calculated. There’s another option: each one of you can have your own card.

Let your potential authorized users go through the initial calculations. Take the quiz in the guide to see what the benefits might be.

Two American Express Platinum Cards(r) per household: two annual fees totaling $695 (or $13,390).

The $175 user fee may seem like a good option, as it is much cheaper than paying an additional $695. If you maximize your card’s potential, it may be worth paying two annual fees. The benefits of having your own card go beyond being authorized.

It is not something you should take lightly when adding authorized users to your credit cards. You give permission to an authorized user to purchase on your account. You are ultimately responsible for authorized user charges.

You will be charged a late fee if you fail to pay the charges. This can affect your credit score and credit report.

You can add up three authorized users to the Platinum Card(r), from American Express at the same time as one.

It might not be worth the risk of being named Sibling or Neighbor of the Year in exchange for access to lounges.

Once the new AmEx Centurion lounge guest policies kick in, it will be a difficult decision for you if you consider Centurion Lounge access not only for you but also for a few travel buddies.

Although the benefits available to authorized users may not be as great as those offered to primary cardholders (if they are available), it is a good idea to add them, especially if there is enough space. Each cardholder who adds three authorized users to their account would have to receive $58 worth of value. You can only add one authorized user to your account. They would need to have a much greater $175 value.

Some people might find two cards redundant. If you have two cards, especially if you live together, having two sets of digital entertainment credits and Walmart+ memberships may seem redundant. In this case, the authorized user route might make more sense span>

However, if you each can use a substantial portion of the benefits (say, you want Clear or you use multiple Uber rides per day and could use two sets ), then you might consider paying $1,390 combined in annual fees.

This page shows the fees and rates for The Platinum Card(r), American Express.

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