I’ve been reading for years how a credit card with a high annual fee isn’t as expensive as it seems because the card provides statement credits that are just like cash and bring down the “actual” cost of having the card.
I believed this wholeheartedly for a long time. I had no problem carrying multiple cards with high annual fees because I wasn’t spending all that money.
But in 2026, we’re fully in the coupon book era of credit cards — especially with American Express. The AMEX Platinum. The AMEX Gold. The Hilton Aspire. The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant. They all come with a plethora of credits now. And sure, if you use every last one, you can “justify” the annual fee.
Just don’t think of those credits as cash.
The fault in the old logic is that I am actually spending that money — and then I’m just getting my own money back later, with restrictions, enrollment requirements, specific merchants, and “use it this month or lose it” deadlines.
For some cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the credit is simple: it applies broadly to travel purchases. If you have a premium travel card, you’re probably going to have at least that much in travel expenses each year, so it’s easy to break even without changing your behavior.
That isn’t usually the case with American Express credits.
Let’s do a role-playing exercise. Pretend someone is making this business proposition to you:
Hi there! Nice to meet you. Give me $895 right now.
Sometime in the next year, you can get some of that money back from me — but only if you spend with specific companies, in specific ways, sometimes in specific months, and often after you enroll in the benefit first. Some credits reset monthly. Some are quarterly. Some are semi-annual. And if you miss a window? Too bad. That money goes right back into my pocket.
Also, I’m going to advertise these credits like they’re guaranteed value, even though a bunch of them are things you might not buy in the first place. But hey — I’m sure you’ll find a way to make it work. 😄
Sounds too good to be true, right?
Here’s the part that makes the point crystal clear: in September 2025, AMEX refreshed the Platinum Card and raised the annual fee from $695 to $895 — while adding and “enhancing” even more credits to “offset” it. (If you already had the card, that higher fee kicks in at renewal dates on or after January 2, 2026.) AMEX isn’t hiding the strategy anymore — they’re leaning into it.
AMEX’s own announcement lays it out: higher fee, more credits, more “value.”
And that brings us to the core problem with statement credits on cards like the Platinum card:
1. The Airline “Fee” Credit Is Still Too Restrictive
AMEX gives you an airline incidental fee credit — but it’s not the same as “$200 toward flights.” You have to pick a qualifying airline, and you’re limited to things AMEX considers incidental.
In plain English: it’s mostly the stuff you’re trying to avoid paying in the first place.
Depending on the airline and how you fly, that can include things like checked bags, seat assignments, onboard food and drinks, lounge day passes, and other incidental charges — but not your airfare.
Do you reliably spend that much with one airline on incidentals every year? Many frequent flyers pick the airline they use most… which is also the airline where they’re most likely to have a co-brand card, elite status, or perks that reduce those fees anyway.
2. Monthly Credits Are Easy To Waste
Monthly credits sound great until you realize they’re designed around breakage.
The Uber credit is the classic example: it’s doled out monthly, it doesn’t roll over, and it’s very easy to ignore until the end of the month — when you suddenly find yourself ordering something you wouldn’t have otherwise purchased just so the credit “doesn’t go to waste.”
And now there are even more “use it monthly/quarterly” credits across AMEX’s lineup. On paper, it looks like a mountain of value. In real life, it’s a calendar of chores.
3. Global Entry (Or TSA PreCheck) Isn’t an “Annual” Benefit
The application fee for Global Entry is $120, and membership lasts five years.
Even when a card reimburses you for it, you only get that reimbursement once every few years — which means its “annual value” is a fraction of what people claim.
If your card offers a credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, that’s a nice perk. But it’s not “worth $120 per year.” For most people, it’s worth something like “one less expense every few years.”
4. Store Credits Aren’t Cash (If You Don’t Shop There)
A credit at a store you never shop at is worth… not much.
Sure, you can force it. You can hunt for the cheapest thing you can tolerate buying. You can justify it as a gift. You can call it “free.”
But the value isn’t $50 or $100 or whatever the headline number is. The value is what you would have actually spent there without the credit — which, for plenty of people, is close to zero.
5. The Opportunity Cost Is Real
Don’t let me lose you on this one:
Opportunity Cost – The loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen.
Once you pay a huge annual fee, the psychology changes. You start making choices to “get your money back.”
- You pick an airline you wouldn’t have picked because it matches your selected airline credit.
- You order through a specific app, or eat at a specific place, or buy from a specific brand because you don’t want to “miss” a quarterly credit.
- You use the card for purchases you’d normally put on a better-earning (or better-protected) card because the credit requires that you charge it to this card.
All of those decisions have a cost — sometimes in money, sometimes in convenience, and sometimes in simply buying things you didn’t want.
Credits ≠ Cash
Cash is cash.
Statement credits are rebates — and often rebates with hoops.
When you have to maximize every credit just to break even, and you’re changing your behavior to chase them, that’s not “free money.” That’s a coupon book with a big annual fee attached.
And AMEX knows exactly what it’s doing. There’s no world where a company hands out an $895 card that reliably makes everyone money. The system works because plenty of people won’t use everything, won’t use it on time, won’t enroll, or will use credits in ways that benefit AMEX’s partners more than the cardholder.
Final Thought
I’m not trying to say a card like the American Express Platinum is a good or bad value for you. For the right person — someone who already spends naturally in those categories — it can be a perfect fit.
But claiming that statement credits offset an annual fee on a dollar-for-dollar basis like cash is misleading. These credits have friction, restrictions, and expiration dates by design.
So when you’re considering any premium card — whether it’s the Platinum, Gold, Hilton Aspire, Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, or anything else in this new coupon-book era — don’t let anyone tell you what it’s “worth.” Only you know that.
Maybe you’ll use every credit and love it. Great!
Or maybe you’ll end up staring at a list of “free money” you’re supposed to get back and wondering why it feels like work. In cases like this, Your Mileage May Vary.
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