As first reported by my friends over at the French-language Travel Hacking Blog, Milesopedia, American Express has quietly increased the spend requirements of the American Express Platinum Card from $1,000 in the first 3 months to $3,000 in the first three months.
Some may find that the new spend requirement is a touch on the high side (and it is) but if you put all of your monthly spend on the card, the number is certainly achievable. If it isn’t I would stay away from the card because there is nothing worse than getting a credit hit for the card, paying the annual fee and not meeting spend and thus not get the sign-up bonus.
If you are looking for a creative way of meeting the minimum spend requirements, you may want to consider using Plastiq for bill payments. I pay my mortgage each month with Plastiq and mortgage or rent payments are a great way to meet the spend requirements for a small cost.
While the change is unfortunate, I can still wholeheartedly recommend the card due to the fantastic benefits it affords as well as your ability to reduce the annual fee from $699 to $299 using the $200 Annual Travel Credits. Refer to my review of the card for more information on how to do that.
Wish they at least remove foreign transaction fee on Platinum card.