"Worldwide lounge access, a $200 annual travel credit, platinum hotel memberships, extra insurance, my own travel concierge and I get 50,000 points on top of all that? Are you serious???"

That was my reaction when a friend first told me about the American Express Platinum Card for Canadians. She spoke of the $200 annual travel credit (that means $200 in 2018 and another $200 in 2019) she uses for hotels and flights, the additional insurance she gets on major purchases like her new MacBook and her favourite handbag, and how she's yet to visit an airport where she doesn't get into a lounge with free food, free drinks, and other amenities like showers and meeting rooms.

Needless to say, I was more than a little intrigued. I much prefer this to the airport gate:

So now that it's been nearly 2 years since I've had my own Platinum Card, I can't tout it highly enough. Whether you're embarking on a round-the-world trip or you just have a weekend in Vegas in the works, getting this card will actually make you money while still granting you access to all the extras I described above (plus a lot more).

And how does 50,000 American Express points sound? Pretty darn good, but I'll bet 65,000 points sounds even better. Read on to learn how to turn the 50,000 bonus points you get from American Express into 65,000, completely free. This isn't magic - it's just smartly-applied knowledge.

Not only that, but we've got examples galore of how to maximize these points in our articles on getting to/from Asia, Europe, or the rest of the world. Still, here are a few more quick examples of what those points can do for you whenever you please:

Roundtrip Toronto to Hong Kong 70,000 points $100 total taxes/fees	Roundtrip Vancouver to Hong Kong 60,000 points $90 total taxes/fees
Round-the-world Toronto to Hong Kong to Dubai to London to Toronto 74,500 points $761 total taxes/fees	Round-the-world Vancouver to Hong Kong to Dubai to London to Vancouver 74,700 points $742 total taxes/fees

The Elephant In The Room

Before we go any further, though, there's a big, BIG elephant in the room that needs to be addressed.

The Platinum Card comes with a $700 fee.

It's true. And no, there's no getting around it.

But here's the magic in it.

It's impossible not to make money by having this card, even after paying the fee.

Huh? Sounds confusing, right?

Here's how it works.

If you use the 50,000 points in the worst way possible, they're worth $900 to you. Why? Because American Express allows you to apply your points against your statement balance at a value of one cent per point, which means 50,000 points = $500. Add in your $200 travel credit for 2018, plus another $200 travel credit that becomes available on January 1, 2019, and you're at $900.

The only catch with that is that you can only apply these points toward travel expenses, but you'd be surprised how widely that term applies. Flights and hotels are obvious, but Amex even categorizes a variety of other expenses like Uber rides as a travel expense, meaning they can be paid using your points as well.

Plus, that's not even considering the other benefits you get from the card. The travel/baggage insurance and additional purchase insurance (for theft/damage of your items), the worldwide airport lounge access, the platinum hotel memberships, and everything else you see here are all just cherries on top.

So even if you use your points in the worst way you could - by applying them to your statement balance as a cash equivalent - you still come out way, way ahead.

But still, wouldn't you rather do better than the absolute worst? I thought so.

Let's Book Some Cool Flights Instead

If you prefer to double or triple the value of your points, it's actually quite easy. Every flight suggestion you see on our blog gets you at least 2 cents per point - double the value you receive when using your points as cash - and often that value is much, much higher.

3-4 cents per point is completely attainable once you start to know what you're doing.

In fact, the round-the-world trips I mentioned above offer a value of well over 4 cents per point, meaning the $700 fee you paid just saved you several thousand dollars on flights.

And here's the secret to turning your 50,000 points into 65,000: at least once per year, American Express offers a 25-30% transfer bonus when you transfer your points to a program like British Airways Avios. Just by transferring your points smartly, 50,000 points all of a sudden become 65,000 points.

You just gained another 15,000 points - worth at least $300 if you use them at a value of 2 cents per point or above - just for being in the loop.

Here are 3 realistic scenarios of the value you could achieve by getting the Platinum card, from least valuable on the left to most valuable on the right.

	Not Recommended - Very Easy	Recommended - Very Easy	Highly Recommended - Moderate Difficulty
Redemption Type	Apply points as cash against statement balance	Use points for flights like the examples on our blog	Use points for flights like the examples on our blog with creativity
Redemption Value Per Point	1 cent	2 cents	3 cents
Total Value Of 65,000 Points	$650 (65,000 x $0.01 per point)	$1,300 (65,000 x $0.02 per point)	$1,950 (65,000 x $0.03 per point)
Less: Annual Fee	($700)	($700)	($700)
Profit From Points	-$50	$600	$1,250
Additional Benefits	Yes	Yes	Yes

Most of you will find yourselves in columns 2 or 3 in the $600-$1,250 profit range, since you can just read our other blog posts to find tons of flights that get you 2-3 cents per point of value.

But if you're ambitious and want to push your points even further, it's completely possible to surpass what's listed above with a value of 3 cents per point or more, and we'd love to help you get there. Just send us an email and we'll help you sift through your options to ensure you get a great bang for your buck.

Or, if you're interested in something else like finding a bank that offers free ATM withdrawals or currency exchange at the mid-market rate, take a look at our N26 review and TransferWise review, respectively.

And since I alluded to them earlier, here's a partial list of some of the benefits you get with the Platinum Card (most of them are also offered with the American Express Business Platinum Card, and some with the American Express Cobalt Card):

Worldwide airport lounge access with Priority Pass Select ($399 USD value)	$200 annual travel credit ($200 for 2018 + $200 for 2019)	Platinum hotel memberships (SPG Gold, Accor Platinum, etc.)
Platinum rental car memberships (Hertz Club Gold, Avis Preferred)	24/7 platinum concierge telephone service	Emergency travel medical insurance
Extended purchase insurance	Theft/damage insurance on your possessions	Trip cancellation insurance
Plus much more...

One Really Important Note

Timing is extremely important on this one: American Express doesn't maintain its offer forever, so take 3 minutes and fill out the application today. There's a good chance you'll get approved on the spot and have your fancy new Platinum Card in your hands within a couple of days.

Are you ready to start living the good life?

If you have questions, feel free to send us an email to speak to a real person directly. Here are some of the more common questions we get.

Dec 2018 Update: Right now we're recommending the American Express Platinum Canada card and the American Express Business Platinum Canada card as our top two choices for Canadians.

If you enjoyed this post, share it with your friends here.