Some premium cards now require an ‘extreme couponing’ concept

Up to $50 Saks Fifth Avenue statement credit every six months (January-June and July-December; up to $100 each calendar year). Up to $20 monthly statement credit for digital entertainment (up to $240 per calendar year). Up to $300 Equinox annual statement credit each calendar year.

Plus, up to $15 in monthly Uber Cash on purchases in the US (but remember the up to $20 bonus in December; up to $200 per calendar year).* Credit statement up to $200 per calendar year for accidental flight expenses – but not airfare. . Up to $200 in statement credit for each calendar year stay booked through the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program. Registration is required for selected benefits; terms apply.

And all that is just the beginning.

No, that’s not a list of options from a fancy coupon book. Those are some of the benefits available to those on $695-a-year Platinum Card® from American Express (see rates and fees).

Although my mind is hard-wired to almost love to find and track deals and travel benefits, even I feel like the limits of mental fatigue to keep up with all the different credits from size to medium offered by the growing list of cards. .

While in the past premium cards offered a short list of very many benefits, now they are down the road where the list of benefits is long, the annual fee is high and to come out ahead, you probably need to have a concept of a coupon that focuses more on convenience.

*You must download the latest version of the Uber app, and your eligible American Express Platinum Card must be the payment method on your Uber account. You must pay for your Uber ride with an Amex card to use your Uber Cash.

The list of benefits gets longer – and even more confusing

An issuer that adds additional card benefits and perks is usually a good thing. However, when you get to the stage where a spreadsheet is needed to keep track of all the different benefits and whether you’ve used them each month, that could be a sign that things have gone too far.

I Amex Platinum itself now has at least eight different built-in statements divided by time frames ranging from monthly to yearly, annually and every four years.

And that doesn’t even begin to touch on the different category bonuses and benefits and protections for putting different types of spending on the card, or the different ways you can use the welcome bonus and progressive points earned on the card.

The statement credits alone are more than enough to pay the current $695 annual fee. But they only matter if you use them — will you use a $15 Uber Cash credit, a $20 monthly statement credit toward eligible (limited) digital entertainment services and up to a $50 Saks credit every six months?

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® has statement credits for several periods and categories. However, if you want to take full advantage of it, you’ll need to transfer your monthly Peloton subscription to that card.

Then there’s the $300 annual travel credit, which is, thankfully, pretty easy to use.

But wait – there’s more. Those with cobranded American Express Hilton, Marriott and Delta cards earn credits at select US restaurants and locations, depending on the card. Those are additional benefits that require monthly tracking and, sometimes, careful planning.

Simple would be better

Personally, I get a kick out of when card issuers use all these different credits and benefits. But I know I’m not a regular card user in that regard.

The most unthinking people I know, like my husband, parents and many friends, are willing to start switching which card they use for this, that and the other in order to chase a few dollars on a statement here and there.

It may be “easy,” but it still takes up brain space and that can be scarce in an already stressful situation.

While not every single card benefit can be of the $300 travel credit variety, there is something we can learn from the mention of that credit at Sapphire Reserve. You can use it as quickly or as little as you want that year, and you can use it for a wide number of expenses that fall under “travel.”

I Amex Platinum up to $240 annual digital entertainment statement credit each calendar year is a good example of the flip side of a simple hedge.

This credit is issued in monthly installments of up to $20. Not good for any old form of digital entertainment, only for subscriptions to select brands: Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ — or the Disney Bundle — Peacock, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

It would be a much more practical advantage if it worked across a wider group of providers – like any streaming service, for example.

Alternatively, even if the list of providers is kept short or the credit is easily available to be used annually instead of monthly installments, it may be easier to use since many subscriptions are cheaper if paid annually instead of monthly or quarterly.

I American Express® Gold Card offers up to $20 in monthly benefits that can be used for food each calendar year, but one of the up to $10 credits is for Uber Cash in the US, while the other up to $10 is valid only at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly. , Wine.com and Five Guys.

You will receive up to $120 in dining credits per year and up to $120 in Uber Cash per year (You must have downloaded the latest version of the Uber app, and your eligible American Express Gold Card must be the payment method on your Uber account .You must pay for your Uber ride with an Amex card to use your Uber Cash.). Registration is required for selected benefits, and terms apply.

Additionally, card members earn up to $7 in monthly Dunkin’ credits (up to $84 per calendar year) and up to $100 per calendar year in Resy credits. Resy credits are easier than you realize to use them, as any restaurant registered with Resy is eligible and does not require a reservation. Resy credits are paid twice a year in increments of up to $50.

All of these benefits come at a lower annual fee than Amex Platinum at $325 per year (see rates and fees).

I love a free slice of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory as much as the next person, but the card wants to train its users to automatically choose more restaurant expenses. It would be much easier if it offered a monthly dining credit that applies to all restaurants. Registration is required for selected benefits, and terms apply.

Related: Does Amex Gold cost an annual fee?

The best way out

I get more value in points, rewards and credits from all my wallet cards than I pay in a year. If I didn’t, I would throw that card away immediately. But I am willing to put in the mental energy to maximize most – although not all – of the benefits offered by my particular cards.

You need to be very honest with yourself about what you are willing and able to do to get the most out of your premium cards. Sure, the premium Amex Platinum offers a number of credits, but which ones will you actually use?

I’m unlikely to use up to $300 in Equinox credit each calendar year and I still don’t think I want to use up to $240 in digital entertainment credit in a calendar year.

You might not be interested in up to $50 Saks credit every six months or maybe you won’t spend up to $15 in Uber Cash (and up to another $20 in December). That’s okay — you can skip some benefits and be in the dark with that card, but do some real-world math on your situation from the start and at least before every account anniversary when you’ll owe that annual fee again.

But after doing the math on what you will and won’t benefit from, it can be helpful to have a tool that reminds you of the various benefits. This is especially true if you have more than one or two cards in your wallet.

Maybe it’s a Google or Excel Sheet you set up that lists all of your credit cards that you check every month, or a sticky note on your computer or the physical card labels in your wallet.

Whatever you need to do to remember to spend your Uber Cash up to $15 (US) with you Amex Platinum Card (more up to $20 in December) or use your own Amex Gold paying for monthly meals at Five Guys or the Cheesecake Factory, having a tracking system of some kind is the only way to keep up with it all.

Choose the credits you care about the most, and at least have a list you refer to every month if you want to make sure you’re not leaving important statement credits on the table.

Related: How the Amex Platinum Card gave me access to $3,000+ in value this year

Bottom line

It’s great that rewards credit cards have evolved into a new way of life with everyday benefits that help them stay relevant in a world where travel isn’t always at the top of everyone’s to-do list. However, the path of this evolution has left us in a situation where you have to adopt the concept of a coupon to get real value on cards that charge $500 or more in annual fees.

Most of the new benefits require a nickel-and-dime approach to use those $10 and $20 statement credits that usually only work for a niche list of merchants. You shouldn’t need to use a monthly tracking spreadsheet to find the right amount of value on a high premium card. There are many ways to make quality cards relevant to everyday life without overcomplicating the situation.

Related: Why Chase needs a competitor to Amex Gold

For rates and fees for the Amex Platinum card, click here.
For prices and fees for the Amex Gold card, click here.