Welcome Back!

Hope everyone is doing well 😊 

After some hesitation, I decided last week to apply for the Barclays Hawaiian card, and I got it! A 80k signup bonus for $2.5k spend seems good at the moment, especially considering those miles are as good as Alaska miles ✈️

One thing that comes to mind as I mention that: I think Barclays actually starts the timer for the signup bonus on the day that the application is approved. Why don’t they start the timer once the card is activated? It feels a bit ridiculous to just spend days on the timer just not being able to spend on the card in any capacity (Barclays cards need to be activated before being added to Apple Pay, etc.). Just my two cents 🪙

But enough of that rant - let’s get into the stories for today!

In today’s edition:

• 💳️ The New Amex Platinum(s) 💳️

• 🏦 Transfer Bonuses ✈️

• 🚨 Earn 5x Points for Q4 2025 🚨 

• 📰 Other Stories & Deals 💰️

• 💳️ Best Card Signup Bonuses 💳️ 

💳️ The New Amex Platinum(s) 💳️

The refresh to the Amex Platinum cards has been in the works for a long time, and I admit, I was very concerned about this. You’ll remember that I was super concerned about high annual fee cards cutting back on benefits, raising fees, etc. So it then seemed like a pattern that the Amex Plat was bound to follow.

But then, as the new Amex Plat and Business Plat were released today, that doesn’t seem to be the case! Well, YMMV, but I think the changes to the cards are largely positive!

So, as to the changes for the personal Amex Plat:

• Annual Fee: $895 (up from $695)

• A new $400 Resy credit ($100 per quarter)

• A new $300 Lululemon credit ($75 each quarter)

• A $600 semi-annual hotel credit (FHR any stay; THC min. 2-night stay) - this is up from the previous $200 benefit

• A $300 Entertainment credit, which now include the following: Disney+, a Disney+ bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Paramount+, Peacock, The Wall Street Journal, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV - this is up from the previous $240 benefit

• A new $120 Uber One credit

• A new $200 Oura Ring credit

• Automatic Leaders Club Sterling status for Leading Hotels of the World (new benefit)

As for the Business Platinum:

• Annual Fee: $895 (up from $695)

• A $600 semi-annual hotel credit (FHR any stay; THC min. 2-night stay) - this is up from the previous $200 benefit

• Additional credits when you spend $250,000+ on qualifying purchases in a calendar year (these are new benefits):

  • $2,400 American Express One AP credit

  • $1,200 Amex Travel Online flight statement credit

There’s a lot here, and that’s probably not even all of the changes to mention. But in exchange for a $200 uptick in the annual fee, there’s a lot going on here, especially as the hotel credit went up by $400. So that alone could help justify keeping the card for another year 👍️

I have the personal Plat, and I think these changes are great for me! The quarterly $100 Resy credit alone justifies the annual fee increase, and then the Lululemon credit and the increased hotel credits are just added bonuses!

In any case, it was just a sign of relief for me, because I thought it was going to be a lot worse than this. But yeah, the changes look great for me - if you have the card or were thinking about it, hopefully the changes look good to you too!

🏦➡️✈️ Transfer Bonuses

A chart of transfer partners by bank, along with other information, can be found here!

¹ New signup bonuses not present the previous week are in bold.

² Transferring up to 9,999 miles is a 20% bonus, transferring 10,000-49,999 miles is a 30% bonus, and transferring 50k and more miles is a 40% bonus.

🚨 Earn 5x Points for Q4 2025 🚨 

With Q4 right around the corner, I thought I’d dedicate a section to quarterly rotating categories. Just incase you are not familiar: cards with rotating categories give extra rewards for certain categories of card spend, like gas, flights, groceries, and more.

For Q4 2025, the categories are:

¹Let me know if I’ve missed any cards with rotating categories!

These rotating categories can be hit-or-miss, but for people who do spend money on these categories, this will really help you earn more rewards! 5x/5% on PayPal especially will be nice for Q4, with holiday shopping coming up. Most online sites accept PayPal, so a lot of online shopping should be an easy 5x points 👍️ 

I will say, Old Navy is a weird one… 👖

The Discover card having Amazon, and the Citi Dividend having restaurants is great, even if the Dividend is no longer available to new applicants. Do note that the Citi Custom Cash has somewhat taken the place of the Citi Dividend in the active portfolio - this card has no rotating categories to track, and you just earn 5x for your top spend category, up to $500 in spend per month (2,500 points).

For me, Department Stores and PayPal is the biggest coup of this coming quarter’s rotating categories. Should be good for Christmas gifts! 🎁 

As always, happy earning 💸 

📰 Other Stories & Deals 💰️

• 🏦 With the Amex Plat changes, Chase also added another $250 credit for The Edit starting in 2026 (now there are two $250 credits you can use anytime during the year), and a one-time $250 hotel credit on top of that for 2026.

  • They are feeling the competition!

• 🏨 Marriott and Lufthansa have launched a partnership for some reciprocal benefits!

• 🍽️ If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can get $75 back for $150 in dining spend through Infatuation!

💳️ Best Card Signup Bonuses 💳️ 

Again, the usual solid cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred^® / Reserve®

• Chase Freedom Unlimited^®/Flex^®

• Amex Gold & Plat

• Capital One Venture X

Do search for public links for the above cards to compare signup bonuses to make sure you get the highest one (incognito mode, Resy, etc.).

For cards with elevated signup bonuses (targeted bonuses are not included), I’ve got:

📤️ Spread the Word! 📤️

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Hope that all makes sense! That’s all for this week’s edition of Sense per Point.

Wishing everyone a wonderful rest of your day and week 😊 

- Sean Kim

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