Amex Entertainment Credit Received Huge Upgrade by Adding Disney+ & Hulu

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When American Express increased the annual fee of the Platinum Card to $695 it also added a bunch of credits. People in the blogosphere are calling the Platinum Card now the most expensive coupon book. Sadly, it is kinda true. If you use all these credits and benefits they offer you now, you get way more out of the card than the $695 you pay for it. Just alone with all the credits, you get. 

However, Amex is hoping for a lot of breakages. Meaning giving credits to people who are not using it. Since I get credits for so many things now, I also signed up for them like Walmart+. On the other end, I never used it so far, but at least I am ready to use it when I need it. 

There is also a $240 Entertainment Credit that comes with the Platinum Card. This credit is broken down into $20 per month. When this credit was first released, you had a very limited choice of where you can use it. 

These are the services which counted towards the Entertainment Credit as it was first introduced

  • Audible
  • Peacock
  • SiriusXM
  • The New York Times

Not really a great selection and everyone’s all-time favorite, Netflix, was missing. The only streaming service I paid for so far is Amazon Prime but that was just a bonus as I like the benefits of the Prime account while shopping on Amazon. I would have never paid for any of these services above. Especially, as I don’t have that much time to use them anyway. When I watch movies, I do it most of the time on airplanes. That’s how I consume the “latest” blockbusters. 

Now as the credit got added to my Platinum Card, I signed up for Peacock and the Premium Plus option. Yeah, there are a few things on there actually worth watching. But the Premium Plus is a little scam in itself. It gets advertised as ad-free streaming and to be able to download selected titles to your mobile device for offline watching. The scam is, that it is not ad-free. The “hot” movies and TV shows on Peacock will still show an ad, e.g. The Blacklist.

New Services added to the Entertainment Credit

Effective immediately you can use the Entertainment Credit for even more streaming services. The original list is still valid but a few more services got added. These services include…

  • Disney+
  • Hulu
  • ESPN+
  • The Disney Bundle (The Disney Bundle includes all of the above in one package). 

The Disney Bundle with Hulu (ad-supported) will cost you $13.99/month. If you choose the Disney Bundle with Hulu ad-free option, you will pay $19.99/month. This is just one cent below your monthly statement credit. IT doesn’t seem a lot for you but it’s a lot for Amex as they have millions of customers and the one-cent can add up for them.

Hulu has many more addons like live TV, Starz, HBO max, Showtime, and Cinemax. These will increase your cost even more but you always get the $20/month as a credit for these eligible streaming services. But remember, it is a credit. You will first get charged with the full price of the package and then later on, usually in the same month, you receive your credits up to $20.

Signing up and receiving the Credit

If you want to receive the credit you have to sign up for one or more eligible streaming services mentioned above. You MUST sign up through the website of the respective streaming service, not through their app. This is also mentioned in Amex’s FAQ and I followed this rule and had no issues so far receiving my credit.

Secondly, you need to use your Amex Platinum Card to pay for these services. If you use a different credit card, you won’t receive a credit. 

Last but not least, you have to sign up for the monthly plan. Do NOT sign up for an annual subscription. Yes, the annual subscription is cheaper but you pay for the whole year all in one payment. However, the streaming credit is split into $20/month. If you sign up for an annual subscription, you will only receive the credit once in whatever calendar month you made the payment. 

By the way, if you are already paying for one of the newly added services above, the statement credit will be posted automatically as long as you use your Amex Platinum Card to pay for it. Don’t pay through a third party like Apple Pay to which you have added your Platinum Card. 

In case you already pay for one of the newly added services through a third-party app, change your payment method for that service and add your Amex Platinum Card to get billed directly and monthly. 

My Recommendation

It really depends on what you like to watch and actually how much you watch movies and shows. For some of you, the Audible subscription is more valuable. You can listen to books while driving or commuting. I do listen to podcasts and therefore no good fit for me. 

My recommendation is to sign up for Peacock Premium (with ads) for $4.99/month and The Disney Bundle with Hulu ad-supported for $13.99/month. This gives you a grand total of $18.98 and you get a lot of good content. However, this calculation doesn’t include tax. That will be on top of the $18.98.

Conclusion

Finally, the Entertainment credit is actually worth using. Since Disney+ owns the rights to so many good movies and shows, it’s actually worth signing up for it. Would I have ever signed up for it without the Entertainment Credit? No, absolutely not. The thing with all the credits you get with the Platinum Card is that you pay now for stuff you didn’t know you needed or wanted or would have used otherwise. You get reimbursed for it and it basically can offset your huge annual fee. 

However, I would rather have the old annual fee of $450 and don’t get any of the credits the card offers nowadays. How much is it worth to you? There is only one person who can answer the question. It is you. Make the best out of it.

Let me know in the comments which streaming services you are using.

 

American Express, Credit Card, Entertainment
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