American Express just posted record third-quarter revenue of $20.06 billion, up 9% but a hair short of Wall Street's $20.12 billion forecast. The response? Cutting about 3,500 jobs — 5% of its workforce — and watching shares slide 3.7%. For cardholders, the more interesting story is what the company said on its earnings call: more restrictions are coming to stop people from squeezing every cent out of the Platinum card.

The numbers behind the fee hike are striking. The consumer Platinum card jumped from $695 to $895, but Amex sweetened it with roughly $1,680 in new or increased annual credits — including up to $400 a year at its own Resy restaurants and $600 a year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings. It worked: card fee revenue rose 17% to nearly $3 billion, the Platinum portfolio held onto 99% of its spending after the refresh, and 76% of the 3.1 million new cards added were fee-paying products. The catch is cost — benefit expenses like credits and lounge access surged 36%.

That's where travellers should pay attention. From 1 January 2027, the $300 semiannual hotel credit will require a minimum two-night Fine Hotels + Resorts stay instead of the current one-night minimum. Amex is adding Airbnb Luxe stays to the eligible list, but also with a two-night floor. The logic is simple: longer stays earn Amex more commission against the same $300 credit, and some cardholders will simply fail to use it at all — breakage the credit model quietly depends on.

CEO Steve Squeri also flagged a crackdown on rewards optimisation. With analysts asking about customers using AI to maximise credits and points, he pointed to the existing $75,000 annual spend threshold for Centurion Lounge guest access as a precedent and promised "other controls" in the pipeline. Anyone who holds Platinum for the sign-up bonus, harvests the credits and routes everyday spending elsewhere may find the maths changing.

There was travel-adjacent news beyond Platinum, too. Amex extended its long-term Marriott cobrand deal without disclosing terms, while Marriott separately said its cobrand fee revenue will grow about 35% this year after raising royalty rates on both Amex and Chase. Amex also revealed that about 10% of its U.S. card customers now hold its bank accounts, with deposits set to play a bigger role in customer acquisition.

For anyone who carries a premium Amex and books through its travel programmes, the takeaway is to use the hotel credit while the one-night rule lasts, and expect the generous credits that justify the $895 fee to keep getting narrower. The arms race between rewards optimisers and the issuer is clearly escalating — and the issuer writes the rules. Credit: View from the Wing