There are several “flavors” of Amex Platinum card, one of which is the American Express Platinum Card for Morgan Stanley. You’ll need to be a Morgan Stanley customer in order to get this Platinum card, and it does feature “family” language, but for those eligible and interested, the card is featuring a new welcome offer that features a nice increase over the standard offer.
The Offer & Key Card Details
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
125K points ⓘ Non-Affiliate 125K after $8K spend in first 6 months. Terms apply.$695 Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: 125K points after 6k spend [Expired 11/8/23] FM Mini Review: In my opinion, this is the best of the consumer Amex Platinum cards when you need two cards thanks to Morgan Stanley offering one free authorized user. Unfortunately you do need to have a Morgan Stanley account to apply. Earning rate: ✦ 5X points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel ✦ 5X prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel Card Info: Amex Pay Over Time Card issued by Amex. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: $500 after $100K cardmember year spend Noteworthy perks: This card includes all of the great perks that come with the American Express Platinum Card, plus: ✦ 1 Free Authorized User ✦ Redeem points for 1 cent each into your Morgage Stanley account ✦ $695 Annual Engagement Bonus for Platinum CashPlus accounts See also: Amex Platinum Guide |
Quick Thoughts
While not as strong as some of the offers we’ve seen on the “Vanilla” Platinum card, this represents a strong offer for the Morgan Stanley variant, which had been featuring an 80K offer before this increase.
Keep in mind that you will need to be a Morgan Stanley client in order to get the Morgan Stanley Platinum card. Access Investing is no longer available for new customers, so this variant of the card probably won’t be appealing if you’re not already with Morgan Stanley (note that the Schwab Platinum Card, which offers a 10% higher redemption rate when redeeming points for brokerage deposits, is far easier since you could simply open a free Schwab Investor Checking account to qualify).
Still, as you’ll see in our post about Which is the best Platinum card? or you can hear about in our podcast episode 244 about the topic, one of the key benefits of the Morgan Stanley version of the card is that you get a free Platinum-level Authorized User card (so the AU gets standard Platinum-card benefits like Centurion Lounge and Delta SkyClub access).
Keep in mind that Amex added family language to the Morgan Stanley card last year, so if you have or have had the Schwab Platinum card or the “vanilla” Platinum, you may not be eligible for the bonus on this card. That’s not to say that you’re definitely ineligible, just that you may not be. YMMV.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Will you get the popup confirming if you are ineligible due to the family language?
Try it and report back.
Yes it will. You’ll be able to cancel the application – no fuss, no muss. My own popup actually confirmed my eligibility (I had the Schwab one with no a/f, long ago) but even though I could probably do the spend, I just cannot take the coupon book thing. I don’t want to think about this (or any) card that often and/or at regular frequencies.
Wonder if it’s tough to be MS client?
Define “tough.” 😉 If you have a lot of assets, they periodically call you and want to manage them for a small percentage fee (to which, you should always say NO).
But you can get a Morgan Stanley account if you have E*Trade assets of >= $250K, which includes all assets (savings, trading, IRA, Roth IRA, UTMA accounts, etc.).
Would I move all my assets to Morgan Stanley just to get a free authorized user? No. But I’ve been on E*Trade for over 20 years, and it’s a pretty good platform, which a huge variety of ultra low cost mutual funds. So by itself, I’d recommend E*Trade. Unfortunately, Morgan Stanley doesn’t have nearly the variety of investment options that ET has, and the ones they offer have high expense ratios and the ETF’s have very high spreads, so overall, I’m not enthusiastic about MS.
>> “But you can get a Morgan Stanley account if you have E*Trade assets of >= $250K, which includes all assets”
What do you mean by account? Do you mean if I have enough assets at ETrade I’m eligible to open this Amex card? Or do you mean it makes me eligible to get some other Morgan Stanley account first which then lets me apply for the amex? Thanks
If you have have an E*Trade account with >=$250K in assets, then you can open a Morgan Stanley brokerage account, then you can get approved for the Morgan Stanley Platinum card.
The “easiest” way is to open a Morgan Stanley preferred savings account. You need to deposit >25k in order to open the preferred savings account.
The account earns 5% interest so it’s on par with other HYSA. Assuming you are interested in the card for the free authorized user perk, have 25k sitting around in another savings account you don’t mind transferring, and are eligible for the sign-up bonus (ie no pop-up due to family language), it’s not difficult and would recommend.
The only annoying thing is the entire Morgan Stanley platform seems very archaic. You need to call and speak to a representative in order to open the account and then you need to call when/if you ever want to move your money in to or out of the account.