TL;DR – Add up to 5 GOLD AU’s for $45 on your personal AMEX Platinum card
I know a lot of you got the recent AMEX 100K Platinum offer. I myself partook of this great offer as well. And one of the first things I do when I get a new AMEX card is I make sure to add authorized users to my account. Now everyone has blogged about how you can pay $175 to add up to 3 additional users to also have their own Platinum card. Well, what if you didn’t need the Platinum benefts like the Global Entry credit, lounge access, etc? Look at what options you have when you try to add authorized users on the site:
As you can see, you can ONLY add Platinum cards on the web site. So I did what everyone hates doing these days – I picked up the phone can called them! At first, I asked if I could add GREEN cards. The CSR said that was only on the BIZ PLAT cards and not the PERSONAL PLAT cards. She then said I could add GOLD cards for $40 instead (I’m pretty sure she said $40 and not $45). I told her, “Eh, just let me think about it and get back to you.” Then as she was hanging up, I shouted, “WAIT! Is that $40 PER USER OR TOTAL?” Too late. She hung up. I then went on to their web site and looked through the t&c’s on the personal Platinum card and nowhere does it say you can get GOLD cards. I even searched “AMEX Platinum Authorized User $40 Gold Card” and nothing came up (I realized later the search results never came up because it’s actually $45 and not $40.) At this point, I realized it made no sense to pay $40 PER CARD. I figured it’d be $40 up to X additional cards. So I did what everyone hates doing a 2nd time – I called them up again.
Quick aside here – let me just say that it’s about Saturday at 9PM PST now and I had to wait about 2-3 minutes EACH TIME I CALLED for someone in India to pick up and tell me that they’d have to transfer me to ‘customer service,’ which was the option I picked when I initially called. Don’t ask me why I had to wait 2-3 minutes for a $450 annual fee card. That’s ridiculous if you ask me. For $450, I expect to get someone in less than 15 seconds! And I chose the right option too – travel, concierge, or card services? CARD SERVICES! AND THEN PRESS 0 FOR OPERATOR! Okay, back to my story.
So on my 2nd call, I asked the rep again how much it was to add GOLD AU’s. He said “$45 for up to 5 additional cards.” SIGN ME UP! So I added my wife and parents. Then he asked me, “Do you want another card for yourself?” Confused, I replied, “Eh?” He goes, “Yeah, some people like to have a 2nd card for themselves so that 1 is used just for online purchases.” I thought that was genius! So I signed myself up for a card too. Then I signed up a 2nd card for my wife since she loves to online shop. If you value an AMEX AU card at ~$100 per year due to AMEX offers, then paying $9 per AU here is a no brainer.
Quick notes – 1) You won’t see your ‘clone’ on your CR and 2) this does not prevent any AU’s from getting the signup bonus when they apply for a real GOLD card.
If only they were Gold PRG – that would be too good tho.
Hello – just a quick tip – I too wish I could call Platinum line and get someone on the phone within seconds, but next time instead of pushing 0 after selecting card services, give them your card number. You will then hear the automated prompt say, “would you like to hear your balance details, if not push #” so naturally push # and then push 00 – this will automatically send you to a Platinum Phone Rep and not just a regular Amex customer service.
I know it may sound like a lot to do, but I promise you, I get transferred to a Platinum rep within the first 50secs. I know it’s 50 secs bc I actually try to time myself and see how fast I can do it when ever I call in and I have never been able to do it faster than 50 secs lol. Also, in order to be efficient, it helps to know your Amex CC number. I’ve had the same first 10digits on my Amex from the start and only the last 5digits have changed over the years(due to lost card replacements and such) So it’s pretty etched into my brain. Plus I don’t like to store my CC numbers online so I almost always manually input my CC when online shopping.
Ah thanks for the tip
This sounds too good…. but taking care of all those extra cards must be tough. How do you set up Twitters for all of them?
Painfully one at a time.
interesting, your last notes are a bit diff than the discussion on DDF – where folks are hella worried about the implications of a double double (or many multiples) of AMEX products on their CR… looks like its officially sanctioned by AMEX so its not a loophole or anything. but I just wonder how it may look to other FIs when they do a SP on an ongoing basis or even an HP when you apply for a new CC.
Hmmm link me to the DDF thread.