As I recently waited in line (again) to get inside a crowded Amex Centurion Lounge, I asked myself a question that would have been unthinkable just a year or two ago: “Is it worth keeping *amex platinum* for another year … or any premium travel credit card, for that matter?”
And I know I'm not alone.
Between Americans' growing appetite to spend on travel and social media influencers pushing these cards, top-dollar travel credit cards with perks like lounge access and money-saving travel credits are more popular than ever. But they might have grown popular to a fault: There are more travelers with these heavy cards in their wallets than banks and airports can feasibly handle.
The banks behind these $400-plus-a-year cards are consistently overpromising … and underdelivering. In 2024, “premium” travel credit cards just don't feel all that premium anymore.
What's “premium” about standing in backed-up lines to clear security faster or to get into packed lounges once considered “an oasis from the terminal”? Or whipping out a spreadsheet just to keep track of all your hard-to-use credits?
It's high time we all put these premium credit cards under a microscope and dissect just how much they've fallen off.
Lounges are Overcrowded
No matter the airport, the scene is often the same these days: Long lines of travelers with credit cards in hand, waiting outside an airport lounge … then struggling to find an open seat to get their fill of free booze and buffet food inside.
Maybe you've seen the photos or perhaps seen it for yourself, with lines stretching out the door – and sometimes, all the way down the terminal. So while stopping by one of Amex's Centurion Lounges is usually an enjoyable experience, it will almost always requires a short (or not so short) wait to get in. And with all those people, the experience inside is a shadow of what it once was just a few years ago.
Let me acknowledge the obvious: Complaining about waiting in line to get into an airport lounge – a privilege that most travelers never experience – sounds incredibly entitled and impatient … and it is. But when you're paying nearly $700 per year for a card whose primary perk is access to these lounges, it's hard not to be left with a sour taste in your mouth or feel like you've been sold a bill of goods.
Amex might be the poster child of overcrowded lounges, but it's not alone.
Delta Sky Clubs have been notorious for long lines – so much so that the airline is rolling out more and more restrictions to limit crowding. But even relative newcomers like Capital One Lounges and Chase Sapphire Lounges and simple Priority Pass lounges routinely face the same problem: They're packed to the brim with travelers getting in with premium travel credit cards.
We hate to rain on the parade for those who love airport lounges, but as credit cards become the key to getting in, it's become clear that the golden age of airport lounges is likely behind us.
Monkey See, Monkey Do
No matter the bank, premium travel credit cards have gotten stale.
Of course, they're all marketed as being unique … and it's true that specific benefits vary. But at the end of the day, most premium travel cards follow the same blueprint.
What makes a travel credit card premium these days? Throw in a credit to cover the cost of Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, airport lounge access, and some form of a travel credit, then rinse and repeat.
Don't believe us? Just look at *amex platinum*, the *chase sapphire reserve*, and the *venture x* – they all follow that recipe to a T.
From Priority Pass Lounge access to travel protections, none of these top-tier travel cards truly stand out from one another. They even have a similar set of transfer partners, each offering an avenue to transfer your points to Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM, British Airways, and Emirates, to name a few.
These cards fundamentally function the same way and give cardholders many overlapping perks. Besides offering a credit for TSA PreCheck (or Global Entry) and lounge access, each card also offers a travel credit designed to offset the sky-high annual fees.
With the Amex Platinum, cardholders get up to $200 in airline fee credit (for incidental charges) and up to $200 in hotel credit for select Amex Travel reservations each year. Meanwhile, the Capital One Venture X and Chase Sapphire Reserve both come with up to $300 in travel credit annually.
Of course, an argument could be made for Amex having made its flagship card stand out with its wealth of credits that help offset its (much steeper) annual fee. I promise: We'll get to how that growing tally of increasingly hard-to-use benefits have made even that loaded card feel less premium than it once did.
The point here is that none of these cards feel particularly unique and special anymore, which is an important aspect of any product being “premium.”
More Cardholders, More Problems
Look, we're not here to gate keep or discourage anyone from getting one of these premium travel credit cards – quite the opposite. We share the same goal of traveling more for less (and better!)
But here's the reality: In 2024, travel credit cards are officially mainstream – or something close to it. Topics that you could previously only learn about on forums like FlyerTalk are now the subject of viral social media content, racking up tens of millions of views and gaining unprecedented exposure. There's an entirely new ecosystem of social media influencers highlighting the benefits of these cards and the best ways to use them. And there's a growing number of websites (including, yes, the one you're currently reading) devoted to doing the same.
Because more and more people are willing to pay up for travel extra perks, there are now more “premium” cardholders than the promised system of benefits can handle. And if everyone is a “premium” traveler, no one is.
While we all like the idea of using CLEAR® Plus to skip the long airport security line, the popularity of the Amex Platinum Card – and its annual CLEAR Plus credit – has made the benefit practically worthless in many popular airports.
We've already seen the repercussions of this at the ridiculously crowded lounges and now we're seeing it at the TSA PreCheck and CLEAR lines. More and more travelers have these benefits, meaning lines and wait times are getting longer.
The issue here is that the benefits are too good, and there are too many cardholders now with these premium travel cards, creating an oversaturated market where it's impossible to deliver on the promised perks.
Crowded lounges and expedited security lines are simply the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the issues that follow from more premium travel credit cards flooding the marketplace.
Card Benefits Keep Getting More Complicated
There's just no way to sugarcoat it: As more travelers add these premium cards to their wallets, the benefits are getting watered down. Amex is the top offender, but Capital One and Chase are far from innocent.
Take Amex's top travel cards, for example. In order to justify raising annual fees, Amex has added a laundry list of use-them-or-lose-them statement credits to nearly all of its cards. It's next to impossible to keep track of all the benefits that come with some of these cards. Have more than one in your wallet? Forget about it.
And that's the whole point: Amex doesn't want you to get your money's worth. They're betting that you'll forget to use the credits – or just find it all too difficult and not even bother.
Amex might have turned it into an artform, but they're not the only bank playing these games.
When the Capital One Venture X debuted back in late 2021, it was almost too good to be true – it still is, for that matter. After just one year on the market, Capital One started chipping away at some of the Venture X's best benefits. First, they cut the card's Priority Pass Restaurant access – and then there was the devaluation to the $300 travel credit.
For most of the year, it seemed rental car elite status was next on the list of cuts. However, to Capital One's credit, they recently extended the complimentary Hertz President's Circle status that comes with the card. That's now here to stay.
While less severe, Chase has made some customer-unfriendly changes to its cards, too. Just this summer, Chase joined the likes of Amex and Capital One by nuking the Priority Pass Restaurant access that had long been a staple benefit on its high-dollar Sapphire Reserve and Ritz-Carlton cards.
From credits becoming harder to use to the overwhelming amount of card benefits to keep track of (especially with Amex), it's become a full-time job to know what card changes are on the horizon and what benefits that you need to remember to use. Nothing about the process screams “premium” – quite the opposite, actually.
Bottom Line
Maybe it's just me, but haven't premium travel credit cards gotten a bit stale? They just don't seem all that “premium” anymore.
As points and miles become more mainstream (for better or worse), the once-exclusive perks offered by top-tier travel cards have only gone downhill. Although I won't be cutting up all my premium travel credit cards just yet, the issues highlighted here have me doing the math to decide which are keepers … and which ones are no longer worth the hefty price tag.
I agree, give this author props for calling everything out for what it is despite the obvious conflict of interest. They dont full on do that on Award Wallet and Points Guy. As long as they keep pushing the affiliate referrals and signing up more and more people, lounges will get more crowded. Im sure the next round of fee increases will purge out alot of casual travelers and crowds will go down.
On a side note, I also feel sorry for the Centurion front desk employees, they all seems stressed and irritable.
Start enforcing a lounge strict dress code to eliminate the pajama wearing, homeless looking slobs with their feet in the furniture and the crowding issue is partially resolved.
I like lounge access, so I have the VentureX, csr, and Amex platinum. Annoying to have to wait to get in much more often. And once inside, much more crowded. Been wondering if putting a significant spend requirement on these cards to access lounges would cull the herd. But that might keep people from getting the card, which is not in the interest of the banks.
Of course with the three-hour limit, these cards aren’t much help when you really need them – on a long connection. (And unless you want to be running for the plane, even the three hours is more like 2:15 or 2:30…) There’s obviously a relationship between length of stay and the overcrowding issue, but it’s annoying killing time at Starbucks waiting for the appointed hour to be graced with lounge entry.
I never have more than one premium card at a time and I only get a new one with a great SUB.
Blogger who slings credit card referrals complains about new cardholders making things crowded I hope the irony is not lost here
Pretty hilarious that this article is riddled with travel card affiliate links! But good on the author for at least having the courage to point these growing issues out.
This is a reason I have not gotten the AMEX platinum. I have the CSR and, being military and able to waive the annual fee, upgraded my Delta AMEX and United Visa to the Reserve and Club respectively.
But if I weren’t military, I’d downgrade the CSR to CSP since there’s no perceived benefits anymore. Priority Pass has become a joke with many other premium cards offering it. Airline lounges are off the table unless you’re flying with the airline. The only thing keeping me tethered is being able to waive the annual fee; once that’s over, I’ll likely downgrade. Even with the travel credit, it’s still over $250 that I’m still not getting.
I tend to think that if the surge in premium cardholder-ship is due to extra attention given to them on short-form, blingy media, the ability of many consumers to maintain interest in managing the premium cards with their annual fees and laundry list of perks will wane with time. I predict that long-term cardholders will be rewarded for waiting out the market mismatch.
Its about time someone spelled this out, Thank You