This post covers my review of the American Express credit card, and in the simplest of summaries, I feel it’s the most accessible card that you can get for airport lounge access in many airports around the world (including Hong Kong International Airport).
Is It The Best Credit Card For Lounge Access?
Best is a subjective term, as it really depends on what you’re looking for. For example, if you want access to the best lounges in the world, then this card is not for you (rather you should go for the The Platinum Card by American Express, will cover this in the future).
I prefer using the term “most accessible” given its generous offering of 8 lounge visits per year per card (down slightly from previous years which was at 10 lounge visits per year). Each supplementary card holder also gets 8 lounge visits which is tremendous value. The eligibility requirements are not insanely high, and a annual fee waiver for the first year makes it a must-have card in your arsenal.
How Good Are The Lounges?
I would be remiss if I didn’t quickly cover the lounges that you will be having access to. The lounge operator is Plaza Premium, one of the biggest lounge operators, particularly in Asia, with 250 lounges around the world. To clarify, you will only have access to the base Plaza Premium Lounge, not to be confused with their higher tier Plaza Premium First lounge, which is usually accessible to minimum business class ticketholders or high-value airline members. There are currently 4 Plaza Premium lounges in the Hong Kong airport, but one of them is a Plaza Premium First lounge, so you will have access to the other 3 lounges with this card.
Since the lounge is accessible to all kinds of travelers, please don’t assume you’ll be getting top-notch service and a decadent spread of food and beverage choices. In most cases you’ll be scanning hard to find seats to fit your entourage, and if you’re a picky eater you might be disappointed at the food offerings, while the range of alcoholic drinks are generally acceptable but not great.
Your experience may differ depending on how new the lounge is, geographical location, but overall I find the lounge experience with Plaza Premium generally better than twiddling my thumbs sitting on a random airport seat or paying premium price for mediocre food in the other F&B outlets within most airports.
Eligibility
As long as you have an annual income of HK$300,000 p.a., you’re all set! For those who are on the fringes, you should apply still – you may just get lucky and get an approval anyway.
Annual Fee
The annual fee of HK$1,800 is waived for the first year. This is important as you’re essentially getting lounge visits for free, at least for the first year.
I have also had the opportunity to test their fee waiver process for the second year, and I am pleased to share that despite not hitting the aggregate minimum spend of HK$150,000 p.a. (across primary and supplementary cards) to be eligible for the annual fee waiver, the customer service agent managed to “obtain special approval” to grant me an exception and waive my second year annual fee.
It’s important to note that everyone’s experience may vary – in fact initially the first customer service agent I spoke to did not accede to waiving my annual fee despite my implied “threat” to close my account if I did not receive a fee waiver. I was only successful when I called in again a few weeks later just before my statement was due for payment.
Supplementary Cards
Amex also generously provides 2 supplementary cards without any annual fees. This is a fantastic benefit as each supplementary card holder also gets the aforementioned 8 lounge visits per year. Any additional supplementary card would incur a HK$900 annual fee that is not waived even if the minimum spend for fee waiver is achieved.
One very minor gripe I have is my son is below 18 years old so I can’t get him a supplementary card, which means I have to utilise other strategies to get him free lounge access.
An Attractive Welcome Offer
As with any other credit card, welcome offers are usually for new customers (i.e. not holding other cards from the same issuer). Based on the utility of the card and the attractiveness of the offer, I would recommend that this be your first American Express card in Hong Kong (in case you’re wondering, having Amex cards from other countries is fine, the definition of a new customer is only considering Hong Kong-issued cards)
The latest welcome offer (as of 23 February 2024) is summarised well below:
The Welcome Bonus of 108,000 points equates to about 6,000 air miles. The value of each air mile varies greatly, thus sometimes I find it useful to just look for cash proxies (e.g. cash vouchers, or offsetting statement etc.) that can be redeemed with the points to get a simple assessment of the value. In this instance, spending HK$7,000 to get 126,000 points allows you to redeem about HK$420 in value, which equates to a “cashback” value of 6%. Not too shabby, and you should get even better mileage by redeeming air miles instead.
The Foreign Currencies spending bonus of HK$2 = 1 mile is probably one of the best rates you can find in Hong Kong, thus you should look to maximise this welcome offer if possible. The local spending bonus of HK$4.50 = 1 mile is nothing to shout about, but it’s on top of the welcome bonuses, so can’t complain too much here.
Other Benefits
This card comes with other benefits too, listed below:
- Discounts off movie tickets sold by Broadway Circuit
- Complimentary Travel Insurance – decent coverage of up to HK$3.5 million, though if you’re a frequent traveller you may want to get your own annual travel insurance, and many other cards also offer similar benefits.
- Online Fraud Protection Guarantee – frankly I can’t differentiate this from any other card issuers, every time I’ve spotted a fraudulent charge I have had no difficulty getting the charges removed without fuss
- No Worries Guarantee
- 30-day return guarantee
- Price protection
- Extended Warranty (+ 12 months)
- 45 days cover against theft/damage
overall, nothing too fancy, but could be useful in the right situations.
How Should I Use This Card?
Beyond the welcome offer earning rates, the base earnings rate is pretty mediocre, at 3 Membership Reward points per HK$1, which equates to HK$6 per mile. The foreign currency earnings rate is at 3.75x points per HK$1, but seeing that you’re incurring a 2% foreign exchange fee, the value proposition is even worse – you really shouldn’t be using this card outside Hong Kong.
There is a year-long promotion which allows you to earn 5 points per $1 for selected merchants (notable ones include Foodpanda, amazon.com, Expedia, and many airlines), but that still amounts to an earning rate of HK$3.60 per mile, you can definitely do better with other cards.
The most value-maximising strategy when your card is approved is to ensure you fully meet the spend requirement to obtain the welcome offer bonus, maximise the foreign currency spend until the 3 month-period or the cap of 720,000 points is issued, whichever comes first, then keep the card in your wallet and leave it there only to be taken out every time you need to access an airport lounge (you need the physical card present to access the lounges, cards stored in digital wallets are not accepted).
The HK$150,000 p.a. minimum spend is not something you should work towards, you can get much better value spending on other credit cards. As mentioned earlier in the post, instead, request for an annual fee waiver when the second year comes, and if unsuccessful consider cancelling the card, the HK$1,800 fee is
Keep an eye on various ad-hoc offers that come about randomly. There are instances of pretty decent offers from Amex which requires registration. You can register for the offers with a single-click on the Amex app/website.
Summary
If you’re looking for a card that gives you good access to one of the bigger lounge operators in the world (Plaza Premium) at no upfront cost, then you should consider signing up right away!
Click on this link to access the American Express website.
Disclaimer: For every successful referral I will receive some points from Amex. Thank you for your support!
