Quote from Savings Beagle on April 9, 2022, 9:55 am

If you are an American Express Platinum card holder, you likely were aware of the $20 per month Digital Entertainment Credit that the card offers.

A quick aside - for those who aren't familiar with the Amex Platinum, don't get too excited about this credit and think you'll get the card to save on your streaming subscriptions.  It's a high-end card to be sure, primarily for those who travel a lot and value the numerous travel-related benefits it offers.  And with an annual fee of $695, even frequent travelers have to "do the math" to see if the benefits will outweigh the costs.

For some, the answer is yes, especially for the first year considering the Membership Rewards points sign-up bonus that will be received.  And for those individuals, these new Digital Entertainment Credit options may add a little more value to the card.

Since the credit's inception, you could use the $20 per month credit to offset charges for digital purchases/subscriptions to SiriusXM, Peacock, The New York Times and Amazon's Audible service.

About a week ago, American Express added a few, potentially more valuable, services that will trigger the $20 credit when the Platinum card is used to pay (and you've enrolled your card to receive the credit).

The new digital services include:

• Disney+
• ESPN+
• Hulu

Or, you can subscribe to the Hulu bundle plan that provides Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ for $13.99 per month plus tax.  Going that route would provide the bundle service free each month since you'd be under the $20 per month credit.

But, there's a backdoor route via Hulu that can also provide HBO Max or Showtime while triggering the Platinum's $20 credit.

Hulu offers Add-on services which include, HBO Max, Showtime, Cinemax and Starz.

Adding one of those services to the base Hulu subscription would trigger the credit each month.

As an example, Hulu basic prices at $6.99 per month.  Add-on Showtime for $10.99 per month and your total price would be $17.98 per month.  Of course, tax likely will be added to that price, but you'll still be close to covering the full price of Hulu and Showtime each month via the $20 Digital Entertainment Credit.

HBO Max is a little more expensive at $14.99 per month, so when you add the Hulu base price of $6.99, you're at $21.98 or $1.98 over the $20 monthly credit.  Still, $1.98 (plus tax, of course) monthly for HBO Max isn't too bad.

If you have the American Express Platinum card, and weren't overly enthused with the initial Digital Entertainment Credit options that were offered, you might want to give the benefit a second look now that new offerings are available.  Especially with the option to get all, or most, of the cost of Showtime, HBO Max, Cinemax or Starz covered, too, each month.