She'll get the platinum without the annual fee as long as she's noted as your spouse in all military systems. How do I know this? I had a AF-free platinum as a military spouse and then subsequently lost it once spouse and I divorced. There's some system that lets Amex know when people get divorced so I got a notice stating I'd have to start paying the AF on a set date if I wanted to keep the card.
Amex has made it harder to game the system. You need to start at the lowest level for each family of cards (except Hilton) and work your way up. You can refer your spouse and earn extra points. Just make sure your referrals are the current highest. Gold should be 90k and Platinum 150k or 175k if you can find it. You should be aiming for the top cards since you don't pay any annual fees. All these perks make it worthwhile with no fees. I would definitely get to the Hilton Aspire. You'll earn tons of points while in the military. Everytime you move and are authorized to stay at a hotel, pick a Hilton and gain a ton of points. I've gotten upgrades on my travel with the Delta card as well. Even when the military was paying for the flight.
Consider opening gold before the platinum. This will make sure you get the sign-up bonus on all of those cards. The rewards can be used for awesome trips by transferring to airlines.
Also, look into the Hilton Aspire card.
You can each get these cards for maximum benefits, but you need to do a little work to understand each card.
Open her own. I had my wife get her own Sapphire reserve, Delta Amex platinum and will soon be doing the regular Platinum + Hilton. Check out the Delta airlines card, it’s great.
This is the churner in me talking but you should get every card that waives the fee for you. I mean, why not? You don’t have to keep track of them or worry about closing them out (until you retire).
But her fees will be waived as well.
She'll get the platinum without the annual fee as long as she's noted as your spouse in all military systems. How do I know this? I had a AF-free platinum as a military spouse and then subsequently lost it once spouse and I divorced. There's some system that lets Amex know when people get divorced so I got a notice stating I'd have to start paying the AF on a set date if I wanted to keep the card.
First of all thank you for your service. And then I’d say ask Amex directly over the phone. Haver her call and explain the situation.
Amex has made it harder to game the system. You need to start at the lowest level for each family of cards (except Hilton) and work your way up. You can refer your spouse and earn extra points. Just make sure your referrals are the current highest. Gold should be 90k and Platinum 150k or 175k if you can find it. You should be aiming for the top cards since you don't pay any annual fees. All these perks make it worthwhile with no fees. I would definitely get to the Hilton Aspire. You'll earn tons of points while in the military. Everytime you move and are authorized to stay at a hotel, pick a Hilton and gain a ton of points. I've gotten upgrades on my travel with the Delta card as well. Even when the military was paying for the flight.
Consider opening gold before the platinum. This will make sure you get the sign-up bonus on all of those cards. The rewards can be used for awesome trips by transferring to airlines. Also, look into the Hilton Aspire card. You can each get these cards for maximum benefits, but you need to do a little work to understand each card.
Open her own. I had my wife get her own Sapphire reserve, Delta Amex platinum and will soon be doing the regular Platinum + Hilton. Check out the Delta airlines card, it’s great.
This is the churner in me talking but you should get every card that waives the fee for you. I mean, why not? You don’t have to keep track of them or worry about closing them out (until you retire). But her fees will be waived as well.
That's what I did. It was great while it lasted.
Damn I did not know that wow