Canceling the Amex Platinum in Germany: Notice Period, Pro-Rata Refund, and Saving Your Points

Canceling the Platinum is easier than applying for it. One phone call, one month's notice, done. What makes it expensive is the sequence: points that can only be exchanged for vouchers once the contract ends, a welcome bonus that disappears retroactively if you cancel too early, and a lockout period for the next bonus.

Notice period and channel: what Amex itself says

According to Amex customer service (German), you can cancel the card agreement "subject to a notice period of one month, in writing or by phone". Written form is mandatory only for Corporate Cards; for a personal Platinum a phone call is enough, though a message through the online account gives you proof of the date.

That one month is also the legal ceiling: under § 675h BGB, the notice period for a payment services framework contract, which a card agreement is, may not exceed one month.

The card is only closed once that period has run out. Until then the contract runs normally and the points are still fully movable. Use that month.

What happens to your Membership Rewards points

This is where most cancellations cost money. Section 5.2 of the Membership Rewards terms (German) contains two rules that belong together:

• After an ordinary cancellation, you can still redeem your points for twelve months.
• After the points account is closed, however, points can "only be redeemed by phone through the American Express service team for vouchers, e-codes or, where offered, merchandise".

So the twelve months apply only to the worst redemptions. Transfers to airline and hotel programs, the only thing that gets the points well above one cent, are no longer possible after the contract ends. Think about redemption after canceling and you trade points for vouchers instead of business class.

Section 5.1 adds a second mechanism: points only have unlimited validity while the card account is in good standing. If a monthly statement isn't paid by the due date, they expire. Letting the final statement slide puts the whole balance at risk.

Two clean options:

Option 1: Transfer before the contract ends. Move the points to the transfer partner where you have a concrete use. Transfers are irreversible, and miles in a program you don't use are worse than points sitting at Amex.

Option 2: Keep another MR primary card. If one card agreement ends and at least one other linked primary card stays open, the terms say the points account simply continues. It's attached to you, not to the Platinum. Anyone holding a Gold Card or Business Platinum loses nothing. If you don't have one, apply early enough that it is linked before the Platinum ends.

What Amex refunds pro rata

The Amex FAQ says the annual fee already paid is credited back proportionally. That isn't goodwill, it's § 675h para. 3 BGB: recurring fees are owed only up to termination, and fees paid in advance must be refunded pro rata.

In practice, the refund on the Platinum is smaller than the word "annual fee" suggests. On its product page, Amex lists the fee as a "monthly charge of 60 euros". With monthly billing there's nothing big to refund: you pay until the contract ends, and a remainder covers at most the partial month.

It's different for contracts where the fee is still charged annually in advance. Check your statement before counting on a refund, and don't treat it as an argument for canceling; it's only a question of timing.

A credit balance on the card account isn't transferred automatically. Ask explicitly for a payout during the cancellation call and provide bank details.

The tied credits: use them, but don't buy them

The travel credit, restaurant credit, SIXT ride credit and Lodenfrey vouchers run per calendar year and end with the contract. Whatever you haven't used by then is gone.

The temptation is to buy things during the notice period so nothing goes to waste. That's the wrong math. A restaurant credit you only use because it's about to expire doesn't save you 150 euros. It costs you whatever you would never have spent without the card. Count only what you had planned anyway; see the Platinum cost breakdown.

Pending credits from Amex Offers sometimes take weeks. Wait for them; whether Amex posts a credit to a closed account isn't regulated in the public terms.

Bonus revoked retroactively: the 12-month clause

Before you cancel, check the issue date. The Platinum bonus terms state that if the card is canceled or switched to another product within the first 12 months of issuance, the entitlement to the welcome bonus lapses retroactively.

Two things are regularly overlooked. First: a product switch, meaning a downgrade to the Gold, also triggers this. Second: the notice period counts. Cancel in month eleven and the contract ends in month twelve. Wait until the twelve months are safely complete, plus the notice period.

The lockout period for the next welcome bonus

Amex Germany's new-customer rule: a new customer is anyone who, within the 18 months before applying, has not been a primary cardholder of the same German card product at American Express.

It follows that:

• The clock starts on the day you stop being a primary cardholder, meaning the contract end date, not the date of your cancellation letter.
• The rule applies per card product. Someone who cancels the Platinum can in principle apply for a Gold Card with a bonus, provided they haven't held one in the past 18 months.
• Anyone who was only a supplementary cardholder isn't affected by the lockout.

Amex can change these conditions; read them in the application you actually submit. How to collect the bonus cleanly is in the welcome bonus guide.

What else ends with the card

• Supplementary cards end with the primary card. Tell supplementary cardholders beforehand.
• Priority Pass and Centurion Lounge access end with the contract.
• Hotel status through the card (Hilton, Marriott, Radisson) doesn't last forever; when the partner downgrades you depends on the program. If you need it, check the alternatives through other cards.
• Insurance ends with the contract. For trips booked for after the end date, clarify coverage beforehand, see the Amex insurance overview.
• Subscriptions and recurring charges have to be moved. The list is in your last three statements.

When canceling is the wrong decision

• You're in the first year and have received the bonus. Waiting costs a few monthly fees; canceling costs the bonus.
• You have a large points balance and no concrete use for it. Then switching to the Gold or holding a second MR card is cheaper than any speculative transfer.
• You want another Platinum with a bonus in under 18 months. That's not possible. If you actually want to keep the card and are only bothered by the fee, ask for a retention offer during the cancellation call. What Amex offers varies and isn't guaranteed, but asking costs nothing; see the Amex customer service review.

Canceling is right when the credits take effort to use, you no longer need the lounges, and the points are earmarked or secured on another card. Then the Platinum is a 720-euro card without 720 euros of value.

Bottom line

The right order: check the issue date (twelve months complete?), secure the points (transfer with a specific goal or keep a second MR primary card open), wait for pending credits, move subscriptions, then cancel and ask for any credit balance to be paid out. The pro-rata refund is guaranteed by law but barely worth mentioning with monthly billing. The 18-month lockout runs from the contract end date, per card product.

Do these steps in the wrong order and you don't lose the card, you lose what came with it.