American Express is set to drop its free Boingo Wi-Fi benefit for Platinum cardholders

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If you're a road warrior or even travel lightly, you've probably seen Boingo Wi-Fi hotspots at airports, hotels, malls, and convention centers. And for those of you with The Platinum Card® from American Express (opens in new tab), you have probably enjoyed complimentary unlimited Wi-Fi at over 1 million Boingo hotspots worldwide.
Unfortunately, that perk will be going away (opens in new tab). Some Amex Platinum members have received the following notification: Effective May 1, 2019, Boingo Preferred Plan will no longer be a benefit on the Platinum Card®. Cardholders who are enrolled in Boingo Preferred Plan as of 4/30/2019, will continue to have access to this benefit until 12/31/2019.
This could be a bit of a blow as Boingo membership would otherwise cost $14.99 per month, which works out to $179.88 over the course of a year. All that said, the Amex Platinum card still delivers a ton of value (opens in new tab) including $200 in annual Uber savings, an annual $200 Airline Fee Credit, access to those swanky Centurion lounges (opens in new tab) and, if you sign up right now, you'll be eligible to earn 60,000 Membership Rewards® points (opens in new tab) after you charge $5,000 in your first 3 months.
If this is a service you highly value and if you're looking for a new credit card, consider the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card (opens in new tab) which as of now still includes Boingo membership. Even better, the card includes a limited time offer of 75,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points (opens in new tab) after you use your new Card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. Those points carry a value (opens in new tab) of about $900 but you have to hurry as the sign up offer is scheduled to end April 24.
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