How Amex is Using GenAI to Augment Human Service for the Platinum Card Customers
By Steve Cocheo, Senior Executive Editor at The Financial Brand
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The battle of the ultra-premium cards stepped up last year, when Chase Sapphire Reserve and American Express Platinum Card both unveiled refreshed features and extras (as well as higher annual fees). Much of the attention focused on the perks.
The hype: Card sites and influencers zeroed in on the value versus price question, advancing the viewpoint that the rich packages are high-end “coupon books” to be squeezed for maximum value. Search for the cards online and you’ll see numerous reviews from people primed to get every last drop for their money. In unveiling the refresh, Amex promised over $3,500 in annual value for both the consumer and business Platinum Cards.
The hidden value: But there’s more to premium cards than the coupons and access to airport lounges. There’s the service component.
A global human team handles the travel and lifestyle needs of Platinum Card members, as well as the still-more-elite American Express Black Card members. That group is headed by Lupita Cuesta, senior vice president of Amex travel and concierge experiences.
The panache of her team is hands-on, insider-informed delivery. In some ways, it’s the classic travel agent model of decades ago, albeit on steroids — virtual concierge to go.
But over the last couple of years, American Express has been developing the team’s digital tools by introducing GenAI to the mix. Cuesta says the rollout of Travel Counselor Assist began with consultants in the U.S. — initially with small teams as each element needed development and proving — and has since been expanded to a total of 19 countries.
Need to Know:
- Platinum pulls: Some pundits predicted the fee hike accompanying 2025 Platinum Card refresh would cause member falloff. However, in analyst meetings Amex officials have been saying that they see high retention as renewal cycles continue, alongside ongoing strong enrollment of new Platinum members.
- “We continue to capture a high share of the spend wallet from both new and tenured Platinum customers,” said Christophe Le Caillec, CFO, during first quarter earnings.
- In the 2025 holiday shopping season, overall Amex member spending was up 9% year over year, but spending by Platinum Card members was up by 12%. A Platinum member spends ten times what an Amex Blue Cash Everyday member does.
- Bottom line: “Put yourself in our shoes,” Le Caillec recently told an analyst. “There’s a lot of demand for Platinum, we know that not all cards are created equal, so our priority is going to be to meet that demand, shape the resources, and go after Platinum applicants.”
What American Express Will Accomplish with AI
In the fourth quarter, American Express saw a 30% increase in travel bookings. Le Caillec told analysts this is typically a quiet period, and attributed much of the increase to the refreshed Platinum Card.
Key perspective: Premium members expect a level of service that goes far beyond what they could get surfing the web for travel tips, and they increasingly expect a high degree of personalization. Cuesta says augmenting humans with GenAI is helping to move her operation towards the best of both.
The aim is to improve quality of customer experience, as well as the pace of the experience. Member research indicates that satisfaction with consultants’ performance has increased. And Cuesta believes efficiency is improving.
More specifically, AI is nibbling at the time taken by a consultant to set travel for premium members.
“It’s been reduced by almost two minutes,” says Cuesta, “taking less time out of our customers’ lives to solve their requests.”
Next steps: Payoff from the company’s early involvement in agentic commerce, assisted by the advantage of its closed-loop payments model. American Express has been involved in pilots with various platform partners, and they’ve already run thousands of transactions through agentic AI pilot environments.
Read more: Building a Competitive Credit Card Program: A Strategic Framework
How GenAI Will Elevate the Platinum Member Experience
Consumers’ attitudes towards AI are complex. Various studies show more people using GenAI for financial advice, and yet many who try it don’t quite trust it. How many articles and posts detail how turning travel planning over to AI led to serious errors and even fiascoes?
Cuesta says Amex research has found that members have growing confidence in some parts of their travel and lifestyle assistance being provided by GenAI. Recommendations on bookings, for example, are acceptable.
“But they say that they still care about having the human in the loop,” says Cuesta. “They want human interaction when there are complex bookings, when there’s more advisory and consultative work. That’s when they are expecting to hear from our agents.”
Key insight: In particular, members want the assurance of a consultant during “moments of truth.” Such events can come up when they are already on the road — a medical emergency, a need to get home quickly.
“In my view, GenAI will be elevating the role of the human,” says Cuesta. Turning more and more rote work over to the technology will free consultants to concentrate on tasks demanding human attention.
In time, this will also change recruitment and training for these roles.
“It will be more about helping with the experiential, the destination, the excitement,” says Cuesta. This is already a prequalification for these positions — tapping AI for the routine will heighten the emphasis on people who know travel and destinations.
Read more: How Citizens Bank Will Amp Branch Performance with Human-AI Teamwork
Building Blocks for Incorporating GenAI into the Premium Experience
Cuesta says her team’s move into GenAI began with the research side of the travel and lifestyle business. Helpful travel planning requires research into destinations, weather, landscapes and locations and activities in cities and countries members wish to travel to. Being able to articulate ideas for itineraries, tours and dining are basics.
Assisting travel consultants with these activities with a tool right on their computer desktops was the step towards implementation. This now includes more data concerning members’ travel habits and preferences, including specific hotel brands and lodging with family rooms. This step is moving the implementation into the recommendation stage, according to Cuesta.
GenAI is also increasingly being used to gather documentation to assist consultants in navigating problems. One example would be handling multiple airlines’ waiver policies in circumstances like the outbreak of the war in Iran.
She says better filtering of inbound messages from members is another function under consideration, especially when urgency is indicated.
“That will mean that my team is able to see that request coming in with higher priority than other requests,” says Cuesta.
Overall, Cuesta says, GenAI will help consultants eliminate friction from the process, producing a premium travel consulting experience.
In time, she says, solving for friction points will become more and more automatic and specific. Case in point: Making sure that members who prefer to book trips with refundable tickets automatically get booked that way.
“The tools are evolving, but we will recognize that customers interact in very different ways, depending on their generation and on their budget,” says Cuesta. “So, we need to be flexible for those types of requirements.”
Read next: When an AI Agent Makes an Incorrect Purchase, Who’s Responsible? Amex Offers a Partial Answer
