• I've had an American Express Platinum card for over two years and find it's a good value.
• The annual fee is $695, but the card got me gold status with two hotel chains and a Priority Pass.
• I've used the card's digital-entertainment credit toward my Audible and Netflix subscriptions.

In 2023, I added a new credit card to my wallet: the American Express Platinum.

At first, I cringed at its $695 annual fee — but I realized this card is actually well worth its cost for me. The travel perks are great and, in many ways, the card helps me save on purchases I would've made anyway.

Here are some of my favorite perks of the American Express Platinum, especially as a frequent traveler.

My complimentary Priority Pass membership is one of my favorite parts of the card

One of the card's biggest perks is the complimentary Priority Pass membership, which gives me access to over 1,700 select airport lounges worldwide.

A Priority Pass membership alone can cost hundreds of dollars a year, so I love getting it for free. Plus, I make good use of it.

The city where I live has a smaller airport, which means the majority of our trips require a layover. A layover is way more comfortable when you have lounge access.

Airport lounges can be more comfortable and quiet than bigger boarding areas. Plus, most have free food and beverages, including alcohol. Not having to buy overpriced airport snacks and drinks has definitely saved me money, too.

I have lounge access with my Delta card, but I have to pay $50 each for my guests, which is not cost-effective when I'm traveling with my husband or kids.

However, with my Priority Pass, I can take three guests into a lounge with me at no extra cost. That way, my family of four can eat for free and have a nice place to wait for our flight — win!

This card also gives me access to American Express Centurion Lounges. My guests don't get free access to these, but I enjoy them when traveling solo.

I get other travel perks, too

With my card, I was able to get automatic gold status with both Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton. I get accelerated points, options for upgrades or late checkouts, food and beverage credits, welcome gifts, and more.

The perks vary from hotel to hotel, but anyone who travels frequently with these hotel brands will get instant perks.

I also get an annual $199 credit to cover my CLEAR membership, which speeds up the time I spend going through airport security. It's helpful to me as a frequent traveler, but probably wouldn't be for someone who only travels occasionally.

The digital-entertainment credits save me money on my essential subscriptions

This card gives me $240 worth of digital entertainment credit a year, which I can use on select subscriptions.

The credit could be applied to subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Peacock, Disney+, Hulu, and more.

In the past, I've used this to cover a year of Audible and some of my Netflix subscription — both of these come in handy while I'm traveling and want something to watch or listen to.

Although the card has even more perks, I find it's best for travelers

The card has way more perks that I haven't touched on and don't always use, like $100 toward purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue each year, $300 toward a club membership or digital subscription at Equinox, and Uber Cash.

For me, however, its biggest benefits are tied to travel.

I travel very frequently, both for work and with my family. We live simply, but we vacation two to three times a year, and maximizing our leisure and recreation time is important to us.

Although I first became interested in the card to elevate my hotel status, I quickly discovered other money-saving benefits, tallied up the value, and decided that the annual fee was worth it.

I really scrutinized the benefits before deciding that this card was for me — and that's the best move for anyone looking to add something new to their wallet.

• Starbucks is extending its free refills policy to non-rewards members with reusable cups.
• Customers at participating stores will be eligible for a top-up of many brewed coffee and teas.
• Starbucks is also reversing its open-door policy, limiting facilities to paying customers and staff.

Starbucks is expanding its free refills policy to all customers at participating stores as part of its new code of conduct, effective January 27.

Non-rewards members at the coffee giant will soon be able to receive refills at no extra cost as long as their beverage is prepared in a clean reusable cup or a for-here utensil. They also must order in-store and within the same visit.

The offer includes hot and iced brewed coffee and tea but excludes flavored iced tea, cold brew, nitro cold brew, iced tea lemonade, and its Refreshers.

Starbucks rewards members were previously the only ones who could get a free top-up of their order. From February 12th, loyal customers will also have to use a reusable cup or a ceramic in-house mug to be eligible for a refill.

The Seattle-headquartered coffee chain said on Monday that it would also reverse its open-door policy.

The policy was first introduced in 2018 after Starbucks faced widespread criticism over an incident in which two men having a business meeting were arrested at a Philadelphia location after they tried to use the restroom without purchasing anything.

The policy lets non-paying guests use store facilities, like bathrooms, indoor communal areas, and patios.

From January 27th, these spaces will only be reserved for staff, customers, and people accompanying those making purchases.

"Implementing a Coffeehouse Code of Conduct is something most retailers already have and is a practical step that helps us prioritize our paying customers who want to sit and enjoy our cafés or need to use the restroom during their visit," Starbucks' representative Jaci Anderson told BI in an emailed statement.

The changes come as new CEO Brian Niccol sets out his vision to make Starbucks cafés places where people want to hang out again.

• I recently got the Capital One Venture X card, which comes with a hefty annual fee.
• It has great travel benefits, but I've had mixed experiences with my complimentary Priority Pass.
• I haven't been able to use many airport lounges with it, but it and the card are still a good value.

After years of seeing Capital One's catchy "What's in your wallet?" commercials, I finally looked into its credit cards.

As a frequent flyer, I found its Venture X card to be the most appealing option due to its variety of travel perks, but I hesitated to apply for it because of its fairly high annual fee of $395.

I finally gave it a shot when I realized it comes with a complimentary Priority Pass membership, which usually costs a few hundred dollars.

At the time of writing, I've had this card for just over a month and have used it for two vacations, with more scheduled in the weeks to come.

Here are my initial reactions to the benefits — particularly the Priority Pass membership, which felt so desirable it convinced me to get the card in the first place.

The Capital One Venture X card won me over with its cash-back and travel perks

By signing up for the Capital One Venture X card, I immediately got a lot of perks, including a $300 annual travel credit and a $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Credit.

These benefits alone help defray the $395 annual fee, and the card also comes with:

• 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
• 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel
• 2X miles on all other purchases

I also got an initial bonus of 75,000 miles after I spent $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of owning the card.

For my family, the card's biggest draw is the aforementioned complimentary Priority Pass membership, which provides unlimited access for me and two guests to select airport lounges worldwide.

My family of three spends a lot of time in airports, and waiting in a lounge is far more appealing than vying for crowded seating close to the gate.

The Priority Pass membership gets me access to many lounges, but there are limitations

Once I got my Priority Pass membership, I used its easy-to-navigate app to see which lounges I could access.

I was delighted to find my pass got me into lounges in all three terminals at my home airport, Orlando International Airport (MCO).

However, I learned most airline-specific lounges, such as the Delta Sky Club, don't accept Priority Pass.

I was also surprised by the lack of Priority Pass lounge options in some larger cities with major international travel hubs — I found no lounge options when I had layovers at Salt Lake City International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.

Los Angeles International Airport doesn't have lounges guests can access with Priority Pass, either.

I also realized that even if lounges are available, they may not be close enough to my flight to be worth visiting.

For example, while I was flying out of Montréal, the only lounge I could use was in a terminal quite far from the one my plane was departing from.

Still, over 1,700 lounges around the globe do accept Priority Pass. I'm hopeful I'll be able to take advantage of my membership as I visit more airports.

Despite its drawbacks, Priority Pass is still a good solution for my lounge-loving family

On my recent trips, I've struggled to find available lounges outside of my home airport. However, I still think Priority Pass is great for my family.

Having access to airport lounges in Orlando, our home base, is a great perk on its own, as I've previously paid as much as $50 per person per visit for this benefit. Now, we all get into the lounge for free.

I enjoy having comfortable seating, ample charge ports, and a quiet place to relax before boarding a plane. My son loves stocking up on the complimentary lounge snacks, which saves me from having to buy him pricey — and generally mediocre — airport food.

Knowing there's a comfy airport lounge waiting for me at MCO the next time I travel helps make my journey feel almost as fun as the destination.

Plus, with my Capital One Venture X card, I also earn travel rewards for every dollar I spend. Although I've only had my card for a few weeks, I've already racked up miles I can redeem for future flights.

• A London home was targeted in a $13M jewelry heist. MailOnline says the owner is a rich influencer.
• The victims are offering a large reward for people who help get the jewels back.
• $1.3M is for information leading to their return, and $627K more for helping secure a conviction.

The victims of a $13 million jewelry heist in a wealthy London neighborhood are offering a hefty reward.

More than a million dollars is pledged to people who can give information leading to the jewels' return and the thieves' conviction.

London's Metropolitan Police said in a news release on Monday that jewelry worth £10.4 million (around $13 million) was stolen on December 7 from the Primrose Hill neighborhood.

Among the stolen items were a 10.73-carat Graff diamond ring, two De Beers butterfly diamond rings, and other luxury items from Van Cleef & Arpels, Chopard, and Hermes, according to police.

Some $190,000 worth of Hermès Crocodile Kelly handbags were also taken, as was £15,000 in cash, police said.

The targeted property is on Avenue Road, which has some of the most expensive properties in London including the residences of the ambassadors from Sri Lanka and Israel.

MailOnline identified the home as belonging to Shafira Huang, a wealthy socialite and Instagram influencer with some 13,000 followers. Huang's profile was private as of Tuesday.

Images provided by the Met of stolen items included a bespoke diamond bangle with the name "Shafira" on it.

Business Insider was unable to reach Huang for comment. The Met, in an email to Business Insider, declined to comment on the identity of the victim.

The Met confirmed that the victims are offering two separate rewards.

Those who provide information that leads to the retrieval of the stolen jewelry would receive 10% of the recovered items' valuation, amounting to a potential total of a little over $1.3 million.

In addition to this, the Met said the victims are offering an additional reward of £500,000 (about $627,000) to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect.

In total, there's about $1,927,000 up for grabs.

The police gave a description of a suspect: a white man in his late 20s or early 30s, of medium build. They said he covered his face during a break-in.

Paulo Roberts, an officer in the investigation, described it as a "brazen" offense that "violated the sanctuary of the victims' home."

In a statement, he said: "The suspect has stolen £10.4m worth of jewelry, much of which is sentimental and unique in its design, and therefore easily identifiable."

Luxury theft is a growing problem in London, which has the sixth highest number of billionaires of any city in the world.

According to a review of police data by the criminal defense law firm Lawtons, the number of luxury thefts in the city rose by 22% between February 2023 and February 2024.