In many cases, when a market leader in a category raises prices, that clears the way for similar increases by its rivals.
When Costcora raised its membership fees in September 2024, for example, and saw no drop in membership, that paved the way for Sam’s Club to do the same this year.
The pattern is consistent. When a market leader raises prices without losing customers, it often resets the ceiling for an entire industry.
“The most important decision when evaluating a business is pricing power,” Warren Buffet told the Financial Crisis Investigation Commission in 2010. “If you have the power to raise prices without losing business to a competitor, you have a very good business. And if you have to have a prayer session before raising the price by 10%, then you have a terrible business.”
Across industries, price leadership often functions less as isolated decision-making and more as a signaling mechanism that competitors quickly incorporate into their own pricing and product strategies.
This is a practice that has long been applied in the wireless telephony space, although precedents have sometimes worked in favor of consumers.
T-Mobile, for example, abandoned contracts in 2013, and AT&T and Verizon had to follow shortly after.
In fact, T-Mobile made a number of “Un-Carrier” moves, including eliminating overage charges, offering unlimited texting and calling, and offering pricing that includes taxes and fees, that its major rivals had to follow.
This is also often true in the credit card space.
“Offers are refined throughout the year…When Chase does something, Citi reacts. Or when Amex expands an offer, Bank of America increases,” said Brian Riley, director of credit payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, in an industry commentary on credit card competition.
However, in general, when a company makes a move that all its competitors follow, that usually doesn’t mean good news for consumers.
That’s why American Express, by raising the fee on its high-end Platinum card, and not seeing that hurt adoption, may pave the way for rival credit card companies to do the same.
Companies rarely raise prices without trying to convince consumers that they are actually getting more value for their money. That’s what American Express did in late 2025 when it raised fees for its Platinum card from $695 to $895.
“US Consumer Platinum Card® members can now access more than $3,500 in annual lifestyle benefits, including new credits on eligible purchases with Resy, lululemon, Uber One membership, and upgrades to existing hotel and digital entertainment credits,” the company shared in a press release.
The company defended the price increase to the Associated Press.
These benefits are enough to justify the $200 increase in the annual fee, Howard Grosfield, president of the U.S. Consumer Services group at AmEx, told the AP.
The annual fee for the Platinum Card was $550 just five years ago.
“What we’re trying to do is two things: We want to make sure we’re providing $3,500 in benefits that far exceed the $895 fee and make it easy to find multiple ways for cardholders to find benefits that exceed that fee,” Grosfield said.
When a company increases a rate for a product that is renewed annually, that gives it the option to make changes if the initial numbers are not good.
Costco has acknowledged that if it ever raised membership fees and saw negative customer reaction, it could adapt in real time. That didn’t happen with the most recent membership price increase.
“Importantly, around 1/4 of the total US Platinum consumer portfolio has been billed at the higher annual rate, and we have seen no change to our very high retention rates relative to the previous update,” Chief Financial Officer Christophe Le Caillec said during the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call.
Platinum cardholder revenue grew 6% in the first quarter, which CEO Stephen Squeri discussed during the call.
“The majority of that, given the size of the portfolio, comes from permanent cardholders. While we are very pleased with the acquisition of new accounts, the majority of that 6% increase comes from the previous book,” he added.
When I was traveling several times a month for personal and business reasons, I found American Express Platinum to be an invaluable tool. Access to airport lounges may not have justified the membership fee, but it was hard to put a price on the value of having a clean place to work with shops, an open bar and decent bathrooms.
Now that I fly a lot less, I no longer carry the American Express Platinum, but that’s not because of the price increase. It was much more because the core benefits of the card lean toward airport and hotel benefits, and I just don’t need them as much anymore.
More retail:
View From the Wing’s Gary Leff laid out American Express’ strategy on its travel website.
“Increasingly, annual fees are an important part of their revenue. The best cards return spending revenue to the customer, but the card’s fixed fee is growing and consumers are paying it,” he said.
That’s a strategy other credit card companies also use.
“Offering a compelling card with benefits is about increasing spending and keeping more of that spending within their own ecosystem. Amex pushes people toward their own travel platform and Resy, which they own. Chase pushes its cardholders toward Chase Travel (and away from Expedia and Airbnb) and also toward Shops with Chase, although the experience there leaves a lot to be desired,” he added.
The change of heart on fees has helped American Express justify the price increase.
“Analysts say younger generations, who make up a significant portion of AmEx cardholders, are more comfortable paying credit card fees, viewing them as subscription-like products that offer value through travel, dining and entertainment experiences,” Reuters reported.
Axios noted that American Express has been at the forefront of a wave of credit card fee increases, but Chase actually set the precedent with an increase in the price of its premium card.
“The fee for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card increased from $550 to $795 a year,” according to Axios. “It’s not just about credit card companies catering to higher income groups,” he added.
Airlines, the site reported, “are increasingly open about targeting their highest-spending consumers, with Delta increasing benefits for its highest-spending travelers and JetBlue openly working to target higher-income earners.”
Analysts and industry reports suggest that the latest increase in Platinum rates from American Express reflects a broader shift toward high-fee premium credit cards, with additional perks used to justify pricing and potentially set a new benchmark for competitors targeting wealthy customers.
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This story was originally published by TheStreet on April 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the Retail section. Add TheStreet as a preferred source by clicking here.