Both cards come with generous travel credits that go a long way toward offsetting the annual fee.
Of course, you'll still have to pay the fee upfront before making some of it back from the credits. The fee for the Sapphire Reserve is $450, while the Amex Platinum has a $550 yearly charge.
The Sapphire Reserve comes with a straightforward and easy-to-use $300 travel credit. The first $300 you spend on travel-related purchases every cardmember year is credited back to your account. The "travel" category is expansive, including everything from subways, taxis, parking, and tolls to airfare and hotels. When you subtract that credit from the annual fee, the card only costs $150 per year.
The Platinum Card, meanwhile, has three different credits.
The first is a $200 airline fee credit each calendar year. Every January, you pick one airline for that credit to apply toward. While the credit doesn't cover tickets, it covers incidental fees like checked bags, seat assignments on basic economy tickets, change fees, and more. Sometimes you can even be reimbursed for airline gift cards that you can apply toward tickets, even though this is an unpublished benefit — do some Googling to see whether that works on your airline of choice.
Second, you can get up to $200 in Uber credits each cardmember year, which is broken down into monthly chunks. Each month, cardholders receive $15 of credits to use on Uber rides or for Uber Eats. In December, that's boosted to $35.
Finally, you can get up to $100 in shopping credits each year at Saks-brand stores, broken into two chunks: You'll get up to $50 during the first six months of the year, and another $50 during the second.
When you subtract the three credits, the Platinum Card's annual fee is just $50. However, since the airline fee is each calendar year, you can actually collect it twice if you open your card mid-year and maximize the credit before and after January of that first cardmember year.
That would mean you're not just making up for the annual fee, you're actually getting more value than the fee in the first place. That's without even considering the other benefits and rewards.