Yes, you are seeing more ads for premium credit cards

The other day I saw an ad for Chase's Sapphire Card - it's notoriously tough to get. You can't have opened other accounts in some period, and must have a credit score over 700. It's got high annual fees. And the interest rates are still 20-29%. But what a great status symbol for this "golden age."

Then it occurred to me - wait a sec - didn't I just see an ad for the American Express Platinum Card? Yes, I did. Here it is featuring Olivia Rodrigo.

Here's what I asked AI (in this instance, Microsoft CoPilot):

Is it just me or has there been a noticeable increase in advertising for high end credit cards like the Amex Platinum and the Chase Sapphire? If there is an increase, do we know if it is holiday season related or related to the fact that centi millionaires and billionaires are propping up the consumer spending side of the C+I+G+X equation?

And CoPilot reveals the following:

It definitely seems like there's been a noticeable uptick in advertising for high-end credit cards like the Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire—and you're not imagining it. Here's what the landscape looks like:

📈 Premium Card Advertising is Surging

• Amex and Chase both launched major refreshes in 2025, featuring elevated annual fees and richer perks. American Express specifically rolled out new credits and high-profile marketing campaigns around its revamped Platinum Card—including what some called “Amex Platinum Day” in-app images and teasers to create buzz. [thecardsguy.com], [frequentmiler.com]
• Chase Sapphire Reserve’s campaign has been highly visible, especially across key markets like Los Angeles and NYC, with massive billboards featuring high-profile spokespeople like Claudia Schiffer and Hailey Bieber. One ad expert described them as “hard to escape”. [thisweekin…intech.com]

Is This a Seasonal Boost or Something Bigger?

🎄 Holiday-Driven Marketing?

• Yes, some of the increases in promotional activity align with the holiday shopping season. Between new bonus offers, seasonal redemption features, and headline-making campaigns around hotel and dining perks, it's clear issuers are trying to stake a claim on affluent holiday spending cycles. [michaelwmchugh.com], [wallethub.com]

💰 Targeting High-Net-Worth Consumers?

• Absolutely. In 2025, the premium-card space has shifted its focus to high-income, high-spend households. These consumers—such as centimillionaires—are increasingly important: almost half of U.S. consumer spending is attributed to the top 10% of earners, and premium cards are being tailored to capture that segment. [archyde.com], [thecardsguy.com]
• Marketing investments are clearly aimed at this group: richer perks, concierge services, luxury hotel partnerships, and exclusive lounge access underscore the premium positioning. [linkedin.com], [thecardsguy.com]

Are Wealthy Consumers Propelling Spending?

Interestingly, the macroeconomic picture is more nuanced:

• The Federal Reserve has found that rising wealth concentration ‘dampens’ overall consumer spending, because wealthier households have a lower marginal propensity to consume—they spend less of each dollar of new wealth. [federalreserve.gov]

So even though banks are chasing these high‑income consumers, the broader impact of centimillionaires and billionaires on consumer spending is modest—their incremental consumption is proportionally lower than middle- or lower-income groups.

Summary

• ✅ Yes, there has been a clear increase in high-end credit card advertising, especially around refreshed products from Amex and Chase.
• 🎄 Some of the push appears tied to the holiday season, aiming to capture high-value transactions.
• 💼 More strategically, these marketing efforts are ramped up to target affluent consumers, who make up a disproportionate share of discretionary spending.
• 📉 But from a macro perspective, wealth concentration doesn’t necessarily translate to sharply higher consumer spending—those at the top spend less out of additional wealth.

I followed up just to clarify the last point - about spending by top 10% of households, because usually they are not the drivers of consumer spending, but in 2025, those high end households ARE the spending.

I don't know if it was in the Beige Book, or if it was other commentators who determined that the top 10% of households spent an inordinate amount of money, which helped bring 3rd quarter GDP growth to 4.3%. Have I got that correct? Do you know the citations?

CoPilot:

Yes, that’s correct—the top 10% of U.S. earners do account for a substantial share of consumer spending, and this spending contributed meaningfully to the 4.3% GDP growth in Q3 2025.

📊 Spending Concentration in Q3 2025

• Consumer spending led Q3 GDP growth at an annualized 3.5%, contributing to the overall 4.3% GDP expansion. [bea.gov], [minneapolisfed.org]
• High-income households—particularly the top decile—drove much of this strength. One financial analysis noted that the top 10% of U.S. households alone account for almost 50% of total consumer consumption. [linkedin.com]
• A market report further confirmed that high-income households fueled an estimated 3.7% increase in services spending—ranging from luxury travel to specialized healthcare—in that same quarter. [markets.fi…ontent.com]

🧾 Beige Book and Commentary Insights

• The Beige Book and other Federal Reserve district reports highlighted that while general consumer spending on retail cooled off, spending on luxury travel and accommodations by wealthier consumers remained strong in the months leading into the Q3 period. [federalreserve.gov]

✅ Summary

• ✔️ The top 10% of households indeed spend disproportionately—almost half of all consumer expenditures.
• ✔️ That high-end spending, especially in the service sector, did contribute significantly to the strength of the reported 4.3% GDP growth in Q3.
• ✔️ This pattern was noted both in headline BEA data and in qualitative Federal Reserve commentary.

And the wealthy households are spending their money on luxury travel and specialized health care - nips and tucks, glow-ups, hair extensions, botox, fills, lifts - you know.

Anyway - quick non-scientific social science experiment that provides great fodder for someone who really wants to dig into it. You can grab the AI created research design for this on my GitHub.