Link: Learn more about The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The American Express Platinum cards are some of the most well-known premium cards out there. Many people are familiar with The Platinum Card® from American Express (review), which is probably the most well known premium card on the market.
In this post, I’d like to take a close look at The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, which is the business version of the card (as the name suggests). The card recently underwent a full refresh, whereby we saw the annual fee increase, but also saw new perks added. Is the card worth it, and if so, under what circumstances?
Amex Business Platinum Card welcome offer & fee basics
The Amex Business Platinum Card offers some outstanding perks, though the card also has a steep annual fee. So let’s start by taking a look at the welcome offer, eligibility, fee, and more.
Welcome offer of 200K bonus points
At the moment, Amex Business Platinum has an incredible welcome offer where you can earn 200,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 in eligible purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
Personally, I value Membership Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, so to me those points are worth $3,400. That’s a massive bonus, among the best you’ll find on any card. Note that while there are sometimes even better targeted offers, this is just about the best publicly available welcome offer I recall seeing on the card.
Card application restrictions & rules
The welcome offer on the Amex Business Platinum isn’t available to those who currently have the card or those who have had the card in the past, in line with Amex’s “once in a lifetime” rule. If you’ve had the card in the past, you’re still eligible to be approved, you just won’t get the bonus.
The standard rules of applying for Amex cards apply as well. Anecdotally speaking, I find Amex business cards to be quite easy to be approved for, at least for those with excellent credit. The good news is that this isn’t a credit card (but is instead a hybrid card), so this card won’t count toward Amex’s five credit card limit.
$895 annual fee & $400 authorized user fee
The Amex Business Platinum has an annual fee of $895 (Rates & Fees). This is one of the highest annual fee cards out there.
When it comes to adding authorized users, the fee is $400 (Rates & Fees) per user, which is steep. Authorized users receive the lounge access perks of the card, as well as most of the hotel perks. However, authorized users do not receive additional credits (for hotels, airline fees, Adobe, CLEAR, Dell, etc.).
Amex Business Platinum Card points earning structure
Personally, I think the Amex Business Platinum Card may be worth having for the benefits it offers, though there are fairly limited circumstances under which it makes sense to spend money on the card if you’re looking to maximize your return on spending.
Some other Amex cards offer big bonus categories, and I’ll talk more about those cards in a bit. So, in what categories does this card offer bonus points?
5x points on select flights & hotels
The Amex Business Platinum offers 5x Membership Rewards points on prepaid hotels and flights that are booked through Amex Travel. This is fairly restrictive. It could make sense to book flights through Amex Travel to earn 5x points, though for many small businesses, that might not be the best option.
The downside to booking prepaid hotels through Amex Travel is that you generally won’t earn points with your preferred loyalty program for third-party bookings, which includes Amex Travel bookings.
The one exception is Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts®, where prepaid reservations earn 5x points. That can be a good deal because of the perks you get, and also because you still earn points with your preferred hotel loyalty program. I’ll talk more about that in a bit.
2x points in select business categories
The Amex Business Platinum offers 2x Membership Rewards points for purchases that meet specific criteria. These include the following:
- Purchases at U.S. construction material & hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers
- Eligible purchases of $5,000 or more, regardless of the category
The earning rate of 2x points is valid for up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year, and then cardmembers earn 1x points. This will be useful for some small businesses, though for others, it won’t add much value.
1x points on other purchases
The above are the only bonus categories — otherwise, the Amex Business Platinum offers 1x points per dollar spent on other eligible purchases, which isn’t especially good. There are other Amex cards offering 1.5-2x points per dollar spent, so I would much rather put my spending on those cards, or on another card that’s best for everyday spending for small businesses.
No foreign transaction fees
The American Express Business Platinum offers no foreign transaction fees (Rates & Fees), should you find yourself making purchases abroad.
Additional bonus for spending $250K+ per year
The Amex Business Platinum offers an extra incentive for those who spend a significant amount on the card annually. Specifically, if you spend $250,000 per calendar year on the card, you can receive up to $3,600 in statement credits:
- Receive up to $1,200 in statement credits for American Express Travel flights
- Receive up to $2,400 in statement credits for American Express One AP monthly fees
While the American Express Travel flight credits are potentially valuable, the second set of credits is more niche. If you’re just looking to maximize your return on spending, odds are that this specifically won’t move the needle.
Amex Business Platinum Card points redemption options
The Amex Business Platinum Card earns Membership Rewards points. This is one of the major transferable points currencies. There are two best ways you can redeem Amex points — you can transfer them to an airline or hotel partner, or you can redeem them as cash toward the cost of an airline ticket.
Let’s look at those two options below. One awesome thing about the Amex Business Platinum is that having the card gives you special redemption rates when redeeming the points as cash toward an airline ticket. It’s the best rate you’ll get through any Amex card.
Transfer points to airline & hotel partners
The best way to redeem your Amex points is to transfer them to one of the Membership Rewards airline or hotel partners. Points can be transferred to the below 21 partners, including 18 airline partners and three hotel partners, as you’ll see below.
The reason this represents such a good option is that you can get outsized value toward premium airfare, especially for travel in first and business class. These tickets are often super expensive if paying cash, while they can be a good deal with points. On top of that, Amex often has transfer bonuses, which can get you even better value.
Redeem points for over 1.5 cents each toward airfare
Ordinarily, you can redeem Membership Rewards points for about a cent each toward the cost of an airfare purchase, which isn’t that great. However, if you have the Amex Business Platinum you can redeem points at a special rate.
If you book your flight through American Express Travel® using the Membership Rewards Pay with Points feature, you get 35% of those points back with a few key terms/limitations:
- You need to book a flight on your selected qualifying airline
- You can get up to one million points back per calendar year using this redemption method
In other words, you could book a $1,000 ticket for 100,000 points on your airline of choice, and then you’d get 35,000 points back, meaning, in the end, you’re paying 65,000 points. That’s a value of ~1.54 cents per point, which is excellent.
Amex Business Platinum Card credits & perks
The Amex Business Platinum Card offers so many benefits just for being a cardmember, and some of the most valuable benefits are credits. The card potentially offers over $2,000 in credits annually. Of course, most cardmembers aren’t going to be able to maximize every single one of those, though hopefully on balance, cardmembers use enough of these perks to more than justify the annual fee.
If you’re smart about how you use the card, this alone could make the card worthwhile. Let’s take a look at those benefits, in no particular order. (Enrollment is required for select benefits)
Up to $600 annual hotel credit
The Amex Business Platinum offers up to $600 per year in hotel credits. This is a semi-annual credit, so you get a $300 credit in January through June, and a $300 credit in July through December. This is actually a pretty easy perk to use — just book a prepaid hotel through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts® (no minimum stay) or The Hotel Collection (two night minimum stay) through American Express Travel®, and you can receive up to a $300 credit semi-annually.
If you ask me, this perk alone can help recoup most of the card’s annual fee. So a major point in deciding whether this card makes sense is crunching the numbers as to whether you can get full value from this.
Up to $360 annual Indeed credit
The Amex Business Platinum offers up to $360 in annual credits for Indeed purchases. This is broken up into a $90 per quarter credit. This can be used for all Indeed hiring and recruiting products, and products and services to post open positions and find talent. Personally, I’d consider this to be pretty niche, but some people might be able to get value from it.
Up to $250 annual Adobe statement credit
The Amex Business Platinum offers an annual statement credit of $250 after spending $600 or more on U.S. purchases made directly with Adobe each calendar year. Enrollment is required. Much like with the Indeed credit, personally, I’d consider this to be pretty niche.
Up to $209 annual CLEAR® Plus credit
The Amex Business Platinum offers an annual credit of up to $209 toward a CLEAR membership. CLEAR offers expedited security at select airports in the United States — instead of lining up to have your ID checked, you can instead have your biometric data taken, and then you’re escorted to the front of the line.
Charge the membership fee to your card, and it will automatically be reimbursed. It doesn’t matter who the fee is being paid for, as long as you charge it to your eligible card.
Up to $200 annual Hilton credit
The Amex Business Platinum offers up to $200 in Hilton credits annually. There’s no minimum spending beyond that, so as long as you spend $50+ at any eligible Hilton property each quarter, you’ll receive a statement credit for that amount.
Up to $200 annual airline fee credit
The Amex Business Platinum offers an up to $200 annual airline fee credit, which can be used toward airline incidentals and fees. One is offered every calendar year, so it follows a strict January 1 through December 31 calendar.
Every year you can designate on which airline you want to receive the credit, with the following choices:
- Alaska Airlines
- American Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- JetBlue Airways
- Spirit Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- United Airlines
You can change your airline selection in January of each year. If you don’t change your selection, then you automatically keep the same airline choice as the previous year.
Unfortunately, you can’t use your credit toward the following:
Airline tickets, upgrades, mileage points purchases, mileage points transfer fees, gift cards, duty free purchases, and award tickets are not deemed to be incidental fees.
This is useful for airline ticket change fees (though there are fewer of these than in the past), baggage fees, and other costs you may incur with an airline. Personally, this is something I have no trouble maxing out.
Up to $150 annual Dell statement credit (or more)
The Amex Business Platinum offers up to $150 per year in statement credits on U.S. purchases made directly with Dell, with an additional $1,000 statement credit after spending $5,000 or more on those purchases each calendar year. Enrollment is required.
Dell sells a surprising number of items from other companies. For example, you can buy Bose headphones through Dell, so this is more useful than you might assume.
Up to $120 annual wireless credit
The Amex Business Platinum offers a $120 annual wireless credit. This comes in the form of a $10 monthly statement credit toward purchases made directly from any U.S. wireless telephone provider. For most cardmembers, this credit should be (almost) good as cash. The only catch is that it’s such a small amount, so it’s very much a “coupon book” benefit.
Amex Business Platinum travel benefits
The Amex Business Platinum Card offers a variety of valuable travel perks, ranging from hotel elite status, to rental car status, to discounts on premium airfare. Let’s go over these below. (Enrollment is required for select benefits)
Gold Elite status with Hilton Honors
You receive complimentary Hilton Honors™ Gold Status for as long as you have the Amex Business Platinum. This status is useful, and offers the following perks:
- Free breakfast, a hotel credit, and/or executive lounge access
- Late check-out, subject to availability
- Preferred rooms
- 80% points bonus
- Fifth night free on award stays
Gold Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy
You receive complimentary Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Status for as long as you have the Amex Business Platinum. That status offers the following perks, among other things:
- 25% bonus points on hotel stays
- 2PM late check-out
- A room upgrade, subject to availability
Sterling status with Leading Hotels of the World
The Amex Business Platinum offers Leaders Club Sterling status from Leading Hotels of the World. Leading Hotels of the World is a collection of independent, luxury properties, so this offers perks at some properties that don’t otherwise participate in major global hotel groups.
This status typically requires $5,000 in annual spending at these hotels and offers perks such as five pre-arrival upgrades per year.
President’s Circle status with Hertz Gold Plus Rewards
The Amex Business Platinum offers Hertz President’s Circle elite status, the highest tier of status offered by Hertz. Your status is valid as long as you remain a cardmember. This should take some of the pain out of renting cars, and offers the following perks:
- Guaranteed car upgrades, a minimum of one-class, at participating locations
- Freedom to choose any vehicle in the President’s Circle section of the Hertz Ultimate Choice lot on the spot at no extra charge
- No additional driver fee for a spouse or domestic partner in the United States
- 50% bonus on Gold Plus Rewards points on all qualified rentals
- Expedited vehicle pick-up at over 1,000 locations worldwide
- No stopping at the counter at over 50 airports
- eReturn, whereby you don’t have to wait when returning your car
- Hertz Valet, whereby you can take advantage of a terminal drive-back service at participating locations up to four times per year
- A dedicated President’s Circle call center line
Executive status with National Emerald Club
The Amex Business Platinum offers National Emerald Club Executive status. You have to enroll to take advantage of this, and it’s valid for as long as you have your card. National is my favorite rental car company, and Executive status lets you pick out your car from the lot, and skip the counter altogether.
TSA PreCheck or Global Entry fee credit
The Amex Business Platinum offers a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit (every 4.5 years for the application fee for TSA PreCheck, or every four years for the application fee for Global Entry). Just charge the enrollment fee to your card, and it will automatically be reimbursed. It doesn’t matter who the fee is being paid for, as long as you charge it to your eligible card.
Since I have quite a few cards offering this perk, I simply use it for friends and family members.
Access to Amex International Airline Program
With the Amex International Airline Program, you can save on the cost of international first class, business class, and premium economy airfare, on around two dozen airlines. This typically provides discounts even on already discounted tickets, so is a spectacular value.
If you book paid international premium cabin travel with any frequency, this could cover the card’s annual fee over and over.
Access to Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts®
With the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts® program, you can receive extra perks for stays at over 1,000 luxury hotels around the world. These benefits include the following:
- Daily breakfast for two people
- Room upgrade upon arrival, when available
- A unique property amenity (usually a $100 property credit, free massage, car transfer, etc.)
- Guaranteed 4PM check-out
- 12PM check-in, subject to availability
- Complimentary in-room Wi-Fi (exclusions apply)
Best of all, the rate is typically in line with the best available rate. Having the Amex Business Platinum gets you access to this, and if you prepay your reservation you even earn 5x points. Then again, Virtuoso offers similar perks, and doesn’t require any specific credit card. The main benefit here is that you can stack this with the hotel credits offered by the card, to really maximize value.
Amex Business Platinum Card airport lounge access
The Amex Business Platinum Card offers one of the most comprehensive lounge access benefits of any card. This perk is called the Global Lounge Collection®, and it includes proprietary Amex lounges, as well as access to lounges run by other airlines and companies. Let’s go over the details of what that entails.
Amex Centurion Lounge access
Amex is well known for its Centurion Lounges. These are significantly better than what you’ll find in most U.S. airline lounges. The lounges have hot food, cocktails, and some even have complimentary spa treatments.
Currently, U.S. locations include Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, New York LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, with more to come. There are also Centurion Lounges in Hong Kong, London, and Tokyo, among other international destinations.
You can access these lounges up to three hours before departure if your flight (if you’re connecting, then the three-hour limit doesn’t apply). Please note that you’re only eligible to bring in guests on a complimentary basis if you spend at least $75,000 per calendar year on the card.
Delta Sky Club access
The Amex Business Platinum also offers access to the Delta Sky Club®, with some limitations. Card members can receive access within three hours of a departing or arriving flight, and must present their card, a boarding pass showing a confirmed reservation for an eligible Delta flight, and a government-issued ID.
Eligible US-issued cards receive 10 visits to the Delta Sky Club® each year, to be used from February 1 until January 31 of the next calendar year, with all visits within a 24-hour period counting as a single visit. It’s also possible to earn an unlimited number of visits by spending $75,000 in eligible purchases on a card account in a calendar year.
Priority Pass membership
The Amex Business Platinum offers a Priority Pass™ Select membership, which gives you access to lounges around the world. You can bring up to two guests into these lounges. While these aren’t the most exciting and high quality lounges, there’s no denying that this gives you access to a comprehensive collection of lounges.
Escape Lounge access
The Amex Business Platinum offers access to the growing network of Escape Lounges. Just present your Amex Platinum Card and you’ll be admitted, and you can even bring in guests.
Select Lufthansa Lounge access
The Amex Business Platinum also offers access to select Lufthansa Business & Senator Lounges. Cardmembers receive access to lounges when flying on a Lufthansa Group flight (Lufthansa, SWISS, and Austrian).
In addition to access to lounges in Frankfurt and Munich, several other lounges are also part of this agreement, including in North America and Europe. You can find all the eligible lounges through Amex’s lounge finder webpage.
Is the Amex Business Platinum Card worth it?
Like most cards, the answer here is that it depends on the circumstances. In general, I would say that the Amex Business Platinum Card is a business card that you get in the long run for the benefits that it offers, rather than for the return on spending that it directly offers.
It could make sense to spend money on the card if your business consistently makes $5,000+ purchases, other than that, there are better cards for everyday spending.
The card offers big benefits but also has a steep annual fee. When it comes to accounting for the value of the card, I recommend considering the following:
- How much do you value the various credits?
- How much do you value the Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Elite Status and Hilton Honors™ Gold Status, as well as the Hertz and National elite status?
- How much value will you get from Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts® and the International Airline Program?
- How much do you value the lounge access perks offered by the card?
Personally, I think the annual fee on this card is easier to justify than ever before. The most substantial benefit is a $600 annual hotel credit, so if you can maximize that, then I think it’s super easy to make the math on the card work. When you add in the massive welcome offer, there’s huge merit to picking up the card.
The best Amex business cards for spending
If you want to rack up as many Amex Membership Rewards points as possible through business spending, then there are two best cards you should be considering.
The first is The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (review). The card has no annual fee (Rates & Fees) and offers 2x Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 spent every calendar year (1x after that). This is one of the best cards out there for non-bonused spending up to that limit.
Then if you’re looking for an Amex card with big bonus categories, the American Express® Business Gold Card (review) is excellent. The card has a $375 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and earns 4x Membership Rewards points on the two categories where your business spends the most each billing cycle from six eligible categories. You earn 4x points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these categories each calendar year (then 1x thereafter). The eligible categories are as follows:
- Purchases at U.S. media providers for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
- U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
- U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
- Transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
- Monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.
Bottom line
The Amex Business Platinum Card is a perks-rich card that also has one of the highest annual fees of any business card. This is the ideal time to get this card, given the current welcome offer.
If you’re considering applying for this card, I’d do so if you think you’d get value out of the perks. This includes an incredible lounge access benefit, up to $600 in annual hotel credits, up to $200 in airline fee credits, up to $200 in Hilton credits, and much more. I think the math on this card is easy enough to justify nowadays, and I’d say the value proposition is better than in the past. (Enrollment is required for select benefits)
If you want to learn more about the Amex Business Platinum Card or want to apply, follow this link.
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: American Express® Business Gold Card (Rates & Fees), The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), and The Business Platinum® Card from American Express (Rates & Fees).
