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Review: American Express Business Platinum Card

Apply for the American Express Business Platinum

The American Express Platinum is easily the most well known credit card out there. But did you know there is a business version out there? How is it different from the personal version and is it right for you?

Being a business owner is probably easier than you think. Do you ever sell stuff on Facebook Marketplace? Well you’re a business owner. There are way more things that you probably do on a daily basis that qualifies you as a business owner.

Quick Facts

Welcome Offer: Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $20,000 in 3 months.

Points Earned: American Express Membership Rewards which transfers to 20 different airline and hotel partners. Or you can use your points for a statement credit at a value of .6 cents per point or 1 cent per point on flights and .7 cents per point on other travel.

Earnings Structure:
5x on Flights booked through AmexTravel.com
5x on prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel.com
1.5x on U.S. Construction material and hardware suppliers, U.S. Electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers, and U.S. shipping providers
1.5x on purchases over $5,000
1x on all other purchases

Note: You’ll only earn 1.5x points on up to $2 million in spend per year. After that you’ll earn 1x points.

This is not a card I put much spend on outside of prepaid hotels through AmexTravel.com. There are much better cards out there that earn more points on other purchases.

Annual Fee: $695 Rates & Fees

Authorized User Fee: $350

Foreign Transaction Fees: None



Welcome Offer

The publicly available welcome offer is to earn 150,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $20,000 in 3 months. I value American Express points at 1.7 cents each so this welcome offer is worth $2,550.

Benefits

This card is packed with benefits and various statement credits that help offset the annual fee. If you use them right you can actually make money with this card!

Redeem Points for Over 1.5 Cents Each

Ordinarily you can redeem American Express Membership Rewards points for at most around 1 cent per point but with the Amex Business Platinum’s Pay with Points feature you get 35% of those points back with a few restrictions.

  • Book either a first or business class ticket or any cabin on your selected airline

  • Earn up to 1 million points back per year with this feature

If you were to book a $1,000 ticket for 100,000 points you would get a 35,000 point rebate. This means that your ticket would really cost 65,000 points at a value of 1.54 cents each. While I value Amex points at 1.7 cents each this doesn’t seem like the best use of your points. However, there is something else to consider.

When you book a flight through AmexTravel it counts just like if you paid cash so you would earn airline miles for the flight. Depending on your elite status it could help push that value up.

Earn up to $1,629 Back in Statement Credits

While the $695 fee is one of the highest out there, there are tons of statement credits that can more than make up for it. If you use each of them you can net up to $1,629 back in credits. Even if you don’t use them all, this card can still make a ton of sense.

$200 Annual Airline Fee Credit

Earn a $200 Airline Fee Credit

Like the personal version, the Amex Business Platinum offers up to a $200 airline fee credit each year for incidentals and fees such as checked bags, change fees, etc. This is valid from January 1st through December 31st each year. You do have to elect the airline you want to use it for as it will only credit your account for fees on that specific airline. You can change your airline each year in January. The airline selected will also trigger the 35% back with Pay With Points.

  • Alaska Airlines

  • American Airlines

  • Delta Air Lines

  • Hawaiian Airlines

  • JetBlue Airways

  • Spirit Airlines

  • Southwest Airlines

  • United Airlines

The terms specifically state that this credit will not be applied for things like airline tickets, upgrades, gift card purchases, mileage purchases, mileage transfer fees, duty free purchases and award purchases. This is something I’m able to fully utilize each year.

$200 Hilton Credit

Earn up to $200 back with Hilton

Get up to $200 back when you use your Amex Business Platinum for purchases at Hilton Hotels. This is in the form of $50 per quarter. Enrollment is required.

$199 Annual CLEAR Plus Credit

Get $199 back with a Clear Plus Membership

All you have to do is use your Platinum card to pay for your CLEAR Plus membership and up to $199 will be credited back to your statement as a credit. For those that don’t have CLEAR, this can be a huge time saver at a lot of major airports and sports stadiums throughout the United States. Already have TSA PreCheck? CLEAR works in conjunction with PreCheck to allow you to skip the line and keep your shoes on at security.

$400 Annual Dell Credit

Earn up to $400 back at Dell

With the Amex Business Platinum you can earn up to $400 a year in statement credits when making purchases with Dell. This comes in the form of $200 in the first half of the year and $200 in the second half. Dell sells a lot more than just computers now so you can get things like monitors, headphones, or even an X Box. Enrollment is required.

$120 Wireless Credit

Earn up to $120 back on your wireless bill

Every month, spend at least $10 on your U.S. cell phone bill and receive a $10 statement credit. This is super easy to use and you’ll get up to $120 back a year. Enrollment is required.

$360 Indeed Credit

Earn up to $360 back with Indeed

If you use Indeed for any of their hiring or recruiting products you’ll receive $90 a quarter in statement credits up to $360 back per year on your Amex Business Platinum. Enrollment is required.

$150 Adobe Credit

Earn up to $150 back with Adobe

The Amex Business Platinum offers up to $150 back in statement credits for annual prepaid business plan purchases of Adobe Creative Cloud for teams or Adobe Acrobat Pro. As of now it looks like this is scheduled to end on 6/30/25 but they may extend it, or swap it out with something else. Enrollment is required.

TSA/Global Entry Fee Credit

Get a $120 statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck

TSA PreCheck and Global Entry are easily what I value most when traveling. This credit is worth $85-125 depending on which route you go.

TSA PreCheck is a much less painful security check at airports where you don’t have to take your shoes and belt off, don’t have to remove your laptop, and you don’t have to go through the body scanner while holding your hands above your head.

Now, Global Entry is one of the unsung heroes of travel that a lot of people probably haven’t heard about. Not only does this allow you to skip the immigration line when returning home and just use a self service kiosk, it also comes with TSA PreCheck!

The American Express Business Platinum offers a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry fee credit every 4.5 years which is how long each program is valid for. All you have to do is charge the fee to your card and it will get reimbursed. Have multiple cards with one of these credits? No problem, you can use it for anyone. It doesn’t have to be you.

American Express Business Platinum Travel Benefits

American Express Lounge Access

The Business Platinum card offers one of the most extensive networks of lounges out there and could be one of the main reasons to pick up this card if you travel a lot. Most airline lounges cost at least $550 a year and aren’t much to write home about. Let’s dive in to what airport lounges you have access to with this card.

American Express Centurion Lounge

Some of the nicest lounges out there are the American Express Centurion lounges. There are currently 14 in the United States and a few abroad with more to come. Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York LaGuardia, New York JFK, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Seattle. You can access these lounges up to three hours before your flight, or at anytime on a connecting flight. Previously there was some crowding issues at many of these lounges due to how great they are so American Express has implemented some new restrictions last year where only those cardmembers who spend more than $75,000 a year can bring guests. I do not think it is smart to put that much spending on this card just to get your guests in. The better play is to have your would be guests get their own card for access as well as all the great perks that come with the card.

Delta SkyClub Access

Delta has recently gutted their frequent flyer program which also came with restrictions on how you can access their SkyClubs. Delta’s lounges are typically some of the better airline lounges out there (not as good as the Centurion lounges), but they had a major crowding issue thanks to how easy it was to get in with different premium credit cards. There would usually be lines out the door with people waiting to get in. A large part of that was thanks to the American Express Platinum and Business Platinum where you can visit the SkyClub as long as you are traveling on a Delta flight. Last year, Delta changed the unlimited access to only allowing Platinum cardholders to visit only 6 times per year. That’s not a lot if you fly with any frequency. You may want to visit when you inevitably connect in Atlanta on the outbound and also on the return. That means you only get to visit the SkyClub on three roundtrips a year. Either way, some lounge access is better than no lounge access.

Priority Pass Membership

This is another great perk of the Business Platinum. Priority Pass is a huge global lounge network with over 1,300 lounges worldwide. Some are great and some are just ok. But again, any lounge access is better than sitting in the terminal before a flight. You do have to enroll in this benefit and they’ll send you a Priority Pass card in the mail that you use to access their lounges.

The Club at CLT, a Priority Pass Lounge

Plaza Premium and Escape Lounges

These are two other lounge networks that you’ll have access to with your Platinum card. Their footprints aren’t as large as Priority Pass but they are consistently pretty nice. You can also bring a guest in for no fee. Just present your Platinum card and you’ll be allowed in.

International Airline Program

If you pay cash for international first, business or premium economy class tickets, you can save a ton of money through the Amex International Airline Program. There are nearly two dozen airlines in the program and all you have to do is book through AmexTravel.com. There’s nothing else you have to do as the discount shows up online. Even better, you’ll earn 5x points on these purchases too.

Hotel and Car Rental Elite Status

The Amex Business Platinum comes with elite status at two hotel and two car rental partners. All you need to do is enroll online.

  • Hilton Gold- offers free breakfast, late checkout, preferred rooms, and 80% bonus points on stays. You’ll probably get an error when you register online but just call the number on the back of your card and they can enroll you.

  • Marriott Gold- offers late checkout, 25% bonus points on stays, and a room upgrade

  • Hertz President’s Circle- Guaranteed car upgrades, choose any car you’d like in the President’s Circle lot, amongst other benefits

  • National Executive Club- Choose any car on the lot and just drive off

Access to Amex Offers

This is a fantastic benefit to all American Express cards. Even if you didn’t use any of the annual credits, having access to Amex Offers can pay for the card itself with all the savings you can receive. I’ve saved over hundreds of dollars on this card alone since I’ve had it.

Is it Worth It?

The signup bonus alone far outweighs the annual fee, so from that standpoint, yes. Additionally, all the credits you get, if you use them properly can also more than pay for the fee too. While I don’t use the Indeed credit, I’m still getting $1,269 in statement credits each year. Not to mention all the money I’m saving with Amex Offers. That doesn’t factor in all the other great perks of this card.

Want to Apply?

The best publicly available welcome offer is to earn 150,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $20,000 in 3 months.

Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

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