Points, Miles & Credit Cards

Review: The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

February 16, 2024

9 min read

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Who is The Business Platinum Card® from American Express for?

If you’re an entrepreneur who wants to travel in luxury and style, the Business Platinum Card® from American Express may be the right fit for you. But prepare yourself for some sticker shock when you see the annual fee!

Amex Business Platinum Quick Facts

Annual fee: annual_fees(See Rates and Fees)

Foreign transaction fee: foreign_transaction_fee

Earning rate:

5X Membership Rewards(R) points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com, and 1X points for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases.
Earn 1.5X points (that's an extra half point per dollar) on each eligible purchase at US construction material, hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more, on up to $2 million per Card Account per calendar year. Purchases eligible for multiple additional point bonuses will only receive the highest eligible bonus.

Welcome offer: bonus_miles_full

Pros and cons

Pros:

Huge welcome offer—if you can meet the eligible spending in time
Card gives you access to airport lounges, including the American Express Global Lounge Collection and Priority Pass Select (enrollment required for select benefits)
Credits for travel perks like:
- 200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to the Card.
- $199 CLEAR(R) Plus Credit: Use your card and get up to $199 in statement credits per calendar year on your CLEAR(R) Plus Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use the Business Platinum Card(R).

Cons:

Eye-popping annual fee
Few spending categories earn bonus points
Other American Express business cards offer higher earning rates on common spending categories

Our take

The Business Platinum Card offers an impressive range of travel benefits and business statement credits that more than offset the hefty annual fee. Outside of the card perks and welcome offer, there are other cards that are more rewarding for routine business expenses, though.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express Review

card_name is an excellent option for frequent business travelers. It comes with a sizable annual fee, but this top-of-the-line luxury card comes with all the perks: You’ll get lounge access, statement credits that will let you zip through security and customs, and elite status with several major hotel chains, just to name a few. (Enrollment required.) Plus, the Amex Business Platinum offers a range of statement credits you can use to grow your business.

New cardholders can bonus_miles_full. That’s quite a steep spending requirement, but if you can swing it, the treasure trove of Membership Rewards points you’ll earn from this welcome offer could very well translate into a free flight—or two!

Earning points with the Amex Business Platinum

The sweet spot for earning points with the Business Platinum Card from American Express is on purchasing flights directly with airlines and on purchases through the American Express Travel portal. You'll earn:

5X Membership Rewards(R) points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com
1.5X points (that's an extra half point per dollar) on each eligible purchase at US construction material, hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more, on up to $2 million per Card Account per calendar year. Purchases eligible for multiple additional point bonuses will only receive the highest eligible bonus.
1X points for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases

Finally, you’ll also earn 1X point per dollar on all other eligible purchases.

Redeeming points with The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

The best way to redeem the Membership Rewards points you earn with your American Express Business Platinum is by transferring to American Express travel partners. American Express has 18 airline and 3 hotel partners that you can transfer points to in order to redeem for free travel. Our guide to American Express transfer partners walks you through the process.

You can also redeem your points through American Express Travel, the card issuer’s travel portal. This card also offers a 35% Airline Bonus (up to 1 million points per year) when you use your Membership Rewards points to pay for a flight through Amextravel.com. According to the card’s terms and conditions, the airline you select for this bonus must be the same airline you select for your $200 Airline Fee Credit.

What this means in plain English is that for every 10 points you pay for an eligible flight through American Express Travel, you’d receive 3.5 points back, getting a maximum of 1 million points back annually. In effect, it gives you a discounted rate, allowing you to purchase eligible flights with 6.5 points. If you met the terms of this Airline Bonus, for a roundtrip flight costing 100,000 points on paper, you could pay 65,000 points.

Additional card benefits

Where the Amex Business Platinum card really shines are in the host of credits and perks that this card offers. They include:

$199 CLEAR(R) Plus Credit: Use your card and get up to $199 in statement credits per calendar year on your CLEAR(R) Plus Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use the Business Platinum Card(R).
$200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to the Card.
Credit for application fee to Global Entry (up to $100 every four years) or TSA PreCheck (up to $85 every 4.5 years)
Access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection® and lounges through Priority Pass Select™: With complimentary access to more than 1,400 airport lounges across 140 countries and counting, you have more airport lounge options than any other credit card issuer on the market as of 03/2023.

Enrollment is required for many of these benefits.

Welcome offer on the Amex Business Platinum

The current welcome offer is: bonus_miles_full.

Here’s how you can use the points from this huge offer:

2 roundtrip business class tickets to Japan: Transfer your points to Virgin and using for an ANA flight
2 business class tickets to Paris or Amsterdam: Transfer your points to Flying Blue, the loyalty program for Air France and KLM
4 roundtrip economy class tickets to Hawaii: Depending on your home airport, you could transfer your points to Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines or even British Airways

Alternatives to the Amex Business Platinum

Alternatives to the Business Platinum Card from American Express
card_name	card_name	card_name

card_name	card_name	card_name
Annual fee
annual_fees (See Rates and Fees)	annual_fees (See Rates and Fees)	annual_fees
Foreign transaction fees
foreign_transaction_fee	foreign_transaction_fee	foreign_transaction_fee
Earning rate
Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year Earn 5X Membership Rewards® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel. Earn 1 X Membership Rewards® Points on all other eligible purchases. Terms apply.	Earn 4X Membership Rewards(R) points on the top two eligible categories where your business spends the most each month from 6 eligible categories. While your top 2 categories may change, you will earn 4X points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these categories each calendar year (then 1X thereafter). Only the top 2 categories each billing cycle will count towards the $150,000 cap.* Earn 3X Membership Rewards(R) points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com using your Business Gold Card.* *Terms apply.	3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in the following categories each account anniversary: Shipping Ads on social media or search engines Internet, cable, and phone services Travel 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
Welcome offer
bonus_miles_full	bonus_miles_full	bonus_miles_full
Our take
A similar option for those who aren’t business owners or entrepreneurs.	A powerful card that can earn lots of points on business spending.	A business travel credit card with a more digestible annual fee.

The Platinum Card® from American Express

American Express offers a consumer version called card_name. Both cards have the same annual fee annual_fees (See Rates and Fees), access to the Global Lounge Collection, and offer comparable credits for airline fees, Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, and CLEAR Plus. (Enrollment is required for select benefits.) They both also earn 5X Membership Rewards points on flights booked with airlines or on purchases made through American Express Travel.

However, the two cousins differ in terms of welcome offers and some of their other perks. The consumer Platinum’s welcome offer is somewhat lower, currently: bonus_miles_full.

However, the consumer Amex Platinum also offers a digital entertainment credit (up to $20 per month) and Uber cash credits for $15 per month, plus a bonus of $35 in December for a total of up to $200 annual Uber savings.

Read our review

American Express® Business Gold Card

The American Express Business Gold Card comes with a lower annual fee (annual_fees (See Rates and Fees). This is significantly lower than its Platinum siblings, but as a trade-off, the welcome offer is lower. The current offer is: bonus_miles_full

However, the Business Gold card offers a much wider range of opportunities to earn points. With the Business Gold card, you’ll earn 4X Membership Rewards points in the two categories your business spends the most in each billing cycle (from six eligible categories). Your top two categories can change each month, but you’ll earn 4X points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases each year (then 1X afterward).

So while you give up some of the glitzy travel perks that the Business Platinum card offers, like credit for a Global Entry application (once every four years) and the $200 airline fee credit, the Business Gold card could potentially earn you more points each month to redeem for future travel.

Chase Ink Business Preferred Card

If you’re looking for a business travel credit card that still offers a stellar welcome offer, but a lower annual fee, consider the card_name. Its annual fee is annual_fees and its current welcome offer is: bonus_miles_full. While it’s not quite as high as the Business Platinum Card, you’re also paying a much more modest annual fee.

Another benefit of the Ink Business Preferred Card is that it earns 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points in a wide range of categories. You’ll earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable, and phone services, and advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn.

That’s a lot more bonus categories than the American Express Business Platinum, but also a lot simpler to keep track of than the Business Gold card.