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

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)
Statement credits for travel perks (see below for more details)

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

With this card, you'll earn:

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

$209 CLEAR(R) Plus Credit: Use the Business Platinum Card(R) and get up to $209 back per calendar year on your CLEAR(R) Plus Membership (subject to auto-renewal).
$200 Airline Fee Credit: Fly like a pro with a $200 Airline Fee Credit. Select one qualifying airline to receive up to $200 back per year on baggage fees and other incidentals.
Airport lounge access: The American Express Global Lounge Collection(R) can provide an escape at the airport. 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 10/2024.
Statement credit for Global Entry (up to $120 every four years) or TSA PreCheck (up to $85 every 4.5 years)

Enrollment is required for select benefits.

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

See Rates and Fees for the card_name