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.
Savvy business owners know how to spend money wisely — including how to maximize credit card rewards.
If you’re looking for a premium business credit card and are willing to do the legwork to earn and redeem rewards, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express just might fit the bill.
However, this business card is not for everyone — its annual fee is high enough to exclude a large percentage of business owners. But in return for that fee, you get plenty of lucrative benefits.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
- Rewards rate: 5x points on prepaid flights and hotels with amextravel.com; 1.5x points on eligible purchases of over $5,000; 1.5x points on certain business expenses including electronic goods retailers; 1x points on all other purchases
- Welcome offer: 150,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $20,000 in the first 3 months
- Annual fee: $695 (rates and fees)
. . .
Overview of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
For businesses with fairly substantial annual spending, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express may be the ideal way to earn rewards while snagging great travel perks.
It has a steep annual fee, though, so you’ll need to analyze the card’s rewards program carefully before committing to it.
The card does offer numerous valuable benefits. You’ll get credits for expenses like CLEAR Plus membership, TSA PreCheck®*, airline fees, and Dell purchases, all of which can help you recoup the annual fee.
However, unless you plan to book quite a bit of travel through the American Express travel portal, you might think twice about this card. The highest rewards-earning category is on hotels and flights prepaid through amextravel.com.
Pay attention to your balance with this card as well. Certain purchases, up to a preset limit, can carry a balance. That’s your “Pay Over Time” option, which charges interest. Beyond that limit, you must pay all other balances in full (which can be a good feature as it minimizes how much you accumulate in interest).
Pros
- Bonus rewards for travel booked via amextravel.com
- Numerous travel benefits like lounge access, credits, and insurance protections
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- High annual fee
- Very specific rewards categories
- High minimum spend to earn welcome bonus
LEARN MORE: The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Redeeming Rewards
Options for redeeming your Amex Business Platinum points include cash, gift cards, merchandise, and booking entertainment and travel.
One of the most lucrative ways to use your rewards, however, is by transferring points to a travel partner, which often yields the highest value per membership point.
American Express partners with brands like Air Canada Aeroplan, Delta SkyMiles, Hilton Honors, and Marriott Bonvoy.
You can check the full list of travel partners and their transfer rates on the Amex website, to determine how much your points could be worth. For example, 5 Membership Rewards points equal 6 Marriott Bonvoy points.
READ MORE: How To Maximize Credit Card Rewards
American Express Platinum Business Card Benefits
If you’re big on travel benefits and premium experiences, that’s where this card really shines.
You’ll get a rich assortment of benefits, from reimbursement for TSA PreCheck® and certain airline fees to elite hotel status and valuable travel protections.
Most of these statement credits require you to enroll, so don’t ignore that step.
Business benefits
- Up to $400 Dell statement credit (enrollment required)
- Up to $360 annual statement credit for Indeed purchases (enrollment required)
- Up to $150 annual credit for business subscriptions from Adobe (enrollment required)
- Up to $120 annual credit for purchases from U.S. wireless phone carriers (enrollment required)
Travel benefits:
- Global Lounge access for over 1,400 airport lounges across 140 countries
- Maximum of $200 annual credit for eligible airline fees
- $199 credit annually for CLEAR Plus membership
- Up to $100 fee credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry* for expedited security passage
- Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy® Gold Elite Status and Hilton Honors™ Gold Status (enrollment required)
- Fine Hotels + Resorts® program for luxury hotel experiences with an average $600 value over a two-night stay (perks like late checkout, daily breakfast, and room upgrades)
- No foreign transaction fees
- Preferred Access for sporting and cultural events
- Global Dining Access by Resy for exclusive dining experiences
- Premium car rental privileges (upgrades, discounts, and priority service)
- Business Platinum Travel Service with access to travel counselors and customized itineraries
- Baggage insurance**
- Car rental loss and damage insurance**
- Trip delay insurance**
- Trip cancellation/interruption insurance**
As you can see, the card offers plenty of value to offset the annual fee, since the business-related credits are worth $1,030 alone, and other travel credits are worth hundreds of dollars more.
READ MORE: Baggage Delay Insurance: How It Works
Who Should Get The Business Platinum Card® from American Express?
Business owners with larger budgets are the ideal cardholders for The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.
With such a high annual fee, your spending needs to keep up — especially in the top rewards categories of construction materials, electronic goods, software, and cloud system providers.
The amextravel.com portal allows you to maximize your rewards. Businesses that book hotels and flights primarily this way should consider this card, as well as those who enjoy perks like upgraded status on stays at Hilton and Marriott Bonvoy properties.
Who Shouldn’t Get The Business Platinum Card® from American Express?
The Amex Business Platinum isn’t the best option for those who want very flexible rewards. The highest rewards rate is only usable if you book travel through the American Express travel portal.
Businesses with lower overall spending and little need for premium travel perks can also find a card with more useful rewards and a much lower annual fee.
American Express Platinum Business Card vs. Personal Card
American Express offers two options for the Platinum Card: one for business use and one for personal use.
They both come with the same annual fee and similar earning rates. However, The Platinum Card® from American Express also earns boosted points on flights booked directly with airlines, while the business card focuses on business purchases such as software and shipping.
While it may be tempting to use your business card for personal expenses — say, to ship birthday presents to friends overseas so you can earn points or to tap into the higher welcome offer — it’s important to keep your personal and business costs separate.
Not only will it make your life easier come tax time, but you could avoid some nasty surprises.
Alternatives to The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Rewards rate: 10x points on hotel stays and car rentals through Chase Travel℠; 5x points on dining purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards and on Lyft purchases (through March 2025); 5x points on flights booked through Chase Travel℠ (after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually); 3x points on restaurants and travel; 1x points on everything else
- Welcome offer: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
- Annual fee: $550
. . .
If you’re fine with a relatively high annual fee but want greater rewards flexibility, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a solid alternative to the Amex Business Platinum.
In terms of travel rewards and perks, the Sapphire Reserve is equivalent or superior to the Amex Business Platinum. You receive travel accident coverage and medical, dental, and emergency services reimbursement.
Much like the Amex Business Platinum, the Chase Sapphire Reserve offers partner benefits from brands like DoorDash, Lyft, and Peloton, as well as premium hotel experiences and global airport lounge access.
LEARN MORE: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
- Rewards rate: 3x points on every dollar spent on shipping, advertising with social media and search engines, internet, cable, phone, and travel — up to the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases in these categories; 1x per dollar spent everywhere else
- Welcome offer: Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months
- Annual fee: $95
. . .
If you need a simpler rewards credit card and don’t want to keep track of the numerous credits offered by the Amex Business Platinum, consider the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. It’s available for a much lower annual fee than the Amex Business Platinum.
With the Ink Business Preferred, you can transfer points to several hotel and airline partners at a 1:1 ratio. And while points can always be redeemed for cash or statement credits, you’ll maximize benefits by redeeming them for travel through Chase Travel℠.
LEARN MORE: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
American Express® Business Gold Card
- Rewards rate: 4x points on the top two eligible categories where your business spends the most each month from 6 eligible categories, up to $150,000 in combined purchases (1x thereafter); 3x points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com; 1x points on everything else
- Welcome offer: Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months
- Annual fee: $375 (rates and fees)
- The Business Gold Card now comes in three metal designs: Gold, Rose Gold and Limited Edition White Gold. White Gold design is only available while supplies last. Make your selection when you apply on Americanexpress.com.
. . .
Before deciding on the Amex Business Platinum, you might want to check out the American Express® Business Gold Card. For a lower annual fee, you’ll get many of the same rewards and benefits as the Amex Business Platinum.
The Business Gold card provides valuable credits for purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and office supplies (flexible combined credit up to $240 annually) and a Walmart+ membership. You also receive baggage insurance,** car rental collision coverage,** and trip delay insurance.**
The lower annual fee has some downsides, though. Business Gold Card members don’t get airport lounge access, and hotel room upgrades are a bit less flashy than with the Platinum. The Gold also doesn’t offer trip cancellation coverage or the $200 in airline credits.
LEARN MORE: American Express® Business Gold Card
FAQs
What is the American Express Business Platinum Card credit limit?
The Amex Business Platinum has no preset spending limit. However, this doesn’t mean you can keep charging as much as you like to the card. The amount you can spend will adjust based on things like your payment history, credit score, and spending habits.
Is the Amex Business Platinum a Charge Card?
American Express has several charge cards, and The Business Platinum used to be one of them — but that’s now changed with Amex’s Pay Over Time feature.
While you still technically have no preset limit with The Business Platinum (like with a traditional charge card), you do now have a Pay Over Time limit, which is an amount that can be carried over month to month, like with a regular credit card. Also like with a regular credit card, you’ll be charged interest on that balance.
As such, it’s a smart idea to pay everything off in full each month, even if you don’t technically have to, to avoid paying out extra money in interest.
The Bottom Line
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is best suited to businesses that have high annual spending and require frequent travel. Since it comes with a very high annual fee, you’ll want to make sure you’ll get the most you can out of its rewards and benefits to offset that cost.
But if your business spending matches up, then you can earn a lot of valuable perks for using this card to pay for company purchases and to book business travel.
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* Receive either a $100 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your American Express Card. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
** Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by Amex Assurance Company.
Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
