Key takeaways
- The Business Platinum Card from American Express offers a wide range of benefits, including a slew of travel benefits and purchase protection benefits.
- The card also offers different kinds of insurance and multiple business statement credits.
- These benefits can make the steep annual fee worth it, but there’s a lot of fine print you have to pay attention to if you’re going to take advantage of them.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is considered one of the top premium credit cards for small business owners and entrepreneurs. This is partly due to the fact that cardholders can earn American Express Membership Rewards points, which are incredibly valuable and versatile. However, the Amex Business Platinum also offers a range of important benefits that can help users save money on business-related purchases, and even on credit card interest for the first year.
If you’re considering this business credit card from Amex, you’ll want to make sure you can get plenty of value in exchange for its $695 annual fee. Fortunately, the card’s welcome offer, ongoing rewards, Amex Business Platinum travel benefits and statement credit offers more than make up for this fee — especially in the first year.
Amex Business Platinum benefits highlights
Before we explain how Amex Business Platinum benefits work, here’s a rundown of this card’s current offer, including details on its welcome bonus, ongoing rewards rate, introductory APR and more:
- Welcome offer — 150,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $20,000 on eligible purchases within three months of account opening.
- Rewards — 5X points on flights and prepaid hotels booked with AmexTravel.com, 2X points on prepaid rental cars booked through AmexTravel.com, 1.5X points per dollar spent (on up to $2,000,000 per calendar year) on purchases of $5,000 or more on select category purchases, 1X points on all other purchases
Amex Membership Rewards points are incredibly flexible, so you can use them in more than one way. For example, you can redeem Amex points for gift cards or merchandise, or you can use them to pay for purchases as you shop. You can also redeem your rewards for travel directly through the Amex travel portal, and you can transfer them to Amex travel partners, including Air France / Flying Blue, Delta SkyMiles, the Hilton Honors program, Marriott Bonvoy and more.
It’s also important to note that points earned in the American Express Membership Rewards program can be worth up to around 2 cents each when transferred to certain travel partners and used for premium redemptions.
With the 35 percent Airline Bonus points feature offered by the Amex Business Platinum, you can get 42,000 points back when you use your points to pay for airfare through amextravel.com. That would be a value of up to $840.
Travel perks and statement credits
The Amex Business Platinum offers a ton of benefits for cardholders who travel often for business or for leisure.
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When it comes to airport lounge access, the Amex Business Platinum offers the most comprehensive coverage of any other business credit card for travel.
- The card comes with a Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership, providing access to over 1,500 airport lounges worldwide with a retail value of $469.
- Cardholders can also access American Express Centurion lounges in various locations and select Delta Sky Clubs and Lufthansa lounges when flying with those airlines.
- There is a $200 credit for airline incidentals each calendar year, covering in-flight refreshments, baggage fees, and other incidental charges.
- Users can receive up to $189 in credits towards a CLEAR® membership annually, allowing for expedited security at airports and stadiums.
- Cardmembers earn a 35% airline bonus when using Membership Rewards points to pay for flights in First or Business Class or on qualifying airlines, receiving up to 1 million bonus points back per year.
- There is a fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership, reimbursing up to $100 for Global Entry every four years or up to $85 for TSA PreCheck every 4.5 years.
- Benefits include Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts perks, automatic Gold status with Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy, and car rental benefits with Avis, Hertz, and National.
Travel insurance benefits:
- Baggage insurance plan providing coverage of up to $2,000 per person for checked baggage and $3,000 for checked and carry-on baggage when traveling with a common carrier.
- Secondary auto rental coverage with a maximum benefit of $75,000 for damage or theft during eligible rental periods up to 30 consecutive days.
- Trip delay insurance for eligible round-trip travel expenses charged to the card.
However, in order to maximize the benefits offered by the Amex Business Platinum, cardholders need to carefully read and understand the terms and conditions associated with each benefit. From trip cancellation and interruption insurance to security and protection benefits, there are specific requirements and limitations that must be followed in order to take advantage of these perks.
By staying informed and proactive, cardholders can make the most of their Amex Business Platinum benefits and enjoy significant savings and protections for their business expenses and travel needs.
Unlocking Value with the Amex Business Platinum Card
When you factor in the $200 airline incidental credit, the $189 CLEAR credit, and the up to $100 credit towards Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, you are already looking at $1,938 in value before considering your rewards.
This is one of the reasons why the Amex Business Platinum card is often seen as a smart investment despite its annual fee. With a range of statement credit offers and travel perks, along with rewards points valued at up to 2 cents each, this business credit card stands out from the competition — assuming you can make full use of its benefits.
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