The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express Review: The Ultimate Card for Frequent Business Travelers

Are premium travel benefits worth a $895 annual fee? If you’re a business owner who enjoys luxury perks and is constantly on the move, the answer is a definite yes. With over $3,500 in value-packed perks and credits (after meeting qualifying spend thresholds) — like lounge access, airline fee credits (enrollment required), concierge services and business credits for brands like Dell and Adobe (enrollment required) — The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express is built to elevate your travel experience.

For road warriors who maximize these perks, the card can more than pay for itself year after year. But if you don’t travel enough to get the mileage out of it, you should check out a moderately priced alternative, like the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card.

We use calculations to estimate the value of each card for the average cardholder, based on LendingTree and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

• Average value over two years (80% of rating): We calculate the value of rewards and perks for the average cardholder using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and an annual spend of $20,000, minus the annual fee. This value includes the card’s sign-up bonus, annual bonus (including free night certificates) and travel perks like lounge access and travel credits. We look at the average rewards earned over two years to balance out a card’s ongoing value with its first-year value.
• Flexibility of rewards (15% of rating): We consider how easy the rewards are to use, looking at factors like expiration dates, minimum thresholds to redeem, blackout dates and the availability of flexible redemption options like travel statement credits and cash back.
• Other features (5% of rating): We also compare a card’s benefits, such as purchase protections, travel protections and elite status benefits against benefits from other cards.

Recommended credit: Credit scores ranges may vary. Your individual chance at approval may vary due to factors such as creditors using a particular variation at their discretion Good / Excellent

Rewards Rate: 1X - 5X points

• Earn 5X points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on AmexTravel.com.
• Earn 2X points on purchases at U.S. 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.
• Earn 1X points on other eligible purchases

Welcome offer: 200,000 points

• Elevated Welcome Offer: Earn 200,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 in eligible purchases on the Business Platinum Card® within the first 3 months of Card Membership.

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Rates

• Intro purchase APR: N/A
• Regular purchase APR: 18.24% - 28.99% Variable
• Intro balance transfer APR: N/A
• Regular balance transfer APR: N/A
• Regular cash advance APR: N/A
• Penalty APR: 29.99% Variable

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Fees

• Annual fee: $895
• Balance transfer fee: N/A
• Cash advance fee: N/A
• Foreign exchange fee: None
• Late fee: $39 or 2.99% of any past due Pay in Full amount, whichever is greater.

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Other benefits

• Hilton Honors Gold status*
• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status*
• Fine Hotels + Resorts program
• Numerous travel and business credits*
• Purchase and travel protections and more

• More than $3,000 in credits available per year

  The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express provides more than $3,000 in value annually from its credits alone (after meeting qualifying spend thresholds). These credits include:

  • Up to $1,150 toward purchases from Dell Technologies*
  • Up to $360 toward spending with Indeed*
  • Up to $200 in statement credits for checked bags, in-flight refreshments and other airline fees (when you select one qualifying airline)
  • Up to $200 Hilton statement credit*
  • Up to $209 toward a CLEAR^® Plus membership, which can help you get through security more quickly at select airports and stadiums (subject to auto-renewal)*
  • Up to $250 for eligible spending with Adobe*
  • Up to $120 toward wireless telephone services*
  • Up to $600 in statement credits on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings through American Express Travel

  Additionally, this card offers a statement credit of $120 every four years for Global Entry or an $85 credit every four and a half years for TSA PreCheck^®.

  *Enrollment required

  Recent changes to some benefits

  As of July 1, cardholders will need to meet a spending requirement to qualify for the Dell Technologies and Adobe credits.

  • For the Adobe credit, you’ll receive a $250 statement credit after you spend $600 or more on U.S. purchases directly with Adobe per calendar year.
  • For the Dell credit, you’ll receive up to $150 in statement credits on U.S. purchases directly with Dell Technologies and an additional $1,000 statement credit after you spend $5,000 or more on that same card per calendar year.

• Extremely generous welcome offer

  The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express boasts one of the highest welcome offers currently available. You’ll get an Elevated Welcome Offer: Earn 200,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 in eligible purchases on the Business Platinum Card® within the first 3 months of Card Membership. If you redeem your points via the American Express travel portal, the welcome offer will be worth approximately $2,000.

  However, the most valuable way to redeem your American Express points is to transfer them to travel partners. American Express Membership Rewards^® are typically worth about 0.5 to 1 cent each. By transferring them to the right partners, you can increase the value to 2 cents or higher — potentially boosting the value of the welcome offer to $4,000.

• Valuable airport lounge access

  If you’re looking for the best business card for airport lounge access, The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express is top of the line. When you use the card to book a flight, you can enjoy access to more than 1,550 lounges across over 140 countries and counting through the American Express Global Lounge Collection^®. This includes The Centurion^® Lounge, Delta Sky Club, Escape Lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges, Priority Pass Lounges (enrollment required) and Lufthansa Lounges.

  Be aware: Some Reddit users have complained about overcrowding at American Express lounges, with reports of being placed on waitlists for entry or even denied access altogether. To help combat overcrowding, American Express has added a $75,000 annual spend requirement for cardholders to be able to bring a guest to Centurion lounges at no additional charge.

• Elite hotel benefits

  As a cardholder of The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, you have access to an array of complimentary hotel perks when you book your stay through Fine Hotels + Resorts. This includes:

  • 12 p.m. check-in when available
  • Room upgrades when available
  • Daily breakfast for two
  • $100 credit toward eligible charges
  • Complimentary Wi-Fi
  • Guaranteed 4 p.m. checkout

  Plus, you’ll get Hilton Honors Gold status (enrollment required) and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status (enrollment required). This gets you access to perks like increased point earnings and room upgrades when available when you stay with these chains.

• High annual fee

  This card’s annual fee of $895 is one of the highest around. Granted, if you take advantage of its long list of travel perks and credits, the card is well worth its annual fee.

  That said, if you’re a business owner who only travels occasionally, a no-annual-fee travel card, like The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express (see rates & fees), may be a better choice.

  → Check out our list of the best no-annual-fee travel credit cards.

• High spending requirement to earn the welcome offer

  The minimum spending requirement to qualify for the welcome offer is very high and must be met within a short period of time. To earn it, you’ll need to make approximately $6,667 in purchases using your card each month for three months.

The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express vs. American Express^® Business Gold Card

The American Express^® Business Gold Card offers a better rewards rate than The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express and charges a considerably lower annual fee of $375 (see rates & fees). You’ll earn 4X Membership Rewards® 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® points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com using your Business Gold Card.* Earn up to $20 in statement credits monthly after you use the Business Gold Card for eligible U.S. purchases at FedEx, Grubhub, and Office Supply Stores. This can be an annual savings of up to $240. Enrollment required. Terms Apply.

The following categories are eligible to earn the highest rewards rate:

• Purchases at U.S. media providers for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
• U.S. purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software and cloud system providers
• U.S. purchases at restaurants (including takeout and delivery)
• U.S. purchases at gas stations
• Transit purchases (including trains, taxis, tolls, parking and more)
• Monthly wireless telephone services charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider in the U.S.

You’ll also earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.*

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The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express vs. Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card

The Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card offers lucrative rewards on travel and business expenses — but for an even lower annual fee of $95.

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, advertising purchases made 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. You can also earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Its rewards are more valuable and more flexible than Amex Membership Rewards: You can get more value on points when you redeem them for any travel purchase through Chase’s portal. And, like Amex, you can transfer your points to several airline and hotel partners at a rate of 1:1.

That said, the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card doesn’t come close to offering the same luxurious benefits or credits that The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express does. Still, it does come with a variety of helpful travel and purchase protections.

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The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express vs. American Express Platinum Card^®

The American Express Platinum Card^® is a great alternative if you want premium travel benefits but aren’t concerned with business-specific perks. Similar to its business card counterpart, the American Express Platinum Card^® comes with a generous welcome offer. But unlike the business card, you aren’t required to book your flights through Amex Travel in order to earn the highest rewards rate.

You’ll also get more than $2,000 worth of credits (enrollment required), hotel elite status (enrollment required) and access to a variety of lounges worldwide through the Global Lounge Collection^®. In fact, it’s our pick for the best credit card with airport lounge access.

That said, it charges a $895 annual fee (see rates & fees). Plus, purchases outside of travel earn a low rewards rate.

The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express shines as a premium business card, offering exceptional travel perks like annual travel credits, a CLEAR^® Plus fee credit (enrollment required) and unmatched airport lounge access. For business owners who maximize these benefits, the $895 annual fee can easily be justified.

But if you want a better rewards rate and a lower annual fee, the American Express^® Business Gold Card might be a better choice. Or, for an even lower annual fee with strong rewards potential, consider the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card.