The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express may be the perfect fit for business owners who travel often and who are willing to pay a premium annual fee in exchange for numerous travel benefits.

Benefits include airline fee credits, lounge access and concierge service. Plus, cardholders eager to rack up Membership Rewards points will love the welcome offer.

Businesses that don’t require a lot of travel may see less value with this $695 annual fee card. But they could still find the card worthwhile thanks to credits (once you enroll) for purchases from Dell Technologies, Indeed and Adobe, as well as for wireless telephone services.

We’ll take a close look at where this card excels, where it falls short and another American Express business card worth considering.

To see the rates and fees for The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, please click here.

• Welcome offer

  Earn 120,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with your Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.

• 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. Book your flights with it and enjoy access to more than 1,400 lounges in over 500 airports across 140 countries. Note that enrollment is required for Priority Pass lounges.

• More than $1,000 in credits available per year

  The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express comes with a long list of useful credits. If you were to max them out, that’s a value of more than $1,000 per year. These are awarded as statement credits after eligible spending. The credits include:

  • Up to $400 toward purchases from Dell Technologies (enrollment required).
  • Up to $360 toward spending with Indeed (enrollment required).
  • Up to $200 in statement credits for checked bags, in-flight refreshments, and other fees (when you enroll and select one qualifying airline).
  • Up to $189 toward a CLEAR membership (enrollment required), which can help you get through security more quickly at select airports and stadiums.
  • Up to $150 for spending with Adobe (enrollment required).
  • Up to $120 toward wireless telephone services (enrollment required).

  In addition to those annual credits, this card offers a statement credit up to $100 to reimburse you when you apply for Global Entry or TSA Precheck®. For the former, you can get the credit every four years. For the latter, it’s every four-and-a-half years.

• No foreign transaction fee

  If business trips take you or your employees out of the country frequently, don’t worry about paying an extra fee on each transaction – there is none.

To see the rates and fees for The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, please click here.

• High annual fee

  This card’s annual fee of $695 is one of the highest around. Granted, it comes with premium travel benefits that can make the annual fee worth it. However, for businesses that only travel occasionally, a no-annual-fee credit card is likely to be a better choice.

• Minimum spending requirement to earn 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 see the rates and fees for The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, please click here.

Compare it to the American Express^® Business Gold Card

 

The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express is very travel-focused in both its benefits and rewards. By contrast, the American Express^® Business Gold Card offers a uniquely flexible rewards structure – Amex will select the two categories (from a total of six) where you spent the most each billing cycle and award 4X points per $1 spent in those categories.

4X categories for the American Express^® Business Gold Card are as follows:

• Airfare purchased directly from airlines.
• U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio).
• U.S. purchases at gas stations.
• U.S. purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software and cloud solutions.
• U.S. purchases made at restaurants.
• U.S. purchases for shipping.

Be aware that the 4X rate applies to the first $150,000 in combined purchases in your top two spending categories each year. After that, your earning rate drops to 1 point per $1 spent.

The welcome offer for new cardholders is: Earn 70,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.*

The American Express^® Business Gold Card also offers helpful benefits similar to what you’ll find on The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express.

However, note that the American Express^® Business Gold Card lacks the fee credits offered by The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, and it doesn’t offer airport lounge access.

To see the rates and fees for American Express^® Business Gold Card, please click here.

The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express is a standout business card with a valuable array of travel benefits. It’s well worth the annual fee of $695 if you take advantage of benefits such as the annual travel credit, the CLEAR® fee credit and the unparalleled airport lounge access.

However, business owners wanting more flexibility in earning rewards, plus a less expensive annual fee, might prefer the American Express^® Business Gold Card. If neither card fits your needs, one from our list of best small business cards might suit you better.

To see the rates and fees for The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, please click here.
To see the rates and fees for American Express^® Business Gold Card, please click here.
To see the rates and fees for The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express, please click here.