Amex Business Platinum benefits guide

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is regarded as one of the top premium credit cards for small business owners and I can’t help but agree: The card’s welcome offer and long list of travel and business benefits can help you get plenty of value to justify its high annual fee. But you’ll need to make sure you know how to squeeze out this value before committing to the card long-term. Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about the Amex Business Platinum’s perks and benefits.

Benefits at a glance

The Amex Business Platinum isn’t the best when it comes to reward rates on spending, outside of airfare and prepaid hotel bookings through Amex Travel. However, the perks and credits are where this card truly shines. You’ll earn Membership Rewards with this card, worth around 2.0 cents each, according to Bankrate’s valuations. Here’s what you’ll earn with the Amex Business Platinum.

Rewards rates and welcome offer

• Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend $20,000 in the first 3 months. Offer expires 6/30/25.
• Earn a $500 statement credit after you spend $2,500 on qualifying flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel^® with your card in the first 3 months. You can earn one or both of these offers. Offer expires 6/30/25.
• 5X points on flights and prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel.com (10 percent value)
• 2X points on prepaid short-term rentals, prepaid car rentals, vacation packages (flight + hotel packages) or cruise reservations booked through AmexTravel.com (4 percent value)
• 1.5X points on up to $2,000,000 per calendar year on eligible purchases at U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers, U.S. electronic goods retailers and software and cloud system providers, U.S. shipping providers and eligible purchases of $5,000 or more. Purchases eligible for multiple bonuses will only receive the highest eligible bonus. (3 percent value)
• 1X points on all other purchases (2 percent value)

Amex Business Platinum statement credits

Travel perks and statement credits

The Amex Business Platinum offers a ton of travel benefits that can provide outstanding value to small business owners who travel often.

• Global Lounge Collection access
  

  The Amex Business Platinum offers the most comprehensive coverage of any other business credit card for travel. Membership fees to any of these lounges are quite costly, so getting such extensive complimentary access can save you hundreds of dollars. You’ll have access to over 1,400 lounges in over 140 countries, including:

  • American Express Centurion lounges
  • Priority Pass Select membership (enrollment required)
  • Escape lounges
  • Aspire lounges
  • Delta Sky Clubs (10 visits per year when flying same-day with Delta)
  • Select Lufthansa business lounges when flying same-day with Lufthansa
  • Plaza Premium lounges
  • Virgin Clubhouses

• Up to $200 credit for airline incidentals
  

  You’ll get up to $200 in airline incidental credits annually with your chosen airline each calendar year. You can use the credit for incidentals like in-flight purchases, baggage fees or seat assignment fees, and you can use the credit over multiple purchases. Just make sure to select your preferred airline to enroll in the benefit from the following list:

  • Alaska
  • American
  • Delta
  • Hawaiian
  • JetBlue
  • Spirit
  • Southwest
  • United

• $200 in Hilton statement credits
  

  You’ll get up to $50 per quarter in statement credits towards eligible purchases with Hilton properties, up to $200 per year. You’ll need to enroll in the Hilton for Business program to receive this benefit, which covers more purchases and properties than the resort credit offered by the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card*. However, you’ll only earn 1X on Hilton purchases, so try to split your purchases with a higher-earning card if possible.

• $199 CLEAR® Plus credit
  

  Your card gives you a statement credit of up to $199 per year toward CLEAR® Plus membership, which is enough to pay for one full year of membership. Similar to TSA PreCheck, this program lets users move faster through airport security at select airports and stadiums. You can have memberships with both CLEAR Plus and TSA PreCheck for the fastest experience possible.

  You’ll need to start your enrollment online or at a CLEAR location and finish the process at a CLEAR location with a government-issued ID. The ambassadors will capture biometric information which will allow you to quickly go through security for future visits. Once the ambassadors verify you, they’ll escort you to the front of the TSA PreCheck line (if you have it) or the standard TSA line for expedited security screening.

• 35% airline bonus
  

  You can earn a 35 percent rebate when you use Membership Rewards points to pay for all or part of a flight through the Amex travel portal. To qualify, your flight must be First or Business Class (with any airline), or any fare class on the qualifying airline that you selected for the year (minimum redemption of 5,000 points). Note that if your selected airline is Southwest or Spirit, you’ll need to call Business Platinum Travel Service to process your rebate.

  You can get up to 1 million bonus points back per calendar year. Rebates are processed in approximately 6-10 weeks, so I wouldn’t count on these bonus points to quickly cover an impending travel arrangement.

• Fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
  

  You’re also eligible for a fee credit toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership when you pay with their card. This credit is good for up to $120 for Global Entry every four years or up to $85 for TSA PreCheck every 4.5 years. If you’re approved for Global Entry, you’ll get access to TSA PreCheck at no additional charge. These perks can significantly speed up your security experience.

• Hotel benefits
  

  Frequent travelers can enjoy benefits with the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program. Specifically, you’ll qualify for a room upgrade on arrival (based on availability), daily breakfast for two, a guaranteed late checkout, noon check-in when available, free internet access and an experience credit worth up to $100 on eligible bookings. You can also enroll to receive automatic Hilton Honors Gold elite status and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status, both of which are mid-level status tiers just for having the card.

• Car rental benefits
  

  Your card also comes with premium car rental benefits with Avis, Hertz and National. Specifically, cardholders become eligible for upgrades when available, discounts on rental periods, complimentary mid-level elite status and priority service at participating locations.

• Cruise privileges program
  

  When you book and travel on a cruise of at least five nights with double occupancy through the Amex Travel portal, you can be eligible for up to $300 onboard credit, depending on your cruise line and room type. Credits and amenities apply per stateroom (limit of three staterooms) per cruise per cardmember. Other restrictions may apply.

• Additional concierge perks
  

  The Amex Business Platinum gives you the following perks to help plan whatever you need on your travels or deal with any issues that may arise:

  • Business Platinum Travel Service
  • Global Dining Access by Resy
  • Premium Global Assist hotline
  • Preferred access to cultural and sporting events

Travel protection benefits

The Amex Business Platinum Card also comes with excellent travel protections when you pay for your travel with your card. You also won’t be charged foreign transaction fees for purchases abroad, similar to many premium travel cards. Let’s take a look at the protections and coverage levels offered.

• Baggage insurance plan
  

  You’re eligible for a baggage insurance plan that applies when you pay for travel with a common carrier (for example, an airline or cruise line) with your card. This coverage is good for up to $2,000 per person for checked baggage and up to a combined $3,000 per person for checked and carry-on baggage.

• Auto rental loss and damage insurance
  

  When you pay for an auto rental and decline coverage from the rental company, you’ll be eligible for secondary coverage for damage or theft (maximum benefit of $75,000). This benefit is good for eligible rental periods of up to 30 consecutive days.

• Trip delay insurance
  

  Trip delay insurance applies to eligible round-trip travel expenses charged entirely to your card. Coverage is good for up to $500 per trip for incidental expenses (including meals, lodging, toiletries, medication and more) when a trip is delayed by six hours or longer. You can file two claims per 12-month period.

• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
  

  Trip cancellation and interruption insurance can apply to eligible round-trip travel purchases charged entirely to your card when a covered loss prevents or interrupts you from traveling. This coverage is good for up to $10,000 per covered trip with a maximum benefit of $20,000 per eligible card over a 12-month period.

Benefits for business

In addition to all the Amex Business Platinum travel benefits you can qualify for, there are several business-related perks and statement credit offers available. If your business can utilize these benefits, it’s much easier to justify the card’s higher cost.

• Dell credits
  

  As of July 1, 2025, you’ll get up to $150 annually in credits towards eligible Dell Technologies purchases each year (enrollment required). You can also earn an additional $1,000 statement credit after spending $5,000 in Dell purchases during the calendar year. This is a devaluation of the previous benefit, which offered $200 semi-annually for a total of $400 in credits. Current cardholders that have used their $200 credit for the first half of 2025 can get $150 in credits for the second half of the year.

• Up to $360 in Indeed credit
  

  You can earn up to $360 back in statement credits (up to $90 quarterly) for purchases on Indeed to help build your team (enrollment required).

• Adobe credits
  

  As of July 1, 2025, you’ll get a $250 statement credit after spending $600 or more on U.S. purchases made directly with Adobe (enrollment required). This is a devaluation of the previous benefit, which offered up to $150 back when you paid for select auto-renewing annual business subscription purchases with Adobe Creative Solutions. Current cardholders can still receive this credit in the second half of 2025 even if they’ve used the previous credit.

• Up to $120 in wireless credits
  

  You can also earn up to $120 in statement credits toward U.S. wireless telephone service providers (up to $10 per month, enrollment required).

• Expense management tools and cash flow flexibility
  

  The Amex Business Platinum offers tools to help manage your expenses and stay organized, as well as features to help manage your cash flow, such as:

  • Employee cards: Add up to 99 employee cards for no extra cost with customizable spending limits. You can also add authorized users with full access to benefits for a $350 annual fee per user.
  • Vendor Pay by Bill.com: No monthly fee for the first user after enrollment and no monthly fee for the second user for six months ($15 monthly fee for second user after).
  • Pay Over Time: You can carry a balance with interest up to your Pay Over Time limit for a specified amount of time.
  • Cash flow and payback period: Depending on when you make your purchase, you’ll have between 25 and 53 days to pay with no interest if you’ve paid your prior statement in full by the due date.
  • No preset spending limit
  • Assign an account manager
  • Year-end statements
  • Connect to QuickBooks

• Security and shopping benefits
  

  Your Amex Business Platinum offers benefits to protect purchases and cover damage to your cellphone. Here’s what you’ll be covered for:

  • Cellphone insurance: Your cellphone is covered for up to $800 per eligible claim ($50 deductible per claim) when you pay your bill with your card. You can file two claims per 12-month period.
  • Extended warranty: Eligible purchases that already come with a manufacturer’s warranty become eligible for one additional year of warranty coverage when you pay with your card. This protection applies to products with manufacturer’s warranties of five years or less.
  • Purchase protection: Your purchases qualify for Amex purchase protection against damage or theft on eligible items, which can apply for up to 90 days from the purchase date. Coverage is good for up to $10,000 per occurrence and up to $50,000 per calendar year.
  • Dispute resolution: Amex will investigate disputes with merchants regarding issues with charges made to your card.

Maximizing your Amex Business Platinum

Although the Amex Business Platinum comes with a hefty $695 annual fee, taking advantage of the card’s many credits and perks can make it a long-term keeper. Here are some tips to maximize your card’s value:

Earn the welcome bonus

One of the easiest ways to maximize any new card right away is to make sure you earn your welcome bonus. The Amex Business Platinum regularly has one of the highest welcome offers available, although it comes with a significant minimum spending requirement. An ideal time to look for this card is when you have pending large expenses that wouldn’t earn category bonuses on another card. Whatever you choose, make sure you have a plan to meet the requirements within the timeframe, or you’ll miss out on massive initial value.

Maximize your credits

Since the earning rates of the Amex Business Platinum aren’t spectacular, your focus should be on maximizing as many of the credits as possible on your card. The card offers a whopping $1,629 in statement credits annually. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to maximize every dollar, but try to use as much as possible where it makes sense. If you aren’t using enough to offset the $695 annual fee, then this card may not be for you. Here’s some things to keep in mind:

• Read the fine print. For example, some offers may only work in-store and not online.
• Make sure you’ve enrolled in any benefits that require it before making purchases. Take note if credits are broken down into monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual increments.
• Plan ahead where needed to get as big of a return as possible from the card’s many credits.

Take advantage of Amex Offers

Adding Amex Offers to your card is a great way to save money or earn extra rewards when you make an eligible purchase with a participating merchant. Amex Offers are free to use and can provide valuable savings on a variety of purchases. When you find offers for merchants that you’ll eventually need to shop with anyway, you may want to adjust your spending to take advantage of the offer and lock in savings.

Sign up for the Amex trifecta

You can further maximize your Amex Business Platinum by using it as part of an Amex trifecta. Combining the perks and rewards of different Amex cards can help you maximize your spending and earn elevated rewards on any purchase, while giving you outstanding benefits. Since Membership Rewards points are all pooled together, it’s easy to quickly boost your balance with any combination of personal and business cards.

To boost rewards earnings and create a business card trifecta, you could add the American Express® Business Gold Card and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. This combination would give you 4X points in your top two eligible categories each month (up to $150,000 annually, then 1X) from the Business Gold and 2X on general purchases from the Blue Business Plus (up to $50,000 annually, then 1X). The Amex Business Platinum would serve as the perk and benefit provider in your combination, while also giving you 5X on airfare and prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel.com.

Redeeming Membership Rewards

Transferring to hotel and airline partners

American Express Membership Rewards are some of the most flexible and valuable rewards you can earn. Based on our latest valuations, we value Membership Rewards at around 2.0 cents each. You can also redeem your points for statement credits, gift cards or merchandise.

You’ll generally get the best value from your points if you transfer your points to any of Amex’s 17 airline partners or three hotel partners.

Amex’s airline partners typically offer transfers at a 1:1 rate in increments of 1,000 points. Here’s the chart of Amex’s 17 airline partners, along with their transfer ratios and estimated transfer times:

While not generally the most valuable option, you can also use your points to transfer to Amex’s three hotel partners. However, it could be useful to top off your balance for an upcoming redemption or if a bonus promotion is offered. Here are the transfer ratios and times:

Redeeming rewards with AmexTravel.com

You can also choose to redeem your Membership Rewards points when booking travel through AmexTravel.com, which functions just like other third-party booking sites. However, value varies depending on what you’re booking and you’ll generally get better value using your points for transfer partners. You may be better off earning 5X points if you pay for flights or prepaid hotel bookings with your Amex Business Platinum instead. Here’s the value you’ll get for different travel bookings:

• 1.0 cents per point for flights
• 0.7 cents per point for prepaid hotel bookings
• 0.7 cents per point for cruise bookings
• 0.7 cents per point for vacation packages

Other redemption options

Other available redemption options can be worth anywhere between 0.5 cents to 1.0 cents per point. Here’s what you’ll get for your other options:

• Statement credit/points for charges: 0.6 cents per point
• Gift cards: varies, maximum of 1.0 cents per point
• Select retailers: 0.7 cents per point
• Charitable donations: 1.0 cents per point for donations up to 500,000 points per year, 0.5 cents per point after
• New York City taxi fares: 1.0 cents per point

Expert opinions on the Amex Business Platinum

The Amex Business Platinum is an expensive premium business card — but potentially worth far more than its cost. Here are some of our expert’s takes on the card to help you form your opinion on whether it’s right for you:

How we rank the Amex Business Platinum

The Amex Business Platinum is found on a few of our “Best of” lists for business cards. Here’s where and why our experts think the Amex Business Platinum is a top contender:

The bottom line

Don’t get scared off by the high asking price: The Amex Business Platinum’s many benefits can easily make the card worth it, even before you factor in any rewards earnings. If you’re a business owner with travel needs who wants luxury perks to go along with travel and business credits, this is the card for you.

*Information about the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the card issuers.