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If you've been approved for The Business Platinum Card® from American Express and have received your new card, congratulations! Your next task is understanding how to take advantage of the card's numerous perks and benefits. In addition, you must strategize a spending plan to claim your new Business Platinum Card‘s welcome offer of 120,000 after you spend $15,000 on qualifying purchases within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
If you own or operate a business of any kind, this card is a fantastic option to build a substantial balance of Membership Rewards points. With this card, you can access some of the best travel perks of any business rewards card on the market. Also, the card comes with a wealth of annual credits and earns handsomely on large purchases.
In this article, we'll walk through the first steps you should take after receiving your card. Plus, we'll show you how to make the most of one of the best business card offers available!
- 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.
- 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com, and 1X points for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases.
- Earn 1.5X points (that's an extra half point per dollar) on each eligible purchase at US construction material, hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else, on up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year.
- Unlock over $1,000 in annual statement credits on a curation of business purchases, including select purchases made with Dell Technologies, Indeed, Adobe, and U.S. wireless service providers.
- $200 Airline Fee Credit: Get up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year for incidental fees charged by your one selected, qualifying airline to your Card.
- $189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Use your card and get up to $189 in statement credits per calendar year on your CLEAR® Plus Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Business Platinum Card®.
- The American Express Global Lounge Collection® can provide an escape at the airport. With complimentary access to more than 1,400 airport lounges across 140 countries and counting, you have more airport lounge options than any other credit card issuer on the market as of 03/2023.
- $695 Annual Fee.
- Terms Apply.
- Rates & Fees
- Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. shipping providers.
- 1.5X earning rates are subject to a cap of $2 million in purchases per calendar year.
Learn How To Use the $200 Amex Airline Credit
To begin, the Amex airline fee credit is not quite as generous as those offered by some rival premium credit cards. This is because it restricts purchases to one airline you select in advance. That said, it's easy to use and can be worth close to face value. Firstly, you need to enroll and choose an airline, ensuring it's one where you'll actually spend the credit within the calendar year. Then, you can change your selected airline every year thereafter in January.
Purchases that Amex will credit include airline change fees, airport lounge day passes and annual memberships, rebooking fees, checked baggage fees, in-flight fees, entertainment, and seat assignment fees.
Note that the Airline Fee Credit is based on the calendar year, not the cardmember year. This means you typically can earn it twice within the first year of having the card. This greatly reduces the out-of-pocket expense of holding the card in the first year.
Related: How to Use the Amex Platinum Airline Travel Credit
Get Up To Speed With Lounge Access Rules & Locations
The Business Platinum Card gives cardholders access to over 1,400 airport lounges at over 500 airports around the world. Access to The Centurion® lounge network, International American Express lounges, Delta Sky Clubs, Airspace Lounges, and Escape Lounges is complimentary and doesn’t require registration. However, you have to enroll before you can gain access to lounges within the Priority Pass network.
Lounge access privileges include:
- Delta Sky Club® locations when flying Delta Air Lines
- Airspace Lounges, Escape Lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges, and one-off lounges like the Pontus In The Air lounge in Stockholm (ARN)
- Lufthansa Lounges in select locations when traveling with Lufthansa, Swiss, and Austrian
- Amex Centurion Lounges in 13 U.S. airports and counting
- International American Express Lounges in a dozen international airports
- Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse locations (through Plaza Premium): Boston (BOS), Johannesburg, South Africa (JNB), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), San Francisco (SFO), and Washington, D.C. (IAD)
- Full Priority Pass Select membership (enrollment required)
- Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
Some important lounge access terms and conditions
For the primary cardholder, access to The Centurion Lounge and International American Express Lounge locations is complimentary. You can purchase up to two guest passes for friends or family at $50 per guest ($30 per guest ages 2-17). If you spend $75,000 or more on qualifying purchases with your Business Platinum Card in a year, you can bring up to two complimentary guests into these lounges.
Delta Sky Club® access is complimentary and limited to the cardholder — and only when flying Delta that same day. However, you can purchase up to two guest passes for $50 per guest.
Cardholders must enroll in Priority Pass™ Select online, and the card will take 10-14 business days to arrive. We suggest you make this one of the first steps you take with your new Business Platinum Card.
Complimentary access is limited to the enrolled card member plus two guests. Additional guests cost $32 each, charged directly to your Business Platinum Card. American Express Priority Pass membership does not include any benefits at participating Priority Pass restaurants, spas, or other non-lounge Priority Pass locations.
For a full list of lounge locations, Amex has a dedicated lounge finder with a search function that allows you to search all lounge networks at once.
Enroll in Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
If you charge your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee to your Business Platinum Card, you'll receive a statement credit to cover the fee. Unless you are one of the roughly 60% of Americans that don’t hold a valid passport, we recommend enrolling in Global Entry over TSA PreCheck.
Global Entry includes a TSA PreCheck membership, plus it provides access to expedited security when returning to the U.S. This is pretty handy at the end of a long international flight, and it's a big time saver if you travel abroad regularly. You can find more info on both programs in our guide to getting expedited security for free.
If you already have Global Entry, you can use the credit for the renewal fee as well. Note that your Business Platinum Card only offers one credit every four years for Global Entry.
Related: All About the Business Platinum Card From American Express
Learn About Membership Rewards Travel & Transfer Partners
One of the most rewarding features of the Membership Rewards program is your ability to transfer points to an extensive list of travel and transfer partners. While not as broad as Marriott’s transfer partner list, a number of Amex transfer partners offer significant value. Here are five of our favorite transfer options for maximizing value.
If you're already enrolled in one or more frequent flyer or hotel loyalty programs among the Membership Rewards transfer partners, spend a couple minutes linking each program in your Membership Rewards account.
Claim Your Hilton & Marriott Gold Elite Status
One of the biggest advantages the Business Platinum Card has over its rivals is the elite status provided with the card. Cardmembers can gain elite status in seven different programs simply by being a cardholder.
To claim your Hilton Honors Gold status, you can enroll via the link on the Business Platinum Card benefits page. To claim your Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status, call the number on the back of your Business Platinum Card and speak to one of the representatives. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
Switch Your Cell Phone Bill Payment Method
Another great benefit of the Business Platinum Card is the cell phone insurance coverage it provides. The main requirement is that you charge your monthly cell phone bill to your card. Assuming you're currently using a card that doesn't already offer cell phone protection benefits, we recommend immediately switching your payment method to your new Business Platinum Card. Cell phone protection covers theft and damage, up to $800 per claim, with a $50 deductible. This coverage is limited to mobile phone plans paid for with the card in the previous billing period and limited to two claims in a 12-month period.
Eligibility and benefit levels vary by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Policies are underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
In addition to cell phone protection, you'll also receive up to $10 in monthly wireless credits. Simply pay your monthly cell phone bill with your card and receive $10 as a statement credit. In short, this is up to $120 in savings per year.
Related: How to Get Free Cell Phone Insurance with Credit Cards
Enroll To Receive Your $400 Annual Dell Benefit
Your Business Platinum Card can provide up to $400 annually in credit with Dell Technologies. However, you need to log into your account at americanexpress.com and navigate to your card benefits. Then, you can find the Dell benefit and enroll. We strongly recommend you do this immediately. This is because your credits will not apply if you don't enroll before making a purchase.
After enrollment, use your Business Platinum Card to make a purchase through dell.com to receive up to $200 as a statement credit. You receive one credit between January and June each year and a second between July and December. This is a total of up to $400 in value, which helps significantly offset the $695 annual fee (Rates & Fees).
Start Checking Amex Travel for Deals
Another benefit of the Business Platinum Card is 35% points back when using Pay with Points to book flights. This applies to using Membership Rewards points for first- and business-class travel booked through Amex Travel, as well as booking economy flights with your selected airline (the same airline as the $200 Amex airline credit).
This is one of the better perks of the Business Platinum Card. In fact, receiving 35% of your points back as a rebate is one of the best rewards card benefits on the market today. It's a great way to fly premium economy — a product not all frequent flyer programs let you book with miles. You also can take advantage of this rebate when you see deals on business class flights, during which you'll often pay fewer points than transferring points to book an award ticket. Not to mention, you'll earn miles on the flight!
Pay with Points requires a minimum redemption of 5,000 points, and this benefit applies to the first 1 million points redeemed per year. You'll need to pay the full price and wait for your points to come back as a rebate. Rather than booking flights through Amex Travel with a 1¢-per-point value, you'll get 1.54¢ per point with this perk.
Sign Up for CLEAR
If you aren't already a member of CLEAR, you could get an annual membership at no cost with your Business Platinum Card. A standard membership costs $189 per year. Coincidentally, you can receive up to $189 per year in statement credits when you pay for a CLEAR membership with the Business Platinum Card.
If you have children under 18, they can accompany you for free when using CLEAR expedited security lanes.
Related: I Just Registered for CLEAR, Should You?
Final Thoughts
The Business Platinum Card is one of the best premium travel rewards cards available. Impressively, it has a seemingly endless list of perks and benefits. However, it does have a hefty $695 annual fee (Rates & Fees), but the card still can be worth it if you're able to use most of the benefits. Hopefully, the list above will get you on your way to a successful relationship with your new card.
Don't know if you'll qualify for a business card? The reality is that almost anyone can get a business card if they know how to apply. Your side hustle, freelance job, or Etsy business may qualify.
It’s also worth noting that applying for a business card like the Business Platinum Card doesn’t affect your new card count for applications with Chase. As a business card, it will not count towards Chase's 5/24 rule.
What are your favorite Business Platinum Card benefits? Do you think they justify the annual fee?
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees)
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