The Business Platinum Card® from American Express Review

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Many credit card users do not mind the high annual fee that banks charge. But at $695, the annual fee for this card is high even by such standards. Our review of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express provides a comprehensive perspective of all its benefits and features along with the various charges that come with it.

The American Express Business Platinum card offers a welcome bonus of 120,000 rewards points, although you will have to spend $15,000 within the first three months to be eligible.

You can also get statement credits up to $400 per year when you use this card to purchase computers directly from Dell stores or the Dell website.

Leverage this card for your business expenses by charging purchases that are over $5,000. Each transaction above $5,000 will fetch you an additional 0.5 points for every dollar.

• Earn 120,000 bonus points if you spend $15,000 on purchases in three months from account opening.
• Earn 5x points per $1 on flights and prepaid hotels that you book through Amex Travel.
• Earn 1.5x points on eligible purchases of over $5,000.
• Earn 1x points on all other purchases.
• Earn points quicker through employee cards.
• Redeem your points for flight and hotel bookings through Amex Travel.
• Transfer points to frequent flyer/loyalty programs of partner airlines such as Aer Lingus, Air Canada, British Airways, Emirates, JetBlue, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.
• Use your points to cover for charges on your card, shop online or get gift cards.
• Pay with points for all or part of eligible air travel and get 35% of those points back, up to 500,000 points back per year.
• Get airport lounge access through the American Express Global Lounge Collection.
• Get a $200 airline fee credit every year.
• Get a $179 statement credit for payments toward CLEAR each year.
• Get a $200 statement credit for Dell Technologies annually.
• Get a $100 credit toward Global Entry fees every four years or an $85 credit toward TSA PreCheck fees every four and a half years.
• Stand to receive discounts through the Premium Private Jet Program.
• Pay no foreign transaction fees when you use this card outside of the U.S.
• Get elevated to Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status and Hilton Honors Gold status automatically.
• Get perks such as complimentary breakfast, Wi-Fi access and late check-out when you book hotels through the Fine Hotels + Resorts Program.
• Stand to benefit through travel coverage in the form of trip delay insurance, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, car rental loss and damage insurance and baggage insurance plan.
• Safeguard your business purchases through extended warranty, purchase protection and cell phone protection.
• Connect with QuickBooks for auto-expense categorization.
• Get category-based year-end summaries.

Although the rewards points and travel benefits offered by the card are noteworthy, you must also keep in mind the other charges the card comes with.

The American Express Business Platinum card offers a host of other benefits, which are immensely useful if your business involves frequent travel for you or your employees. :

• Airport Lounge Access: This card gives you complimentary access to more than 1,300 airport lounges across 140 countries. You can also add additional cardholders to the lounge access program (you may incur a fee when you add cardholders to your account).
• Elite Hotel Status: When you enroll for the Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy loyalty programs, you will automatically qualify for a Gold membership with these hotel chains courtesy of the Business Platinum card. This will allow you to enjoy additional perks and complimentary stays.
• Airline Fee Reimbursement: If your business involves frequent travel, you can receive up to $200 in statement credits per year for incidental expenses made on this card. Expenses made by your employees also count. Eligible expenses include fees for checked bags and in-flight refreshments. Keep in mind that seat upgrades are not eligible for reimbursement.
• Trip Cancellation or Interruption Coverage: If you had to cut short or cancel a trip for any covered reason, you will be covered up to $10,000 per trip and $20,000 per year, provided you paid for the trip with this card.
• Coverage for Lost or Damaged Luggage: You get coverage up to $2,000 for checked baggage and a combined limit of up to $3,000 for checked and carry-on baggage. You can utilize this protection if you have booked your trip with this card.
• Global Entry/TSA PreCheck Application Fee Reimbursement The card offers statement credits for expedited airport screening programs from Global Entry and TSA PreCheck. You can choose to receive these credits every four years for Global Entry or every 4.5 years for TSA PreCheck.

Although The Business Platinum Card® from American Express offers many benefits, business owners can consider other available options in the market. We compared other credit cards in this category to give you an idea of how this card stacks up against the competition.

In-Depth Credit Card Comparisons:

• Business Platinum Card® from American Express vs American Express® Business Gold Card