7 reasons you might want the Amex Business Platinum Card instead of the Amex Platinum Card

1 day ago 4

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is not only one of the best small-business cards but also one of the best cards for travel rewards in general. Cardmembers pay for all that excellence, though, since it charges a $695 annual fee (see rates and fees).

However, despite a plethora of valuable benefits and some excellent opportunities to earn bonus points, the Amex Business Platinum Card still tends to be overshadowed by its personal counterpart, The Platinum Card® from American Express, which also charges a $695 annual fee (see rates and fees).

If you're only going to have one of the Amex Platinum products, there are compelling reasons why you should opt for the business version over the personal one. Let's dive into them.

Comparing the Amex Platinum and Amex Business Platinum

Here's an overview of the key differences between the two cards.

The Platinum Card from American ExpressThe Business Platinum Card from American Express

Welcome offer	Earn 80,000 points after spending $8,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership.	Earn 150,000 points after spending $20,000 on purchases in the first three months of card membership. Plus, earn a $500 statement credit after spending $2,500 on qualifying flights booked directly with an airline or through American Express Travel in the first three months of card membership. You can earn one or both of these offers, which end June 30.
Annual fee	$695 (see rates and fees)	$695 (see rates and fees)
Earning rates	Earn 5 points per dollar spent on airfare booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel® (on up to $500,000 of these purchases per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar). Earn 5 points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel. Earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.	Earn 5 points per dollar spent on flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel. Earn 1.5 points per dollar spent on up to $2 million in eligible purchases in the U.S. that total over $5,000 each per calendar year, as well as on U.S. purchases with construction material and hardware suppliers, shipping providers, electronic goods retailers and software and cloud system providers (then 1 point per dollar spent). Earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
Unique benefits	Up to $200 per calendar year in Uber Cash for U.S. rides or Uber Eats orders each calendar year (add your Amex Platinum Card to your Uber account and redeem with any Amex card) Up to $100 per calendar year in Saks Fifth Avenue statement credits (broken up as up to $50 from January through June and up to $50 from July through December)* Up to $200 per calendar year in hotel statement credits on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings through American Express Travel (minimum two-night stay required for The Hotel Collection) Up to $300 per calendar year for an eligible U.S. Equinox Club Membership or Equinox+ subscription* Up to $240 per calendar year in digital entertainment credits* Up to $155 per calendar year in statement credits to cover the cost of a monthly Walmart+ membership (subject to auto-renewal) Up to $300 per calendar year in statement credits when purchasing a SoulCycle at-home bike* *Enrollment is required; terms apply.	A 35% bonus when you Pay with Points for a first- or business-class ticket on any airline or an economy ticket on one selected airline of your choice Up to $400 per calendar year in statement credits for U.S. Dell technology purchases (through June 30) Up to $360 per calendar year in statement credits with Indeed Up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year for eligible Hilton purchases (Hilton for Business program membership is required) Up to $150 per calendar year in statement credit on select Adobe purchases (through June 30) Up to $120 per calendar year in wireless provider statement credits Enrollment is required for some benefits; terms apply.

If you apply via a referral link provided by a family member or friend, you could be targeted for a higher welcome offer. It may also be worth checking the CardMatch tool to see if you get an elevated offer there (though CardMatch offers are subject to change at any time).

Perks offered by both cards

These are the main benefits that both cards offer their members (enrollment is required for select benefits, and terms apply):

Enjoy an airline fee statement credit of up to $200 per calendar year on charges with the airline you select.
Get $120 as a statement credit for your Global Entry application fee (every four years) or a statement credit of up to $85 for TSA PreCheck (every 4 1/2 years).
Receive up to $199 as a statement credit per calendar year to reimburse your annual Clear Plus membership fee. Use your card to pay for a Clear Plus membership (it doesn't have to be for you) and be reimbursed automatically.

Eligible cardmembers have access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection, which includes Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass lounges, Delta Sky Clubs (limited to 10 annual visits) when flying on a same-day Delta flight (except economy flights), Airspace lounges, Escape lounges, Plaza Premium lounges and Lufthansa lounges. Access is limited to eligible cardmembers.
Receive complimentary Gold elite status with both Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy.
Enjoy no foreign transaction fees (see rates and fees for the Amex Platinum and rates and fees for the Amex Business Platinum).
Benefit from various travel protections and purchase protections.

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Reasons to choose the Amex Business Platinum over the Amex Platinum

Now that their similarities are out of the way, let's focus on their differences and how those might sway you to choose the Amex Business Platinum instead of the Amex Platinum.

You have or already had the personal Amex Platinum

Like many other issuers, American Express has increasingly restricted who is eligible for the welcome bonuses on its cards. The offer terms for the Amex Platinum Card, for instance, say the following:

"You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application."

The information for the Platinum Amex for Charles Schwab and the Amex Exclusively for Morgan Stanley has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

So, if you already have the Amex Platinum, or even if you carried it in the past but have since closed it, you might be precluded from taking advantage of its current welcome offer. If you want to regain some of its benefits and the chance of scoring tens of thousands of additional Membership Rewards points, you might have to opt for the Amex Business Platinum instead.

You can spend enough to earn the Amex Business Platinum's higher welcome offer

The Amex Business Platinum welcome bonus requires some strategy to earn the offer in its entirety since the minimum spending requirement is $20,000 over three months. That's a considerable amount, but it's not outside the budget of some small businesses.

By contrast, the Amex Platinum Card currently offers a lower welcome bonus: 80,000 points after spending $8,000 within the first six months of card membership.

On the surface, the personal card's terms might seem better. Consider you have twice the time to spend less than half the amount of money for the bonus points. Still, if you can meet the spending requirement to earn the Business Platinum bonus, you'll get 70,000 more bonus points, worth up to $1,400 based on TPG's May 2025 valuations.

You spend a lot on flights and hotels

The two cards have very similar earning structures with two subtle (but significant) differences.

First, the personal Amex Platinum Card earns 5 points per dollar spent on flights booked through Amex Travel, plus directly with airlines, while the Amex Business Platinum only earns 5 points per dollar spent on flights booked through Amex Travel.

Second, the personal card's bonus-earning on flights is capped at $500,000 in spending per calendar year (then 1 point per dollar after that), while the business version has no such ceiling. Both accrue 5 points per dollar spent on prepaid hotel bookings with Amex Travel.

If you tend to just book flights directly with airlines, the personal card is a better choice. However, if you use Amex Travel for a lot of your travel plans — or if you have that option — then you at least won't be missing out by charging your reservations to the Amex Business Platinum.

Plus, if you book a lot of flights — more than $500,000 worth per year — with your card, then you're definitely better off with the business card since its bonus-qualifying spending isn't capped at that amount.

You can maximize the Amex Business Platinum's large-transaction and business category bonuses

The Amex Business Platinum has a unique earning structure. You earn 1.5 points per dollar spent on purchases of $5,000 or more, up to 1 million bonus points per year (so $2 million in spending).

However, the card also earns 1.5 points per dollar spent on U.S. purchases from construction material and hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, software and cloud system providers, and shipping providers. There is the same combined $2 million annual spending cap with these purchases and the large-transaction purchases.

If you make these types of business purchases — or regularly use your card for transactions of $5,000-plus — then the Amex Business Platinum blows the personal version out of the water.

You might also find creative ways to leverage this purchase bonus on one-off expenditures.

You use Pay with Points for premium travel

One major way the two cards diverge is that the Amex Business Platinum offers cardmembers a bonus of 35% of the points they redeem through Amex's Pay with Points feature while the personal version does not. There are a few stipulations, though.

First, you only receive the 35% points bonus on two types of flights: business- or first-class tickets with any airline or tickets in any class with the same airline you preselect for your $200 airline fee credit. That might hamstring your options if you don't actually plan to spend points on a ticket with the same carrier.

Even if you seldom redeem Membership Rewards points this way, this one benefit can save you tens of thousands of points on a single ticket. That makes carrying the Amex Business Platinum instead of the personal card well worth it since the latter won't provide any points bonus when you use Pay with Points.

You prefer the business card's statement credits

The personal Amex Platinum and Amex Business Platinum offer many unique annual statement credits.

The personal card offers quite a few lifestyle statement credits, including credits for Saks Fifth Avenue purchases, digital entertainment subscriptions and memberships with Clear Plus, Equinox and Walmart+. (Enrollment is required for select benefits, and terms apply.)

But if those aren't things you actually use (or plan to), why bother trying to keep track of them or paying the personal card's annual fee?

The Amex Business Platinum offers hundreds of dollars in annual statement credits for things like Dell purchases, Indeed services, Adobe products and U.S. wireless provider charges. However, it's important to note that the Dell and Adobe statement credits end June 30, so if your business was planning on using these benefits yearly, you may want to think again. These statement credits will be vastly different starting in July, so it's worth looking into before considering applying for the card. Enrollment is required for select benefits; terms apply.

You don't use Uber that often

The personal Amex Platinum Card includes up to $15 in Uber Cash each month for rides and Uber Eats orders in the U.S. (The amount goes up to $35 in December.) That's a total yearly benefit of up to $200 per calendar year.

The potential savings available with this benefit are pretty substantial, but remember that these credits don't roll over from month to month. So, if you don't use Uber regularly, you might be unable to take full advantage of it. Just make sure to add the Amex Platinum to your Uber account, and then you can redeem with any Amex card.

Bottom line

Both the Amex Platinum and the Amex Business Platinum are excellent rewards cards with a variety of benefits from which members can reap tremendous value. Which card is right for you will come down to understanding which card has the right combination for you when considering the introductory offer, everyday bonus opportunities and ongoing benefits.

Consider which card best matches your financial habits and needs and which card's other perks you're most likely to leverage year after year. That said, you might want to consider carrying both the personal and business Amex Platinum cards since there are plenty of ways the two cards don't overlap.

Apply here: The Business Platinum Card from American Express
Apply here: The Platinum Card from American Express

For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum Card, click here.

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