Amex Business Platinum: One Year & Done
This is an expensive card- $895 Annual Fee, and I’ve had several. But I only keep them for a year, and then cancel. Let me explain.
As I described in my post about credit card credits, this card has several credits, but I don’t find they add up to the Annual Fee.
But there are two things that I really like: the 200K (or higher) sign-up bonus and the 35% rebate on flights booked on Amex with Points.
I live in California, and we have high property taxes. So that’s not good, but it is an opportunity to put a lot of spend on a credit card. The Amex Business Platinum usually requires $20K spend in 3 months to get the bonus. Unfortunately, or fortunately, my property taxes take care of a big chunk of that spend requirement. So I can easily earn the sign-up bonus on this card twice per year by paying the December and April property tax bills.
I just signed up for another one and was able to get the 300K Sign-Up Bonus- that’s HUGE! So paying the $895 Annual Fee once is worth it.
The 35% rebate when you pay for a flight with Points is underrated. I can choose any flight on my selected, preferred airline, and pay with points at 1 cent per point. That’s not good. But the Amex Business Platinum gives you a 35% rebate when you pay with points, so your net value is a little over 1.5 cents per Point. That’s not great, but what is great is that it’s really easy to achieve that value! You just choose the flight, pay with points, select your Amex Business Platinum as the credit card, and a few days later you will see that 35% back in your points account.
The airline thinks you paid with cash, so you earn miles and status on those flights. Typically, transferring to an airline and booking a flight that way will get you more value, but your choices of flights is much more limited.
There are other benefits (coupons) that make this card an even better value.
We have consistently used the FHR $300 semi-annual credit for luxury stays, and enjoyed the $100 property credit and free breakfast (same benefit as on the Personal Platinum). The $10 per month wireless credit is easy to use- just make this card your default payment card. The quarterly $50 Hilton credit is fairly easy to use. There’s a Hilton near us with a nice restaurant, and we stay at Hiltons pretty consistently. The Dell $150 annual credit is OK. I’ve had so many of these credits over the years that I’m running out of things to buy.
Finally, the $200 Incidental Airline credit has gone from great to poor. I was using it to fund my United Travel Bank, which is a pool of money you can use to book United flights (not partner flights). Unfortunately, this loophole was closed earlier this year. Now, that $200 can only be used the way Amex intended- for baggage fees, seat selection fees (not upgrades), pet fees, etc. I did use it to move my seat from a regular Economy seat to an Economy+ seat on an upcoming domestic flight. Shockingly, this upgrade was about $150! I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t have multiple of these credits to burn. I have lifetime status on American, so I get their equivalent Main Cabin Extra at no charge.
Right now, I’m valuing the Incidental Airline credit at zero when I evaluate whether to keep a Platinum or cancel.
Even without the Incidental Airline credit, I think the remaining credits (coupons) almost match the Annual Fee, and the 300K Sign-Up Bonus makes it a no-brainer- for one year.
