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- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
offers luxury benefits and rewards. - Some perks require activation, including the annual airline fee credit and hotel elite status.
- You’ll also need to enroll for other benefits, like Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership.
- Read Insider’s guide to the best small-business credit cards.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is packed full of benefits that are perfect for small business owners — including freelancers and remote workers.
Some of the card’s perks aren’t provided automatically; you have to activate them. So when The Business Platinum Card® from American Express arrives in the mail, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the benefits that are offered and take action so you can squeeze every cent of value from the card. After all, its benefits go a long way in offsetting the annual fee of $695.
Here are 10 things you should do when you first get The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.
We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.
Meet the minimum spending requirement to earn the welcome bonus
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Intro offer
120,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases with your card within the first 3 months of card membership
Rewards
Get 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 eligible purchases 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.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Intro offer
120,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases with your card within the first 3 months of card membership
Rewards
Get 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 eligible purchases 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.
On American Express’s website
Details
Rewards
Get 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 eligible purchases 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.
Intro offer
120,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases with your card within the first 3 months of card membership
Recommended Credit
Good to Excellent
Regular Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
17.99% – 25.99% Variable
Intro Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
N/A
Pros & Cons
Highlights
Additional Reading
Before you do anything else, you’ll want to make sure you can meet the minimum spending requirement so you can earn the welcome bonus.
Right now, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is offering a whopping 120,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases with your card within the first 3 months of card membership. While this is a relatively large minimum spending threshold, many small businesses spend that much on a regular basis. If that’s not the case for you, it might be best to hold off on applying until you know you have a large purchase coming up.
Enroll your card for Dell statement credits
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express offers up to $200 in statement credits between January and June, and another $200 in statement credits between July and December each year for U.S. purchases with Dell made with your card. To take advantage, you must enroll your card first through your online account.
Once you’ve activated the Dell credit, purchases made by the enrolled basic cardmember and any employee cardmembers on the account are eligible for the $400 annual credit. However, the benefit is limited to one per card account, so you won’t get a $400 statement credit for every separate employee card.
Pay your phone bill with the card for up to $120 per year in credits
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express offers up to $10 in statement credits each month (a potential $120 in credits per year) toward expenses from US wireless telephone providers. All you need to do is use the card to pay your cell phone bill.
If your phone bill amounts to less than $10 per month, you’re in the minority. For most of us, these wireless credits are as good as cash — effectively offsetting $120 of the card’s annual fee.
A bonus incentive to pay your monthly phone bill with this card is that it will activate automatic cell phone protection.
Pick your designated airline for the annual airline fee credit
One of the best benefits of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is up to $200 in annual airline fee credits**.
When you first open the card, then each year in January, you can select one qualifying airline from a list. The fee credit will reimburse you for things such as seat selection fees, inflight food and beverage purchases, and baggage fees.
While you might be tempted to choose the airline you fly the most, that doesn’t necessarily make sense. For example, if you have the airline’s co-branded credit card, you may already get free checked bags. And if you fly Southwest, many things — including two free checked bags per passenger — are included for free.
So keep in mind both what airlines you are most likely to fly and which are most likely to charge you fees so you can get the full $200 in benefits.
Enroll in Priority Pass Select for airport lounge access
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express comes with a Priority Pass Select membership**, which is another great way to make travel days smooth and more enjoyable. With Priority Pass, you’ll have access to over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide — you just have to enroll before you can access them.
Don’t forget to do that when you get your new card by logging into your account online and hitting “enroll” under the Priority Pass section, so you have time to get your lounge access card before your next trip.
Keep in mind that The Business Platinum Card® from American Express also gets you access to Amex Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Club lounges (when you fly Delta), and other lounges that are part of the Amex Global Lounge Collection. There’s no enrollment required to access these locations.
Apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
Having access to speed through the security line or enter the US more quickly can make any travel day better. With The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, you’ll be able to apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck and have the application fee of up to $100 reimbursed. I recommend applying for Global Entry because it comes with TSA PreCheck.
After you apply, you’ll have to go into a Global Entry Enrollment Center (often at the airport) for a short interview and to have your photo and fingerprints taken. Depending on your home airport, it can take a few weeks to a few months to get an appointment, so it’s best to apply as soon as you can. If you already have Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, you can always use your application fee credit to pay for a family member or friend’s application.
Enroll in CLEAR®
CLEAR® is a program that can seriously speed up your airport security experience. It’s designed to let you cut in front of the TSA security line. Simply scan your fingerprints or retina at a nearby kiosk, and you’ll literally be escorted to the front of the queue — potentially saving you hours, depending on how busy the airport is. It also works for select stadiums.
CLEAR® membership regularly costs $189 per year (though there are cheaper ways to get it). But by paying with The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, you’ll get a statement credit of up to $189 back**.
Activate elite status with Hilton and Marriott
Like the personal version of the card — The Platinum Card® from American Express
— The Business Platinum Card® from American Express offers complimentary Gold elite status with two hotel programs**:
Gold isn’t the highest status tier with either hotel chain, but these two status levels get you perks like bonus points, a better chance at scoring room upgrades, and (in the case of Hilton) free breakfast.
While these two benefits are “automatic” in the sense that you don’t have to earn them, you do have to activate status with each loyalty program. To do this, log into your Amex Business Platinum account online, and navigate to the Benefits tab. You’ll see the option to enroll for both programs, and you’ll need to enter your Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors account information (you can create an account with each chain for free if you don’t have one).
Enroll $360 per year in Indeed credits
These credits won’t fit the needs of every small business, but they’re generous for those who can use them.
Indeed helps companies locate new employees. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express gives you up to $90 each quarter in statement credits to offset the cost of any Indeed hiring/recruiting products and services.** That’s a maximum of $360 per year.
To trigger this credit, you’ll have to enroll via your Amex online account. Then, once you spend money directly with Indeed, your credits will post automatically.
Up to $150 per year in Adobe credits
Again, this benefit (while valuable) doesn’t suit all small businesses. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express offers up to $150 in statement credits each calendar year toward qualifying Adobe purchases (such as Acrobat Pro DC and Creative Cloud).**
The credits will automatically kick in after you’ve enrolled your card in this benefit through your online Amex account and then use your card to make your purchase through Adobe.
Bottom line
The above benefits will put money back into your pocket — but not automatically. You’ll either need to use your card for select purchases or register your card for certain benefits to activate the savings. Doing so could easily net you more than $1,000 in value each year.
