The Amex Platinum Business card is a super luxury credit card. It is one of the most premium business credit cards out there. 

If you’ve got one, you’re paying a $595 annual fee. So you better be getting your money’s worth from it.  

Here’s what you need to know in order to maximize the benefits of the Amex Platinum Business card.

Maximizing the rewards

With the Amex Platinum Business card, you earn the following rewards:

• 5 points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on Amex travel
• 1.5 points on credit card swipes totaling $5,000 or more
• 1.5 points on purchases at the following categories:
  • Construction material and hardware suppliers
  • Electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers
  • Shipping providers
• 1 point everywhere else

(The 1.5 points are up to $2m annually in spend)

The rewards on the Amex Platinum Business card are nothing to write home about unless your business has many transactions that total $5,000 or more per transaction. In that case, the Amex Platinum Business card can work well since you earn 1.5 points on all purchases, plus you don’t have a preset credit limit so you have more spending power. 

(Recently, Capital One released a new business card that also doesn’t have a preset credit limit. It’s the new Capital One Spark Plus card  and it earns 2% cashback on all purchases. So it may make sense for you to change to the  Capital One Spark Plus card and walk away with 2% cashback on all purchases rather than 1.5 points on transactions of $5,000 or more per swipe (unless you value Amex Membership reward points at more than 1.35 cents per point, which in that case, the Amex points may total more than 2% cashback).

Get 35% of your points back when booking airfare

With the Amex Platinum Business card, you get 35% of your points back when you book an eligible flight on Amex travel using your membership reward points (up to 500,000 points back per calendar year).

How do I get it? The 35% points back promo applies to flights you book on Amex travel when using your Amex Membership reward points to pay for the flight. In order to qualify, the flight needs to be one of the following: 

1. Flights booked on your preferred airline – This is a single airline you choose once a year in January as your preferred airline (matching the airline that you also receive the $200 airline incidental credit on, discussed further in the post).

  You can choose any of the following U.S. airlines:

• American
• Southwest
• United
• Delta
• JetBlue
• Alaska
• Frontier
• Hawaiian
• Spirit

2. You will also receive the 35% rebate when you book a first or business class ticket on any airline (regardless of the airline you choose as your preferred airline)

Once you book the flight, Amex will later refund you 35% of the points used which will effectively give you a 1.54 cents value per point.

More ways of redeeming rewards

Amex membership rewards have many more redemption options including; 

Transfer to airlines 

You can transfer Amex membership rewards to the following airlines:

You can transfer Amex membership rewards to the following hotel partners: Hotel partners

Redeem for cash 

Amex does not have an option of redeeming points directly for cashback. However, you can use points to cover charges on your Amex card but for a very poor value, for as low as 0.6 of a penny per point. 

Shop with points at Amazon 

Another poor way of using your membership reward points would be shopping with points on Amazon. You only get a 0.7 penny per point value when using points to shop on Amazon.

Buy merchandise or gift cards

Amex offers many merchandise or gift cards to many retailers at which you can purchase using Amex membership reward points. This is another poor redemption option as you only get approximately 0.5 penny per point value for your points.

Combining points with your Amex Morgan Stanley card (or Charles Schwab Platinum card) and investing with points 

If you have the Amex Morgan Stanley card you can use your membership rewards to invest with rewards at a penny per point value (even the points you earned with other Amex cards). If you want to redeem your points as cashback, then this is probably your best way to go about it. Transfer your points to your Morgan Stanley brokerage account through “Invest with Rewards” and then from there you can transfer it directly to your bank account at a penny per point value.

If you have the Amex Charles Schwab card you can transfer your points to your Charles Schwab account at a 1.10 value (it used to be 1.25 but was reduced in September to 1.10 cents). Just keep in mind that the Charles Schwab card has a $695 annual fee while the Morgan Stanley card does not have an annual fee. So make sure you have enough Amex membership reward points to justify paying $695 to get a tenth of a penny better value per point (you will need to redeem approximately 700,000 points to break even).

Maximizing the statement credits

The Amex Platinum Business card comes along with many statement credits. Following are the details. 

• $200 annual airline incidental fee credit

Get a $200 credit annually to refund incidental airline charges like baggage fees, seat upgrades, and more. Check out our full post for a list of what transactions will be refunded and how you can use the incidental fee credit even without flying. Check it out here.

How do I get it?  You need to enroll in order to access this benefit and choose an airline. You can choose any of the following U.S. airlines:

• American
• Southwest
• United
• Delta
• JetBlue
• Alaska
• Hawaiian
• Spirit

These credits will only work on the one airline of your choice, which you can choose once per year- in January. (As a courtesy, Amex will very often allow you to change the airline even mid-year).

• $400 Dell credit

Get twice a year up to $200 credit when purchasing something by Dell or Dell.com. You can purchase a free Bluetooth speaker, or other low-cost gadgets, or use the $200 towards a discount for your new computer. The first annual credit is valid from January 1st  until the end of June. The second credit is valid from July 1st  until the end of the year.

How do I get it? You need to enroll to access this benefit and also remember to make your purchases twice a year. Once enrolled, the credits will appear on your statement automatically.

• New! $179 CLEAR Credit

CLEAR will get you from check-in to boarding easily and smoothly at participating airports and stadiums. It’s actually one of the fastest ways to get through airport security. A CLEAR ambassador will escort you straight to the front of the line and straight to the TSA agent (VIP level!). CLEAR has a $179 yearly membership fee. With the Amex Platinum Business card, you will get refunded for the full membership fee.

How do I get it? Just apply for CLEAR online and use your Amex Platinum Business card to pay for the membership. You do not need to enroll in this benefit.

• New! $360 Indeed credit

You will get an annual $360 credit for purchases made on Indeed. The credit is split up to $90 per quarter. This is definitely a nice credit for someone using the Indeed software to hire employees. Plus, because this is a credit and not a discount, you can use this credit on top of any other discounts you already have.

How do I get it? You need to enroll to access this benefit and also remember to make your purchases twice a year. Once enrolled, the credits will appear on your statement automatically.

• New! $150 Adobe credit

You will get an annual $150 credit for Adobe subscriptions. This can be a great value for someone subscribed to Adobe anyways.

How do I get it? You need to enroll to access this benefit and also remember to make your purchases twice a year. Once enrolled, the credits will appear on your statement automatically.

• New! $120 wireless credit

Get up to $10 monthly credit for wireless purchases made using your Platinum Business card. I believe everyone spends a min of $10 a month on wireless so this credit can be very easily maximized. Plus, the Amex Platinum Business card also comes along with cell phone protection so this should be the perfect card to use to pay your wireless bill.

How do I get it? You need to enroll to access this benefit and also remember to make your purchases twice a year. Once enrolled, the credits will appear on your statement automatically.

• TSA Precheck and Global Entry

As an Amex Platinum Business card holder, you can receive up to $100 credit on your statement for either Global Entry or TSA Precheck.

How do I get it? You do not need to enroll in this benefit. Your account will be credited once you use your Amex Platinum Business card to pay the fee of either Global Entry or TSA Precheck once every 4.5 /5 years.

Hot tip

Authorized users that you add on the Amex Business Platinum card get their own TSA-Precheck / Global Entry credit (this is true even if the authorized users are added on the green level which is free on up to 99 authorized users!).

Maximizing airport lounge access

The Amex Platinum Business card gives you access to over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide. These lounges are made available through Amex partnership with several huge lounge networks.  Amex has a tool where you can easily find a lounge at your airport (it searches for lounges from all the networks). Check it out here.

Here’s a list of how to receive access to the airport lounges.

Maximizing Super Elite Status

With the Platinum Business card, you get to travel like an elite by getting some complimentary elite status with the following hotel chains and car rental agencies.

• Marriott Gold Status

Enjoy complimentary upgrades (when available), lounge access, late check-in and checkout with complimentary Marriott Gold status.

How do I get it? You need to enroll in order to access this benefit. You can enroll by providing Amex with your Marriott Bonvoy number on the benefits page.

• Hilton Gold Status

Enjoy complimentary room upgrades (when available), lounge access, late check-in and checkout with complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status.

How do I get it? You need to enroll in order to access this benefit. You can enroll by providing Amex with your Hilton Honors number on the benefits page .

• National Emerald Club Executive Status

Book an economy car and have the privilege to choose any car from the Emerald Club Executive line (mostly SUVs) when renting with National! 

How do I get it? You need to enroll in order to access this benefit. You will be asked to log in to National through a special link provided by Amex. Once you’re logged in, you will automatically be upgraded.

Go to the benefits page to enroll here

• Hertz 

New! Get complimentary upgraded to Hertz President Circle. Plus get an extra 4 hours to return your car (For the 4-hour grace period you need to use the Amex Platinum CDP )

What do I need to do? Email [email protected]. Or register here. 

Pro tip: You can take these elite status levels to the next step by matching your status with additional hotel chains or car rentals. For example, once you have National Emerald Club Executive status, you can ask Hertz to match your status by upgrading you to Hertz 5 Star status. Or you can show it to Avis and they may upgrade you to Avis Preferred Plus. Basically, the Platinum Business card is the key to help you get elite status at many hotel chains and car rentals. You can read a bunch of status match opportunities here.

If you add an authorized user to your Platinum Business card on the Platinum level then they will also get the upgraded status.

Maximizing protections when traveling

With the Amex Platinum Business card, you gain travel protections, so make sure to always use your Platinum Business card when you purchase airfare, rent a car, etc.

• No foreign transaction fees

Shop abroad with no foreign transaction fee.

• Trip Cancellation Insurance

Coverage for canceled or interrupted travel due to an unforeseen medical emergency etc. Max $10,000 per person per trip, max $20,000 per year.

• Auto Rental Collision Insurance

Secondary worldwide coverage on rentals up to 30 days (excluding Australia, Italy, and New Zealand). Max $75,000. You can purchase an Amex premium plan that will offer primary coverage up to 42 days. Max $100,000.

• Lost Luggage Reimbursement

Get up to $2,000 per person for lost or damaged luggage. Max $10,000 per trip for NY residents.

• Trip Delay Reimbursement

If your flight is delayed for 6+ hours, you can claim up to $500 per trip to cover expenses like meals, lodging, toiletries, medication, and other personal use items. Max 2 claims per year.

Maximizing protections when shopping

The Amex Platinum Business card provides superior benefits when it comes to protecting your purchases from unfortunate mess-ups and more. Here are the details, but don’t forget that in order to get these protections, the items need to be bought using your Amex Platinum Business card.

• Return Protection

Not happy with a purchase? Get a refund on purchases that have passed the store return policy – up to 90 days from date of purchase. Max $300 per claim, max $1,000 per year.

• Extended Warranty Protection

Get one additional year to your original manufacturer’s warranty time. (Will only cover if the original warranty is for 5 years or less). Max $10,000 per claim, $50,000 per year.

• Purchase Protection

Get refunded if your purchase is damaged, lost, or stolen, up to 90 days from the date of purchase. Max $10,000 per claim, $50,000 per year. This is one of the only cards that offers protection for lost items.

• Cell phone protection

Get reimbursed for up to $800 per claim (with a $50 deductible) if your cell phone is damaged or gets stolen. To activate coverage, you need to pay your monthly cell phone bill with your Platinum Business credit card. Max 2 claims per year.