The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express Review

The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express offers plenty of benefits for business owners who travel frequently and take advantage of luxury perks — which include airline fee credits, lounge access and concierge service. Plus, the card offers a very generous welcome offer.

Benefits include airline fee credits, lounge access and concierge service. Plus, cardholders eager to rack up Membership Rewards points will love the welcome offer.

It has an annual fee of $695, which is one of the highest out there — so this may not be the best card for businesses that don’t travel much. But if you travel enough and take advantage of the many travel credits and business credits — which include Dell, Indeed and Adobe (enrollment required) — then this card may be a worth it for you.

We’ll take a close look at where this card excels, where it falls short and another American Express business card worth considering.

• Generous welcome offer

  Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. If you redeem that amount via the American Express travel portal, it’s worth about $1,200.

  However, the most valuable way to redeem your American Express points is by transferring them to travel partners. American Express Membership Rewards® are typically worth about 0.5 to 1 cent. But by transferring them to the right partners, you can increase the value to 2 cents or higher — so you could possibly turn the welcome offer into $2,400.

• Airport lounge access

  If you’re looking for the best business card for airport lounge access, The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express is top of the line. Book your flights with it and enjoy access to more than 1,400 lounges in over 500 airports across 140 countries. Note that enrollment is required for Priority Pass lounges.

• More than $1,000 in credits available per year

  The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express comes with a long list of useful credits. If you were to max them out, that’s a value of more than $1,000 per year. These are awarded as statement credits after eligible spending. The credits include:

  • Up to $400 toward purchases from Dell Technologies*
  • Up to $360 toward spending with Indeed*
  • Up to $200 in statement credits for checked bags, in-flight refreshments, and other fees (when you enroll and select one qualifying airline)*
  • Up to $189 toward a CLEAR membership, which can help you get through security more quickly at select airports and stadiums*
  • Up to $150 for spending with Adobe*
  • Up to $120 toward wireless telephone services*

  In addition to those annual credits, this card offers a statement credit up to $100 to reimburse you when you apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. For the former, you can get the credit every four years. For the latter, it’s every four-and-a-half years.

  *Enrollment required for these benefits.

• No preset spending limit

  The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express has a unique feature that allows your credit limit to be flexible. There’s no preset spending limit — instead, your credit limit can change depending on your purchase, payment and credit history.

  This is a valuable feature that can help business owners who have a lot of variable expenses and may need higher credit limits occasionally.

• No foreign transaction fee

  If business trips take you or your employees out of the country frequently, don’t worry about paying an extra fee on each transaction — there is none.

• High annual fee

  This card’s annual fee of $695 is one of the highest around. Granted, it comes with premium travel benefits that can make the annual fee worth it. However, for businesses that only travel occasionally, a no-annual-fee credit card like The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card is likely to be a better choice.

• Minimum spending requirement to earn welcome offer

  The minimum spending requirement to qualify for the welcome offer is very high and must be met within a short period of time.

The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express vs. The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express

The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express is a no annual fee card with a simple earning rate, making it a good choice for small business owners without huge expenses. You’ll earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply.

The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express also comes with a welcome offer: Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership.

If you’re a small business owner that travels maybe once or twice a year and you’re looking for a simple, no annual fee card, then The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express is likely a better choice. But if you travel frequently and your business has higher spending, then The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express could be right for you.

The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express vs. Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card

The Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card has a more reasonable annual fee than The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express at $95.

You can earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases-with no limit to the amount you can earn.

That’s a generous earning rate with a high spending cap on common business purchases. It also comes with a great welcome offer: Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Although it doesn’t have the travel business credits that The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express has, it’s a solid card with an excellent rewards rate, sign-up bonus and travel insurance. Unless you would use all of the credits and the lounge access The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express has to offer, the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card is a solid and more accessible alternative.

The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express vs. American Express^® Business Gold Card

The American Express^® Business Gold Card offers a more flexible rewards rate than The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express and a lower annual fee of $375. American Express will select the two categories (from a total of six) where you spent the most each billing cycle and award 4X points per $1 spent in those categories.

The 4X rate applies to the first $150,000 in combined purchases in your top two spending categories each year. After that, your earning rate drops to 1 point per $1 spent. The 4X categories include:

• Airfare purchased directly from airlines
• U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
• U.S. purchases at gas stations
• U.S. purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software and cloud solutions
• U.S. purchases made at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
• U.S. purchases for shipping

You can also Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.*

The welcome offer for new cardholders is: earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.*

If you’re looking for a lower annual fee and you spend a lot in at least two of the categories listed above, then the American Express^® Business Gold Card is probably better for you. But if you’re willing to pay the $695 annual fee for credits that align with your spending and plenty of lounge access, then you may want to go with The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express.

The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express is a standout business card with a valuable array of travel benefits. It’s well worth the annual fee of $695 if you take advantage of benefits such as the annual travel credit (enrollment required), the CLEAR® fee credit (enrollment required) and the unparalleled airport lounge access.

However, business owners wanting more flexibility in earning rewards, plus a less expensive annual fee, might prefer the American Express^® Business Gold Card. If neither card fits your needs, one from our list of best small business cards might suit you better.