The Business Platinum Card(R) from American Express Review: 150,000 Bonus Points, $400 Dell Credit, $120 Wireless Credit, $200 Airline Fee Credit

Increased offer. The Business Platinum Card(R) from American Express is the ultra-premium AmEx business card with a very long list of perks and statement credits. You also get the best airline lounge access program (Delta Sky Club + their own Centurion lounges) and an improved welcome offer. I’ve tried to keep it brief, but there is a lot to cover:

• Welcome Offer: Earn 150,000 Membership Rewards(R) points after you spend $20,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
• 5X Membership Rewards(R) points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com
• 1.5X Membership Rewards(R) points (that’s an extra half point per dollar) on each eligible purchase 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, on up to $2 million per Card Account per calendar year. Purchases eligible for multiple additional point bonuses will only receive the highest eligible bonus.
• 35% Airline Bonus. You can receive 35% Membership Rewards® points back after you use the Pay With Points feature for all or part of a flight booked with American Express Travel if the flight is either First or Business class or on your selected qualifying airline, up to 1,000,000 bonus points back per calendar year.
• $1,000+ in value per year via statement credits on select purchases, including tech, recruiting and wireless. Enrollment is required for select benefits.
• $200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to the Card.
• Up to $100 Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. Receive either a statement credit every 4 years after you apply for Global Entry ($100) or a statement credit every 4.5 years after you apply for a five-year membership through any Authorized Enrollment Provider for TSA PreCheck® (up to $85) when the application fee is charged to an eligible Card. If approved for Global Entry, at no additional charge, you will receive access to TSA PreCheck.
• $199 CLEAR(R) Plus Credit: Use your card and get up to $199 in statement credits per calendar year on your CLEAR(R) Plus Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use the Business Platinum Card(R).
• $695 annual fee. (See Rates and Fees)
• Terms Apply.

Note the following language: “Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product.” You can only get the welcome offer on the Platinum Business AmEx once time per lifetime, so it is best to apply during an improved offer (and also the time when perks have been added but before the annual fee increase).

Annual statement credit details:

• $400 Dell Technologies credit. Get up to $400 back per year toward U.S. purchases with Dell Technologies. Enrollment required.‡
• $360 Indeed credit ($90 per quarter). Enroll and get up to $360 in statement credits per year for purchases with Indeed on the Business Platinum Card. That’s up to $90 back per quarter.
• $150 Adobe Creative Solutions credit. Enroll and get up to $150 in statement credits per year for purchases with Adobe on annual prepaid plans for eligible Creative Cloud for teams and Acrobat Pro DC with e-sign for on the Card.
• $120 wireless telephone credit ($10 per month). Enroll and get up to $120 in statement credits per year for wireless telephone service purchases made directly with a wireless provider in the U.S. on the Business Platinum Card. That’s up to $10 back per month.‡

American Express Global Lounge Collection. Some other travel cards give you Priority Pass Select, which is nice but not as inclusive as the Platinum card’s list of 1,300+ airport lounges across 140 countries. Domestically, you get Delta Skyclub access (an individual Skyclub membership costs $495 from Delta alone) as well as the growing Centurion Lounge network built specifically for American Express cardholders.

• The Centurion® Lounge
• The International American Express Lounges
• Delta SkyClub®
• Priority Pass Select
• Airspace Lounge
• Escape Lounges

35% Airline Bonus details. Let’s say your selected airline is Delta, and you want to buy a couple economy Delta tickets for $1,000 using their Pay with Points features. This means that $1,000 ticket booked through AmEx Travel will only cost you 65,000 Membership Rewards points net (100,000 points and then 35,000 point rebated back). This improves the 1 cent per point value to 1.54 cents per point value. This means that 120,000 Membership Rewards points can be worth $1,848 in airfare on your selected airline.

Transfer partners. You can transfer Membership Rewards points to 16 airline and 3 hotel partners including Delta, British Airways, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Air Canada, Hilton, Starwood Preferred Guest, and Choice Hotels. If you’re good at snagging award tickets, you can get even better value this way.

Bottom line. The Business Platinum Card(R) from American Express is the ultra-premium AmEx business card that includes a HUGE list of perks. Add them up for your own situation and see how it compares with the annual fee. Keep in mind that the annual fee can also count as a business expense.

The net first-year value of this card is easily over $1,000, as it is definitely one of the Top 10 Best Business Card Offers.

(See Rates and Fees)