Credit Card Welcome Bonus is the fastest and easiest way to fund your upcoming vacation (almost) for free. They are usually relatively easy to obtain, and they can be worth thousands of dollars. However, some of the hottest bonuses require you to meet high spending requirements.
Business Platinum® Card from American Express currently offering a TPG-specific welcome bonus on TPG of 150,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on qualifying purchases with your Business Platinum Card within the first three months of becoming card members. If your small business has a high spend, this shouldn’t be a problem. For the rest of us, we may need a strategy to achieve this tempting reward.
Clear and simple, when you’re trying meet minimum spending requirements, you should transfer all your spending to a single card. If you still don’t think you can hit your spending requirement, this post will help you get creative.
Why it’s worth getting Amex Business Platinum
The Amex trading platinum is one of the most profitable cards on the market—especially with annual statement credits worth more than $1,000. Here’s what you’ll get for the $695 annual fee (see rates and fees):
- Up to $400 annual statement credit on all Dell purchases in the US, up to $200 semi-annually.*
- To $200 annual airline fee credit charged on a selected airline.*
- Up to $100 statement credit for either Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check application every four years (or 4.5 years for PreCheck).
- Amex Global Lounge Collectiongives you access to airport lounges around the world — including Amex Centurion Lounge.
- Up to $360 annual statement credits for Indeed recruiting and hiring products and services (up to $90 per quarter).*
- Up to $150 in annual statement credits with the purchase of certain Adobe purchases, such as Adobe Creative Cloud and Acrobat Pro DC.*
- Up to $120 annual statement credit for purchases made directly from any U.S. cordless phone provider (up to $10 per month).*
- Up to $189 in annual statement credits for Strangea trusted traveler program that accelerates airport security.*
- Hotel + Resort Amex Finewhich offers premium benefits such as room upgrades, free breakfast, late check-out, etc., with an extensive collection of luxury hotels.
- mobile phone protection, with a maximum of $800 per request and a limit of two requests approved in a 12-month period. Note that a $50 deduction will apply.
- Access to Cruise privilege program and International Aviation Program.
- Upgrade with points to request an upgrade on an airline ticket.
- One 35% off When you Pay with points for a first or business class ticket on any airline or an economy class ticket on an airline of your choice (up to 1 million points per calendar year).
*Registration is required to enjoy some benefits and terms apply.
Here is the monetization rate for the card:
- 5 points per dollar on prepaid flights and hotel rooms via Amex Tourism.
- 1.5 points per dollar for electronics retailers and software cloud service providers, shipping providers, building materials and hardware supplies.**
- 1.5 points per dollar on all purchases of $5,000 or more.**
- 1 point per dollar on other qualifying purchases.
- Terms apply.
**A 1.5 earnings rate is subject to a combined limit of $2 million in qualifying U.S. purchases per calendar year.
You can read our full Amex Business Platinum Review to learn more about these benefits.
Current Amex Platinum Welcome Bonus
The Amex trading platinum currently offering an exclusive TPG with 150,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $15,000 on qualifying purchases with the card within the first three months of becoming a card member.
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TPG . estimate Amex point value 2 cents each. That makes this bonus worth $3,000 when traveling—and potentially significantly more if you know how. redeem American Express Membership Rewards for maximum value.
Strategies to meet minimum spending
If the $15,000 minimum spend requirement within the first three months seems daunting, here are some creative ways you can achieve it — while remaining financially responsible, of course.
holiday gifts
Lots of points and miles enthusiasts open a new card or two before the holiday season. That’s because they know they’ll have a big bill for travel, gifts, and other vacation-related expenses. If you know you’ll be spending a lot of money soon, you can also ease the pain with a huge welcome bonus.
Prepaid expenses
This may not change significantly with a spending requirement of $15,000, but there are plenty of bills you can pay up front. Things like utilities, car or renters insurance can allow you to overpay. If it’s within your reach, you may want to pay utilities and other bills several months in advance if that helps you meet the spending requirements for this card.
Add authorized users
Amex Business Platinum is a small business business card. If you have employees, help them out by adding them as authorized users — at least for the first three months. Their spending will count towards meeting the $15,000 spending requirement.
Authorized users on this card do not actually have be a employment. You can add friends and family members, as long as you trust them. Remember, you are responsible for paying any balance they have as the primary cardholder.
Taxpayer
Depending on the nature of your small business, the quarterly or annual tax you owe may meet your $15,000 minimum spending requirement. You can usually pay state taxes and property taxes by card via ACI Payments, Inc. You can also look through the list IRS Approved Tax Payment Providers for more options.
Just be aware that paying taxes by card will draw out some unwanted fees. For example, PayUSAtax currently charges 1.96% of your transaction amount. If you pay $15,000 in taxes under this method, you’ll have to pay $294 in fees. That sounds high, but to earn a welcome bonus of $3,000 (according to TPG . valuation), it can be well worth it — especially if you don’t think you can Amex trading platinum require minimum spending in any other way.
Pay rent
Some apartment buildings accept card payments for rent. This can be a helpful aid to those who are having a hard time meeting the high minimum spending requirement, as it could be your biggest monthly expense. Some landlords may even allow you to prepay for future months of rent.
Paying rent by card almost always incurs utility and/or transaction fees. That’s why you should avoid this method unless there’s a welcome bonus in your crosshairs. However, some real estate companies are free. If you’re one of those lucky tenants, make the most of it.
Using Plastiq
You can pay more with your card than you think. Whether it’s a car payment, school fees, or daycare — or even if you’re renting from a landlord who doesn’t accept cards — you can use a service called plastic. In short, Plastiq will charge your card a specified amount and mail the check to whoever you want.
There are two caveats:
- You cannot make mortgage payments through Plastiq with an American Express card.
- You will pay for using Plastiq (2.85% at time of writing).
You can read our review of How Plastiq . works For more details.
Related: Your supplier doesn’t accept credit cards – what now?
consider
Don’t overspend
One trap that you might fall into unknowingly is overspending to get the welcome bonus. If you don’t stay strict with your budget, then you may find that you have spent more to earn that valuable reward than it was originally worth.
Don’t carry a balance
Past due balances are the arch enemy of card rewards. Interest and late fees will soon negate any miles and points you might accrue from spending if you have a monthly balance. You could end up spending a small amount of interest if you don’t pay your bills on time and in full every month. With Amex Business Platinum, you may even find your account frozen until you pay off all your debts, so be extra careful.
Waiting to apply at the right time
Again, if you know you’re about to have a big purchase in the near future, combine that with the Amex Business Platinum’s minimum spend window so that the purchase hits within a three-month timeframe. If your big purchases aren’t made within the next three months, there’s no harm in waiting to open your card.
First organic spending
Whether you can spend the full $15,000 organically or not, you should stop using any of the above charging methods until needed. Perhaps in the first two months of opening the account, you were able to spend $1,000 more than you thought. Then you’ve saved the potentially extra $28 fee you should have spent.
bottom line
The $15,000 spend claim isn’t for everyone. But if you can swing it, this TPG exclusive 150,000 points Amex trading platinum The welcome offer is currently one of the best on the market.
If you can’t reach your spend organically, you can:
- Use the card for upcoming holiday purchases.
- Prepay future expenses, such as insurance, car payments, and rent
- Add authorized users to your card.
- Pay taxes with your card.
- Use Plastiq to pay bills that don’t normally accept cards with your card Amex trading platinum.
Official app link: Amex Business Platinum 150,000 points offer
For Amex Business Platinum rates and fees, click here.
Additional reporting by Emily Thompson.
