Given how flexible points and miles programs can be, we generally recommend diversifying into categories travel rewards you earn. After all, you don’t want to spend years saving up rewards points only to see that dream flight or night slip out of hand when a show suddenly depreciated (or remove) its award chart.
However, sometimes it’s a good idea double with a specific rewards program – especially if it’s one that Points are transferable to several different airlines and hotels. And it makes even more sense when one or more cards earning those points are posting exceptionally high welcome bonuses.
Such a program is American Express Membership Rewards. These points not only transfer to Amex’s airline and hotel loyalty partners, but they can also be redeemed for any amount. other ways. In addition, the tokens that enter the program are also some of the best in the rewards space.
Among them, Business Platinum® Card from American Express and American Express® Gold Card currently offering extraordinary welcome offer, recommend that might make you consider whether to sign up for one, the other, or both.
In fact, pairing the Amex Business Platinum and Amex Gold cards could be the best Amex card duo possible, thanks to their highly complementary income structure and benefits package.
By carrying both and using them for different purposes, you can earn more points, even faster, while enjoying all the benefits that Amex Business Platinum offers and the earning rate Amex Gold’s excellent money.
Here are some reasons you might want to keep both in your wallet.
Two cards, two bonuses
Take the awkward part out of the way. Both cards charge a pretty hefty annual fee – $695 for Amex Business Platinum (see rates and fees) and $250 for Amex Gold (see rates and fees). That’s up to $945 per year, which is quite expensive—but can be offset by these cards’ introductory offers, some of the best we’ve seen.
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The Amex Business Platinum has a welcome offer exclusively for TPG allows you to earn up to 150,000 bonus points by spending $15,000 on purchases during the first three months of your card membership. Get Amex Gold and spend $4,000 in the first six months of being a card member and you earn another 60,000 bonus points.
Not even taking into account their bonus spending categories, you’ll be looking at a total of at least 210,000 Amex Membership Rewards points by meeting those requirements. TPG present value Amex points out at 2 cents per person, so it’s worth around $4,000 – though possibly more, depending how do you redeem them.
Related: Everything you need to know about Amex Membership Rewards
Sure, that’s a lot of money to spend, but if you’re strategic and have some work and personal expenses coming up, you can capitalize on a new card. Minimum spending requirementThis can be a great one-of-a-kind option.
In particular, another reason you might want to consider signing up for these two cards is if you already have or even if you previously had but later closed another Amex product. For example, if you currently carry a Platinum® Card from American Express or American Express® Business Gold Cardor had it in the past and closed it, you may not be eligible to get its welcome offer back under Amex’s application eligibility rules. However, if you don’t have an Amex Gold Card or Amex Business Platinum yet, these two cards could be one of your best options to continue accumulating Amex points at a good rate.
Related: Card Duel: Amex Business Gold vs Amex Business Platinum
Keep everything professional
Speaking of card combinations, there are many great reasons why you might want to get one both personal and business cards. Doing so can help you keep work and personal expenses separate. Putting a higher, work-related spending on a business card can keep that activity off your personal credit report – which can help improve your personal credit score by reducing your debt-to-credit ratio.
Amex Business Platinum’s business-related statement credits and special income rates (see below) are two more great reasons to put your work-related spending on that card instead. personal card. You can then assign the Amex Gold Card to more everyday things like groceries and food expenses.
Excess income
One of the biggest selling points to getting both the Amex Business Platinum Card and the Amex Gold Card is how you can mix and match their bonus earning opportunities to maximize your daily spend.
Use the Amex Gold Card to earn 4 points for every dollar on have dinner at restaurants and grocery at US supermarkets (up to $25,000 a year, then 1 point per dollar), plus 3 points per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com.
Use Amex Business Platinum to earn 5 points per dollar on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com, plus 1.5 points per dollar on qualifying purchases at hardware vendors and building materials of the United States; electronics retailers and software & cloud providers; shipping provider; and on each qualifying purchase of $5,000 or more everywhere else (up to $2 million in total per calendar year).
Related: Use these cards to maximize big purchases
To get into a bit more detail, if you tend to book flights directly with the airlines, you can continue to do so with the Amex Gold Card as it earns 3 points per dollar no matter how much you pay. use it to pay via airline or Amex Travel.
However, if you can transfer more travel bookings to Amex Tourismyou can take advantage of Amex Business Platinum’s 5 points per dollar earning rate not only on airline tickets but also on prepaid hotels.
You can book hotels through Amex’s Hotel Collection with either card. The Amex Gold Card earns 2 points per dollar on those bookings, while the Amex Business Platinum earns 5 points per dollar. However, with Amex Business Platinum, you also get access to more premium assets and more valuable perks through Amex Fine Hotel & Resort.
Related: Everything you need to know about The Hotel Collection, a secret Amex Gold privilege
Extend your score even more
Amex has a Pay with Points feature where you can redeem your Membership Rewards for bookings made directly through Amex Travel. You get 1 cent per point for flights and less for other types of bookings, such as hotel stays.
However, Amex Business Platinum cardholders receive 35% off Use Pay with Points in two cases:
- For first or business class tickets of any airline.
- For a ticket in any compartment on the same airline, they assign their annual up to $200 airline fee credit.
This benefit is capped at 1 million discount points per calendar year (so you have to redeem about 2.86 million points to get the maximum). By using points from your Amex Business Platinum account and receiving that 35% discount, you will automatically increase your points from 1 cent per point to 1.54 cents – 54% higher.
While Paying with Points isn’t for everyone, there are a few great reasons to use it. First, you get a solid value of 1 cent for every point redeemed this way (or more with Amex Business Platinum). Second, you don’t have to worry about switch partners or times or bonus available with a specific airline. Finally, when you redeem your rewards via Pay with Points, it’s essentially the same as paying cash for your ticket, so you still earn elite miles and credits for your travel.
Related: How to decide whether to use cash or miles for airline tickets
Credit statement galore
The final reason to carry both the Amex Business Platinum Card and the Amex Gold Card is to accrue their different statement credits.
The Amex Gold Card offers up to $10 per month Uber credit for Uber Eats rides or orders in the US, plus an additional $10 per month for dining credits as listed above for a total potential statement credit of $240 per year. If you use the card to book The Hotel Collection for two nights or more, you’ll receive an on-site credit of $100 for eligible activities. Registration required for selected benefits.
Related: How to Use Amex Gold’s New $10 Monthly Uber Credit
For its part, Amex Business Platinum comes with a lot of statement credits. Among the highlights are statement credits of up to $400 per year on Dell purchases, up to $360 per year with Indeed, up to $150 per year with Adobe, and up to $120 off cordless phone bill. For business travelers, the card also comes with a random airline fee credit of up to $200 annually, up to $189 annually for a Clear membership, and up to $100 for Global Entry. or TSA PreCheck periodically. Registration required for selected benefits.
Maximize all of these statement credits from both cards in the first year, and you’re looking at potential value close to $2,000. What’s more, no statement credits overlap from card to card, so you don’t have to sacrifice anything by carrying both.
Other benefits
While the Amex Gold Card lacks other perks, the Amex Business Platinum includes more benefits.
Related: Different flavors of Amex Platinum – which one is right for you?
These include advantages such as access to Different airport lounges – Amex Centurion Lounge, Delta Sky Cluband Priority card lounges among them – plus the ability to apply for Gold elite status with both Marriott and Hilton Hotel. Cardholders can also elite status with various car rental agenciesplus International Aviation Program Discounts for those flying in premium cabins. Registration required for selected benefits.
Related: 8 Things To Do When You Get Your American Express Business Platinum Card
Money aside, these benefits alone can make carrying the Amex Business Platinum well worth it.
bottom line
You should diversify the types of travel rewards you earn. However, given how versatile they are, it could also make sense for double with one program or anotherincluding Amex Membership Rewards.
The right combination of Amex cards will depend on your needs and spending habits. But the Amex Business Platinum and Amex Gold Cards make for a winning combination thanks to their respective perks and bonus spending categories. You can take advantage of both to avail not only attractive referral offers but also excellent daily points accumulation rate and other benefits to enhance your travel experience.
Sign up here for Business Platinum® Card from American Express with a bonus of 150,000 TPG exclusive points.
Apply here for American Express® Gold Card with a welcome bonus of 60,000 points.
For Amex Gold card rates and fees, click here.
For Amex Business Platinum card rates and fees, click here.
Additional reporting by Ryan Wilcox.
