Platinum Card® from American Express and Business Platinum® Card from American Express have established themselves as the must-have cards if you’re interested in luxury travel benefits. With overlapping reward structures and similar benefits, it makes sense to question which of the two is best for you. Or, if you already have one of the cards, you may be wondering if you should buy the other.
Making room for both cards in your wallet really benefits you — even with the $695 annual fee per card (see rates and fees for Amex Platinum and rates and fees for Business Platinum). Each card has complementary benefits to the other, and travelers should have no problem earning back the high annual fee, making them a great combo when it comes to getting the most out of your trips.
This is why you might want to have both in your wallet.
Over $5,000 worth of welcome offer
Both cards come with pretty substantial welcome offers. Right now, the Business Platinum Card gives you a TPG-exclusive welcome offer of 150,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $15,000 on qualifying purchases in your first three months of membership. card tablets.
With Amex Platinum you will earn 80,000 Membership Rewards after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months of your card membership (although you may be targeted for higher offers) via CardMatch . Tool – subject to change at any time).
If you sign up for both cards and earn the full welcome bonus, you’ll get at least 251,000 Membership Rewards points. This includes both a welcome bonus as well as a minimum of 1 point per dollar of earning points from spending — although this can be higher if you use the card’s bonus types .
Based on TPG most recent valuationthat amount is worth about $5,020—more than three times the total annual cost.
Related: Great prices, great perks: Review of the Business Platinum Card from American Express
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credit card
Typically, one of the easiest perks to take advantage of with a Platinum card is the annual airline fee credit.
Each card has a maximum of$200 annual airline fee creditand while it’s not as generous as $300 Travel Credit You’ll Get With Chase Sapphire Reserve Card (applicable to any travel purchase), Amex Platinum credit is still very useful.
In addition to the airline fee credits, the personal Platinum card is loaded with annual incentives. Cardholders enjoy the following benefits:
When it comes to annual credit, Business Platinum is second to none — Amex has added many new benefits in 2021 to help grow your business: up to $400 in Dell credit yearly, up to $360 annual credits for recruiting and hiring through True, up to $150 annual Adobe credits, and up to $120 annual mobile service credits.
Business Platinum also matches Personal Platinum in providing statement credits for both Clear and Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check registration fee credit (which you can use to pay for a regular companion’s application).
Registration required for selected benefits.
All in all, the ample credits between the two cards amount to more than $3,100 in annual value (this amount alone offsets the cost of both annual fees). Between welcome offers and annual credits, combining these cards can be a worthwhile strategy for savvy travelers.
Related: High Annual Fees with Great Rewards: A Full Review of the Platinum Card from American Express
Amex Offers
All American Express credit cards, including Platinum and Business Platinum cards, have access to Amex Offers. You can find your available offers if you scroll down to “Amex Offers & Benefits” on your online account page or click on the “Offers” tab on the Amex app. They are targeted to individual cardholders and come from merchants including hotels, travel providers, restaurants, and clothing and jewelry stores. These offers are usually:
- Spend $X, get Y bonus points.
- Spend $X, get $Y back.
- Get extra points for every dollar you spend at a selected merchant.
While Amex Offers can be a great deal, you can do even better by combining them with online shopping portal to earn extra cashback or bonus miles on your purchases.
Be warned: Depending on the terms of the offer, use of the online portal, promo codes, etc., may cause your Amex Offer to not activate, so always read the fine print in the terms. account.
That said, the good news is that you can stack Amex’s Top Deals with other popular Amex perks, including annual statement credits at Saks . 5th Avenue and Dell comes with a Platinum card and a Business Platinum card respectively. Eligibility for these offers is limited. Registration in the Amex Offers section of your account is required prior to redemption.
Related: Your Ultimate Guide to Amex Deals
Travel welfare
Cardholders have access to a wide range of Insurance when booking a trip and go buy with their cards, including:
- Cancellation and interruption insurance*
- Delay insurance*
- Protect your phone*
- Baggage insurance**
- Purchase Protection**
- Return Protection**
- Warranty extension**
Eligibility and benefit levels vary by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.
*Insured by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
**Guaranteed by Amex Insurance Company)
Some cards have removed these protections over the past few years, so these benefits provide another reason to book your travel with Amex Platinum — and make these two cards more competitive with Chase Sapphire Reservecomes with a lot travel insurance in its own right.
Not only does the Platinum Card protect you from certain disasters while traveling, but it can also enhance the entire travel experience.
Platinum card gives you access to Global lounge collectionhelp cardholders get free entrance to any Amex Centurion Lounge plus access to some additional airport lounges as well. Collectively, the collection grants access to more than 1,400 VIP lounge locations across 650 cities and 140 countries — a perk so valuable that it won the Best Credit Card Perk last year. TPG . Award.
Sure to be sought after by frequent flyers, the Platinum card also offers some additional benefits to make travel a little easier: Platinum Travel Service advisors can help set up an itinerary to get the most out of your trips, while Resy .’s Global Dining Access can put you in your most desired restaurant. Fancy access is even a way to grab exclusive seats at cultural and sporting events.
hotel benefits
Access to multiple hotel benefits is one of the areas where the two cards are similar. With both personal and corporate Amex Platinum, you get free Gold status at Hilton Hotel and Marriott and have access to Amex Fine Hotel & Resort. Registration required for selected benefits.
Gold status at the Hilton comes with perks like free breakfast, room upgrades when available, and an 80% bonus on paid stays. Marriott Bonvoy Gold status comes with benefits like priority late check-out, upgrades when available, and 25% bonus points.
Read more: Guide to Marriott and Hilton Elite Status with Amex Platinum and Business Platinum
Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts is a program that offers benefits to the elite at hotels around the world. These perks include guaranteed late check-out, daily breakfast for two, room upgrades when available, and a one-of-a-kind amenity (valued at $100 or more). Some hotels in this program will also offer a free Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday night, which is a valuable perk when you don’t want to use your hotel points to stay.
While you only need one Platinum card to enjoy these benefits, having both will ensure that you’re taking advantage of the benefits while maximizing your earnings no matter what your trip is for. business or entertainment.
Maximize personal and business spending
Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of having both personal and business versions of the card is that you can effectively earn 7.7% back on every airline ticket purchase you book on the Platinum Card (flight tickets booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel earn 5 points per dollar on up to $500,000 spent on these purchases per calendar year). This rate of earnings is also true for prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel.
This is because, when you have a Business Platinum Card, you have the ability to Pay with Points to book flights with Amex Travel and in doing so you will get 35% of your points back. This essentially gives you a value of 1.54 cents per point.
If you earn 5 points per dollar on qualifying travel purchases and then redeem those points for a value of 1.54 cents, you will receive a return of 7.7%.
That said, if you maximize American Express’ array of valuable transfer partners, you can get even more value out of it. After all, TPG values Amex Membership bonus points at 2 cents each in Latest pricing.
Another thing to consider is the Amex Business Platinum 50% point bonus for large purchases (over $5,000) and the offer itself for specific business categories.
Business Platinum earns 1.5 points per dollar on qualifying hardware and building materials purchases, electronics and software purchases, plus shipping. And while both personal and business cards offer the freedom of unlimited predefined credits, Business Platinum earns you 50% more points on purchases of $5,000 or more, up to a maximum of $2 million. la per calendar year.
For example, let’s say you’re making a $11,500 purchase and you won’t be eligible for a bonus with another card. In total, you’ll earn 17,250 Membership Rewards points on your Business Platinum card — worth approximately $345 based on Valuation of TPG. If you use another card that doesn’t have catalog rewards for what you’re buying, you’ll earn 11,500 Membership Rewards points — worth about $230.
In fact, you’ll get over $100 more in value by using Business Platinum.
Read more: How to Maximize Your Earnings with Amex Business Platinum
bottom line
Using both the Personal Amex Platinum Card and the Business Platinum Card can give you maximum value on both rewards earning and redemption, in addition to some great perks for cardholders.
The perfect combination for business-owning travelers who are on a high budget and want to take advantage of great savings, generous credit, and luxury travel opportunities.
Despite the high annual cost, the right cardholder should have no problem getting great value out of this pairing. Each is a great card in and of itself, but having both in your wallet can earn you even more Membership Rewards points, and it can help you stretch that extra point when it arrives. when using them for travel.
For Amex Platinum card rates and fees, click here.
For Amex Business Platinum card rates and fees, click here.
Additional reporting by Ryan Wilcox, Emily McNutt and Joey Robinson.
