American Express Business Platinum permanently increases its bonus to 50,000 points

Last Tuesday, the most recent American Express Business Platinum sign-up offer ended.

Whilst I suspect that any HfP reader who was planning to apply will have done so, I wanted to point out that – last Wednesday morning – the regular bonus reset at a higher level.

The new standard bonus on American Express Business Platinum is now 50,000 Membership Rewards points. This matches the offer on the personal The Platinum Card.

Even better, the change to the bonus rules has been retained.

If you are accepted, you WILL get the sign-up bonus. No restrictions, no small print. It doesn’t matter what Amex cards you have or recently had. If your application is approved you can receive the bonus.

The key facts about American Express Business Platinum

As a reminder, here are the key things you need to know about Business Platinum:

• American Express Business Platinum has a £650 annual fee, refunded pro-rata if you cancel

• Pro-rata refunds on Business Platinum charge cards will continue to be available even if (when?) American Express stops allowing them on its credit cards

• You receive a sign-up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £6,000 within your first three months

Key link: American Express Business Platinum charge card application page

Why Amex Business Platinum?

The American Express Business Platinum charge card is issued directly by American Express.

The Amex business cards are aimed mainly at small businesses and sole traders. The criteria for applying are fairly lenient – whilst this is a Platinum card, the terms are identical to the Business Gold card:

• The business has a UK bank account
• You are over 18
• You have a permanent UK home address

You, personally, must have an income of £35,000 per year to apply. There are no turnover or profitability requirements for the company itself. If you are sole trader, you do not need to have a dedicated business bank account.

Note that the American Express Business Platinum card is a charge card, not a credit card. You MUST clear your balance in full at the end of each month.

What is the Amex Business Platinum sign-up offer?

Following the increase this week, you will receive 50,000 American Express Membership Rewards points as a sign-up incentive.

You need to spend £6,000 within your first three months to receive this.

What can you do with 50,000 Membership Rewards points?

Membership Rewards points can be converted into a range of goodies.  The most valuable options are converting into frequent flyer miles (including Avios points and Virgin Points) at a ratio of 1:1.  This means that the sign-up bonus is worth 50,000 Avios or 50,000 Virgin Points.

50,000 Membership Rewards points would also get you:

• 150,000 Radisson Rewards points
• 100,000 Hilton Honors points
• 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
• 50,000 airline miles in various other schemes including Etihad and Air France KLM
• 37,500 Emirates Skywards miles
• 3,333 Club Eurostar points

There are also a lot of non-travel redemptions including retailer gift cards, but the best value will come from travel redemptions.

Do you qualify for the 50,000 points?

Yes you do!

American Express recently removed all restrictions on who qualifies for the sign-up bonus on Business Platinum and Business Gold. If you are accepted, you qualify.

This means, for example:

• if you have or recently had Business Platinum, you can apply for Business Gold and receive the bonus
• if you have or recently had Business Gold, you can apply for Business Platinum and receive the bonus
• if you have or recently had a personal Gold or Platinum card, you can apply for Business Platinum and/or Business Gold and receive the bonus
• if you have British Airways Accelerating Business, you can apply for Business Platinum and/or Business Gold and receive the bonus

IMPORTANT: There are no changes to the bonus rules on any of the personal American Express cards or on the British Airways Accelerating Business card. It only applies to Business Gold and Business Platinum.

Any other benefits?

As usual, American Express adds a lot of bells and whistles to the Business Platinum card:

You receive £200 per year to spend at Amex Travel. The only condition is that the £200 is spent in one transaction. For most people this is almost as good as £200 of cash. The £200 credit renews on your card anniversary.

You receive £150 credit per year to spend with Dell. No minimum spend applies but the credit is split into two parts. You can earn £75 cashback between January and June and £75 cashback between July and December.

You will receive a free Priority Pass card.  Priority Pass is a network of 1,400 airport lounges across the world, including eight in London Heathrow.  This includes the Aspire and Plaza Premium lounges in BA’s Heathrow Terminal 5.  Your Priority Pass allows an unlimited number of free visits to their lounges.  You can also bring in a guest for free.

You can also give a Priority Pass card to a second person.  If this is your partner or spouse, you would both be able to get into the lounge for free and each bring in a free guest, so a family of four is covered.  Additional guests would be charged at £24 each.

You will receive comprehensive travel insurance.  This is a very valuable benefit because of the high level of coverage available – you can take a look at the policy document here (PDF).  Unlike the personal Platinum Amex card, which has weaker coverage, the insurance available on the Business product remains gold plated, in my opinion.  You are covered up to the age of 80.

You will receive Gold status in the Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty scheme.  This will give added benefits at Marriott, Renaissance, Sheraton, Westin, W, aloft, St Regis, The Ritz-Carlton, The Luxury Collection etc properties – 36 brands in total.

You will receive Premium status in the Radisson Rewards hotel loyalty scheme.  This will give added benefits at Radisson Blu / RED, Park Plaza and Park Inn hotels.

You will receive Gold status in the Hilton Honors hotel loyalty scheme.  This is the best mid-tier hotel status to have, because you get free breakfast with it.  You will get benefits at Hilton, Waldorf Astoria, Hampton, Curio etc.

You will receive Gold status in the MeliaRewards hotel loyalty scheme.  You will get benefits at Melia and INNSiDE hotels, with benefits including three 20% discount vouchers each year and ‘2 for 1’ breakfast.

You receive a free digital subscription to The Times and The Sunday Times.  This is worth over £300, and if you currently pay for this it is a huge incentive to take out the card.

You receive £300 credit per to spend with indeed.com on job advertising. The credit is split into four quarterly payments of £75.

You can access the Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts Programme.  This offers genuine added value benefits at a large number of luxury hotels across the world.  These include a GUARANTEED 4pm check-out, free breakfast, an upgrade if available at check-in and typically a $100 credit towards on-property spending.

There are also benefits with Avis Preferred and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards but these are, in all honesty, no better than deals that are generally available.

What do you earn when you spend on the card?

You receive 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on the card.

There is an extra bonus for high spenders. You will receive 10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points in every month where you spend over £10,000. This would make Business Platinum the most valuable travel rewards card on the market for anyone spending exactly £10,000 per month, as they would be averaging 2 points per £1.

This bonus is ON TOP of the 50,000 Membership Rewards points you earn via the sign-up bonus.

What is the Amex Business Platinum annual fee?

The annual fee for American Express Business Platinum is £650, billed with your first statement and then annually thereafter.

The fee is refundable, pro-rata, if you decide to cancel at any point.

What is a Membership Rewards point worth?

Anything from ‘quite a bit’ to ‘a lot’ is the answer.   This article outlines my view on the most valuable American Express Membership Rewards transfer options.

In the very worse case, you can use them for shopping gift cards at 0.5p per point. This means that £250 is the worse case scenario for your 50,000 bonus points on Business Platinum, remember.

However, you should be able to get more value than that if you use your points for a premium cabin air miles redemption. 1p per point – so £500 of value – should be achievable.

You can take a look at the full list of American Express Membership Rewards redemption options here.

Any downsides?

As with all Amex business cards, the only major issue with Amex Business Platinum is the lack of acceptance by some suppliers.

Realistically, you will need to have a Visa or Mastercard as well to ensure that you can always get a card accepted.  I recommend the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa credit card.  Capital On Tap offers 10,000 Avios for signing up – plus an extra 500 points for HfP readers – and a very generous earning rate of 1 Avios per £1.

The Head for Points verdict:

If you are a sole trader or own a small business (even a service company) then the American Express Business Platinum card has always been worth a look. We have the card here at Head for Points, with Rhys as my free supplementary cardholder and Sinead as a paid-for additional supplementary cardholder, and it works well.

The 50,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up is a huge extra incentive, converting into 50,000 Avios or many other travel rewards schemes.

You also benefit from the £200 annual Amex Travel credit, the comprehensive travel insurance, Priority Pass and hotel status cards, The Times digital subscription, the £150 of annual Dell credit etc which add a lot of value.

How to apply

The official Amex Business Platinum website, which contains full details and the application form, is here.

Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points. The site discusses products offered by lenders but is not a lender itself. Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an independent credit broker.