Last week, American Express shared that they were increasing some benefits to the Platinum card while also increasing the annual fee. Amex just recently shared with View from the Wing that they will be porting some of the great benefits to the Business Platinum card as well. Pending some increased fee announcement, this could make the Business Platinum the clear winner for most people over the personal Platinum.
New 5X Points on Airfare & Hotels Coming to the Amex Business Platinum
Link: Amex Business Platinum card (if approved, contributor Dustin will receive Membership Reward points as referral bonus)
The best changes to the Platinum cards last fall were the addition of earning 5X points on airfare with the personal Platinum card and a 50% rebate on points used for the choice airline in economy or any business class tickets with the business Platinum card. This gave each card a powerful perk to make them a go-to card option for many people with travel.
But, the downside was that you needed to have both $450 annual fee cards (soon to be $550 for the personal) to make it work completely – the 5X points on airfare and the 50% rebate on points. We went with the business Platinum card to get a sign-up bonus and the 50% rebate and had considered adding the personal Platinum card again (no bonus but can get the perks) to get the 5X on airfare.
New 5X Points on Airfare & Hotels and More Benefits
Now, American Express has shared that some of the new benefits of the personal Platinum card will be coming to the business Platinum card starting on March 30. Here are the benefits that will be received:
- 5X Membership Reward points on airfare booked through AmexTravel
- 5X Membership Reward points on prepaid hotels booked through AmexTravel
- Access to new Global Dining Collection
- Expanded Global Lounge Collection
- Global By Invitation events
The 5X points on airfare will be a great addition as I book a lot of airfare for people (edit: it is only valid for airfare purchased through Amex Travel). I would prefer to get the Ultimate Reward points with our Chase Sapphire Reserve card (3X Ultimate Reward points on travel) but I cannot turn down the ability to get the extra 2X points, especially with the ability to redeem them on coach tickets on United (since they are my airline choice for 2017) and business class tickets and get 50% of the points back.
It will remain to be seen if they will hike up the annual fee on this card as well. My guess is that they will not take it up $100 since they are not adding the $200 Uber credits. But, since it is a business card, I would not be surprised if they bumped it up to $500 from $450.
Are you excited about the new benefits to the Amex Business Platinum card?
How can you claim 5x on hotels that can only be booked thru AmEx Travel is a bonus ?!?! Higher rates than booking directly and NO elite status credit for booking via 3rd party – the credibility of this blog is being stretched if you believe this to be a “benefit”.
The benefits were what Amex is claiming is being added. Such was the reason for the list. And, as I have written many times on other posts about the personal Plat, the hotel booking is good for 3rd party hotels on some reservations. I have had better prices come from that than some other sites, but not as many as would push me to use that.
Also, as I have said before, if you do not have elite status and you are paying the same price, it is a benefit to get 5X points. Sorry if you do not see increased point earning as a benefit…