The Amex Business Platinum Card Review: Premium Travel Perks at a Premium Price

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is a business card with a duality of use. Frequent business travelers will love the Global Lounge Collection membership, elite statuses, and other travel perks.

At the same time, stationary business owners can get a lot of value from the statement credits and business-centered bonus rewards categories. But the card's high annual fee -- and the extra cost of employee cards -- are worth considering before taking the plunge. Read our full review of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express for more details.

This card is a good fit for: Business owners who can maximize the statement credits and frequent business travelers who place high value on the travel perks.

Top perks

This card packs in the perks, giving a lot of value to cardholders who can maximize them.

Earn up to 5x Membership Rewards points on purchases

While this isn't the best rewards card we've seen, it has decent purchase rewards -- especially if you love the Amex Travel portal. But there are also a number of useful bonus categories for a variety of business types.

With this card, you can earn:

• 5x points per dollar on flights and prepaid hotels booked on AmexTravel.com
• 1.5x points per dollar on purchases over $5,000 (on up to $2 million in purchases a year)
• 1.5x points per dollar at U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers
• 1.5x points per dollar at software and cloud system providers
• 1.5x points per dollar at electronic goods retailers
• 1.5x points per dollar at shipping providers
• 1x point per dollar on other purchases

(To be clear, the 1.5x points on purchases over $5,000 applies to purchases where the single transaction amount is over $5,000.)

Big welcome offer

Right now, new cardholders can earn a welcome bonus worth up to 120,000 Membership Rewards points. To earn the welcome bonus, you'll need to spend $15,000 on your new card within the first three months of card membership. This is a huge amount of points worth at least $1,200 in flights through Amex Travel -- and potentially much more when used with transfer partners.

Global Lounge Collection membership

This is one of the best cards for lounge access for business owners. The Global Lounge Collection membership provides access to more than 1,400 airport lounges around the world, including some of the most exclusive:

• The Centurion® Lounges
• The International American Express Lounges
• Priority Pass™ lounges
• Delta Sky Club® lounges (when flying Delta)
• Airspace Lounges
• Escape Lounges
• Plaza Premium Lounges

Airport lounge access can be a highly valuable tool for anyone who travels by air, especially regular business travelers. Lounge access can range in price from $30 to $50 -- or more -- per visit. So, this perk can make the card's annual fee worth paying in and of itself if you travel frequently.

Read more: Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards

Hilton and Marriott elite status

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express cardholders get a shortcut to elite status with two of the largest hotel brands:

Hilton Honors Gold Status

This is the second-highest status tier, and it's enough to get you a daily food and beverage credit at most Hilton properties. You'll also get space-available room upgrades, your fifth night free on rewards stays, and an 80% bonus on stays. This is the same status you get with the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card.

Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status

This is mid-tier elite status, but it does have a few useful perks. Members enjoy 2 p.m. checkout and room upgrades, as well as a 25% points bonus on stays. This is the similar status you'd get with the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card.

See more: Best Hotel Credit Cards

Statement credits from Adobe, Dell, and more

A lot of the value of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express comes in the form of statement credits. These are similar to rebates that show up on your credit card after you make an eligible purchase.

As a card member, you can get:

• Dell: Up to $400 back a year on Dell purchases ($200 semi-annually)
• Indeed: Up to $360 back per year on Indeed purchases ($90 per quarter)
• Adobe: Up to $150 annual statement credit for eligible software subscriptions
• Annual wireless credit: Up to $120 a year ($10 a month) for wireless phone service purchases
• Airline fee credit: Up to $200 per year for eligible airline fees, such as bag fees (tickets don't count and you'll need to select a single airline for this credit)
• Annual CLEAR credit: Up to $189 a year for CLEAR membership when enrolled.
• Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit: Credit of $100 every four years for Global Entry or $85 every 4.5 years for PreCheck with enrollment.

In most cases, you'll need to enroll your card before you can earn the statement credit.

No foreign transaction fees

Having no foreign transaction fees on a credit card is a perk that may get lost in the crowd of other benefits, but it shouldn't be overlooked. Foreign transaction fees are extra fees tacked onto purchases in foreign currencies or that route through foreign banks. They can range from 1%-3% of the total transaction amount. This is a seemingly small charge that can actually add up big time -- especially if you travel abroad frequently or use foreign suppliers for your business.

35% points bonus for airline redemptions

Maximizing your card rewards is a two-step process: earning and redeeming. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, while decent at the first, is excellent at the second. That's thanks to the 35% bonus you get on any points you redeem on flights through Amex Travel. (Capped at 1,000,000 points back per calendar year.)

For example, if you redeem 100,000 points for a flight through Amex Travel, you'll get 35,000 of those points back. This boosts your per-point redemption value significantly.

Platinum concierge service

This isn't as flashy a benefit as, say, a big sign-up bonus. But the Amex concierge can be a worthwhile perk nonetheless. The Amex concierge can save you both money and time -- the latter of which may be even more important to many cardholders.

Just a few of the things a good concierge can help you with include:

• Making dinner reservations
• Purchasing event tickets
• Buying and delivering gifts and flowers
• Researching upcoming trips
• Finding local services while traveling

What's more, good card concierges often have contacts you may lack. This helps them get you into restaurants or shows that may otherwise be sold out.

Related: Read The Ascent's guide to the Best American Express Credit Cards.

What could be improved

Although this card has a long list of perks, there are a few downsides to note as well.

High $695 annual card fee

The main red flag for The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is the high upfront -- and ongoing -- cost of ownership. Cardholders must pay an annual fee of $695, one of the highest annual fees of any cards we've reviewed. While The Business Platinum Card® from American Express certainly comes with a lot of benefits for that fee, not everyone will get enough value from those benefits to make the fee worth paying. It's a good idea to seriously analyze the perks and statement credits to ensure you'll get your money's worth from this card.

No free employee cards

Many business credit cards, even those with annual fees, offer free employee cards. This makes it easy for trusted employees to make business purchases on your behalf. Unfortunately, you'll need to pay $300 a pop if you want your employees to have their own Business Platinum cards on your account. While this does come with some useful tools -- employee cards can earn rewards at the same rate, and you can set individual credit limits -- this may be a high price to pay when alternative options cost nothing.

Both your business and personal credit will be checked when you apply for The Business Platinum Card® from American Express. American Express doesn't list specific credit requirements, but based on the premium nature of the card, it's probably safe to assume you'll need very good to excellent credit. We'd recommend a FICO® Score of 750 or higher for the best chances of approval. Additionally, your business revenue will likely play a significant role in your approval for this card.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express cardholders will get the most out of their card if they can maximize the perks. This is likely easiest for regular business travelers who value the travel perks like elite hotel status and airport lounge access. But you could likely get at least enough value to cover the annual fee -- if not more -- out of the various statement credits for companies like Dell and Adobe. However, the high $695 is enough that you should seriously consider if you'll realistically get that value before applying.

Read more: Best Business Credit Cards

Our credit card methodology

At The Motley Fool Ascent, we rate credit cards on a five-star scale (1 = poor, 5 = best). Our rating criteria includes rewards rates, welcome bonuses, fees, and perks like travel credits and 0% intro APR offers to evaluate our ratings.

We combine these factors with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best card recommendations. Learn more about how The Ascent rates credit cards.