The Amex Business Platinum Card Is Expensive -- but Could Pay for Itself Twice Over

The The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is one of the most expensive small business cards you can apply for, with a $695 annual fee (see rates and fees). But it's a mistake to assume that because it has a relatively high annual fee that this is an expensive card – in fact, I'd argue that for the right business owner, the fee could turn out to be rather cheap.

Here's a quick overview of the perks and features of the The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, and how much they could be worth to you and your small business.

Benefits of the Amex Business Platinum Card

I've made the case that The Platinum Card® from American Express for personal use is well worth the cost for members who use its benefits, and the same can be said for the business version. While there is some overlap between the perks offered by both versions, the business version has a rather unique list, especially when it comes to the statement credits you can get.

With that in mind, here's a rundown of the perks and what they could be worth to you.

Earn rewards

To be sure, the Membership Rewards earning rates of this card are not the best in the industry but are still worth taking into consideration. Card members earn 5X points per $1 on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com, 1.5X points per $1 in certain business categories and on purchases of $5,000 or more (cap applies), and 1X points per $1 on all other purchases (terms apply).

The rewards rate is solid on travel purchases, but there are other business credit cards that offer a 2% cash back rate on all purchases. However, as we go on, you'll see that the other benefits of the card are where the true value lies.

Statement credits

As mentioned, some of the statement credits are the same as they are for The Platinum Card® from American Express, but there are several that are specifically designed to provide value for small businesses (terms apply).

• $200 in airline incidental fees, such as baggage fees and food/beverage purchases, with an airline of your choice
• $189 per year to pay for a CLEAR Plus membership
• Up to $100 every four years to cover the cost of a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership
• $400 in statement credits ($200 twice a year) toward purchases at Dell Technologies
• $360 in annual statement credits ($90 per quarter) on purchases at Indeed
• $150 toward annual prepaid business plan purchases of Adobe Creative Cloud or Adobe Acrobat Pro
• $120 per year ($10 per month) toward wireless telephone service purchases

Adding these up, this translates to more than $1,400 in statement credits each year (excluding the Global Entry credit) for those who take full advantage.

Airport lounges

The The Business Platinum Card® from American Express offers the same best-in-class airport lounge access as the personal version of the card.

In addition to the American Express Centurion Lounges, you'll also get a Priority Pass lounge network membership, access to Delta Sky Club lounges, and more (terms apply, enrollment may be required). It's difficult to value this benefit -- after all, you can't even buy access to the Centurion lounges -- but for context, an individual annual Delta Sky Club membership costs $695 as of this writing.

Elite status

As a The Business Platinum Card® from American Express member, you'll get automatic elite status at several hotel and rental car brands (terms apply), including:

• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status
• Hilton Honors Gold Status
• Status in Avis Preferred, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, and National Car Rental Emerald Club

Other perks

This isn't an exhaustive list. Other perks of the The Business Platinum Card® from American Express include (terms apply, enrollment may be required):

• Access to the Fine Hotels + Resorts program
• No foreign transaction fees
• Trip delay insurance, up to $500 per trip
• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
• Rental vehicle insurance
• Exclusive reservation access with Resy
• Baggage insurance
• Cellphone protection
• Extended warranty and purchase protection

Welcome bonus

There's also an excellent welcome offer, especially if you use your business card often (terms apply). The standard welcome offer is 120,000 Membership Rewards® points (worth $1,200 or more) after spending $15,000 on the card within 3 months. However, I've seen targeted offers of as much as 150,000 points with the same spending requirements. Now, this is a one-time bonus, so I'm not using its value to justify the annual fee on an ongoing basis, but it's still worth keeping in mind.

Is it right for you?

The bottom line is that the The Business Platinum Card® from American Express can be a great choice, despite its seemingly high annual fee, if you use all (or most) of its benefits. Before you overlook an "expensive" credit card of any kind, read through its benefits and see how much they could be worth to you over a year. You might be surprised.