The Amex Business Platinum's 100,000-Point Bonus Ends Soon
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
The Business Platinum Card from American Express made quite a splash in late 2016. First, Amex announced a 50% rebate when you use Pay with Points for airfare through Amex Travel, and soon after it launched a limited-time sign-up bonus for the card.
With the current offer, you can earn up to 100,000 American Express Membership Rewards points — 50,000 after you spend $5,000 in the first three months, plus another 50,000 when you spend a total $15,000 in the first three months. However, this increased sign-up offer will soon be coming to an end; it's set to expire on January 25, 2017. It's safe to say the offer replacing it will be lower, so if you're interested you won't want to wait much longer.
While spending $15,000 in three months to earn the full bonus sounds steep, it could be attainable for small-business owners who can put significant spending on this card. Based on TPG's latest valuations, the 100,000 Membership Rewards points you'll earn after meeting the higher spending requirement are worth $1,900, and they can get you even more of a return with high-value redemptions, such as Singapore Airlines Suites or Lufthansa first class.
Bonus points aside, the Business Platinum Card could be worth having in your wallet due to its recently added redemption option. When you use your points to book airfare via Amex Travel, you'll get a 50% rebate, effectively getting you an outstanding 2 cents per point in value. This option is available when you book first or business-class flights with any airline through the travel portal, or when you redeem points for economy tickets with the carrier you've chosen for your $200 annual airline fee credit perk.
This card does have a high $450 annual fee, but it's partially subsidized by the previously mentioned $200 airline fee credit (good for some incidental fees, but unfortunately not airfare), plus a statement credit for the Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application cost. Additionally, cardholders get access to the Centurion Lounge network among other airport clubs, Gold status with Starwood (and thus Marriott) and Hilton, 10 Gogo in-flight internet passes and more.
Bottom Line
The Business Platinum Card is better than ever thanks to recently added benefits such as a 50% points rebate when you redeem for airfare, and the current sign-up bonus only makes it more valuable. If you can max out this offer to earn 100,000 points by spending $15,000 in the first three months of cardmembership, this is a no-brainer. Remember to act before January 25 (a week from Wednesday) if you're interested.
How are you redeeming your 100,000 Membership Rewards points?