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Should You Use Amex Business Platinum to Book Flights With a 35% Rebate?
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Quick summary
A once-lucrative 50% rebate for redeeming points toward paid flights was reduced to 35%, impacting overall value.
Redeeming points for paid business or first-class flights, or economy flights on a chosen airline, now yields about 1.54 cents per point, below TPG's 1.9-cent valuation as of June 2025.
Booking paid tickets with points allows travelers to earn miles and elite status credits, which can boost the effective value of redemptions, especially for those with high airline status.
Alternative programs may offer similar or better value, particularly when transferring points to airline or hotel partners.
What to consider
The 35% rebate requires booking through the issuer's travel portal and applies only to certain fare classes and airlines.
Rebates can take 6-10 weeks to post and are capped at 500,000 bonus points per year, with higher caps possible for very high annual spend.
TPG values United miles at 1.4 cents each and Membership Rewards points at 1.9 cents each as of June 2025.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed comparison of redemption strategies, including how elite status and mileage accrual can affect the true value of using points for paid flights.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
In October 2016, many points and miles enthusiasts were very pleasantly surprised to learn of a new offer from Amex — customers with The Business Platinum Card® from American Express could receive a 50% rebate on any points redeemed for business or first-class travel on any airline, or economy flights booked on the same carrier that cardholders selected for their annual $200 airline fee credit.
A Deal Too Good to Be True
I just happened to be a cardholder, so I began taking advantage right away — my first booking was for an economy United ticket from the US to Australia and back from Hong Kong (HKG) for my friend to join me on a trip for $1,768, booked in the upgradeable "V" fare class. After my 50% rebate posted, my total for the flight came to just 88,400 Membership Rewards points. Since it was a revenue ticket, I was able to apply Global Premier Upgrades to upgrade the entire trip, and she earned miles and elite credit as well.
I used Amex's Pay With Points rebate to book an upgradeable United economy ticket.
Honestly, this perk felt like it was too good to be true. Given how much the TPG staff alone had taken advantage, it seemed like it couldn't be sustainable on Amex's end, and, almost as quickly as it had appeared in 2016, the benefit was devalued in June 2017 from a 50% rebate to a 35% rebate. Now, following the change, is it still worth taking advantage of this perk? Well, that depends.
The Reduced 35% Pay With Points Rebate
Currently, Business Platinum cardholders are eligible for a 35% rebate, which ultimately means you're redeeming points toward paid business or first-class flights on any airline, or economy flights on the one airline of your choice, for 1.54 cents apiece.
That's considerably less than our 1.9-cent valuation of Membership Rewards points, and while you can easily get far more value from partner redemptions — such as short-haul flights booked with British Airways Avios or Singapore Suites booked with points transferred to KrisFlyer — you're booking revenue flights through Amex Travel, which are not only eligible for mileage accrual but also aren't limited by award availability, making them tremendously flexible.
You may get better value by transferring your points and booking Singapore Suites.
Additionally, since you're booking paid tickets, it's important to factor in the miles you'll earn for these redemptions. Major US airlines now award miles based on the cost of the ticket, so while you'll earn less than before on many leisure fares, it's easy to calculate your return.
Since I've selected United as my airline for the $200 Amex fee credit, if I'm booking economy travel using Pay With Points, the flights need to be operated by UA. And, since I'm a Premier 1K elite member in the MileagePlus program, I earn 11 miles per dollar spent (excluding taxes and fees). I selected a few sample economy routes in order to calculate my return on United — again, tickets booked through Amex earn miles, while award redemptions through partners do not.
Route
Base Fare
Total Cost
No Status (5x)
Silver (7x)
Gold (8x)
Platinum (9x)
1K (11x)
Value
Return (1K)
EWR-LAX
$314
$366
1,570
2,198
2,512
2,826
3,454
1.4x
13.2%
ORD-LHR
$361
$578
1,805
2,527
2,888
3,249
3,971
1.4x
9.6%
SFO-SYD
$867
$1,026
4,335
6,069
6,936
7,803
9,537
1.4x
13%
So, based on the samples above and the fact that TPG values United miles at 1.4 cents apiece, I'll earn up to a 13.2% return on purchased United tickets. That's not even factoring in all the elite credits I'm earning, or the fact that I'm eligible for complimentary upgrades on domestic and regional flights and certificate upgrades on premium domestic routes (like Newark-Los Angeles) and long-haul international flights (booked in the "W" fare class or above).
Pairing a return of 13.2% (fairly standard for a domestic flight) with the Amex rebate of 35%, I'm effectively getting a total "rebate" of 48.2%. So, rather than the initial value I'm getting of 1.54 cents per point ($366 = 36,600 points - 12,810 points = 23,790 points after rebate), I'm actually getting 1.93 cents per point in value (23,790 points after rebate - 4,836 "points value" of miles = 18,954 points after rebate and miles). So, thanks to my top-tier United status, I'm actually coming out ahead compared to our 1.9-cent valuation of Amex points and our (conservative) 1.4-cent valuation of United miles. Of course I'll earn a smaller return on international flights since you don't earn miles on taxes, but you get the idea.
Competing Options
But many cardholders may also have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which lets you redeem for flights at 1.5 cents per point. Which option makes more sense here?
This is where our valuations really come in handy. While you can redeem Ultimate Rewards points for 1.5 cents each if you have the Sapphire Reserve card, we actually value these points at 2.1 cents each, thanks to Chase's outstanding (and often instant) transfer partners, including United (with its great premium-cabin partner availability) and Hyatt (where it's sometimes possible to get upwards of 3 cents per point in value from redemptions). So, while on the surface redeeming Chase points is almost as appealing based on a 1.5-cent redemption rate, Ultimate Rewards points are ultimately more valuable than Membership Rewards.
Sapphire Reserve cardholders can redeem points at 1.5 cents apiece.
The challenge with Amex's Pay With Points program is that you'll have to wait quite a while to get your rebate. While these rebates initially been processed by Amex in just a week or two, you'll now have to wait a full 6-10 weeks for the rebate to appear. Additionally, rebates are limited to 500,000 bonus points per year, though you can increase that cap with extremely high annual spend on your Business Platinum card.
Long story short, it comes down to your own situation — if you're swimming in Amex points and don't mind waiting the 6-10 weeks for your rebate to post, redeeming through Amex Travel likely makes more sense than using Chase Ultimate Rewards. However, if you have many more Chase points than Amex, or you've already reached Amex's bonus point cap, Ultimate Rewards is likely the way to go. Also, keep in mind the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve card, which also lets you redeem points toward airfare at 1.5 cents apiece.
Bottom Line
Although many Business Platinum cardholders were disappointed by Amex's sudden move to devalue the Pay With Points rebate, in some cases it can still make sense to take advantage, even with the lower 35% return. While transferring to partners for business and first-class awards can yield a much higher value for your redemption, if you prefer to book economy flights or are working toward elite status, the Pay With Points program still offers a lot of appeal.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
