The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Premium $895 charge card: 5X Amex Travel + 2X U.S. construction/electronics-software-shipping/$5k+ tickets, transferable MR, lounge network, and enrollment credits
Costs & Pricing
Annual fee (primary): $895 (new accounts since 09/18/2025; existing accounts moved to $895 on first renewal on or after 12/02/2025). Refundable if closed within 30 days of the Closing Date the fee posted.
Employee card fee: $400 each Additional Business Platinum Card; $0 each Additional Business Expense Card; max 99 additional cards. Legacy accounts opened before 09/18/2025 and not notified of the change may still be billed $350.
Purchase APR: Pay Over Time only: Prime + 10.99% to Prime + 21.74% (marketed 17.74%–28.49% variable); cap 29.99%. Does not apply to Pay In Full charges paid by the due date.
Intro APR (purchases): Not offered
Intro APR (balance transfers): Not offered (not a marketed BT product)
Foreign transaction fee: $0
Cash advance APR: Not in the Rates and Fees Table. Cash and similar transactions are not eligible for Pay Over Time. Returned-check cashing at approved locations: $38 if returned.
Late payment fee: $39 or 2.99% of any past-due Pay In Full amount, whichever is greater
Penalty APR: Prime + 25.99% variable (capped 29.99%) after a returned payment, 2 late payments in 12 billing periods, or Minimum Payment Due unpaid by that period’s Closing Date. At least 12 billing periods, then 12 clean periods to exit.
Other fees: No overlimit fee in the table (NPSL; issuer may still decline). Account reinstatement fee amount not disclosed. Pay Over Time default On at opening with a separate POT Limit. Average daily balance including new purchases on POT.
Rewards & Value
Bonus Categories & Promotions
- ★ 5X on flights, prepaid hotels, and prepaid short-term rentals booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App (direct airline/Airbnb/Vrbo is not 5X; phone-booked flights, vacation packages, car rentals, cruises excluded)
- ★ 2X combined on U.S. construction/hardware suppliers, U.S. electronics retailers and software/cloud providers, U.S. shipping, and each eligible $5,000+ purchase anywhere else — up to $2,000,000 per Card Account per calendar year, then 1X. Highest bonus only (5X Travel beats 2X).
- ★ 35% Airline Bonus: Pay with Points on an eligible Amex Travel flight on the selected qualifying airline — 35% of those points back, cap 1,000,000 points back per calendar year
Partner Credits & Perks
- ✓ Hotel (FHR / Hotel Collection) up to $300 semi-annually / $600 calendar year — prepaid via Amex Travel; Hotel Collection 2-night minimum
- ✓ Airline incidental fee up to $200/calendar year on one selected qualifying airline (bags/in-flight food — not airfare)
- ✓ Hilton for Business up to $50/quarter ($200/year) — direct Hilton; gift cards excluded; enrollment required
- ✓ CLEAR+ up to $219/calendar year (auto-renewing membership, excluding taxes/fees)
- ✓ Global Entry $120 or TSA PreCheck up to $85 every 4 years
- ✓ Dell Technologies up to $150 + extra $1,000 after $5,000 Dell spend (up to $1,150) — U.S. purchases directly with Dell; enrollment
- ✓ ChatGPT Business up to $300/calendar year — U.S. ChatGPT Business; enrollment
- ✓ Adobe $250 after $600+ U.S. Adobe spend — directly with Adobe; enrollment
- ✓ Indeed up to $90/quarter ($360/year); enrollment
- ✓ Wireless up to $10/month ($120/year) — directly with a U.S. wireless provider; enrollment
- ✓ $250k unlock: up to $1,200 AmexTravel.com flights + up to $2,400 One AP fees in calendar year Y+1 after $250,000 eligible spend in year Y (not year-1 value)
- ✓ Hotel Collection $100 on-property credit on prepaid 2+ night Amex Travel stays; FHR marketed ~$550 average value per 2-night stay (2025 bookings)
Transfer partners: Membership Rewards program (not card-unique; ratios change). Most airlines 1:1; commonly cited exceptions include Aeromexico 1:1.6, JetBlue 250:200, Hilton 1:2, Marriott 1:1, Choice 1:1, LHW 4:1. Re-check membershiprewards.com. Typical minimum 1,000 points. One-way. No expiration while the account remains open / program rules are met.
Credit, Limits & Spending
Credit limit: No Preset Spending Limit. Capacity based on spend, payment history, credit history, and personal resources Amex knows about. Issuer may still place a spending limit and will notify. Separate Pay Over Time Limit caps how much can revolve.
Personal guarantee: Required in substance. CMA: “The Basic Card Member and the Company remain jointly and severally liable for all Charges.” Not a no-PG product.
Credit check: Marketed “Know if you're approved with no personal credit score impact.” Secondary: decision often before a hard pull; hard personal inquiry commonly reported if the card is accepted. Business bureau review may occur when an EIN is used.
Recommended credit: Good–excellent (review-site guidance only; no official FICO cutoff)
Employee cards: Up to 99 additional. Platinum AU $400 with fuller travel benefits (lounge, hotel status, GE/PreCheck commonly reported as individual). Many statement credits remain account-pooled. Expense cards $0 without the full perk stack. Spend limits, alerts, freeze.
Virtual cards: One AP can issue virtual cards for supplier pay (especially after the $250k unlock path). Not Ramp-style unlimited virtual cards on day one.
Product type: Charge card with No Preset Spending Limit plus optional Pay Over Time (hybrid charge / limited-revolve)
Network: American Express
Benefits, Protections & Tools
Travel
- ✓ Global Lounge Collection — marketed 1,550+ lounges (as of 01/2026 on some Amex pages): Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass Select (enrollment required), 10 Delta Sky Club visits on an eligible Delta flight (use window commonly Feb 1–Jan 31). Guest policy and any $75k unlock: confirm in current lounge terms — do not copy consumer Platinum guest rules.
- ✓ CLEAR+ up to $219; Global Entry $120 or TSA PreCheck up to $85 every 4 years
- ✓ FHR / Hotel Collection suite + $600 hotel credit; Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Gold, LHW Leaders Club Sterling (enrollment required)
- ✓ Complimentary premium status at Avis, Hertz, National (enroll in Amex account)
- ✓ Trip Delay Insurance: round-trip on card; delay >6 hours; up to $500 per trip; 2 claims per eligible card per 12 months (AIG/New Hampshire)
- ✓ Baggage Insurance Plan when entire fare charged (NY FAQ cites $2,000/bag, $10,000 aggregate; full certificate not public without login)
- ✓ Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance and Premium Car Rental Protection (enrollment for premium/primary variant) — primary vs secondary: confirm in the certificate
Purchase Protections
- ✓ Purchase Protection: 90 days accidental damage/theft/loss; up to $10,000 per covered purchase, $50,000 per calendar year (no enrollment)
- ✓ Extended warranty: commonly +1 year on manufacturer warranties ≤5 years; $10,000 / $50,000 caps in secondary summaries — quote the benefits guide when available
- ✓ Return protection: secondary sources list $300/item, $1,000/year, 90 days — confirm in benefits guide
- ✓ Cell phone protection: max $800/claim, 2 approved claims / 12 months, $50 deductible, when the prior month’s wireless bill was paid by an eligible card on the account
Business Tools
- ✓ Employee cards, spend limits, alerts, freeze
- ✓ American Express One AP® — AP automation (virtual card, check, ACH); $2,400 credit only after $250k and only against One AP fees
- ✓ Statement download / common small-business exports; QuickBooks connectivity at platform level (partial — not a native ERP policy engine)
- ✓ Platinum Concierge / Business Platinum Concierge; 24/7 emergency replacement
Eligibility & Application
Who can apply: U.S. small-business owners. Sole props, LLC, corps, partnerships routinely accepted. Nonprofit/holding-company eligibility not disclosed. Not Corporate Platinum.
Business requirements: No published time-in-business or revenue floors. Sole props often SSN; entities EIN.
Issuer rules: Personalized welcome; generally once per this product. Amex pop-up can strip the bonus. “Too many Amex cards” / recent-bonus history commonly reported as a block — not an official numeric cap. Chase 5/24 is irrelevant as an Amex rule.
Application impact: Marketed no personal credit-score impact to learn if approved; hard pull commonly follows acceptance. Business credit may also be reviewed.
Best for: Premium travel perks Transferable Membership Rewards No foreign transaction fee NPSL Lounge access Statement credits
Pros & Cons
Pros
- ✓ 5X on Amex Travel flights / prepaid hotels / prepaid STRs, transferable MR, and 35% Pay-with-Points airline rebate
- ✓ 2X on defined U.S. construction, electronics/software/cloud, shipping, and $5k+ tickets up to $2M
- ✓ Global Lounge Collection plus $600 hotel credit and FHR/Hotel Collection access; $0 FTF; NPSL
- ✓ Business credit stack (Dell up to $1,150, Indeed $360, Adobe $250, wireless $120, ChatGPT Business $300) if those vendors are already in use
- ✓ CLEAR+, Global Entry/PreCheck, hotel elite status, and cell-phone protection on a charge card
Cons
- ✗ $895 primary fee and $400 perk-bearing employee cards
- ✗ 1X on most everyday spend; 5X does not apply to flights booked direct with airlines
- ✗ Credits are fragmented, enrollment-gated, and easy to miss; marketing “$4,000+ value” assumes utilization the business may not have
- ✗ Pay-in-full late fee can be 2.99% of past-due PIF; POT APR is high if used as working capital
- ✗ Personal / joint-and-several liability; welcome bonus is personalized (“as high as”) and generally once per this product
Buy (premium travel + credits)
Business Platinum is the lounge-and-credits SKU — not consumer Platinum (different credits, broader direct-airline 5X) and not Business Gold (lower fee, auto-4X ads/restaurants/gas). It pays when portal travel, 2X categories, and enrollment credits are real spend you already have. Unused credits make $895 a net loss versus Ink Preferred or a 2% cash card. Poor daily driver for flat cash back, 0% capital, no-PG underwriting, or flights ticketed direct with airlines.