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ICYMI: Amex Business Platinum adds new benefits
A quick little recap of how we got here. Amex Platinum was king of the hill. Citi introduced a Prestige card to compete. It did. Then last year Chase annihilated any and everything in its sites with the Reserve. Amex responded with 5x points on flights purchased from amex travel and directly with airlines on the personal plat, and the Biz Plat got a 100k sign up, 50% refund on redeemed points, and a 50% bonus on purchases over $5k. Most people said, eh…We were given a head nod that more bennies were coming this year. They told us last week about the new Personal Plat bennies and now Amex Business Platinum adds new benefits. All in all…the response across the board is still eh…
Hotels and Flights booked through Amex Travel get 5x points beginning March 30th.
Wait, wait, wait. Citi Prestige gives you 3x points on flights and hotels, and so does the Reserve. Any flight and Any hotel, not just ones booked through their portals. That means that you can earn status with your hotel of choice, AND earn 3x points on your credit card. The new Biz Plat benefits only give you 5x points when you book through Amextravel.com
- No Elite night credits/points on hotels.
- You will earn Elite miles and airline points tho…that’s good
If you’re not looking to earn hotel status then this could make sense for you…If you are, better to book with a Reserve or Prestige.
Verdict
I find a lot of value in my Amex Biz Plat. The $200 airline fee credit, the 10 Gogo internet passes, the Centurion lounge access, the Priority Pass, and the referral bonuses are the main reasons that I keep the card. All of those benefits equate to a net positive in value. I can see myself using Amex Travel to check out flights to earn 5x points, but I doubt I’ll ever use it for hotels. If they allowed 5x to be earned off Fine Hotels & Resorts, that would be a different argument, but that’s not the case.
There isn’t a true competitor in the market to the Biz Plat. There isn’t a Chase Business Reserve or Citi Business Prestige. Will I keep my Business Platinum forever? I’m not sure. These added benefits aren’t enough to keep me around if given firm competition from Citi or Chase.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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