ICYMI: Amex Business Platinum adds new benefits

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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.