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American Express gives £250 to all Business Platinum cardholders

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There is good news this morning if you have an American Express Business Platinum card.

To encourage you to keep the card during this difficult period, American Express will give you a £250 statement credit when you renew.

This applies to all Business Platinum renewals in 2020, and is backdated.  If you have already renewed your card during 2020, you haven’t lost out.

Given that annual fee is £595, this represents a generous rebate – although arguably it is fair compensation for the inability to use travel benefits such as the insurance, Priority Pass and hotel status cards for a few months.

When do I get my £250 Amex statement credit?

If you have not yet hit your 2020 card renewal, you will see your £250 statement credit “within 4-8 weeks after the account renewal month”.

If you have already renewed your card in 2020, your £250 will appear within the next 90 days, counting from today.

If you have a personal Platinum card ….

Whilst holders of the personal The Platinum Card may be a little aggrieved by this, it is worth noting that holders of Business Platinum are not included in the current ‘double points’ offer.

They are also excluded from the current ‘cash in your Membership Rewards points for 0.9p of statement credit’ offer given to all personal Platinum cardholders.

As we wrote on Saturday, some holders of the personal American Express Platinum card are receiving 20,000 Membership Rewards points if they ring up to discuss cancelling.  It didn’t work for me though …..

For clarity …. if your Business Platinum card is coming up for renewal soon, don’t cancel it.  Pay the £595 and wait until you’ve received and spent the £250 statement credit.  At that point, you can re-think whether you want to cancel.

I want to use the rest of this article to run over the benefits of American Express Business Platinum.  You currently have six months, rather than the usual three months, to spend the £6000 required to trigger the 40,000 points sign-up bonus.

Why should you get American Express Business Platinum?

If you have some sort of self employment or small business, there are three reasons why it is worth thinking about Business Platinum:

the sign-up bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points is the most generous of ANY UK American Express card

it is fairly easy to qualify for the bonus – the only rule is that you haven’t had a Membership Rewards card (personal or business) in the past SIX MONTHS.  There is no ’24 month’ rule on Business Gold or Business Platinum.

you currently have SIX MONTHS, instead of three months, to complete the £6,000 qualifying spend in order to receive the sign-up bonus

Remember …. having Business Platinum does NOT stop you getting the bonus on personal Platinum later.

The rule on the personal Platinum card is that you can’t have had any PERSONAL card earning Membership Rewards points in the last 24 months.  Amex does not look at Business cards.  The Business Platinum card is a good way to fill the gap if you are waiting 24 months before you can reapply for personal Platinum.

You won’t, for clarity, get the £250 statement credit as this is only for people whose card renews in 2020.

The card facts

American Express Business Platinum is a charge card, not a credit card.  You must clear your full balance at the end of each month.

The card is metal.

The sign-up bonus via this refer-a-friend offer is 40,000 Membership Rewards points which requires you to spend £6,000 within your first six months of membership.  You qualify for the bonus as long as “[you do not] currently hold or have held any Membership Rewards enrolled American Express Card in the past six months.”

You earn 1 Membership Rewards points on virtually every £1 spent on the card.  These convert 1:1 into Avios, Virgin Flying Club miles and lots of other airline and hotel programmes, plus Eurostar points (15:1).  You can also redeem for various shopping vouchers.  You can see the redemption options on the Membership Rewards website.

The annual fee is £595, refundable pro-rata if you cancel.  Additional Platinum supplementary cards after the first free one are now £295 – these cards receive all of the benefits below.  You can have 98 free Gold supplementary cards but these do not come with any benefits.

What are the criteria for applying for Amex Business Platinum?

There is no income requirement and no trading requirement.  You can apply even if you have just set up your business, as long as:

The business has a current UK Bank or Building Society account
You/The business have/has no County Court Judgements for non-payment of debt
You are aged 18 or over
You have a permanent UK home address

It is no longer a requirement that you have been in business for at least one year.

What is the Amex Business Platinum benefits package?

Let’s look at what you get for £595.  For comparison, the annual fee on the personal Platinum card is now £575:

You will receive a free Priority Pass card.  Priority Pass is a network of 1200 airport lounges across the world, including eight in London Heathrow.  This includes the Aspire lounge in BA’s Heathrow Terminal 5.  Your Priority Pass allows an unlimited number of free visits to their lounges.  You can also bring in a guest for free.

You can also give a Priority Pass card to a second person by allocating your one free supplementary Platinum Business card to them.  If this is your partner or spouse, you would both be able to get into the lounge for free and each bring in a free guest so a family of four is covered.  Additional guests would be charged at £20 each.

You will receive access to the Plaza Premium Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5.  This is not a Priority Pass lounge but American Express Platinum Business cardholders can get access, with a guest, by showing their Platinum card at the front desk.  You can also access American Express Centurion lounges with a guest, including the upcoming one in Heathrow Terminal 3.

You will receive comprehensive travel insurance.  This is a very valuable benefit because of the high level of coverage available – you can take a look at the policy document here (PDF).  This is a substantially stronger insurance package than you get with the personal version of Platinum.  There is NO EXCESS to pay at any time, there is no requirement to use the Platinum Card to pay for anything and you are covered up to the age of 80.

You will receive Gold status in the Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty scheme.  This will give added benefits at Marriott, Renaissance, Sheraton, Westin, W, aloft, St Regis, The Ritz-Carlton, The Luxury Collection etc properties – almost 30 brands in total.

You will receive Gold status in the Radisson Rewards hotel loyalty scheme.  This will give added benefits at Radisson Blu / RED, Park Plaza and Park Inn hotels.

You will receive Gold status in the Hilton Honors hotel loyalty scheme.  This is the best mid-tier hotel status to have, because you get free breakfast with it.  You will get benefits at Hilton, Waldorf Astoria, Hampton, Curio etc.  The personal Platinum card has had this benefit for many years but it was not part of Platinum Business.

You will receive Gold status in the MeliaRewards hotel loyalty scheme.  You will get benefits at Melia and INNSiDE hotels, with benefits including three 20% discount vouchers each year and ‘2 for 1’ breakfast.  The personal Platinum card has had this benefit for many years but it was not part of Platinum Business.

You will receive Jade status in the Shangri-La Golden Circle hotel loyalty scheme.  Due to a reciprocal partnership, you can match this to Gold status in Taj Inner Circle.  The personal Platinum card has had this benefit for many years but it was not part of Platinum Business.

You receive £150 or equivalent cashback when you book a onefinestay home rental.  This benefits was also introduced to the personal Platinum card last month.  You can use this benefit an unlimited number of times.  There are no ‘cheap’ properties with onefinestay, however, and combined with a minimum stay requirement it is virtually impossible to spend less than £600.

You receive a free digital subscription to The Times and The Sunday Times.  This is worth over £300, and if you currently pay for this it is a huge incentive to take out the card.

You can access the Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts Programme.  This offers genuine added value benefits at a large number of luxury hotels across the world.  These include a GUARANTEED 4pm check-out, free breakfast, an upgrade if available at check-in and typically a $100 credit towards on-property spending.

There are also benefits with Avis Preferred and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards but these are, in all honesty, no better than deals that are generally available.

There are only two negative points to note.  You do NOT receive Eurostar lounge access.  This is only a benefit for holders of the personal version of The Platinum Card.  You also do not receive the £10 monthly Addison Lee taxi credit.

You can find out more about American Express Business Platinum on the American Express website here.

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Category

American Express Platinum card

Comments (71)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Dwadda says:
    11 May11 May 06:14

    Can I transfer my points from my personal platinum account to a business platinum account before cancelling the personal platinum?

    I much prefer the Times subscription to eurostar or addisson lee benefits.

    Is it possible to request a plastic card? I haven’t used my new platinum card since they sent me the metal one, which is too heavy for my minimalist wallet. They should have used aluminium.

    • Dwadda says:
      11 May11 May 06:41

      Furthermore I haven’t spent a penny on the new metal card because my password manager only has the details of my old plastic platinum for online purchases and I don’t know where I put the metal one.

      Unintended consequences of forcing unwanted changes on customers.

      The only benefit I use (a lot) is the priority pass and that is useless at the moment. The only reason I keep it is because I couldn’t be bothered to cancel it.

      Actually I don’t care about points. I don’t use those either. Just give me Times and FT subscriptions and priority pass and travel insurance and I’m a happy camper.

      If Amex gave me Hilton Diamond and equivalent in Hyatt, Marriott, etc. as well I’d pay a couple grand a year (I spent enough with Accor to retain Diamond in the first 3 months of the year so I am highly incentivised to stay with them even when better properties are available at other chains).

      I only came back to the UK when they shut the lounge at the Fairmont in Singapore (due to corona). Lounge access is the most important factor in my choice of hotel, and you don’t get it with mid tier status.

      • JAson says:
        11 May11 May 09:08

        Hmm not putting anyone down, of giving the wrong impression.

        As far as i remember the points can be used on amazon.

        Whilst this might not be in line with many uses of points, every little helps.

      • John says:
        11 May11 May 15:03

        You only need to spend US$12000 a year to get Diamond or stay 60 nights

  • Jonathan says:
    11 May11 May 06:34

    What happens if I applied today, is there a reduced annual fee, the rebate gets applied in my 2021 renewal or nothing and tough luck?

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:
      11 May11 May 07:04

      There seems to be nothing for you at present but it is hard to see how that is a justifiable position. Amex are acknowledging via this offer that they are unable to supply the benefits for which you would pay.

      It’s a risk to apply now but there may be offers for new card holders in the pipeline. I am holding off applying until Amex provide a suitable incentive.

      • ken says:
        11 May11 May 08:19

        There is the 40k MR points on offer

      • A says:
        11 May11 May 10:11

        The position of those who apply now is materially different to those who previously held a card. If you sign up now, you do so in the full knowledge that you will be unable to use the benefits immediately, and likely for a significant period of time. That’s a bit different to those who signed up previously and had no knowledge this was coming. Not sure Amex will do much to help those who sign-up now as a result – but of course they may take a more holistic view of this

        • Mr(s) Entitled says:
          11 May11 May 18:15

          A very fair point but if they don’t do something for new applicants where will they get their new applicants from? You would have to be mad to sign up for a £595 card with zero benefits at this time.

    • Rob says:
      11 May11 May 08:12

      You get nothing, correct.

  • Wally1976 says:
    11 May11 May 07:30

    Can you refer for this card from a personal one and vice versa?

    • The Streets says:
      11 May11 May 07:33

      Yes

      • Wally1976 says:
        11 May11 May 07:39

        And it’s 18000 points referring from this card I believe. Just doing the maths on whether it’s worth getting it!

        • The Streets says:
          11 May11 May 07:54

          I’ve been waiting for two mortgages to clear and then was planning to apply but may now hold out in case a similar offer to the 60,000 MR returns

        • RK says:
          11 May11 May 07:55

          You cannot refer yourself for this card, at least not advisable to do so.

    • Rob says:
      11 May11 May 08:12

      Yes

  • Wally1976 says:
    11 May11 May 07:34

    Do we know by what date you have to apply by to get the 6 months to spend the £6k?

  • Elaine says:
    11 May11 May 07:41

    I contacted Amex in Feb/Mar to clarify whether the travel insurance required the card to be used to buy the tickets. They said certain aspects including travel inconvenience required the card to be used – so I bought additional insurance. An extract from the policy doc they sent me is : Travel Inconvenience
    ✗ Claims where travel tickets were not purchased on the card account.

    This is different to the document Rob linked to in this article – does anyone know which one is the correct one as neither is dated?

    • Michael says:
      11 May11 May 08:30

      You definitely do not need to have paid for the travel tickets using the card to claim on the insurance. I never use the card as I use the Gold card for work travel to get the extra points on the foreign spend. But I have claimed on the Amex policy 3 times in 6 years and never have had a problem, including one very large case of stolen items (this claim took a little longer understandably, but all was paid out per the policy). It is an extremely valuable policy to have and I never feel exposed like you sometimes can feel when only having credit card insurance.

      If you google ‘platinum business amex travel insurance’ on the UK google, a link to the insurance PDF will be the first result (not a search result as such, but a ‘featured snippet’ at the top the search results).

      Note that not even some of the insurance company employees are familiar with the fact that you don’t need to have paid for the expenses using the card. I have had to explain this to them 2 of the 3 times. This is made worse as the form even makes out you are supposed to have paid on the card (the form was incorrect the last time I claimed over a year ago, but I advised Amex of this so hopefully they fixed it).

      One thing to note, if a claim relates to inconvenience (e.g. late baggae, costs while delayed etc.), it does make life easier if you charge these to the card. I had baggage delayed for about 3 days once last year and spent about £200 on some emergency clothes for a work meeting, which I charged to the card. It was just easier showing them on the Amex statement matching the card, but it definitely isn’t 100% necessary as I also bought some power adaptors at a small KL electronics shop that didn’t take Amex and they also paid out on that in the claim.

      So in summary, it is a pretty unbeatable insurance policy.

      • Claire says:
        11 May11 May 08:56

        Will the Inusrance extend to a family member who paid using their own personal Amex card (not a Platinum Supplementary card)

      • BP says:
        11 May11 May 09:55

        I found Plat Business/AXA really difficult when claiming earlier this year when my wife hurt her back in Thailand. They did pay all expenses but it took over 10 weeks in the end. Fortunately I’m in a financial position where I could cover the expenses until reimbursed.

      • Venturelog says:
        11 May11 May 10:03

        Does this only apply to the Business and not personal? Personal you must use the Plat for the insurance cover to be valid?

      • Alan says:
        11 May11 May 14:13

        Paying on a different Amex in your name is different though to being covered when paying with any card at all (as is the case with ICC).

  • Alan says:
    11 May11 May 07:51

    Any reports of cash or points for ICC Plat cardholders yet?

  • Smid says:
    11 May11 May 08:32

    Sods law. I renewed mines on 28th of December 2019. I’ve been holding back cancelling mainly due to complexity, but this seems to have nudged me forward.

  • Harold R says:
    11 May11 May 08:52

    Just curious what the logic is giving business card holders a different package to personal.
    Why not give business card holders the 0.9p and double redption value?

    • Rob says:
      11 May11 May 09:06

      Two possible reasons. Business cardholders are more ‘realistic’ about the value proposition because, well, they run a business and they realise the real value of things better than the personal Platinum cardholders.

      Second reason. They know that everyone writes off the annual fee as an expense. If you ‘forgot’ to credit the fee refund to your accounts then, assuming you’re a 40% taxapayer + NI, the card is now totally free.

      You also need to remember that Amex still gets c2.75% commission on purchases made with this card. Corporate cards have not, and won’t be, touched by interchange fee caps. They are still a money machine for Amex and a bigger question is why more card companies haven’t launched co-branded ones.

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