LAST CALL: Get 120,000 points with American Express Business Platinum – full card review

UPDATE – JUNE 2023:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Cards’ menu above.  Thank you.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 13th June, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card is doubled to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – and you get £200 to spend at Amex Travel too! Don’t miss out. Read our full review here and apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 13th June, the sign-up bonus on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ card is doubled to 30,000 Virgin Points. Apply here.

Keep up to date with the latest UK credit card bonuses by signing up for our free daily or weekly newsletters.

American Express is currently running the biggest sign-up bonuses ever seen on a UK payment card.

These offers end on Thursday 30th March.

These are, genuinely, on a scale unlike anything we have seen before. If you or someone you know qualifies, you should seriously think about applying. It simply won’t get any better.

This article looks at American Express Business Platinum. However, don’t forget American Express Business Gold. It comes with a bonus of 60,000 Membership Rewards points, which is great going given that the card is free for the first year. 40,000 points are paid after spending £6,000 within three months, with the balance paid if you hold the card for 14 months. You can apply for Business Gold here. We looked at the Amex Business Gold card benefits in more detail yesterday.

The key facts about American Express Business Platinum

In today’s article, I want to look more closely at American Express Business Platinum. Here are the key things you need to know:

• American Express Business Platinum has a £650 annual fee, refunded pro-rata if you cancel

• You receive a sign-up bonus of 80,000 Membership Rewards points

• You need to spend £12,000 in three months to qualify for the bonus

• You will receive an additional 40,000 points bonus if you hold the card for 14 months (you must make one transaction of any size during months 14 to 17)

• This offer ends on Thursday 30th March 2023

Key link: American Express Business Platinum charge card application page

Why Amex Business Platinum?

The American Express Business Platinum charge card is issued directly by American Express.

The Amex business cards are aimed mainly at small businesses and sole traders. The criteria for applying are fairly lenient – whilst this is a Platinum card, the terms are identical to the Business Gold card:

• The business has a UK bank account
• You are over 18
• You have a permanent UK home address

There are no turnover or profitability requirements for the company itself.  There is no longer any requirement to have been in business for one year – you can now apply as soon as you have a bank account.

If you are sole trader, you do not need to have a dedicated business bank account.

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

What is the Amex Business Platinum sign-up bonus?

Until 30th March, you will receive 80,000 American Express Membership Rewards points when you spend £12,000 within three months. You receive an additional 40,000 points (for a total of 120,000 points) if you hold the card for 14 months. This is an exceptionally generous incentive.

To put it in context, I have never – in the 20 years I have been interested in miles and points – seen a bonus as high as 120,000 points. To be frank, prior to covid I had never seen a bonus of over 50,000 points.

The standard bonus on the Business Platinum card is just 40,000 Membership Rewards points.

What can you do with 120,000 Membership Rewards points?

Membership Rewards points can be converted into a range of goodies.  The most valuable options are converting into frequent flyer miles (including Avios points and Virgin Points) at a ratio of 1:1.  This means that the sign-up bonus is worth 120,000 Avios or 120,000 Virgin Points.

Amex points also convert into Hilton Honors (at 1:2), Marriott Bonvoy (at 2:3) and Radisson Rewards at 1:3. Club Eurostar is also an option at 15:1.

There are also a lot of non-travel redemptions including retailer gift cards, but the best value will come from travel redemptions.

Do you qualify for the 120,000 points?

American Express states on the Business Platinum website that “you will not receive the sign-up bonus if you have held a Membership Rewards enrolled card [ie Platinum, Gold or Green American Express card] in the 13 months before you apply.”  This includes personal and business cards.

Note that the rule here only looks back 13 months. This is more generous than personal American Express cards, where they look back 24 months.

For clarity, you will definitely receive the sign-up bonus if you already have, or recently had, a British Airways Amex, Marriott Bonvoy Amex, Nectar Amex, Harrods Amex or Platinum Cashback Amex.

You are also OK if you have the British Airways Accelerating Business SME card.

Any other benefits?

As usual, American Express adds a lot of bells and whistles to the Business Platinum card:

NEW: You receive £200 per year to spend at Amex Travel. The only condition is that the £200 is spent in one transaction. For most people this is almost as good as £200 of cash. The £200 credit renews on your card anniversary so if you keep the card for 14 months to earn the full 120,000 bonus Membership Rewards points then you would benefit from 2 x £200 credits.

You will receive a free Priority Pass card.  Priority Pass is a network of 1,300 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.  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 cardholders can get access, with a guest, by showing their Platinum card at the front desk. Plaza Premium also get impressive lounges in Heathrow Terminal 2, Edinburgh and Gatwick’s North Terminal (the old Virgin Atlantic clubhouse).

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).  Unlike the personal Platinum Amex card, which has weaker coverage, the insurance available on the Business product remains gold plated, in my opinion.  There is NO EXCESS to pay at any time 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 Premium 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.

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.

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 receive £150 credit per year to spend with Dell. No minimum spend applies but the credit is split into two parts. You can earn £75 cashback between January and June and £75 cashback between July and December.

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.

What do you earn when you spend on the card?

You receive 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on the card.

There is an extra bonus for high spenders. You will receive 10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points in every month where you spend over £10,000. This would make Business Platinum the most valuable travel rewards card on the market for anyone spending exactly £10,000 per month, as they would be averaging 2 points per £1.

What is the Amex Business Platinum annual fee?

The annual fee for American Express Business Platinum is £650, billed with your first statement and then annually thereafter.

The fee is refundable, pro-rata, if you decide to cancel at any point.  Once you have banked your 120,000 Membership Rewards points bonus after 14 months, you may want to reconsider if you are getting full value from all of the benefits.

You will receive one consolidated statement showing the spend on your card and all of the supplementary cards. All of the Membership Rewards points earned on the supplementary cards will flow into your personal account.

Depending on when in your monthly cycle you make a payment, you will effectively receive up to 54 days free credit on your spending.

American Express statements provide more underlying transaction detail for flights and certain other transactions than Visa or Mastercard statements, making it easier to reconcile transactions.

What is a Membership Rewards point worth?

Anything from ‘quite a bit’ to ‘a lot’ is the answer. This article outlines my view on the most valuable American Express Membership Rewards transfer options.

In the very worse case, you can transfer your 120,000 Membership Rewards points into 120,000 Avios and onwards into 160,000 Nectar points. 160,000 Nectar points will get you £800 to spend at Sainsbury’s, Argos or eBay.

£800 is the worse case scenario for your 120,000 bonus points on Business Platinum, remember. You should be able to get more value than that if you use your points for a premium cabin air miles redemption.

You can take a look at the full list of American Express Membership Rewards redemption options here.

Any downsides?

As with all Amex business cards, the only major issue with Amex Business Platinum is the lack of acceptance by some suppliers.

Realistically, you will need to have a Visa or Mastercard as well to ensure that you can always get a card accepted.  I recommend the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa credit card.  Capital On Tap offers 10,000 Avios for signing up – plus an extra 500 points for HfP readers – and a very generous earning rate of 1 Avios per £1.

The Head for Points verdict:

If you are a sole trader or own a small business (even a service company) then the American Express Business Platinum card has always been worth a look. We have the card here at Head for Points, with Rhys as my free supplementary cardholder and Sinead as a paid-for additional supplementary cardholder, and it works well.

The 120,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up is a huge extra incentive. 120,000 Avios, for example, would get you an off-peak return Club World flight from London to New York, depending on the mix of cash and Avios you chose. Convert 108,000 points to 108,000 Emirates Skywards miles and you can fly in Emirates A380 Business Class to Dubai and back. Taxes and charges apply, of course.

You also benefit from the £200 annual Amex Travel credit, the comprehensive travel insurance, Priority Pass and hotel status cards, The Times digital subscription, the £150 of annual Dell credit etc which add a lot of value.

How to apply

The official Amex Business Platinum website, which contains full details and the application form, is here.

You must apply by this Thursday, 30th March, to qualify for the 120,000 Membership Rewards points sign-up bonus.

Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points. The site discusses products offered by lenders but is not a lender itself. Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an independent credit broker.

---

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – June 2023 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 13th June, the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card is doubled to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – and you get £200 to spend at Amex Travel too! Apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 13th June, the sign-up bonus on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ card is doubled to 30,000 Virgin Points. Apply here.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.