Advertiser Disclosure

Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive financial compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). However, the credit card information that we publish has been written and evaluated by experts who know these products inside out. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers that are on the market. See our advertising policy here where we list advertisers that we work with, and how we make money. You can also review our credit card rating methodology.

How & When To Use the Amex Business Platinum Card 35% “Pay With Points” Rebate

Carissa Rawson's image
Carissa Rawson
Carissa Rawson's image

Carissa Rawson

Senior Content Contributor

244 Published Articles

Countries Visited: 51U.S. States Visited: 36

Carissa served in the U.S. Air Force where she developed her love for travel and new cultures. She started her own blog and eventually joined The Points Guy. Since then, she’s contributed to Business ...
Edited by: Keri Stooksbury
Keri Stooksbury's image

Keri Stooksbury

Editor-in-Chief

29 Published Articles, 3029 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 45U.S. States Visited: 28

With years of experience in corporate marketing and as the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Qatar, Keri is now Editor-in-Chief at UP, overseeing daily content operations and r...
& Kellie Jez
Kellie Jez's image

Kellie Jez

Director of Operations & Compliance

1 Published Article, 1166 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 10U.S. States Visited: 20

Kellie’s professional experience has led her to a deep passion for compliance, data reporting, and process improvement. Kellie’s learned the ins and outs of the points and miles world and leads UP’s c...

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

If you’re interested in award travel — or points and miles in general — you’ve likely heard of American Express Membership Rewards. These points, earned by using your Amex card for qualifying purchases, can be used for a variety of purposes — from business-class travel to gift cards.

One unique feature Amex offers is the ability to use Pay With Points on certain flights and receive a rebate of up to 50% on your redeemed points. This option is available to those who hold either The Business Platinum Card® from American Express or the Business Centurion® Card from American Express.

While, generally speaking, reward points are most valuable when transferred to a travel partner, there are certain circumstances when taking advantage of the Pay With Points rebate makes sense. In this guide, we’re going to break down the Pay With Points feature, when you should use it, and how to do so.

What Is Pay With Points?

Lufthansa First Class flight
You can Pay With Points for any business or first class flight on any airline. Image Credit: Cherag Dubash

First things first: what is Pay With Points? Although plenty of credit cards offer some variation of this feature — such as redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards via the Chase travel portalAmex’s travel program is the most generous.

It is more restrictive than others but can allow you to redeem your Membership Rewards at a value of up to 2 cents per point. More commonly, you’ll likely be redeeming your Membership Rewards for a value of 1.54 cents per point, which still outstrips the 1.5 cents available to those with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the 1 cent per point offered via the Citi Premier® Card and the Citi Prestige® Card.

In order to take advantage of this program, you’ll need to book your flight on AmexTravel.com. When booking, you can choose to redeem points to pay for all or some of your flight. Although you can use points to pay for any flight, the Pay With Points rebate only applies to flights that meet certain criteria:

  • Any Flight Booked With Your Chosen Airline — Certain Amex cardholders have the ability to select a preferred airline each year. These match the airline you select for your airline fee credit. Any class of service booked on your chosen airline will qualify for the rebate. This includes economy, premium economy, business, first, and even basic economy.
  • A Business or First Class Flight on Any Airline — Regardless of which airline you have selected for your airline fee credit, you can Pay With Points and receive a rebate if you’re flying business or first class.

Once booked, Amex will then refund up to 50% of your points to your account, depending on which card you hold. It’s important to remember that this is a rebate — not a discount — so you’ll first need to have enough points in your account for the amount you’d like to redeem. Then, your rebated points will post back to your account within 6 to 10 weeks.

Bottom Line: Pay With Points is an American Express program that allows you to redeem your Amex points for increased value on flights booked with AmexTravel.com.

Which Cards Offer Pay With Points?

Amex Business Platinum
3 Amex business cards offer Pay With Points, including The Business Platinum Card® from American Express. Image Credit: American Express

Two of the American Express business cards offer a Pay With Points rebate:

Amex Business Platinum Card — One of Amex’s most popular cards, the Amex Business Platinum card offers a 35% rebate.

OUR BEST OFFER
The Business Platinum Card® from American ExpressTerms Apply / Rates & Fees

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

U.P. Rating
The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

This card is ideal for business travelers who enjoy luxury travel and are looking for a card loaded with benefits!

Learn More(at Amex's secure site)

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

This card is ideal for business travelers who enjoy luxury travel and are looking for a card loaded with benefits!
Earn 120,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with your Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
120,000 points
$2,640
$695
19.49% - 27.49% Variable
Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.
Good to Excellent (670-850)

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is a premium travel rewards card tailored toward business owners who are frequent travelers with a high number of annual expenses.

When you factor in the large number of perks that the card offers like the best airport lounge access at over 1,400 lounges, along with tons of annual credits, it’s easy to see why this card can is a top option for frequent traveling business owners.

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a huge welcome bonus offer of up to 170,000 points with the Amex Business Platinum. The current public offer is 120,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

Pros

  • 5x Membership Rewards points per $1 on flights and prepaid hotels at Amex Travel
  • Up to $200 annual airline fee credit on your selected qualifying airline
  • Statement credits on select purchases with your card
  • 35% airline bonus when using Pay With Points (up to 1,000,000 bonus points per calendar year)
  • Access to over 1,400 worldwide airport lounges as part of the American Express Global Lounge Collection
  • Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
  • Get 50% more Membership Rewards points (1.5 points per $1) on eligible purchases in key business categories, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more (cap applies)
  • Access to Amex’s Fine Hotels & Resorts program

Cons

  • High annual fee of $695 (rates and fees)
  • Airline fee credit does not cover airfare, only incidentals like checked bags
  • Welcome Offer: Earn 120,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with your Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership.
  • 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on AmexTravel.com, and 1X points for each dollar you spend on eligible purchases.
  • Earn 1.5X points (that’s an extra half point per dollar) on each eligible purchase at US construction material, hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else, on up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year.
  • Unlock over $1,000 in annual statement credits on a curation of business purchases, including select purchases made with Dell Technologies, Indeed, Adobe, and U.S. wireless service providers.
  • $200 Airline Fee Credit: Get up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year for incidental fees charged by your one selected, qualifying airline to your Card.
  • $189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Use your card and get up to $189 in statement credits per calendar year on your CLEAR® Plus Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Business Platinum Card®.
  • The American Express Global Lounge Collection® can provide an escape at the airport. With complimentary access to more than 1,400 airport lounges across 140 countries and counting, you have more airport lounge options than any other credit card issuer on the market as of 03/2023.
  • $695 Annual Fee.
  • Terms Apply.

Financial Snapshot

  • APR: 19.49% - 27.49% Variable
  • Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Card Categories

Rewards Center

American Express Membership Rewards

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a huge welcome bonus offer of up to 170,000 points with the Amex Business Platinum. The current public offer is 120,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

Business Centurion® Card from American Express — An invitation-only card, the Amex Business Centurion card offers a 50% rebate on redeemed points. Unlike other cards, this rebate can be used on any flight, regardless of chosen airline or fare class.

All information about the Business Centurion® Card from American Express has been collected independently by Upgraded Points.

Each card also has a maximum amount of points you receive as a rebate each year. Here’s a look at each card and its differences when redeeming rewards via Pay With Points:

SCROLL FOR MORE
Amex Business Platinum CardAmex Business Centurion Card
Rebate Amount35%50%
Value Per Point1.54 cents2 cents
Eligible FlightsAll flights on your chosen airline, first and business class flights with any airlineAll flights booked with your card
Maximum Rebate per Year1,000,000 pointsUnlimited

Bottom Line: There are 2 American Express cards that will give you a rebate, but the most commonly used one is the Amex Business Platinum card

Which Airlines Qualify for the Pay With Points Rebate?

Alaska Airlines Plane Flying Overhead
Economy flights on Alaska Airlines are eligible for the Pay With Points rebate if you’ve chosen Alaska Airlines as your preferred airline. Image Credit: Allie Smith via Unsplash

Since you’ll need to book your flight with AmexTravel.com, it’s possible that you won’t be able to see all flights to a given destination. Of the ones you can see, only certain flights and airlines qualify for the rebate.

If you’re booking an economy flight, your rebate is limited by the airline you’ve chosen for your airline fee credit. Here are the airlines American Express will allow you to choose:

  • Alaska Airlines
  • American Airlines
  • Delta Air Lines
  • Frontier Airlines
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • JetBlue Airways
  • Spirit Airlines
  • Southwest Airlines
  • United Airlines

Keep note that you’re able to change this selection once per year, in January — otherwise, you’ll be stuck with your previous year’s airline. If you’ve never chosen an airline you can select one at any time. Also, anecdotally, some cardholders have had success changing their airline beyond January if they haven’t used any of their credit yet and call in to ask.

You can use your Amex Business Platinum card to fly business or first class on any airline and receive the Pay With Points rebate. 

Bottom Line: There are 9 domestic airlines that can qualify for a Pay With Points rebate in economy class. Business and first class flights are eligible for the rebate regardless of airline. 

How Do You Use Pay With Points?

Using the Pay With Points feature is fairly easy. If you’ve ever booked travel via the American Express website, this will be familiar to you.

First, you’ll need to log in to your American Express account. Then, you’ll navigate to the top left and click on the Menu button.

American Express travel dashboard
Image Credit: American Express

From here you’ll highlight Travel, and then select either Book a trip or Book International Airline Program. Both will allow you to navigate to a page where you can search for flights.

American Express flight search
Image Credit: American Express

Once you’ve input your information, Amex will display your results.

American Express flight search results
Image Credit: American Express

Be aware that American Express automatically sorts its results by Recommended Flights, which is not necessarily the lowest cost flight. Once you’ve decided which flight you want, Amex will take you through a booking process, asking for information such as your name and seat preference.

Hot Tip: Amex sometimes offers lower prices on first, business, and premium economy class tickets as part of its International Airline Program, which means you’ll end up using fewer points to pay. 

When it comes time to check out, you’ll be prompted to use cash, points, or a combination of the 2:

American Express Pay with points
Image Credit: American Express

Even if you only choose to pay for part of your flight with points, you’ll still receive the rebate on the points you’ve redeemed as long as the flight is eligible.

That’s it! In this example, you’d redeem 9,400 points upfront (or some combination thereof) and receive anywhere from 35% to 50% back in 6 to 10 weeks.

Bottom Line: Using Pay With Points is a simple process, but you need to have all the required points upfront.

When Should You Use Pay With Points?

Delta One Water Service
Consider transferring your Amex points to Delta for a lie-flat experience in Delta One. Image Credit: Delta

There are a lot of arguments people can make about why or why not you should use the Pay With Points program, and they’re pretty much all correct.

In a lot of cases, transferring your points to one of Amex’s airline partners can cost you less than booking a flight via the AmexTravel.com site. This is especially true when you’re using points for a business class flight.

For example, if you’re looking to fly to Europe in business class, you can choose to transfer 88,000 Amex points to ANA and fly roundtrip on its Star Alliance partners.

In contrast, cash prices for business class flights to Europe regularly run upwards of $3,000 roundtrip. If you were to book that directly via Amex’s website, it would cost you 300,000 points upfront. If you’re using the Amex Business Platinum card, then once your 35% rebate posted, you’d still be out 195,000 points. That’s more than double what you’d spend if you had transferred your points instead!

This sounds like a compelling argument to never use the Pay With Points rebate, but there are absolutely situations where it still makes sense.

When To Use Pay With Points: Cheap Cash Flights

Southwest Airlines SNA Airport
Even though Southwest is not an Amex transfer partner, you can take advantage of the Pay With Points rebate if you’ve selected Southwest as your preferred airline. Image Credit: Sven Piper via Unsplash

There are many Amex airline partners to which you can transfer your Membership Rewards. Each of the 3 major airline alliances, Skyteam, Star Alliance, and Oneworld, are all well-represented here. Most of these will transfer at a 1:1 ratio, meaning 1 Amex point will become 1 airline mile.

Each airline then has its own program for redeeming miles; some will use distance-based award charts, some will have off-peak and peak pricing depending on demand, and some will fluctuate wildly according to the cash price of the ticket. Here are the Amex airline transfer partners:

  • Aer Lingus
  • AeroMexico
  • Air Canada
  • Air France/KLM
  • ANA
  • Avianca
  • British Airways
  • Cathay Pacific
  • Delta
  • Emirates
  • Etihad
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • Iberia
  • JetBlue
  • Qantas
  • Singapore Airlines
  • Virgin Atlantic

Let’s take a look at Avianca, whose Lifemiles program offers some excellent redemptions on its Star Alliance partners. Your Amex points will transfer to this airline at a 1:1 ratio, and transfers are instant.

Avianca usually uses a standardized award chart based on region, though its prices for travel within the U.S. tends to vary. Notably, it generally charges fewer miles for domestic United flights than United’s own MileagePlus program.

Here’s a flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Maui (OGG) via Lifemiles. Even in economy and one-way, 15,000 miles doesn’t seem like it’s too costly:

Lifemiles United flights
Image Credit: Lifemiles

That same flight, however, can be found for only 9,400 points on the American Express website:

Flight booking on American Express Travel
Image Credit: American Express

If you have an Amex Business Platinum card and United is your selected airline, you can redeem 9,400 Amex points and receive a rebate of 3,290 points, making your total out of pocket cost just 6,110 points instead of 15,000 points. It’s the same flight with the same seats but less than half the cost.

Even if you’re not going to use the 35% rebate, you can still see that the 9,400 points are less than 15,000, so it’s always worth checking out the price for transfer partners versus the actual Amex website before you book.

Don’t forget that you can use your Amex Business Platinum card for business or first class flights booked via the AmexTravel.com website and still qualify for the rebate, no matter which airline you fly with.

This especially helpful when booking tickets on an airline that Amex doesn’t allow you to select for the airline fee credit.

Hot Tip: The only airlines that qualify for the Amex airline fee credit are domestic. By booking a business class ticket instead of economy with a foreign carrier, you’ll still be able to receive the Pay With Points rebate.

Let’s take a look at how this would work on a business class flight. Delta is a transfer partner of American Express at a 1:1 ratio and transfers are typically instant.

For a one-way trip from New York (JFK) to London (LHR), Delta will charge you 290,000 miles to fly in its premium Delta One cabin:

Delta One Skymiles Award cost
Image Credit: Delta

Of course, Delta is known for its exorbitant award rate costs, but if you’re intent on flying Delta and using points, you can instead opt to use the AmexTravel.com portal, where the same flight will cost you 302,420 Amex points upfront.

Amex Delta One flight cost
Image Credit: American Express

However, once you’ve received a 35% rebate, you’ll be out of pocket just 196,573 points, saving you nearly 100,000 miles on this booking.

Is this a great use of your Amex points? Not necessarily, but there are situations where paying that much for your ticket can make sense, especially if you’re looking to fly with a specific airline.

Bottom Line: If the ticket is cheap or award prices are high, it can cost less to use Pay With Points than to transfer your points and book an award ticket. 

When To Use Pay With Points: Earning Elite Status

United Polaris cabin at night
By leveraging airline partnerships, your next flight on United Polaris business class could help fast-track your way to elite status. Image Credit: Chris Hassan

There are 2 types of flyers: those who care about elite status, and those who don’t.

Generally speaking, people looking to achieve elite status tend to fly a single airline for work rather than fun, while those who fly less often — and usually for pleasure — will seek better prices rather than specific airlines. However, there is no doubt that airline elite status comes with some serious perks. From international business class upgrades to free checked bags, there is a strong case to be made for pursuing elite status with an airline.

But if you’re still pretty price-sensitive, it can make sense to use your Amex points to book your flight because it allows you to redeem points while still earning elite status. Why? Because booking a flight via AmexTravel.com counts as a paid ticket rather than an award ticket, even when you use Pay With Points. So while you’re still spending your Amex points, you’re also accruing elite-qualifying miles in addition to any award miles you earn.

It’s easy enough to book a business class flight and add your frequent flyer number in order to get credit for your flight. As an added bonus, business and first class flights often have class-of-service bonuses that allow you to rack up miles more quickly. But you can also take this 1 step further.

Let’s consider United Airlines, whose MileagePlus loyalty program changed drastically in 2019 in order to focus on cash spent with the airline rather than miles flown. If you book a ticket directly with United, you’ll only earn elite-qualifying points based on the fare of your ticket, rather than the actual distance you flew. This is true of all 3 big U.S. airlines: United, American Airlines, and Delta.

However, when you book a ticket with and fly on a partner airline, but still credit it to your United, Delta, or American Airlines account, the amount you’ll earn is usually calculated according to the distance you flew divided by a set amount, rather than the price you paid.

Each airline has a separate earning chart for each partner, but let’s look at United’s Air Canada chart*:

SCROLL FOR MORE
Class of ServicePurchased Fare ClassAward Mile Earnings (Including Fare Class Bonus)
BusinessJ, C, D, Z, P200%
Premium EconomyO, E150%
Discount Premium EconomyN125%
Full-Fare EconomyY, B150%
EconomyM, U, H100%
Discount EconomyQ, V, W, G75%
International Deep Discount EconomyS, T, L, A, K50%
Domestic Deep Discount Economy1S, T, L, A, K25%
No Mileage CreditF, I, R, X0%
* Ticket number does not start with “016” and for flights flown on and after March 30, 2019

Air Canada is a preferred partner of United, which means that in order to calculate how many Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) you’ll get, you’ll divide the number of award miles you earn by 5 (non-preferred partners are divided by 6).

So you can book an Air Canada flight on AmexTravel.com using Amex points and credit it to your United account. If you’re flying business class, you’ll be given 200% of the miles you flew in the form of award miles. You’ll then divide those miles by 5 to see how many elite-qualifying miles you get.

Let’s look at a sample flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Cairo (CAI) in December 2021:

Amex travel LAX CAI Air Canada
Image Credit: American Express

This flight will cost you 219,320 Amex points after a 35% rebate. The same flight is also available via United on AmexTravel.com and will cost you the same amount, but by leveraging the Air Canada partnership to earn elite status with United instead of booking directly with United, you’ll come out far ahead.

How far ahead?

If you book with Air Canada and credit to United, you’ll earn 31,778 MileagePlus miles redeemable for flights and 6,355 PQPs.

You only need 10,000 PQPs to hit Gold elite status, the second of United’s 5 tiers. This single flight will put you over half of the way there.

Bookings on United only give you earnings based on the price of your ticket and don’t include taxes and fees. In this case, the base fare for the flight is $1,900. So if you booked this flight directly with United, you’d only earn 1,900 PQPs and 9,500 award miles (if you have no elite status; the amount of award miles you earn changes based on your status).

Bottom Line: All business and first class flights booked via AmexTravel.com will earn you elite-qualifying points and a rebate when using Pay With Points, but if you’re looking to earn elite status quickly, it’s a good idea to know which airline partnerships will maximize your earnings. 

When To Use Pay With Points: When You Can’t Find Award Availability

woman frustrated at her laptop
AmexTravel.com can help cut the headache of searching for award space. Image Credit: Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

One limitation of award flights is that most airlines only release seats sparingly, if at all. This is especially true for highly coveted business and first class seats. And if you’re traveling with a partner or family, finding enough seats for everyone can be a nightmarish experience.

Because tickets booked with AmexTravel.com are considered paid tickets, they don’t face the same limitations that award flights do. If the flight has availability and Amex has it on its website, you can use your Pay With Points to book it. It’s as easy as that.

Bottom Line: Booking with AmexTravel.com and using Pay With Points allows you to bypass award availability restrictions, which can get you and your family on a flight sooner. 

When To Use Pay With Points: When You Don’t Want To Bother With Transfer Partners

Similar to the above point, using Pay With Points can be a smart option for those who simply don’t want to fuss with transferring points to airlines. Most of us know at least 1 — and probably half a dozen — family members who’ve dipped their toes into the water of award travel but don’t have the patience to research award charts, transfer partners, award availability, transfer times, points ratios, and the dozen other must-know pieces of information it takes to successfully transfer and book award flights.

So rather than allowing them to use those hard-earned Amex points on, say, magazine subscriptions, point them to the AmexTravel.com portal and allow them to book their flights with no fuss, using Pay With Points to redeem Amex points for up to 2 cents of value.

Bottom Line: Most people don’t have enough time or the know-how to deal with the intricacies of airline travel partners. Pay With Points still allows you to redeem your points for a decent value without wasting any time.

Final Thoughts

Most card issuers have some form of a travel portal that allows you to redeem your points towards flights. Amex’s program, while more restrictive than others, offers the best value for these redemptions. It doesn’t always make sense to use the Pay With Points program and its rebates, but there are plenty of situations in which it can be the better choice. Best of all, it’s simple and easy to use.

The information regarding the Business Centurion® Card from American Express was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information for the Citi Prestige® Card has been collected independently by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to use Amex Business Platinum card points?

This depends on how you spend your time, but usually the best way to spend your Amex points is by transferring them to one of Amex’s many hotel and airline partners.

How long does the Amex Business Platinum card 35% rebate take to post?

It’s important to remember that the rebate takes time to post, so you’ll need to have all the points for your redemption in your account upfront. The usual timeframe for them to be returned to you is somewhere between 6 to 10 weeks.

How do you get the 35% rebate with Amex Business Platinum card flights?

If you have the Amex Business Platinum card, you can book flights via AmexTravel.com to receive the rebate. Economy flights qualify for the rebate if they’re on your chosen airline. Business and first class flights qualify regardless of airline.

Does the Amex Business Platinum card 35% rebate work for hotels?

Unfortunately, no. While Amex does have 3 hotel transfer partners, the Amex Business Platinum card Pay With Points rebate only works on flights booked via AmexTravel.com.

Carissa Rawson's image

About Carissa Rawson

Carissa served in the U.S. Air Force where she developed her love for travel and new cultures. She started her own blog and eventually joined The Points Guy. Since then, she’s contributed to Business Insider, Forbes, and more.

INSIDERS ONLY: UP PULSE

Deluxe Travel Provided by UP Pulse

Get the latest travel tips, crucial news, flight & hotel deal alerts...

Plus — expert strategies to maximize your points & miles by joining our (free) newsletter.

We respect your privacy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA. Google's privacy policy and terms of service apply.

Deluxe Travel Provided by UP Pulse
DMCA.com Protection Status