This Is the 1 Reason I’m Keeping the Amex Business Platinum Card

The decision to keep or cancel a credit card is one that many of us in the points and miles hobby are quite familiar with. While I have some cards that have a secure spot in my wallet, others go through an evaluation process each year.

That’s where I was recently with The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express. It’s one of the most premium business cards on the market today with a long list of perks but carries a hefty $695 annual fee (rates & fees).

This year, there was a single perk that cemented my decision to keep the card, and it’s one that flies under the radar. What’s that magical perk that convinced me to keep my Amex Business Platinum card? Keep reading to find out.

Amex Business Platinum Card Benefits

I’m not going to spend a lot of time going over all of the Amex Business Platinum card benefits. Instead, I’ll just point out a couple of the ones I find most valuable.

• Up to $200 Airline Fee Credit: This credit can be used for things like baggage fees and seat assignments on your qualifying airline each year. There are other unofficial ways to use this credit, but you need to proceed with caution. For example, I have had success using it to fund my United TravelBank over the years.
• Up to $199 CLEAR Plus Credit: CLEAR is an expedited security program available at select airports and I get my CLEAR Plus membership fee reimbursed. I like having CLEAR Plus, but I wouldn’t pay full price for it, so I am happy to get it as a benefit of this card.
• Up to $120 Wireless Credit: This $10 monthly credit can be applied to any wireless phone bill so long as you pay with your card.
• Up to $400 Dell Credit: I’ve gotten a good amount of value out of this credit over the years, but it takes a bit of time to search for products that I want, so I don’t value this at full price. It’s good for up to $200 semiannually for U.S. purchases made directly with Dell or at dell.com.
• 35% Pay With Points Rebate: This is a fun perk that allows you to get a 35% rebate when you purchase certain flights with points (any flight on your selected airline or business or first class on any airline; up to 1 million bonus points a year). I have only used this perk once, but it’s one I like having access to.

Note that some benefits require enrollment through your American Express account to take full advantage of your card’s benefits. This is vital especially considering the card’s annual fee is pretty steep at $695.

If you’re on the fence about getting this card, consider the substantial welcome offer, which can be as high as 250,000 points! Those points can be used in lots of ways, but my favorite is using them to book international business-class flights. I’ve also gotten great value booking international premium economy flights (a great alternative for daytime flights or when business class availability is hard to find).

Amex Business Platinum Card Refer a Friend

I get decent value from the Amex Business Platinum card, but it’s not a slam dunk for me. For that reason, I was leaning toward canceling. However, I noticed something that changed my mind. This card’s refer-a-friend bonus was raised to 30,000 points.

Then, a few days later I saw it was even higher — 35,000 points for each referral, up to 100,000 points per year.

These referral offers are targeted and can vary between cards and customers. Between my husband’s cards and my cards, this is the only one that has an offer like this.

We value Amex points at 2.2 cents each. That means I would earn $770 worth of points by referring just 1 person. That’s more than the cost of the annual fee. It’s a great deal when combined with the other benefits I get from this card, and an excellent way to earn a large chunk of points without having to open a new credit card.

I often have friends ask me for referral links, so this is a useful benefit to have. Regardless, I can use this perk to refer my husband for a new American Express card to earn the 35,000-point bonus. Even better, I could do both!

The great thing about the American Express Refer a Friend program is that you can refer someone to almost any American Express card. So I can use the referral link generated by my Amex Business Platinum card to refer a friend to any card, even one without an annual fee, like The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Yes, you can even refer someone to a personal card from a business card and vice versa!).

Final Thoughts

There’s a lot that goes into deciding whether or not to keep a card with a high annual fee year after year. You need to consider the value you get from the card’s benefits to decide if it’s worth it.

I decided to keep my Amex Business Platinum card this year because I was targeted for a 35,000-point referral offer. If I refer just 1 person to any American Express card, I earn a 35,000-point bonus, which has a value of around $770 — more than the cost of the annual fee.

That perk, combined with the card’s other benefits, like the wireless credit and airline fee credit, makes it worth it for me to keep this card for another year.