How I’m Redeeming Amex Business Platinum’s 150K Welcome Offer for a Summer NYC Trip

Sometimes it’s great to use your points for first-class flights and 5-star hotels, but other times, it’s nice to just have points that you can use to keep actual cash in your pocket. Flexible rewards points, like American Express Membership Rewards, can be a great way to build an amazing trip.

With The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, new applicants can earn the following welcome bonus offer: Earn 150,000 points after spending $20,000 in eligible purchases within the first 3 months.

There are many travel possibilities with this welcome offer, but today we’ll focus on maximizing it for a trip to the Big Apple!

Amex Business Platinum Card Limited-Time Welcome Offer

Through June 30, the Amex Business Platinum card boasts a welcome bonus:

Meeting the $20,000 Spending Requirement

Spending $20,000 in only 3 months may seem insurmountable, but depending on the size of your business, routine expenses like spending on ads, payroll, or federal and state tax payments can be a great way to meet this threshold quickly. If your provider allows it, paying ahead for utilities, insurance, or tuition can also help.

How To Maximize 150,000 Membership Rewards Points

We are going to use our 150,000 Membership Rewards points to book our flights and hotel for a weekend getaway to New York City.

First, the flights. Of course, the exact cost of a flight depends on both the dates you are flying and where you are flying from. Here is an example of a round-trip flight from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport (CVG) to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on Delta Air Lines.

Delta SkyMiles is an American Express transfer partner, so you can transfer 48,000 Membership Rewards points to Delta to become 48,000 Delta SkyMiles.

That would be enough for 2 tickets on the above flights, with a few miles left over. Of course, your flights may cost more or less, depending on when and from where you are flying.

Next, it’s time to book our hotel. We will book through the Amex Hotel Collection, which you can access with the Amex Business Platinum card. Even better, cardholders receive a $100 property credit (to spend on qualifying dining, spa, and resort activities at the hotel) for stays of 2 nights or more through the Amex Hotel Collection. We also get early check-in, late checkout, and a room upgrade upon arrival, when available.

While there are many potential properties available, here is a weekend stay at the Hyatt Centric Times Square, only half a block from Times Square.

While using Amex points to pay for hotels through AmexTravel.com is not the best way to redeem Membership Rewards, it can make sense if you are trying to save cash.

Adding the approximately 107,000 points for the hotel to the 48,000 points transferred to Delta, that raises the total cost for our weekend trip to 155,000 Membership Rewards points. While this is slightly more than the welcome bonus offer, remember that we also earn Membership Rewards points from the $20,000 we’re spending to qualify for the welcome offer.

Maximizing Amex Business Platinum Card Benefits

While you are meeting the minimum spending requirement for the welcome offer, you also earn points with every eligible purchase.

The Amex Business Platinum card earns 5x points on flights, prepaid hotels, and short-term rentals and prepaid flight and hotel packages booked at AmexTravel.com, and 1.5x points for eligible purchases at U.S. electronic goods retailers (like Apple), U.S. shipping providers, U.S. software and cloud system providers, U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers, and purchases of $5,000 more (limited to $2,000,000 per year). All other purchases still earn 1x points.

This business card charges a $695 annual fee (rates & fees), but also comes with many benefits:

• Access to over 1,400 lounges at airports around the world, including American Express Centurion Lounges (domestic and international), Delta Sky Clubs (with a same-day Delta boarding pass), and Priority Pass lounges (enrollment required)
• Up to $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
• Generous statement credits: including eligible purchases made at Dell Technologies, Indeed, Adobe, U.S. wireless service providers, airline fee incidentals, and a CLEAR Plus membership (enrollment required for some benefits)
• Up to $200 Hilton statement credit upon enrollment per calendar year
• $200 airline statement credit of up to $200 per calendar year for incidental fees at one selected qualifying airline (enrollment required)
• Complimentary Gold elite status with Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy upon enrollment
• 35% airline bonus when you use Pay With Points for flights booked through AmexTravel.com (up to 1 million points per year)
• Access to the Fine Hotels + Resorts program with benefits like daily breakfast for 2, 4 p.m. checkout, and more.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re planning a dream trip to New York City or looking to unlock premium travel perks for future adventures, the limited-time welcome offer on the Amex Business Platinum card is a powerful opportunity. With a little strategy and planning, meeting the $20,000 spending requirement is absolutely achievable, and the rewards are more than worth it.