How I Optimize Business Expenses for Amex Business Platinum Rewards

As an independent freelance journalist and owner of an award booking and credit card consulting agency, JetBetter, I really focus on maximizing my business purchases to earn valuable travel rewards. That’s a common experience for many business owners, who can certainly relate to the numerous expenses that come with running a business.

Growing a business often calls for some capital — and if you’re going to invest in it, why not be strategic about which card you use for different expenses? This approach allows you to maximize your spending and accumulate those bonus points in no time!

The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express is one of my favorite business rewards cards. It offers a fantastic array of benefits and serves as a valuable ally for small business owners.

Let’s look at how I use my Amex Business Platinum card to manage business spending while racking up hundreds of thousands of travel rewards annually.

Paying Taxes

Working as an independent contractor — sometimes known as a freelancer — offers considerable advantages. I set my own schedule, can take time off whenever I want, and am not required to attend daily meetings like I would if I were an employee of a company. However, there is one challenge that is inevitable and affects every self-employed person: taxes.

As a self-employed 1099 worker, you bear the responsibility of managing and paying your taxes directly to the IRS. In some cases, you could owe up to 37% of your income to the IRS if your earnings exceed a certain threshold. It’s important to set money aside to cover your taxes since there is no employer withholding taxes from your paycheck for you.

The Amex Business Platinum card earns 1.5x Membership Rewards points on qualifying purchases of $5,000 or more (up to $2 million in purchases each calendar year), which can accumulate notably for large expenses such as taxes. Since my quarterly tax bill consistently exceeds $5,000, I allocate funds from my income to cover my taxes and use my Amex Business Platinum card to settle the payment.

For instance, suppose my tax bill amounts to $10,000 each quarter. I can pay it with a credit card through a service like Pay1040.com, since you cannot directly pay taxes to the IRS with a credit card. This third-party payment processor accepts credit card payments and helps me earn travel rewards from my debt, but does charge a 1.87% processing fee.

A $10,000 tax bill multiplied by 4 quarters results in a total of $40,000 in spend. If I were to pay the $40,000 tax bill each year using my Amex Business Platinum card, I would earn 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards points.

Given that I value Amex points at 2.2 cents each, using my Amex Business Platinum card to cover my annual tax payment would yield a value of $1,320 worth of points — quite impressive even with the $748 in card fees.

If I only used the Amex Business Platinum card for paying taxes and nothing else, the rewards I’d earn would most certainly make the $695 annual fee (rates & fees) worth it.

Purchasing Airfare

My job as a freelance journalist specializing in travel and travel rewards frequently requires me to travel, which is understandable. In addition to work necessities such as a laptop, office space, and Wi-Fi, I also have to book travel to attend conferences and visit hotels that I intend to review.

When I need to purchase flights for a work trip, I usually use my Amex Business Platinum card because it earns 5x points on flights, prepaid hotels, and short-term rentals booked at AmexTravel.com. This is one of the best cards for airline purchases, so I am able to accumulate valuable points when booking a trip.

Despite my regular efforts to redeem points for airfare, my monthly business travel often forces me to buy my own airline tickets. In turn, the Amex Business Platinum card serves as my primary card for these purchases.

To enhance my earnings even more, a standout feature for Amex Business Platinum cardmembers is the Pay With Points rebate on select flights, allowing for a refund of up to 35% on redeemed points. To benefit from the Pay With Points feature, I simply book a business or first class flight on any airline through AmexTravel.com or choose any class of service with my preferred airline to get 35% of my points back. This option not only helps me save points but also allows me to earn miles and elite status credit with the airline I booked, as these purchases are considered revenue tickets.

Maximize Over $1,500 in Statement Credits

Operating a business can get costly. The Amex Business Platinum card provides cardmembers with over $1,500 in statement credits, which can effectively help offset its $695 annual fee and contribute to cost savings for your business. I maximize these credits to travel more efficiently and save money on my annual business expenses.

The following are the statement credits available to you as a cardmember:

• Up to $200 in annual airline statement credits (must select in advance)
• Up to $209 annual credit for CLEAR Plus membership
• Up to $120 statement credit for a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee
• $250 annual Adobe statement credit after qualifying purchases (enrollment required)
• Up to $360 annual Indeed statement credit (enrollment required)
• Up to $1,150 annual Dell statement credit after qualifying purchases (enrollment required)
• Up to $120 annual wireless phone service credit (enrollment required)

For instance, with the Indeed statement credit benefit from the Amex Business Platinum card, I get up to $90 per quarter in statement credits. This allows me to promote job listings and enhance them with a “sponsored” tag, which really helps in attracting high-quality candidates for the positions I’m aiming to fill for my award booking agency.

By enrolling and making the most of the over $1,500 in statement credits available to me, I can easily obtain enough monetary value for my businesses to make it worthwhile to keep the card each year.

Final Thoughts

The Amex Business Platinum card is my trusted companion for covering business expenses, like taxes from my freelance income, and it offers an excellent range of travel benefits for both work and leisure trips.

For business owners needing to make significant purchases, like buying office equipment or paying federal income taxes, the Amex Business Platinum card is vital as it features no preset spending limit.

By putting some thoughtful planning into managing my business expenses, I can rack up hundreds of thousands of points every year. This makes the card an invaluable tool in my wallet and a must-have for my businesses.