The Business Platinum Card from American Express

Rewards by category

Our take

The Business Platinum Card from American Express fits a business that funnels travel through one portal. Flights and prepaid hotels booked on Amex Travel earn 5x Membership Rewards points, good for second place in our flights ranking and fourth for hotels. A 2x rate on software and SaaS, shipping, and home improvement rounds it out, and puts it third in our software ranking.

The tradeoff is structure. The 5x rate only applies through the travel portal; book anywhere else and you are back at the card's 1x base rate. The 2x business categories share a combined cap, with a lower rate after you hit it. At $895 a year, with points valued conservatively at one cent each, this card only makes sense when portal travel is a habit, not an occasional booking.

In a small wallet, treat it strictly as a bonus card. Everything outside its listed categories earns 1x, so pair it with a flat-rate card that sets a higher floor for everyday purchases. Let the Business Platinum handle portal flights and prepaid hotels at 5x, plus the capped 2x on software, shipping, and home improvement, and route the rest of your spend elsewhere.

The math

Run $250 a month of flights through this card and you're earning about $150 a year at our conservative valuations. Against the $895 annual fee, that top rate needs roughly $2,500 a month of flights spend before it beats a no-fee flat 2% card.

Where it lands in our rankings: #2 for software & saas · #5 for electronics · #5 for home improvement

Common questions

Does The Business Platinum Card from American Express have an annual fee?

Yes — $895 per year.

What does The Business Platinum Card from American Express earn on flights?

5x on flights (via the travel portal).

What rewards does The Business Platinum Card from American Express earn on everything else?

1x on all other purchases, in American Express Membership Rewards.

What's the catch with the Business Platinum's 5x on travel?

The 5x on flights and prepaid hotels only applies to bookings made through the Amex travel portal. Book directly with an airline or hotel and the purchase earns the card's 1x base rate instead. If you prefer booking direct, check whether another card in your wallet covers travel better before defaulting to this one.

Does the Business Platinum charge foreign transaction fees?

No. The card carries no foreign transaction fee, so business purchases abroad are not surcharged. Spend outside the bonus categories still earns the 1x base rate wherever you are, so the card's real international strength remains flights and prepaid hotels booked through the travel portal. Use it abroad the same way you would at home.

Related reading

• How we value points and miles (and why our numbers are lower than everyone else's)SwipeCaddy ranks cards by reward rate × a conservative cash value per point: 1¢ for cash back and transferable points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, Bilt), 1.1–1.3¢ for airline miles, 0.4–1.4¢ for hotel points, and 0.8–0.9¢ for store currencies. Optimistic transfer values are recorded for context but never ranked, because most people never achieve them.