The Business Platinum Card® from American Express might be one of the more expensive credit cards on the market, featuring a steep $895 annual fee alongside a slew of benefits and statement credits that are fairly exhaustive.
For these reasons alone, I suspect a lot of business folks are immediately dismissive of the card; there might be better cards out there in terms of maximizing for points or cash back categories. Plus, if you’re deep in your own business’s books, you might not have time to care about most of the reason that high annual fee exists — the coupon book of various benefits, statement credits, and the like. For many business owners, if you aren’t shopping at brands in the Amex ecosystem, this might only sour you further.
However, there is one benefit of the Platinum Business Card that frankly blows all the others out of the water — particularly if you’re an avid traveler, happen to be points rich, or have a number of Amex consumer cards that earn Membership Rewards® points. In fact, it’s an offering so unique offering that frankly puts it apart from any other card in the ecosystem. It could cover the price of the annual fee alone for the right person, and I can’t stop thinking about it.
35% off has never been more attractive
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express boasts a unique offering that puts it apart from any other card from the issuer: the 35% Airline Bonus.
Each year, American Express allows Business Platinum cardholders to choose an airline to receive this special bonus when they Pay with Points in the Amex Travel portal. This means that Amex MR would then earn a base rate of 1.54 cents per point on your chosen airline, up to a limit of 1 million points per year.
If you’re already in the groove of transferring MR to redemption partners and receiving envious redemption rates north of 2 cents per point, dealing with Amex Travel might not sound like a great idea at face. I might have believed that too, but for avid travelers, the math here just makes sense.
Award travel is not very rewarding
Everybody loves a great redemption, but there is an evident drawback of the envious redemption rates.
While airlines might be glad to reward you with attractive redemptions (2 cents per point or more), almost all airlines won’t let you earn redeemable miles on an award ticket; most don’t allow you to earn status-qualifying points, either.
There has been a push in the industry to give status points to award flyers recently, with Delta Air Lines, United, and Alaska/Hawaiian opening up status earnings on award tickets. However, airlines like American Airlines, Southwest, JetBlue, Air Canada, and British Airways won’t give you anything. They won’t give you status points or miles.
As it stands, Virgin Atlantic is the only airline program that allows you to earn status points and redeemable miles on award travel, but there have been some pretty significant drawbacks to using that program recently (namely, fuel surcharges.)
Enter: Amex Travel’s super power
This is where booking through Amex Travel and choosing “Pay with Points” goes a long way. See, you might be giving Amex points, but they’re turning around and booking you a cash ticket.
That means you won’t just be earning the 35% Airline Bonus back in Amex MR, but you’ll be earning the miles and status points with your preferred airline.
Considering that most airlines are revenue-based, this is where you could really start to see savings stack up. Amex Travel usually prices tickets at 1 cent per point, although they are known to show some “Insider Fares” that might introduce additional savings.
How the savings stack: Two examples
Based on the aforementioned information, if an economy ticket is priced at $300, you would see it pretty darn close to 30,000 points on Amex Travel. Let’s take those numbers and assume you’re booking an economy, round trip ticket on two airlines via Amex Travel.
In both cases, Amex will take 10,500 points and give them back to you with the 35% Airline Bonus. However, the earnings from airline to airline could vary considerably. It could also be much greater if you elect for a different cabin type or have status with the airline.
With Delta: 40% off
Then, you’ll earn 5x points per mile, an additional 1,500 Delta miles. That’s a total of 12,000 points, or 40% less points. The earnings will be even higher on the Delta side if you elect for a higher cabin fare tier, or if you have status with the airline. This means that you could stand to earn even more off your tickets by booking in this way. Plus, even though you’re saving money, the effective cash rate of the ticket will count towards your credit.
With Alaska/Hawaiian: It depends
Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines are in the unusual position of offering flyers three ways to earn status, which is fantastic. You can earn status and miles from distance (miles flown), revenue, or segments flown. Candidly, this is where earnings might diverge dramatically. Let’s assume it’s distance-based and your round-trip flight was 2,500 miles. You’d be earning 2,500 miles, plus any additional earnings for ticket type or status. This is a saving of 13,000 points, or 43% off the ticket price.
Why this is a sweet spot
While I understand that there are folks who are finding sweet spots and enviable redemption rates, I’d venture to guess that most people make really poor redemptions with their points. Not everybody is going to be finding the Unicorn Business Class Awards (yeah, I’m looking at you guys booking Qatar QSuites for 70,000 Amex MR.)
A floor of 1.54 cents per point is pretty good, but it has the opportunity to rise closer to the more enviable 2 cents per point mark, depending on how you book and how your preferred airline does things.
Everybody should, of course, do the math for themselves.
I will admit that there are going to be better pockets to redeem in than what Amex Travel is offering. However, if you are an avid enough traveler, value earning points and status, and generally book in cash, then you might find this to be an attractive alternative in lieu of domestic cash bookings.
So how does it pay for itself?
I think for many people, the idea of toying around with a third-party travel portal might sound like more squeeze than juice. However, I think there are a few groups of people who can make this strategy pay off.
Let’s assume, just for a second, that you’re only interested in the Amex Platinum Business card for this reason alone. Let’s assume you don’t even look at any of the other credits (but trust me, there’s enough there to work with.) If you just wanted to earn the 35% Airline Bonus, you’d need to redeem
For starters, if you are entertaining the Amex Platinum Business for this reason exclusively, you’d have to redeem about 166,356 points per year to save more than the annual fee. At a 1 cent per point rate, let’s just call that about $1,663.
Frankly, that’s probably a low bar to clear for avid flyers. And mind you, there are a variety of other credits on the card that can be earned, including the $600 Hotel Credit on the Consumer Card and lounge. Terms apply.
So, who is this really for?
Alaska Airlines flyers, this is for you
Since Amex sunset the option to transfer to Hawaiian Airlines in Jun. 2025, the Amex ecosystem has become a lot less attractive for lots of west coast-based travelers who abide by their affinity to the new Atmos Rewards program.
If you’ve been stacking MR hoping for Atmos to return, there might be an outlet in this for you, especially if you abide by Alaska’s famous and beloved distance earning option. It’s far and away the best airline status program in the sky and Amex Travel offers a pretty fantastic way to spend MR, save some money, and earn Atmos, too.
Status maximalists who can’t compromise
If you love award travel and still find value in airline status, this offer sort of speaks for itself. Yes, earning miles on airlines is nice, but getting your status matters too.
Point hoarders, rise up
If you are already in the Amex points ecosystem, there’s probably a fair to moderate likelihood that you accumulate points and then have this tendency to sit on them forever and never spend them. If you feel personally addressed, just know that you are being called out here a little bit. This is also for you.
History has shown that points don’t generally get more valuable, so the time to spend them is… now. However, yes, I understand that many airline programs leave a lot to desire on domestic routes. Point maximalists have learned that points are best hoarded for international dream destinations, but those might feel so out of reach.
To that end, I would say that this makes the most sense when no better alternative exists on domestic routes.