American Express Business Platinum Card relaunches with record-high 120,000-point welcome offer, new perks and spending categories

Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

American Express is relaunching The Business Platinum Card® from American Express with brand new spending categories, benefits and a large welcome offer.

For many small business owners, the Covid-19 pandemic has shifted the way they do business, and in an interview with Select, American Express executives reinforced they are aiming to "increase [cardmember] value as needs change" and that motivated many of these updates.

Here's everything you need to know about the refreshed Amex Business Platinum card, and what to consider before applying.

While the Amex Business Platinum card is loaded with benefits, it comes with a high annual fee of $695 (see rates and fees). At nearly $700, it can be a steep investment for a small business owner. But if you are able to take advantage of the benefits, it may be well worth it.

An impressive welcome bonus

With many credit card relaunches, there's excitement over a new welcome offer.

If you're approved for the Business Platinum Card, you can earn 120,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $15,000 in the first three months of membership. Plus, new cardholders can take advantage of an introductory APR offer from the date of account opening on purchases eligible for Pay Over Time.

And after meeting the minimum spend threshold, cardholders will have a minimum of 135,000 Membership Rewards points — worth roughly $2,700 when valuing Membership Rewards points at two cents per point. Membership Rewards points are generally regarded to be worth two cents since they can be transferred to numerous travel partners.

This is a huge bonus that is ideal for frequent travelers: Membership Rewards can be transferred to 17 airline and three hotel transfer partners. Redeeming your rewards through a transfer can often help you maximize the points' value. Here a few example of what you can do with 135,000 points:

• Transfer miles to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and redeem them for flights on Delta Air Lines for direct flights between U.S. and Europe (not including UK). Business class flights each way are 50,000 points. So one round trip business class flight on Delta Air Lines will be 100,000 points.
• Transfer miles to ANA Mileage Club for flights from U.S. to Asia. ANA charges as little as 75,000 miles for round-trip business-class flights between North America and Japan.
• Transfer miles to British Airways and then book domestic flights on American Airlines. You can score business-class flights as low as 16,500 miles, so you and several friends or business partners can grab free flights with points you earned from the welcome bonus.

Spending categories and credits

What's new

The Business Platinum card has expanded its bonus spending categories to include the following. You can earn 1.5X Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on purchases for up to $2 million per calendar year in these categories:

• Electronics, retailers, software, and cloud service providers
• Construction materials and hardware supplies
• Shipping providers

American Express has also added (or increased) the following spending credits to help small business owners:

• Up to $400 annual statement credit on Dell purchases, up to $200 semi-annually. (This is a $200 increase from the previous Dell benefit.)
• Up to $360 annual statement credit on all Indeed hiring and recruiting products and services, up to $90 per quarter.
• $150 annual statement credit on select purchases, including Adobe Creative Cloud and Acrobat Pro DC.
• Up to $120 annual statement credits for purchases made directly from any U.S. wireless telephone provider, up to $10 per month.
• An annual $189 statement credit for a CLEAR® Plus membership.

What remains the same:

• 5X points per dollar spent on flights and pre-paid hotels booked in advance through AmexTravel.com.
• 1.5X points per dollar spent on large purchases over $5,000, up to 1 million additional points per calendar year.
• 1X point on all other eligible purchases
• 35% points back when card members pay with points to purchase all or part of an airline fare, up to 500,000 points back per calendar year.
• $200 airline fee credit annually, up to $200 back in statement credits each year on incidental fees.
• Up to $100 credit on a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee.

If you can maximize every single credit, you could receive over $1,500 in value from the credits alone. However, it can be difficult to do this since many of the credits are doled out in monthly, quarterly or bi-annual increments.

Updated benefits

In addition to the new business spending perks, American Express also recently added even more travel benefits for cardmembers, including:

• 20% discount on Wheels Up Connect and a 40% discount on Wheels Up Core memberships, plus, a $500 or $2,000 credit added to Wheels Up account to use toward an initial flight within the first year depending on selected Wheels Up membership.

Cardholders will continue to have access to these existing benefits:

• Complimentary access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection®, which offers the most extensive airport lounge access compared to any other U.S. credit card program, with 1,400 airport lounges in 500+ airports and 140 countries around the world.
• Cell phone protection for repair or replacement costs following damage or theft up to $800 per claim, with a limit of two approved claims per 12 month period. A $50 deductible will apply to each approved claim.
• Payment flexibility with features like Pay Over Time, giving business owners the option to either carry a balance with interest on eligible purchases of $100 or more, or to pay the balance in full each month. 
• Business Platinum concierge service
• No foreign transaction fees
• Hotel benefits with Fine Hotels + Resorts, complimentary Gold status with Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy
• Comprehensive travel insurance, including trip cancellation/interruption, trip delay and baggage insurance
• Complimentary car rental loyalty program status and discounts
• Purchase protection and extended warranty

And if you don't have use for the benefits or don't want to shell out hundreds of dollars for an annual fee, you may want to consider a different business credit card.

The Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is a great small business credit card if you want to earn travel rewards for your business expenses. You can earn 3X points per dollar spent on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases in select categories each account anniversary year (travel; shipping purchases; internet, cable and phone services; and advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines) and 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases.

And to get started, you can earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

The Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is good option if you want to earn cash back on your business expenses. You can earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year (then 1%); 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year (then 1%) and 1% cash back on all other purchases.

This card has a generous welcome offer: New cardholders can earn $900 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Cash back from this card can be converted into transferrable Ultimate Rewards points if you have an eligible Ultimate-Rewards-earning card, like the Ink Preferred.

The Amex Business Platinum has added a number of new benefits, credits and spending categories, many of which will be beneficial to small business owners. However, you'll have to pay an extra $100 for these new benefits on a card that already has a large annual fee.

If you want to sign up, take the time to make sure that the $695 annual fee fits in your business' budget. Unlike a consumer credit card, the annual fee is tax deductible for small business owners.

Catch up on Select's in-depth coverage of personal finance, tech and tools, wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date.

For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.