The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express are two of the most popular premium cards on the market, thanks in particular to all the perks they offer, ranging from airport lounge access to a variety of credits with retailers.
I often get questions about which card is better (aside from the obvious fact that one is a personal card and one is a business card). For many people, I think both cards can be part of a good Amex card strategy, while for others there’s a distinct advantage to one over the other.
Personally I have both of these cards — I’ve had the Amex Personal Platinum Card for years, and picked up the Amex Business Platinum Card some time back when there was a great welcome offer.
In this post, I wanted to look more closely at the differences between the two cards, for someone who might be considering applying for one of the two cards. For the purposes of this post, I won’t factor in the welcome bonuses, since those can vary — rather I’ll be focused on the long-term perks offered by these cards.
In this post:
What both Amex Platinums have in common
Both the personal and business versions of the Amex Platinum have a lot in common, including the following (Enrollment is required for select benefits):
- A $200 annual airline fee credit
- A $189 annual CLEAR Plus credit
- A comprehensive airport lounge access program, including access to Centurion Lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs when flying Delta same day, and a Priority Pass membership
- Hotel status, including Hilton Honors Gold status and Marriott Bonvoy Gold status
- Rental car status, including National Emerald Club Executive status, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards President’s Circle status, and Avis Preferred Plus status
- Access to the International Airline Program (IAP), which can save you money on airfare
- Access to Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts, offering extra perks at luxury hotels
- A TSA PreCheck or Global Entry credit (this benefit applies once every 4.5 years for TSA PreCheck, or once every four years for Global Entry)
- Access to the Amex Offers program
So, what’s different between the two versions of the Amex Platinum? First I’ll cover the advantages of the personal version of the card, and then I’ll cover the advantages of the business version of the card.
Amex Personal Platinum advantages
For some consumers the Amex Personal Platinum Card could make a lot more sense, especially given all of the credits that the card offers nowadays. While you can read a full review of the personal version of the card here, below are the highlights that set this card apart.
Lower authorized user fee
Perhaps more significant than the difference in annual fees for the primary cardmember is the difference in annual fees for authorized users:
- On the personal version of the Amex Platinum each authorized user costs $195 (Rates & Fees).
- On the business version of the Amex Platinum each authorized user costs $300 (Rates & Fees).
This can make a huge difference, especially when you consider the value of adding authorized users. Authorized users on the Amex Platinum get the full suite of lounge access perks, access to the International Airline Program, hotel elite status, and more.
$300 annual Equinox credit
The personal version of the Amex Platinum offers up to $300 in statement credits each year on a digital or club membership at Equinox. (Enrollment required)
$300 annual SoulCycle credit
This will likely be of limited use to most, but the personal version of the Amex Platinum offers a $300 credit toward the purchase of a SoulCycle bike for at most. You need to pay for the entire purchase with your card in order to qualify for the credit. (Enrollment required)
$240 annual digital entertainment credit
The personal version of the Amex Platinum offers a $240 annual digital entertainment credit. This is valid for eligible purchases or subscriptions with Peacock, Audible, The New York Times, Disney+, The Disney Bundle, ESPN+, and Hulu. You’re given a $20 credit per month, so there are some limitations with using this. (Enrollment required)
$200 annual hotel credit
The personal version of the Amex Platinum offers a $200 annual statement credit valid for prepaid bookings at Fine Hotels & Resorts (no minimum stay required) or The Hotel Collection properties (two night minimum required), when booking through Amex Travel. This is great for those who stay at luxury hotels with any frequency, and you can use the entire credit at once.
$200 annual Uber Cash benefit
The personal version of the Amex Platinum offers a $200 annual Uber Cash benefit, which comes in the form of a $15 monthly Uber Cash credit, and then a $35 Uber Cash credit in December (good for use in the US only). I consider this to more or less be worth face value, especially since it can even be used toward Uber Eats.
$155 annual Walmart+ credit
The personal version of the Amex Platinum offers a $12.95 monthly credit toward a Walmart+ membership, which should cover the entire cost of the membership. This can save you a lot of money with Walmart, and offers everything from free shipping to free home delivery. Registration is required.
$100 annual Saks credit
The personal version of the Amex Platinum offers a $100 annual Saks credit, which comes in the form of a $50 credit in the first half of the year (January through June), and a $50 credit in the second half of the year (July through December). There’s no minimum purchase amount, so this could potentially get you up to $100 in value per year. (Enrollment required)
5x points on airfare
This is something I get tons of value out of. The personal version of the Amex Platinum offers 5x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines, as well as airfare purchased through amextravel.com (on up to $500,000 per calendar year). The business version of the card only offers 5x points on airfare purchased through amextravel.com, so that’s a major difference.
I value Membership Rewards points at ~1.7 cents each, so to me that’s like a return of 8.5% on airfare spending, which supercharges my Amex points earning. Add in the excellent travel protection offered by the card, and this is my go-to card for airfare spending.
Amex Platinum Business advantages
For some small businesses, the Amex Business Platinum Card could prove more lucrative. While you can read a full review of the business version of the card here, below are the highlights that set this card apart. (Enrollment is required for select benefits)
$400 annual Dell credit
The business version of the Amex Platinum offers a $400 annual Dell credit, which comes in the form of a $200 credit in the first half of the year (January through June), and a $200 credit in the second half of the year (July through December). There’s no minimum purchase amount, so this could potentially get you up to $400 in value per year.
While Dell isn’t exactly the most exciting retailer (at least in my opinion), the company sells all kinds of non-Dell branded merchandise, making this pretty easy to maximize.
$360 annual Indeed credit
The business version of the Amex Platinum offers a $360 annual Indeed credit. This comes in the form of a $90 quarterly credit that can be used on all Indeed hiring and recruiting products and services to post open positions and find talents.
Admittedly this is pretty niche, and is something most businesses likely won’t take advantage of.
$150 annual Adobe credit
The business version of the Amex Platinum offers a $150 annual Adobe credit. This can be used toward Adobe purchases, including Adobe Creative Cloud, and Acrobat Pro DC with e-sign. Again, this will be useful to some, but probably not to the average small business.
$120 wireless credit
The business version of the Amex Platinum offers a $120 annual wireless credit. This comes in the form of a $10 monthly statement credit toward purchases made directly with any U.S. wireless telephone provider. This should be easy enough to maximize if your business pays wireless bills.
50% bonus points on certain purchases
The business version of the Amex Platinum offers 1.5x points on the following purchases:
- Purchases of $5,000 or more per transaction
- U.S. electronic goods, retailers, software, and cloud service providers
- U.S. construction materials and hardware supplies
- U.S. shipping providers
You can earn up to a million additional points per year between all of these bonus categories. As you can tell, these bonus categories are either pretty niche, or require making purchases in big increments.
Keep in mind that The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (review) offers 2x points on the first $50,000 spent annually (1x after that), making it one of the best cards for everyday spending. Therefore I wouldn’t necessarily be picking up the Amex Business Platinum because of the return on spending that it offers.
35% refund on Pay With Points bookings
When you redeem points using the Pay With Points method (which typically gets you one cent per point of airfare), you can get 35% of your points back, up to 500,000 bonus points per year. This is available for first and business class tickets with all airlines through American Express Travel, or on a designated US airline for economy travel. This can get you up to ~1.54 cents of value per Amex Membership Rewards point, give or take, which is quite solid.
Which version of the Amex Platinum is better?
There’s obviously not going to be a one-size-fits-all answer as to whether the Amex Personal Platinum Card or Amex Business Platinum Card is better. It all depends on whether you need a personal or business card, and which perks you value most.
That being said, very broadly I’d say that I think the personal version of the card is most compelling. Why?
- Adding authorized users is a much better value, and I consider the ability to add authorized users to the Amex Platinum at a reasonable cost to be a big selling point of the card
- The card offers more credits that will be more useful for the “average” consumer, helping to offset the annual fee
- Personally I find the 5x points on airfare to be a more useful bonus category than being able to earn 1.5x points on select purchases
There’s no doubt that the business version of the card will be useful to many. Personally I think the biggest selling point of the business version of the card is the 35% refund on “Pay With Points” bookings, which could prove hugely valuable for anyone with a big stash of Amex points.
Bottom line
I think both the Amex Personal Platinum Card and Amex Business Platinum Card are fantastic cards that can get you significantly more value than you’ll pay in annual fees. While many of the cards’ benefits overlap, there are also some significant differences. The major differences include the authorized user costs, the types of credits offered, and the spending bonus categories.
Personally, I think the personal version of the card is easier to justify in terms of the perks you get for the annual fee, especially in the form of credits, but this is very much a “your mileage may vary” situation.
Which version of the Amex Platinum do you consider to be more valuable?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The Business Platinum® Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), and The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees).
Fee with business version is deductible, assuming you are actually a small business, add in credits and it pays to have it
I have the personal Gold for dining/restaurants, Venture X for everything else
$10,000/month business insurance that takes credit card with no fee so I use that to hit the $75K threshold for centurion lounge guest access
I suspect that for legitimate businesses (vs. a side hustle which lets one get a business card), the Indeed credit is worth close to face value.
While the personal Gold and personal Platinum don't really overlap at all, there's a fair amount of overlap between the business Gold and business Platinum. 4x airfare from airlines vs. 5x on amextravel comes down in the Gold's favor if you'd be willing to pay at least 2% more...
I suspect that for legitimate businesses (vs. a side hustle which lets one get a business card), the Indeed credit is worth close to face value.
While the personal Gold and personal Platinum don't really overlap at all, there's a fair amount of overlap between the business Gold and business Platinum. 4x airfare from airlines vs. 5x on amextravel comes down in the Gold's favor if you'd be willing to pay at least 2% more to book direct with the airline than deal with expedia (I'm in that category and probably anyone who's had to deal with schedule changes on an OTA ticket is too). the computing/cloud category is better on the Gold (4x vs. 1.5x), assuming you spend with one of the selected vendors. The Pay With Points rebate is better on the Platinum, but not that much better (about 0.2 cents/point better). The business Gold + personal Platinum combo is IMO head-and-shoulders above the personal Gold + business Platinum combo.
I suspect that you've never used Indeed to hire.
My biggest issue is the credits are quarterly. Not very useful for legitimate business that doesn't hire people year round.
I wonder how many Amex Platinum "Business" cards are used by actual businesses? I'd venture it's about the same number of Amex Platinum Personal holders that are independently wealthy . . . close to zero. No business or wealthy person has enough time to figure out how to use the obscure discounts that might make the otherwise absurd annual fee of the card worthwhile, making the Platinum Card the perfect card for the poseur trying...
I wonder how many Amex Platinum "Business" cards are used by actual businesses? I'd venture it's about the same number of Amex Platinum Personal holders that are independently wealthy . . . close to zero. No business or wealthy person has enough time to figure out how to use the obscure discounts that might make the otherwise absurd annual fee of the card worthwhile, making the Platinum Card the perfect card for the poseur trying to appear wealthy, but the opposite of what wealthy people or businesses want.
Show me where the bad man with the Amex Platinum hurt you...
I’m independently wealthy and I have the Schwab platinum (I get the $200 off the annual fee) and I enjoy maximizing the benefits.
Nobody with an Amex Platinum hurt me, but I do feel aggrieved by Amex as a person who had the card for two decades during a time when it had real value with things like 2 for 1 First/Business Class tickets, the ability to get reservations at the best restaurants in town, actual concierges that could help with various things, and Platinum benefits at hotels that you didn't have to pay for through higher rates....
Nobody with an Amex Platinum hurt me, but I do feel aggrieved by Amex as a person who had the card for two decades during a time when it had real value with things like 2 for 1 First/Business Class tickets, the ability to get reservations at the best restaurants in town, actual concierges that could help with various things, and Platinum benefits at hotels that you didn't have to pay for through higher rates. Over the years, all of these things disappeared in favor of a bunch of coupons that one had to clip to justify the ever growing annual fee. So I don't begrudge anybody who doesn't care that the old Platinum benefits are gone or rendered ephemeral, anybody who feels its worth their time tracking their spending, or anybody who just plain doesn't care. I just think Amex markets this card in a deceptive manner and represents their Platinum business to shareholders in a misleading manner and that their jump in new cardholders since they've turned from a luxury product towards a coupon book is built on a house of sand because the credit risk of the average cardholder is grossly overstated and has an average credit profile closer to that of say a typical Discover Card holder than an Amex Platinum Card holder of a decade ago. I think Amex is a crappy company with crappy business practices that fleeces its customers with a lous products that it sells for a premium price and destroyed a good product that I used to enjoy using for short term gain on their quarterly reports, and I am happy to have a place to share my opinion.
@Mak
LOL, the 2 for 1 tickets was most of the time useless as it requires a more expensive fare. I've experience countless times where 2 is priced almost the same as 2 for 1.
Blame the restaurant not the concierge.
FHR isn't always more expensive.
One thing for sure Amex has lost it's elusive power so they have to compensate with coupons. But as with any cards, if you're still benefiting then...
@Mak
LOL, the 2 for 1 tickets was most of the time useless as it requires a more expensive fare. I've experience countless times where 2 is priced almost the same as 2 for 1.
Blame the restaurant not the concierge.
FHR isn't always more expensive.
One thing for sure Amex has lost it's elusive power so they have to compensate with coupons. But as with any cards, if you're still benefiting then hold it, if not then cancel it.
You are also confusing "business" and "corporate" products.
A small few employee business could potentially benefit from the 'coupons'. But I do think the Dell credit is getting out of hand. Amex used it to justify the increase but Dell is not the cost effective vendor to buy most of their listed items.
Yes, you've figured that out. Now understand that it used to be a real perk of the card, and could actually be used to get 2 tickets for the same price as one ticket.
You sound like you never had the card when it was worth a damn, and just assume that the Concierge, 2 for 1, and FHR were always like this. They weren't
The absurd annual fee for my Amex Plat is less than zero. Amex actually pays me $45 to $245 a year to carry their card. Between the $200 Airline credit, $200 Uber credit, the $240 subscription credit and the $100 Saks credit, the card provides more benefits than the fee. And we often use the $200 hotel credit for weekend getaways (we love those).
On top of that, we enjoy the lounge access, which...
The absurd annual fee for my Amex Plat is less than zero. Amex actually pays me $45 to $245 a year to carry their card. Between the $200 Airline credit, $200 Uber credit, the $240 subscription credit and the $100 Saks credit, the card provides more benefits than the fee. And we often use the $200 hotel credit for weekend getaways (we love those).
On top of that, we enjoy the lounge access, which is why we have the card. Once the airlines started restricting use of their lounges to those flying with them, the Centurion, along with the Priority Pass lounges became a better option. And for us, because the annual fee is covered, the lounge access is a free benefit that saves us even more money when we travel. But I do admit, I only use the card for airline and the occasional hotel reservation to earn the 5X points.
Same with the Hilton Aspire Card. The annual fee is $450. The card comes with a free night in a standard room. We love the Conrad near Central Park in NYC. The one bedroom suite meets that requirement and using the free night for that room saves us over $600 (before 15% in taxes). Plus we receive $250 in airline credits! That card more than pays for itself!
I also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred card with a low $95 annual fee. After the $50 hotel credit, it cost me $45 to carry it. It is actually the most expensive card I have in my wallet to carry. I have it for the ability to transfer points to Hyatt.
We travel a quite a bit. We usually travel by air in first or business class. Our favorite hotels are Hyatt, Conrad, and St. Regis. While the rooms are very nice, it is the friendliness and professionalism of the staff that impresses us and make us want to return.
I am not independently wealthy [not a dig at you Tini :-)]. So we try to make the best use of every dollar we spend and these cards do just that.
You've proven precisely the point I was trying to make. Thanks.