When to get the Amex Business Platinum vs. the Amex Platinum – The Points Guy

Thanks to its stellar portfolio of perks and all the incredible uses there are for American Express Membership Rewards points, we often focus on the American Express Platinum Card®.

Some folks even forget that the card has a counterpart, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, that offers many of the same benefits as the personal card, along with some that make it a great choice for small-business owners.

Using a business card like the Amex Business Platinum for work-related purchases can help you separate your personal and business expenses so your end-of-year accounting is a bit easier, too, which is a factor in its favor.

Here’s a quick look at both cards side by side and a helpful list of reasons why the Amex Business Platinum might actually be a better choice for some folks.

Related: Is the Amex Business Platinum worth the annual fee?

Comparing the Amex Platinum and Amex Business Platinum

Let’s start with a quick snapshot of both cards and their benefits.

As you can see, each card offers a robust slate of benefits specific to its own cardmembers. But the two cards also have a menu of similar perks to be aware of, which will help you with your decision about which card to get.

Related: 9 things to do when you get the Amex Business Platinum Card

Perks offered by both cards

Here are the benefits that both the Amex Platinum and Amex Business Platinum cards offer — meaning you will be able to take advantage of these no matter which card you opt for (enrollment is required for select benefits):

Related: How to maximize benefits with the American Express Platinum

Reasons to choose the Amex Business Platinum over the Amex Platinum

Now that you have a full rundown of benefits to refer to, here are some key reasons and spending habits that might lead you to choose the Business Platinum Card instead of the Amex Platinum.

1. You have or already had the personal Amex Platinum

If you currently carry the personal Amex Platinum Card, or even if you previously had it but no longer do, you might not be eligible to earn its welcome offer. That’s because, like many other issuers, American Express has restricted who is eligible for the welcome bonuses on its cards.

So, if you already have, or previously had, the Amex Platinum, you might be blocked from taking advantage of its current welcome offer.

If you want the card’s benefits and the chance to earn hundreds of thousands of additional Membership Rewards points, however, you might opt for the Business Platinum instead, since currently or previously carrying the personal Amex Platinum should not preclude you from being eligible for the Business Platinum’s welcome bonus.

Related: 10 things to do when you get the Amex Platinum

2. You spend enough to earn the Amex Business Platinum’s higher welcome offer

The Business Platinum welcome offer requires some strategic spending, as the requirement is $20,000 in purchases within the first three months of card membership. That’s a considerable sum, but it’s not outside the usual operating budget of some small businesses.

By contrast, the Platinum currently has a lower spending requirement of $12,000 within the first six months of card membership to earn its welcome offer. And note: You have double the time of the business version to reach it.

The personal card’s terms might work better for your spending habits. However, the fact that you can potentially earn nearly twice as many points with the Business Platinum is a worthwhile consideration (not everyone will be targeted for the same welcome offers).

3. You spend a lot on flights and hotels, specifically

The two cards have very similar earning structures when it comes to travel, with two subtle but significant differences.

The personal card earns 5 points per dollar spent on flights booked through Amex Travel and directly with airlines on up to $500,000 in purchases each calendar year, then 1 point per dollar spent after that.

The Business Platinum earns 5 points per dollar spent on flights booked through Amex Travel (not directly with airlines) with no spending cap.

Both cards earn 5 points per dollar spent on prepaid hotel bookings with Amex Travel.

If you tend to book flights directly with airlines, the personal card might be a better choice. However, if you use Amex Travel for a lot of your travel plans — or if you have that option — then you won’t miss out by charging your reservations to the Business Platinum.

Plus, if you book a lot of flights, or more than $500,000 worth per year, specifically, with your card, then you’re definitely better off with the business card since its bonus-qualifying spending isn’t capped at that amount. Just remember that the Amex Business Platinum only earns bonus points on flights booked through Amex Travel, unless the charge is for $5,000 or more (subject to a spending cap).

Related: The best credit cards for paying taxes and fees on award tickets

4. You can maximize the Amex Business Platinum’s large-transaction and business category bonuses

If you tend to make a lot of high-dollar purchases or spend a lot in certain categories, then the Business Platinum’s earning structure can really set you ahead. The card accrues points at the following rates.

• 2 points per dollar spent on purchases of $5,000 or more
• 2 points per dollar spent on U.S. purchases from construction material and hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, shipping providers, and software and cloud system providers

There is a combined $2 million spending cap per calendar year (then 1 point per dollar spent).

If these are the types of business purchases you tend to make — or if you regularly use your card for transactions of more than $5,000 — then the Business Platinum blows the personal version’s earning rates out of the water.

You might also find creative ways to leverage these bonuses on one-off purchases.

Related: The top 7 credit cards to maximize large purchases

5. You use Amex Pay with Points for premium travel

One major way the two cards diverge is that the Business Platinum Card offers cardmembers a bonus 35% of the points back they redeem through Amex’s Pay with Points feature, while the personal version does not.

There are a few stipulations, though.

First, you only receive the 35% points bonus on flights booked through Amex Travel on the same qualifying airline you designate for the up to $200 per calendar year airline fee statement credit. The good news is, the ticket can be in any cabin class, not just a premium one.

Second, you can only receive up to 1 million points back per year. To max that out, you’d have to be redeeming nearly 2.9 million Amex points, though, so this cap shouldn’t impact most people.

Even if you seldom redeem Membership Rewards points this way, this one benefit can save you tens of thousands of points on a single ticket.

6. You prefer the business card’s statement credits

The personal and business versions each offer many annual statement credits. Some are the same, but many are unique to each card.

The personal card offers quite a few lifestyle statement credits. But if those aren’t things you actually use normally, why bother trying to track them while juggling the card’s steep annual fee?

The Business Platinum offers thousands of dollars in annual statement credits with popular business-related merchants. (Enrollment is required for select benefits; select benefits are subject to auto-renewal.)

Plus, with the Business Platinum, you’ll earn up to $1,200 in Amex Travel flight statement credits and up to $2,400 in One AP statement credits (valid from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 of the calendar year after meeting the requirement), after spending $250,000 or more on eligible purchases in a calendar year.

While this is a substantial spending requirement, if you can meet it through your regular spending activity, the Business Platinum could be a better option. That said, these benefits aren’t substantial enough to make it worth going out of your way to spend that much on the Business Platinum.

Related: Who should (and shouldn’t) get the Amex Business Platinum?

7. You are interested in adding employee cards

The personal Amex Platinum Card allows you to add up to 10 active authorized users. You can either add them as additional Platinum Card holders at a cost of $195 per card per year (see rates and fees) with some of the card’s travel benefits, including lounge access, or as Companion Card holders with no annual fee (see rates and fees) and very limited benefits.

By contrast, the Business Platinum allows you to add up to 99 additional Employee Cards. Full Business Platinum additional cards with some of the same benefits afforded to the primary cardmember carry a $400 annual fee each (see rates and fees). Employee Expense cards have no annual fee (see rates and fees). All card activity can be tracked through Amex.

For business owners who need to track employee spending (and who would like to earn points for themselves on all that spending), the Business Platinum lets you have many more cards under your umbrella and allows you to track them easily.

Bottom line

Both the Amex Platinum and the Business Platinum are excellent rewards cards with a variety of benefits from which members can reap tremendous value.

Consider which card best matches your financial habits and needs, and which card’s other perks you’re most likely to leverage year after year.

And after all that, you might even want to consider carrying both the personal and business Amex Platinum cards since there are plenty of ways the two cards don’t overlap.

To learn more, check out our full reviews of the Amex Platinum and Amex Business Platinum.

Apply here: The Business Platinum Card from American Express
Apply here: The Platinum Card from American Express

For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum Card, click here.