American Express just made some massive new changes the personal Platinum Card.
If you thought they were done, you might want to think again.
American Express Increases The Benefits Of The Business Platinum Card – And The Annual Fee
Amex has made some huge new changes to the Business Platinum Card as well.
But will these changes add value for you? Let’s take a look.
Increased Annual Fee
First things first: the annual fee will go from $595 to $695 per year (an increase of $100).
New Bonuses On Select Business Purchases
Next, Amex has added new bonus categories which will earn 1.5x.
These categories include: construction material and hardware suppliers, electronic goods, software & cloud system providers, and U.S. shipping providers.
New Statement Credits
Now for the big news.
Amex is claiming “access to” over $1,000 in value.
But will you really have a need to access all of the new benefits?
The $200 annual Dell credit has been doubled to a now $400 annual credit.
The Business Platinum has added a $360 indeed credit ($90 back per quarter) and a $150 annual Adobe credit.
There’s also a new $120 credit for wireless phone service ($10 monthly).
Unchanged Business Platinum Card Benefits
If you love the current Business Platinum benefits, fear not.
The ability to earn 5X at American Express Travel, the 35% Airline Bonus, the $200 Airline Fee Credit, the $179 CLEAR membership credit, and the $100 Global Entry/TSA Pre-check benefits are all remaining the same.
Is The Business Platinum Card Still Worth It?
That’s the million-dollar question.
The answer? Perhaps.
It all depends on which credits you value and which ones you actually use.
Here’s how the math breaks down in my situation:
- The New 1.5x Earning Categories: I probably won’t use these.
- $400 Dell Credit: I’ll easily use this [$400]
- $150 Adobe Credit: I won’t use this.
- $120 Wireless Telephone Credit: I’ll use this [$120]
- $179 CLEAR Credit: I don’t have this, but I’ll use this for my parents through United Mileage Plus [$109+$50=$159].
- $360 Indeed Credit: This is useless for me.
- $200 Annual Airline Incidental Credit: I’ll use it [$200].
- Up to a $100 Global Entry credit: I’ll use it for my parents once every 5 years [$20]
The new total Platinum benefit value to me: $8-699
Less the new annual fee: $695
The new net benefit value = $204.
What About The Other Business Platinum Benefits?
Good question.
Of course the above $4 number doesn’t take into account the other benefits of this card like 35% Airline Bonus (the most valuable feature of the Business Platinum Card to me), Priority Pass, Fine Hotels & Resorts, Amex Offers, Spending Offers, Retention Offers, etc.
When I factor in all of those benefits, I figure I can realistically come out at least $500 ahead.
Is The Business Platinum Card Just An Expensive Coupon Book?
Yes.
But I don’t mind an expensive coupon book if I can make a minimum of $500 on each coupon book (which, it looks like I can).
The Bottom-Line: American Express Increases The Benefits Of The Business Platinum Card – And The Annual Fee
The marketing slogan “access to over $1,000 in value” doesn’t mean much without the need to access the new benefits.
With that said, I suspect most card holders should still be able to wring a net positive value out of the card that will justify the new $695 annual fee – as long as they don’t mind keeping track of the monthly “coupon book” (which they likely already do anyway).
At the end of the day, the Business Platinum Card is still a keeper for me – for now.
