Three of my work friends were lucky enough to get instant approval for the Amex Business Platinum with a SUB of 250K MR points after spending 20K USD in 3 months. There are a few available links for 250K MR points (link) which typically only work for new Amex applicants with very few credit checks. The link must be copied first and then opened in either Chrome Incognito or Firefox/Opera Private browsers. It may take several attempts to see the 250K SUB (200k comes first – see image below) and I encourage using a VPN to connect to another state & switching between different browsers on your PC and smartphone.
Change your IP address with a VPN to get the best offer
After changing my location to Washington DC from Florida using a VPN, I opened the same link in Chrome Incognito and found the 250K offer on the first attempt (see image below).
Obviously, this link will never work for churners like me and I did not even bother applying for it. Two out of my three friends never had a business platinum card (opened Amex Gold and Venture X recently), but the Amex pop-up message appeared for them and they applied under their spouse’s name with success.
Best month to apply for the Amex Platinum
While it is ideal to get the Amex Platinum card in the month of December to triple dip on annual credits (review), this particular 250K SUB is too good to pass up and I have recommended my friends to apply asap.
Amex Business Platinum Annual Fee & Credits
The first thing that scares many beginners about the Amex Platinum is the $695 annual fee, but there are several ways to recoup the money via annual credits.
There are several important differences in benefits between both the Personal and Business Platinum cards, which are summarized in the table below.
Amex Platinum Personal Vs Business Credits & Benefits
| Type of Credit/Benefit | Consumer Platinum Card | Business Platinum Card | Notes |
| 5x points on flights purchased directly from airlines | Yes | No | I recommend NOT using the Business Platinum to book flights directly from airlines and only use the Personal Platinum card to earn 5X points for these purchases. |
| 5x points on flights & hotels purchased from Amex portal | Yes | Yes | |
| Dell | None | $200 credit every Jan-Jun and $200 every Jul-Dec | Benefit is only available through 12/31/24. |
| Airline Incidental Fee | $200 | $200 | Easy to claim these credits via United Travel Bank |
| Hotel Collection or the Fine Hotels + Resorts | $200/year | None | Two night minimum stay for Hotel Collection. |
| Uber VIP | $15 in monthly credit plus $35 credit every December | None | |
| Walmart+ | $12.95/month | None | |
| Digital Entertainment | $20/month on Peacock, Audible, SiriusXM, and The New York Times | None | |
| CLEAR | $199 annual credit | $199 annual credit | |
| 35% Airline Bonus | No | Yes | I think it is a waste of your MR points to book travel on the Amex portal. |
| Wireless | None | $10/month | |
| Adobe Creative Cloud or Acrobat Pro (through 12/31/24) | None | $150/year | Adobe Creative Cloud (US$1,079.88/yr) & Acrobat Pro (US$239.88/yr) |
| Indeed (through 12/31/24) | None | $90/quarter | Indeed pricing is typically $150 per month |
| Equinox | $25/month | None | Equinox pricing is typically $200-450 per month |
| Emergency medical transportation & evacuation | Yes | Yes | This coverage has NO stated limit. |
| Repatriation of Mortal Remains | Yes | Yes | This coverage has NO stated limit. |
| Cell Phone Protection | Yes | Yes | Up to $800 per claim with a limit of two (2) approved claims per 12-month period, subject to a $50 deductible per claim. |
| Trip Delay, cancellation, interruption & baggage insurance | Yes | Yes | One-way bookings are NOT covered. |
| Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck | Yes | Yes | |
| Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status | Yes | Yes | Useful to get free 4th night for point bookings. |
| Hilton Honors Gold status | Yes | Yes | Useful for free breakfast & 4th night free for point bookings. |
| Complimentary premium status for car rental programs (Hertz, Avis & National) | Yes | Yes |
$120 Wireless Credit
(activate under the benefits section)
This comes in the form of a $10 monthly statement credit toward purchases made directly from any U.S. wireless telephone provider (except Google Fi).
$200 Annual Airline Fee Credit
- Choose the airline under the benefits section.
- You can get $400 during the first year (once before Dec 31st & the next credit after January 1st) after opening the credit card.
- The Amex Business Platinum offers a $200 annual airline fee credit, which can be used toward airline incidentals and fees (inflight Wi-Fi, pet transportation fees, seat selection fees, regular & oversized luggage fees, ticket change fees and phone reservation fees).
- These airline incidental credits are difficult to get and I recommend using the United Travel Bank option (see below).
United Travel Bank
United Travel Bank (link) allows you to load the account with any credit card to use on future United flights (funds won’t expire for 5 years from the date of the deposit).
- Select United as your preferred airline and use your Amex Platinum card to load Travel Bank funds.
- Make sure to purchase $50-100 at a time to see if it triggers the credit.
$400 Dell Statement Credit
(activate under the benefits section)
You get up to $400 in Dell credits annually ($200 credit between January and June and an additional $200 statement credit between July and December).
The statement credit should be posted within a few days after the purchase. Dell will price match major retailers like Amazon.com, but expect the chat or phone call to take about 20 minutes.
Conclusion
Amex Platinum annual credits are not straightforward (on purpose), but it is easy to get $920 worth from careful planning and patience. Even if you don’t make use of the annual credits, the 250K SUB is worth the $695 fee, and you can cancel the card after 12 months.