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Some time tomorrow afternoon (1/25/17), the American Express Business Platinum Card stops offering 100,000 total bonus Membership Rewards after spending $15,000 in the first three months:

  • 50,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first three months
  • 50,000 more bonus points after spending another $10,000 in the first three months

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

In addition to the massive 100,000 point sign up bonus, $500 in statement credits in the first 12 months, and game changing ability to redeem points for airfare at a rate of 2 cents per point, the card has several other benefits that get less ink, but add up to a few hundred dollars in extra value.

I’ll focus on four here:

Big Ticket Item Bonus

On purchases of $5,000+, you get 1.5 Membership Rewards per dollar.

I don’t think I’ve ever made such a purchase, but many people have, and many more people can at tax time by paying their federal income taxes with a credit card.

In Earn Miles by Paying Taxes with a Credit Card, I explained the process of paying taxes by credit card and the fee–1.87%.

If you have a $5,000+ payment to make, you’ll earn 1.5 Membership Rewards, which are worth 2+ cents each, meaning you profit at least 1.13% by paying your taxes with the Business Platinum (3% – 1.87%).

If making a tax payment helps you unlock the full 100,000 point bonus, it’s an even better move. If we assign the $2,000 worth of Membership Rewards (100,000) evenly to the $15,000 spending requirement to unlock the full bonus, that’s another 13.33% rebate on that spending.

In other words, paying a large tax bill as part of meeting the minimum spending requirement on the Business Platinum card has a return of 14.46% (1.13% + 13.33%).

Gold Status with Hilton, SPG, and Marriott

Once you have your Business Platinum card, you can claim your Hilton Gold status here.

You can claim your Starwood Gold status by calling 800-525-3355.

Anyone with SPG Gold status can match that to Marriott Gold status.

These mid-tier statuses ensure you get a decent room, late checkout, and extra points on stays.

In addition, Hilton Gold offers the 5th night free on awards, free breakfast, and free bottled water, and SPG Gold offers 250 bonus points per stay and the ability to earn SPG points on Delta flights in addition to Delta miles.

Free Internet on Land and in the Air

The Business Platinum offers free Boingo Wi-Fi access worldwide. Boingo has over from over 1 million hot spots, including many at airports.

After getting your Business Platinum, claim your free Boingo access here.

In addition, the Business Platinum offers 10 Gogo flight passes each year to use on any flight with Gogo internet. Gogo provides internet on the following airlines.

After getting your Business Platinum, claim your passes here.

Doesn’t Count Against Chase 5/24

American Express Business cards don’t show up on your credit report, so they don’t count toward the Chase 5/24 rule: the rule that Chase won’t approve you for a new card if you’ve opened five or more cards in the last 24 months.

If you’re trying to get back under that limit to go after Chase’s mega-bonuses, cards like the Business Platinum are great to get.

Bottom Line

With the chance to get 100,000 bonus points on the Business Platinum ending tomorrow, I wanted to take a look at some lesser known benefits of the card that can add hundreds of dollars in value. These benefits are NOT the biggest benefits of the card in any way. To remind you of those:

  • Sign Up Bonus: 100,000 Membership Rewards after $15,000 in spending in the first three months
  • Statement Credits: $200 in airline fee credits each calendar year (e.g. 2017 and 2018 before next annual fee); $120 Global Entry Credit
  • Category Bonuses: 1.5x on purchases of $5,000+
  • Value of Membership Rewards: Worth 2 cent toward the purchase of airfare OR can be transferred to airline miles and hotel points for higher value
  • Lounge Access: Centurion Lounge access for cardmember plus two guests or immediate family and Priority Pass Select Membership means free access to 900+ airport lounges worldwide and Delta lounge access every time you fly Delta
  • Hotel Status: Gold status with Hilton, SPG, and Marriott
  • Free Wifi: Unlimited free access to the 1,000,000+ Boingo hotspots worldwide and 10 free Gogo in-flight wifi passes annually
  • No Foreign Transaction Fee
  • Annual Fee: $450
  • Eligibility: You can only get each Amex bonus once, so if you’ve had the Business Platinum before, you can’t get this bonus. If you’ve only had personal Platinums before, you can get the bonus.
  • Benefit Related to Chase 5/24 Rule: American Express Business Cards don’t appear on your credit report, which means the cards don’t count toward your limit of five new cards in the last 24 months to get a new Chase card.

Eligibility to Be Approved

If you have ever had an American Express Business Platinum card, you are ineligible to get the bonus again. However the Amex Platinum personal card (and all its variants like the American Express Platinum Mercedes-Benz personal card) are considered separate products; having had those cards will not stop you from getting these 100,000 bonus points.

Post your application results in the comments.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.

Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.

With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!


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