Earn up to 120,000 bonus points with the Platinum cards from American Express

If you’re looking forward to traveling in 2022 and beyond, a premium travel card such as The Platinum Card® from American Express or The Business Platinum Card® from American Express may be a good long-term fit.

Along with high-value benefits, both cards currently offer generous introductory bonuses. The American Express Platinum card offers 80,000 bonus points when you spend $6,000 in the first six months of card membership. Meanwhile, small-business owners can earn 120,000 points after spending $15,000 in the first three months with the Amex Business Platinum card.

These are among the most generous offers ever for the two cards, so now is a great time to apply.

Comparing American Express Platinum cards

In addition to sharing similar annual fees, the American Express Platinum cards both offer bonus points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on American Express Travel. The most notable difference is that one is designed for business owners and the other is geared toward consumers.

See how the cards compare side by side in the table below.

	The Platinum Card® from American Express	The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Rewards rate	5 points per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year) 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked on American Express Travel 1 point per dollar on other purchases Terms apply	5 points per dollar on flights and prepaid hotels on American Express Travel 1.5 points per dollar on qualifying purchases of $5,000 or more and on eligible purchases in key business categories (on up to $2 million in combined spending per calendar year) 1 point per dollar on other purchases Terms apply
Introductory bonus	80,000 points when you spend $5,000 in first 6 months Terms apply	120,000 points when you spend $15,000 in first 3 months Terms apply
Annual fee	$695	$695
Estimated yearly rewards value	$365 ($1,325 monthly spend)	$1,239 ($4,000 monthly spend)

As you can see, the Business Platinum card offers considerably more value per year than the consumer card. That’s largely because business owners typically charge a lot more on their cards than consumers, thereby earning more rewards. We estimate that the average business owner spends approximately $4,000 each month on office supplies, business travel and other company expenses. The average consumer spends an estimated $1,325 each month on food, gas, clothing and general purchases.

Best ways to use 120,000 Membership Rewards points

The American Express Membership Rewards program offers a huge variety of redemption options, so you may feel overwhelmed trying to sort them out. We’ve listed them in the table below and, as you can see, if you are looking for a simple redemption with the best value, you are best off redeeming your rewards for airfare through the Membership Rewards portal.

Furthermore, you can earn a 35 percent bonus on your points by redeeming them for airfare on a designated airline. This option requires you to jump through some hoops — you have to log in and choose your airline once your account is activated, and then you can only redeem your points with this airline for the remainder of the year to earn the bonus — but this is a great way to boost the value of your bonus. With the redemption bonus, a 120,000-point bonus is worth about $1,620 in airfare and 80,000 bonus points are worth approximately $1,080 in airfare.

Redemption options for the Business Platinum card

However, if you really want the best value for your points, you should consider transferring them to one of American Express’s travel partners. Your points transfer to most partners at a 1:1 ratio, and, if you are willing to spend some time searching through airline redemption charts, you can get a much higher value than 1 cent per point with many of these partners (even once you factor in the small 0.06 cent excise fee that American Express charges per point).

As you can see from the chart below, 80,000 bonus points can score you nearly $2,500 worth of airfare with partners such as Cathay Pacific, while 120,000 points can get you more than $3,500 in value:

Transfer options for the Platinum cards

*Point valuations for ANA and Choice Privileges via The Points Guy, all others via Bankrate. 

Who is eligible for the introductory bonus?

American Express has one of the most rigid introductory bonus policies in the industry, limiting cardholders to earning the bonus on a particular card only once in a lifetime. If you currently own or have previously owned an American Express Platinum card or an American Express Business Platinum card, you are not eligible for the current bonus. Additionally, you must be a business owner to be approved for the Business Platinum card.

Should you apply now?

Yes. The introductory bonuses for the Amex Platinum and the Business Platinum are very generous. While the Business Platinum occasionally offers a bonus of up to 100,000 points, its current offer easily beats that and is available only for a limited time. As for the consumer card, the current bonus still gives good value, though it’s not the highest ever.