Who is eligible for the Amex Business Platinum Card?

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is currently offering a TPG exclusive welcome offer of 150,000 Membership Rewards® points after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases within the first three months of card membership.

Those points are worth $3,000 by TPG’s latest valuations, which is reason enough to consider applying.

But before you start filling out your application, you might be wondering if you’re even eligible to take advantage of this offer. This is a small-business card, so there are different requirements than when you apply for a personal card. However, you might qualify for the Amex Business Platinum Card, and that fantastic welcome offer, without even realizing it.

Here are some of the ways to determine if you are eligible to apply for the Amex Business Platinum Card and whether it makes sense to do so.

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Amex Business Platinum Card details

Just as a quick reminder, here are the current offer details, as well as a roundup of the card’s key perks.

Current welcome offer

Our TPG exclusive Amex Business Platinum offer allows cardholders to earn 150,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases within the first three months of card membership.

Annual fee

You’ll pay $695 a year (see rates and fees).

Earning

The Amex Business Platinum earns points at the following rates:

Earn 5 points per dollar spent on flights booked through Amex Travel.
Earn 5 points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com.
Earn 1.5 points per dollar on up to $2 million in eligible purchases in the U.S. per calendar year at electronic goods retailers, software and cloud service providers, construction materials and hardware suppliers, shipping providers, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else (then 1 point per dollar).
Earn 1 point per dollar on other purchases.

Key benefits

35% rebate when you use Pay with Points for a first-class or business-class ticket on any carrier, or in any class on a selected qualifying airline booked through Amex Travel, up to 1 million points back per calendar year.
An annual up-to-$200 annual airline fee statement credit on one selected airline.
Up to $400 in annual statement credits on all U.S. Dell purchases — $200 semiannually from January-June and July-December.
Up to $360 in annual statement credits on all Indeed hiring and recruiting products and services to post open positions and find talent (up to $90 per quarter).
Up to $150 in annual statement credit on select Adobe purchases, including Adobe Creative Cloud and Acrobat Pro DC.
Up to $120 in annual statement credits for purchases made directly from any U.S. wireless telephone provider (up to $10 per month).
Up to $189 in statement credits toward an annual Clear membership for expedited airport security.
Access to Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs (when flying Delta) and Priority Pass lounges (for you and two guests), along with Airspace lounges.
Up to a $100 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application credit once every four years.
Cardmembers can book hotels and enjoy value-added benefits through the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program.
Gold elite status in Hilton Honors and Gold elite status with Marriott Bonvoy.

Enrollment is required for select benefits.

Thanks to all these perks, the Amex Business Platinum regularly ranks among the best business rewards cards.

Are you eligible to apply for the Amex Business Platinum?

If all that has you interested in this premium card, you might be wondering whether you’re eligible to apply. First, let’s look at the terms and conditions of the card itself, and then we’ll delve into some of the more specific application rules Amex has in place.

Amex Business Platinum application terms

Like many other American Express cards, the Amex Business Platinum explicitly excludes current or former cardholders from earning its welcome offer multiple times.

The application terms clearly state the following:

“Welcome offer not available to applicants who have or have had this Card. We may also consider the number of American Express Cards you have opened and closed as well as other factors in making a decision on your welcome offer eligibility.”

So not only might you be disqualified for being a prior cardmember, but if you have several other Amex cards open, the issuer might automatically deny you as well. If you can’t remember whether you’ve held a specific Amex card in the past, you can check the issuer’s handy tool, which should flag whether you might qualify for a specific introductory offer.

It’s not quite so cut and dried as all that, though.

Amex application restrictions

According to our most recent findings, Amex limits most folks to 4 personal and business credit cards from its own stable at any given time and anywhere from 5 to 10 cards (formerly known as charge cards) at most. Much like The Platinum Card® from American Express, the Amex Business Platinum falls into that latter category of “card” rather than “credit card,” so you might be able to sneak in under the higher threshold.

While carrying 4-10 cards might seem like a high bar to hit, if you’ve applied for some of the truly fantastic offers Amex has fielded in the past year, you might be getting close to that ceiling.

It’s also not like the issuer will simply approve everyone up to those maximums. If you have more than a handful of cards from Amex, you might have a much harder time convincing the applications department that you need yet another product.

Not only that, but Amex will typically only approve an applicant for up to two cards in a 90-day period (usually one credit card and one card). So if you applied for another card recently, you might have to wait in a holding pattern.

Plus, if you already have even just a few cards from American Express with high credit limits, Amex might consider your credit line fully extended and deny your application.

Speaking of issuer application restrictions, if you have your eye on a Chase card like the United Quest Card with its introductory bonus of 80,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open, you might be concerned about whether applying for the Amex Business Platinum might put you over Chase’s 5/24 limit on cards. Luckily, business cards from American Express don’t count toward that threshold, so you should be able to get the Amex Business Platinum and then apply for a Chase card at a different time without repercussions.

Does it matter if you already have a personal Amex Platinum card?

You might also wonder whether having the personal Amex Platinum card precludes you from getting the Business Platinum Amex and its welcome offer.

Luckily, Amex considers these two cards as separate products, so if you already have the personal version, it shouldn’t make any impact on your ability to apply for the business one and earn its welcome offer.

Young woman drinking coffee and checking the online shop — MSTUDIOIMAGES/GETTYIMAGES

Do you need a business to apply?

As the Amex Business Platinum is a small-business card, you might be wondering whether you actually need your own business to apply. The answer is perhaps not what you expect.

Issuers, including Amex, understand that freelancers, independent contractors and even folks who have a side hustle (that produces some income) need business cards to help them separate their work expenses from personal ones. So, you may not need to have a formal business to carry a small-business card.

Before you get too excited, however, remember that the Amex Business Platinum is one of American Express’ most premium products. So Amex probably won’t just approve anyone who has a random side gig. You might have to demonstrate the income that your venture generates and provide information such as “doing business as” forms or similar to qualify.

Can you get the card twice?

If you do have your own business, though, and a solid financial history of spending responsibly with Amex, there are reports of targeted cardholders being prequalified – and eligible for the welcome offer – for a second Amex Business Platinum account. It makes sense that if you have multiple businesses, they each may require a separate card for record-keeping purposes.

Likewise, if you have more than one business or work for more than one company, you might be targeted to apply for an additional Amex Business Platinum for that enterprise. These instances still seem to be pretty rare, but if Amex contacts you with such an offer, be sure to talk to a customer service representative and verify that you are indeed eligible.

Call the reconsideration line

If you apply for the Amex Business Platinum but are initially rejected, you might want to try your luck with the issuer’s reconsideration line. By ringing them up, you can ask if there were specific issues with your application that you can address over the phone or by providing further information.

You might be expected to explain why you want or need the Amex Business Platinum card (beyond just the welcome offer), such as key features or benefits you find attractive. You could be asked to supply further information about your business (or freelance work), including documentation of income, address and more.

After all that, if you’re still denied, the good news is that at least you might still be eligible to apply for the card in the future when it is fielding another elevated introductory offer. So take that as a silver, or platinum in this case, lining.

Bottom line

The Amex Business Platinum is one of the best small-business rewards cards around. Right now, it’s also posting one of its highest-ever introductory offers.

If you’re interested in applying, make sure that you meet the card’s eligibility requirements to improve your chances of being accepted.

Application link: The Business Platinum Card from American Express with up to 150,000 bonus points after $15,000 in spending in the first three months.

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

Additional reporting by Emily Thompson.

Who is eligible for the Amex Business Platinum Card?

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