Which Business Card Is Better? The Amex Business Gold vs Business Platinum

by Daniel | Last Updated September 3rd, 2024

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Running a business means making smart financial decisions, and when it comes to choosing the right business credit card, the stakes are pretty high.
So in this article I’ll be putting two of Amex’s Top Business cards heard to head: the Amex Business Gold Card and the Amex Business Platinum Card.

Both of these cards promise to elevate your business spending, but is the Platinum cards premium price tag really worth it?

Well in this article, I’ll dissect the key features, perks, and rewards of each card, helping you determine which one is the best fit for your business. Whether you’re after flexible rewards or luxury travel perks, this comparison will reveal if the Business Gold can hold its own or if the Platinum cards high-end benefits justify the extra cost.

So sick around as I uncover which card will give your business the edge it needs—and if the extra investment in the Amex Business Platinum card is truly worth it!

So Who Are These Cards Good For?

Well both the Amex Business Gold and Business Platinum cards offer valuable benefits, but they cater to different types of businesses and spending habits. So here’s a brief breakdown of how these cards differ:

Amex Business Gold Card

Small to Mid-Sized Businesses with Variable Expenses

So the Amex Business Gold card is ideal for businesses that have varying expenses across multiple categories. With the ability to earn 4x Membership Rewards points on the two categories where your business spends the most each month (from a list of six), this card maximizes rewards where you need them most.

Businesses Focused on Earning Rewards

If your business is looking to accumulate rewards points quickly, especially in areas like advertising, shipping, or travel, the Amex Business Gold card’s bonus categories make it a strong choice.

Companies Seeking Flexibility

The Amex Business Gold card offers the flexibility to adapt your rewards to your spending patterns, making it a good option for businesses that need a versatile card that grows with them.

Cost-Conscious Businesses

With a lower annual fee compared to the Amex Business Platinum card, the Amex Business Gold is suitable for companies that want to earn substantial rewards without the higher cost associated with premium perks.

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Amex Business Platinum Card

Established Businesses with High Travel Needs

Now the Amex Business Platinum card is perfect for businesses that have significant travel expenses. It offers premium travel benefits like access to airport lounges, elite hotel status, and a 35% points rebate when booking flights through Amex Travel, making it a great fit for frequent business travelers.

Businesses That Value Luxury and Premium Services

If your company values luxury travel experiences and premium concierge services, the Amex Business Platinum card’s extensive list of perks—including access to Centurion Lounges, Fine Hotels & Resorts benefits, and more—make it an excellent choice.

High-Spending Businesses

The Amex Business Platinum card is ideal for businesses that spend heavily, especially on travel and large purchases. The card offers a range of benefits that can offset the higher annual fee, making it a good investment for companies with substantial expenses.

Businesses Seeking to Maximize Tax-Deductible Expenses

Since the Amex Business Platinum card comes with a higher annual fee, it’s a good fit for businesses that want to maximize tax-deductible expenses while gaining access to premium benefits.

Annual Fee And Sign-up Bonus 

Now from here, let’s take look at how valuable the sign-up bonus is and how much the annual fee will cost you each year.

And needless to say this is an important factor to consider when choosing any credit card, as you want to try and get a much value as you possibly can.

Amex Business Gold Card

Now currently it is possible to earn an impressive 200,000 bonus points if you manage to spend $15,000 within the first 3 months of opening the account. 

And with Amex points being valued at around 1 cents per point, this sign-up bonus is worth $2,000 which is pretty good.

Now it’s worth that you can get significantly more value from your Membership Rewards Points if you transfer them to one of the many travel partners. 

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Amex Business Platinum card

Now currently it is possible to earn 250,000 bonus points if you can manage to spend the same $20,000 on the card within the first 3 months of card-ownership.

Then with Amex Memberships Reward points being valued at around 1 cents per point, this sign up bonus is worth $2,500, which is pretty impressive!

And like I mentioned before, it is possible to receive substantially more value from Membership Rewards points if you transfer them to one of the travel partners. 

Which Card Has The Best Points Earning Potential?

So now we know how much each card costs on an annual basis and what they are offering as a sign-up bonus, we now need to look at the points earning ability of each card.

And this is obviously quite an important factor to consider when choosing a new credit card, as having the ability to earn more points will eventually provide you with more value over time.

Amex Business Gold Card

Starting right at the top, it is possible to earn 4x points on the top 2 categories where your business spends the most in each billing cycle.
And this covers quite a broad range of different categories which are:

• Purchases at US media providers for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
• Purchases made from electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers from within the US
• Eating out at US based restaurants, including takeout and delivery services
• Purchases made at US gas stations
• A wide range of transit purchases that include trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways
• And finally, monthly wireless telephone service charges made directly from a wireless telephone service provider from within the U.S.
• If and when you exceed $150k in purchases across these categories within a calendar year, it will then drop to 1 point per dollar spent for the remainder of the year.
• From here it is possible to earn 3x points on any flights or pre paid hotels purchaces that are made through AmexTravel.com
• Then finally, all other purchases that are made on the card will earn you 1 point per dollar spent.

Amex Business Platinum card

So starting right at the top, it is possible to earn 5x points for purchase made on flights and pre paid hotels that are made through AmexTravel.com.

Then as you will be enrolled in the Membership Rewards Program it is possible to earn 2x points through amextravel.com on the following pre paid categories:

• Short-term rentals
• Car rentals
• Vacation packages (flight + hotel packages)

It is then possible to earn 1.5x points per dollar spend on the following business related categories:

• US construction material & hardware suppliers
• Electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers and shipping providers

Along with this, any purchases that are $5,000 or more will also earn 1.5x points per dollar spent.

Just note that is actually limited to a total of 1 million additional points per calendar year.

Everything else purchases on the card will earn you 1 point per dollar spent.

35% Airline Bonus

Now It’s worth noting that there is an exclusive benefit that comes with the the Amex Business Platinum card that called the 35% Airline Bonus.

And with this you can essentially receive up to 1 million bonus points back per year.

And how this works is quite simple, for every 10 points that you redeem using Membership Rewards Pay with Points through American Express Travel, you will receive 3.5 additional points back on your account.

Now its worth noting that this can only be used for either First or Business class flights on any airlines, as long as it is booked through Amextravel.com
So if you do travel a lot, specifically by Business or First class, this will save you quite a lot of money each year.

If you mange max out the limit of 1 million points each year, you are looking at a value of $10,000.

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So depending on how much spend on your business each year will make a difference to your ability to earn a ton of extra points.

If you don’t spend massive amounts throughout the year, Amex Business Gold card would make more sense when to comes to earning miles as it is easier to earn high points on business related expenses compared to the Amex Business Platinum card.

But if you do spend large amounts on your business, specifically on travel, the Amex Business Platinum card provides the opportunity to earn more points.

Which Card Has The Best Benefits And Perks?

So now that I’ve covered the annual fee, sign-up bonus and points earning potential of each card, let’s take a look at the benefits that actually come with each card and see how they compare.

Amex Business Gold Card

• FedEx
• Office Supply Store
• Grubhub

There is then a $155 Walmart+ credit, which is good if you do shop at Walmart.

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Then if you book a hotel for 2 night or more through The Hotel Collection you will receive a $100 credit that can be used at the hotel for things like dinning or spa treatments.

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There is then Cell phone protection which covers up to $800 per claim with a maximum of 2 claims per year.
But just know that you must pay for your cell phone bill with the card for this to be valid, also, each claim will incur a $50 deductible fee.

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And finally, It’s also worth noting that there is a 0% Intro APR for 6 months from the date of opening the account. 

So if you make use of these benefit, it is more than enough to justify the cost of the annual fee.

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Amex Business Platinum card

So in terms of Business related benefits the most valuable benefit on offer is a $400 Dell Technologies credit that is provided in 2 lots of $200.

This essentially means that you can use up to $200 per 6 month period.

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The next benefit is a $360 credit that can be used through ‘Indeed’
And this is great if you are looking for employees, specifically through Indeed.

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There is then $150 credit that can be used at Adobe Creative Solutions.

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And finally there is a $120 Wireless statement credit, that is provided in $10 allotments each month. 

So in terms of business related benefits, you are looking at $1,030 in value, which is pretty good.

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Now along with this, there is also quite a lot of valuable personal related benefits that also com white Amex Business Platinum card.

So the first and most value benefit is access to the Global Lounge Collection.

And this essentially provides you access to a whole range of different airport lounges from all over the world, such as the Centurion Lounge, Delta Sky Club and the Lufthansa lounge, just to name a few.

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You will also receive a Priority Pass Select Membership that is valued at around $469, and this provides you with access to an additional 1,600 airport lounges from all over the world.
I’ve been using this specific benefit with my Amex Platinum card for quite a few years now and really like it.

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Now another benefit that is really quite useful is the $200 Airline Fee Credit.

With this, you can choose one airline that is a partner of Amex and then use the credit for expenses such as baggage fees or inflight food and refreshments.

I actually use this benefit through United, which is my airline of choice through Amex, and this allows me access to the United Club when I travel through an airport that has a United Club.

So it’s a pretty good benefit to have.

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There is then a $199 CLEAR Plus credit which is designed to get you through Airport security a little quicker than TSA Pre Check.

But but in my opinion its not really worth it.

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Now similar to this is a $100 credit for use on either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.

And again, just like CLEAR access, so many people now use this benefit that it doesn’t really make much of difference in how long it takes to get through security.

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So another couple of benefits that are worth mentioning are:
Access to the Fine Hotels + Resorts Program, this essentially provides you with a $100 hotel credit for hotel bookings that are made through Amextravel.com, as long as they are 2 nights or more.

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Then there is the Cruise Privileges Program, this provides you with a credit of up to $300 for eligible bookings on a wide range of different cruise ships. 

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And finally there are a few hotel and car rental privilege programs that you join.

The Hotel Programs are:

• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status
• Hilton Honors Gold Status

And then you can receive Premium Car Rental Privileges through the following companies:

• Hertz President’s Circle
• Avis Preferred
• National Car Rental Emerald Club

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So as you can see, the Amex Business Platinum card offers a lot more benefits than the Amex Business Gold card does.

The main question to ask yourself is: will you actually use them? 

Final Thoughts 

Ok so that covers pretty much everything you need to know about both of these cards, and as you can see, both cards offer quite a lot of value.  

Now like any credit card that you are considering, it’s always worth taking in to account which benefits you will actually use and take advantage.
As if you don’t use any of these benefits, you are pretty much just wasting your money on a rather high annual fee.

So when it comes to deciding which one of these cards is the best business card for you, it really depends on a couple of factors.

The first thing to consider like I just mentioned would be if you will actually make use of the benefits on offer with each card.
If the benefits don’t align with your business or lifestyle, then it might be a good idea to consider a different card. 

The second thing to think about is how much money you will actually spend on the card through your business.

If you are a small to mid size business with modest expenses, then the Amex Business Gold card is a great choice.
Specifically because it has a great points earning structure where you can earn 4x points on the top 2 categories where your business spends the most.
If you manage to max out the $150,000 spend cap on 4x points earnings, you are looking at at 600,000 points, which are worth $6,000 in value if redeemed for travel through Amextravel.com, and even more if you transfer the points over to one of the many travel partners. 

Then if you have a mid to large sized business that spends a substantial amount of money each year, specifically on travel related expenses, then the Amex Business Platinum card is a fantastic choice.

Specifically as you can earn 5x points on pre paid flights and hotels that are made through amextravel.com 

Along with this, the 35% airline bonus that is offered with this card can save you up to $10,000 each year, if you manage to reach the cap of 1 million points each calendar year.

Now if you like to learn what the ultimate business credit cards available today are, make sure to read my review here.