The offer discussed below about my experience obtaining the Amex Business Platinum card, is not currently available. You can see the current offer and associated benefits on my review of the Business Platinum American Express Card.
It has been a while since I’ve applied for a credit card, though I made an exception today thanks to an offer I saw on my account, which I sure wasn’t expecting.
In this post:
Why I haven’t been applying for many cards
I’m currently taking a break from applying for credit cards, for a few reasons:
- I’m currently slightly over the Chase 5/24 limit, so I think it’s worth “resetting”
- I’ll eventually be closing on a (delayed) new home and am working on a mortgage; generally it’s best not to apply for too many credit cards during a mortgage process, since it gives you even more questions to answer
- I have over two dozen credit cards, so there aren’t that many good cards out there that I could apply for right now, when you consider that I’m over the Chase 5/24 limit, I already have the maximum number of Amex credit cards, etc.
Why I applied for the Amex Business Platinum
This morning I logged into my American Express account to check Amex Offers, as I do most days. However, once I logged in there was a pop-up for an offer I sure wasn’t expecting. With this I could earn 100,000 bonus Membership Rewards points when I apply for the Amex Business Platinum and spend $15,000 within the first three months.
When I clicked the link it brought me to this URL (I’m not sure what this will show for others), which did indeed show an offer for 100,000 Membership Rewards points. This seemed to be a targeted pre-approved offer of sorts, rather than an upgrade offer or a generic publicly available offer.
This deal was too good for me to turn up:
- First of all, it’s better than the standard offer for 85,000 bonus Membership Rewards points (which is still excellent)
- I had the Amex Business Platinum a few years ago, so I shouldn’t be eligible for the bonus based on the typical “once in a lifetime” rule for bonuses; however, I was targeted for this offer, and the terms specifically didn’t reference not being eligible if I had the card in the past (unless I’m missing something)
- This card had none of the downsides I was concerned about when it comes to applying for cards — Amex business cards don’t count towards Chase’s 5/24 limit, and the Amex Business Platinum is considered a “hybrid” card, so it doesn’t count towards Amex’s four credit card limit
Regarding eligibility for the welcome bonus, usually an application would 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.
However, instead, I get the following on this application:
PRESCREEN & OPT-OUT NOTICE: This “prescreened” offer of credit is based on information in your credit report indicating that you meet certain criteria. This offer is not guaranteed if you do not continue to meet those criteria, or any applicable criteria bearing on your credit worthiness established prior to your selection, or if the application is altered, or any required information on it is not complete, accurate or verifiable.
I just had to enter very minimal information (since I had basically already been pre-approved), and sure enough I was instantly approved.
Why the Amex Business Platinum will be worth it
I’ll consider this a big win — I value Membership Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, so to me the 100,000 points are worth $1,700.
While the Busisness Platinum has an annual fee of $695 (Rates & Fees), I’ll still get significant value from the card. I do already have the Amex Personal Platinum, and there is a lot of overlap between the two cards. However, incrementally I’ll receive:
- An extra $200 annual airline fee credit
- A $400 annual Dell credit
- Up to a 35% refund on Pay With Points redemptions, which could be a great deal
I could see myself taking advantage of the Pay With Points program, which I haven’t otherwise had access to with the 35% refund for a while.
Bottom line
While I wasn’t intending to apply for another card for several months, I couldn’t help myself when I saw this Amex Business Platinum offer today. I had the card a few years ago, so to be pre-approved for a bonus of 100K points is pretty awesome. This is one of the reasons it’s always worth logging into your credit card account to see what you might be eligible for.
I’m not missing anything here, am I? Has anyone received other good pre-approved offers?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The Business Platinum® Card from American Express (Rates & Fees).
I laughed out loud when you mentioned the $200 Dell credit
What I don’t like is that I see these pre screened offers in my AX account , I apply and then AX said WHAMMY. Why even shows the pre screened offers what a let down
Can you get tax write off the $595 annual fee from that business?
Congrats on the new home for you, Ford and Winston. I would think with all the status you have with everyone in aviation it would be difficult to spend the 200 airline credit since almost everything is covered already with status perks..?
Coming soon - "Amex clawed back my 100k"
https://frequentmiler.com/waves-of-amex-shut-downs-this-week/?utm_source=BoardingArea&utm_medium=BoardingArea
@Ben, you got a $200 airline credit and you're sure. I applied, received the card over a month ago and it was stated that this card no longer offers an airline credit for new applicants in 2021...
@T Dog. Holy Guacamole! It does look like they're giving 10x at supermarkets and gas stations on up to $15K spend. I don't know about an extra 150,000 points in six months, but I can can probably get to 50,000. I'm going to think about this.
PS It says gift cards don't count. I see a large purchase of toilet paper and booze coming up in September.
I got this offer in November, and I already have the card (got it in 2016 and have kept it ever since). I wasn't sure if I would get the bonus, but the card came in the mail, and I preceded to put $15,000 of spend on it. Sure enough, I got the bonus! So now I have two of this card and the welcome bonus of 100,000 bonus points (twice within 5 years).
As...
I got this offer in November, and I already have the card (got it in 2016 and have kept it ever since). I wasn't sure if I would get the bonus, but the card came in the mail, and I preceded to put $15,000 of spend on it. Sure enough, I got the bonus! So now I have two of this card and the welcome bonus of 100,000 bonus points (twice within 5 years).
As a precaution, I created a new username when I verified this second card, but they automatically applied the points to my original account that has my first Business Platinum.
So if you see this popup offer, go ahead and apply for it!
Congrats!
I've been targeted for a Business Platinum twice (after previously having held it) and took advantage of it both times. If you can make the credits work for you, which I usually can one way or another, and you can meet the minimum spend, I think it's an essential card to have to yield maximum flexibility from American Express points, since, after the 35% points rebate when paying with points for business class fares (or...
I've been targeted for a Business Platinum twice (after previously having held it) and took advantage of it both times. If you can make the credits work for you, which I usually can one way or another, and you can meet the minimum spend, I think it's an essential card to have to yield maximum flexibility from American Express points, since, after the 35% points rebate when paying with points for business class fares (or economy on a yearly-chosen domestic airline). that's you 1.54 cents per point value.
So, if you're earning Membership Rewards points at 2x and 4x with a Blue Business Plus and Amex Gold combo, and you buy a ticket with points, you have a baseline of 3.08%-6.16% return. Less convenient and flexible than a Freedom Unlimited+Sapphire Reserve combo at 2.25%-4.5% baseline with no rebate nonsense, but the Amex bottom line is more lucrative if you have a Business Platinum. Of course, many will only ever want to transfer to airlines, in order to do better, but those of us who need to travel on specific dates or get impatient with the time and effort required to get an award ticket might value what you can get by paying with points.
One of the solicitations was in direct reference to the fact that I was already holding a Business Platinum: double your credits! Double your points rebates!
I'm seeing a similar offer for the personal Platinum card (100K bonus points after $5K in spend) and terms and conditions include 10 points/dollar spent at supermarkets and gas stations in the first 6 months. Is that right? Spend $15K at supermarkets and gas stations in 6 months and AmEx is going to give me 250K points?
I received two offers from American Express Business Platinum. One was 100K to outright take the card with $15K spend. The other was to upgrade my Business Gold to Platinum for 85K & $10K spend. I took the upgrade mostly because I wanted out of the Business Gold. That card was due in the summer and with an upgrade the $595 fee was reduced by my prorated payment on the Gold. I think it's a...
I received two offers from American Express Business Platinum. One was 100K to outright take the card with $15K spend. The other was to upgrade my Business Gold to Platinum for 85K & $10K spend. I took the upgrade mostly because I wanted out of the Business Gold. That card was due in the summer and with an upgrade the $595 fee was reduced by my prorated payment on the Gold. I think it's a great deal. Used the Dell credit this past weekend and $5K plus spend having the card less than a month. Honestly, one card I thought I would never take out.
I got this same pop up no lifetime language offer in November, despite having opened a new Business Platinum card six months earlier in late May. I applied.
It went smoothly, but the 100,000 points didn't post immediately on the charge that brought me over the spend requirement. Rather, I had to wait for that statement to close. Different than usual, but not a big deal.
@WR2, mortgage applications are unpredictable and can take forever. Even longer if there isn't a forthcoming deal for a house, given short supply and so many people competing.
We had a mortgage processor take 6 months and ask for ridiculous materials. We cut our losses with that provider and went with another broker who only took two months from start to finish.
I got this too even though I had business platinum 3 years ago. Another nice benefit of this offer is that if you can meet the spend requirement in chunks of at least $5000 per transaction (like maybe paying taxes) you can get 1.5x. (Note however that with taxes the processor will break it in two -- one charge for the taxes and one for the fee. So make sure the taxes component is at least 5k.)
I got a Business Gold offer of 90K points after $10K spending. Not sure how long it has been there, but it says expiration date 6/30.
When I click on the link, I see the same offer with the same terms but I have no idea whether this is specific to me. Not sure how to tell.
I've had this offer on my account for a month or so. I also received an email for it, so it doesn't look like the kind of offer that disappears when you log out. Since it expires 6/30, why not wait until after the mortgage process is complete to sign up for this?