Amex Business Plat Vs. Delta Amex Business Plat: Which Offer Is Better?

At the moment we’re seeing the two excellent welcome bonuses on two American Express small business cards:

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

Annual Fee: $595 (Rates & Fees)
Welcome bonus: Earn 75,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $15,000 within the first three months

The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card

Annual Fee: $250 (Rates & Fees)
Welcome Bonus: Limited Time Offer: Earn 70,000 bonus miles and 5,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in the first 3 months. Offer ends 10/28/20.

With that in mind, I figured I’d look at which of these offers is more compelling, across a variety of factors:

Which card offer is better?

I figured I’d compare these offers based on a few factors: the welcome bonuses, the urgency with which to apply for the cards, and the long term perks and value proposition of the cards.

Which welcome bonus is better?

The Amex Business Platinum Card is offering 75,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $15,000 within three months. I value American Express Membership rewards at 1.7/cents point, so to me, this bonus is worth $1,275 .

Redeem Amex points towards the cost of paid tickets at a great rate

Meanwhile, on the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, you earn 70,000 bonus miles and 5,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in the first 3 months. I value Delta SkyMiles at ~1.3 cents each, or ~$910.

Verdict: The Amex Business Platinum Card welcome bonus is clearly better.

Which offer is easier to get approved for?

The welcome bonus on the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card is only available to those who haven’t had this exact card before. However, if you’ve had another Delta card, like the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, you’d still be eligible.

The welcome bonus on the Amex Business Platinum Card is also once in a lifetime, so if you’ve had this exact card before you’re not eligible for the welcome bonus.

Another consideration is that the Delta version of the card is a credit card, while the other version is a charge card. Typically you can have at most four Amex charge cards and four Amex credit cards at any given point. I think more people have maxed out their limit on credit cards, meaning you might be more likely to be approved for the charge card.

Verdict: The welcome bonus on the Delta Business Card is only available for a limited time. However, the major consideration here should be which of these cards you’ve had before (if any), and also how many charge cards and how many credit cards you have with Amex.

Which card offers better perks/long term value proposition?

Both of these cards offer several valuable long term perks. The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card ($250 annual fee) offers the following long term perks:

• A Delta Platinum companion certificate upon account renewal every year
• 20% savings on eligible in-flight purchases
• Priority boarding on Delta flights
• First checked bag free on Delta itineraries
• The ability to earn bonus Medallion Qualifying miles — if you spend $50,000 on the card per year you’d earn 20,000 bonus elite qualifying miles

Receive priority boarding with the Delta Amex Platinum Card

The Amex Business Platinum Card ($595 annual fee) offers the following long term perks:

• $200 annual airline fee credit
• Access to American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts
• Access to Delta SkyClubs
• Priority Pass Select membership
• Access to the American Express Centurion Lounges in Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, etc.
• A Global Entry fee credit
• Gold elite status in both Hilton HHonors, and Marriott Bonvoy
• The ability to pool all your Amex Membership Rewards points and receive a 35% refund when using the Pay with Points option on your selected carrier

Receive access to Delta SkyClubs with the Amex Platinum Card

Verdict: It all depends on what airline you usually travel with, but all things considered the Amex Business Platinum Card offers far superior perks. Between the $200 annual airline credit, lounge access, and the ability to get more value out of all your Amex points, this card has superior perks.

Bottom line

The offers on both the Amex Business Platinum Card and Amex Delta Platinum Business Card are extremely compelling.

In general, I think the Amex Business Platinum Card offer is more compelling all around for the average person. Ideally, you can spend $15,000 on the card within three months and earn 75,000 Membership Rewards points, but even if you can’t, this could still be the best option. The main benefit of the card is that it increases the value of all the Membership Rewards points you earn.

However, the welcome bonus on the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card is extremely compelling as well. There’s no reason you couldn’t apply for and be approved for both cards.

Are you planning on picking up one of these cards, and if so, which one?

The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card (Rates & Fees), and The Business Platinum® Card from American Express (Rates & Fees).