American Express Business Platinum Raises Annual Fee to $595, Adds $200 Dell Credit, WeWork Benefit and More

The business version of the American Express Platinum card will be getting an increase in its annual fee from the current $450 up to $595 in Februrary. (The personal version of the Amex Platinum had its $450 annual fee increased to $550 a while back.)

The following new benefits are being added (my commentary in the following bullet points):

  • One year of complimentary Platinum Global Access from WeWork ($2,700 value), a network of premium workspaces around the world. With Platinum Global Access, enjoy over 300 workspaces in 75+ cities and 20+ countries.
    • This is a valuable benefit for someone who will make use of this, but pretty useless for the majority, I think.
    • The wording “one year of complimentary access” makes it sound like it’s a temporary benefit, not an ongoing benefit of the card. This is similar to the ZipRecruiter benefit on the Business Gold card, though that benefit is for new cardmembers only while this one is being given – for at least one year – to ALL cardmembers.
  • Up to $200 in statement credits annually for U.S. purchases with Dell on your Business Platinum Card.
    • We’ll have to see how this comes out. If it’s a monthly $15-$20 benefit (a la Uber), it’s not too useful. If it’s a twice-annual $100 credit (a la Saks) it might be a bit useful, but obviously worth way less than a real $200 value. We’ll have to wait and see.
  • $100 hotel credit on qualifying charges at hundreds of properties in The Hotel Collection (up from $75) for new reservations made after January 1, 2019 when you book through Amex Travel.
    • Meh

All these changes will take place in February 2019, including the annual fee change. When your card renews in February 2019 or beyond, you’ll get hit with the higher $595 fee. And the new benefits will go into effect then as well. The changes were just sent out via email to all current business Platinum cardholders.

Overall, this is a  terrible change for most people as the WeWork benefit only helps someone who can make use of that, and Dell benefit will probably be just marginally valuable for most people, while the $145 fee increase is large and real for everyone. Additionally, it sounds like the WeWork benefit is a one-year thing, as noted.

They are clearly shifting to try making their business card attractive to ‘real’ businesses, not an eBay pop-up shop. I just think they aren’t doing too well a job since these kind of benefits are very business dependent; they should have a suite of options, e.g. you choose either WeWork or ZipRecruiter or etc.

The $450 annual fee is still showing for public applications. If you don’t value the new benefits, it’s worth locking in the lower rate before it increases. I’d assume we have until February, but who knows – it’s possible new applications will change sooner.

The current public signup offer is 75,000 points after $20,000 in spend (50k/$10 then 25k/$10k). The current referral signup offer is the same, so you’ll want to use a referral (or self referral) to signup for this. Another option would be to go through the Affinity portal for an additional $50 bonus. It’s possible to call in and get 100,000 points for $10k offer, readers report having success with this as recently as last week, so it’s worth a shot.

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Emily
Emily (@guest_711136)
January 24, 2019 09:07

Do we have any additional information on the new benefits yet? It’s frustrating to know the new fee will kick in with no info about the benefits or how they will work. WeWork access could be really useful for me. Depending on what’s offered.

William Charles
Admin
January 24, 2019 20:26

Nope.

NinjaX
NinjaX (@guest_685009)
December 4, 2018 20:29

holy fuck. its about time. i would gladly pay $1k AF on all my plats and gold for the right benefits. glad amex finally understands to stop being a charge card for retail consumers.

Parkerthon
Parkerthon (@guest_690427)
December 13, 2018 13:53

Given these new benefits are complete garbage for most, sounds like you’re mostly excited about the exclusivity of being a cardholder through higher fees.

Sam
Sam (@guest_684488)
December 4, 2018 07:38

WeWork is actually an amazing benefit if you live in a city with WeWork locations. If people are excited about a centurion lounge occassional benefit at the airport , imagine having access to a workspace with kitchen that has coffee, beer on tap etc. all the time in the city… That’s pretty nice!

JB San Diego
JB San Diego (@guest_684106)
December 3, 2018 17:23

I agree with ‘M’, this is ‘DOA’. I am dumping this card next year!

W
W (@guest_684068)
December 3, 2018 16:44

Is this that big news coming from AmEx or was that the gold? I missed that announcement if there was one.

David
David (@guest_683997)
December 3, 2018 15:24

What cards can we product change Bus Plat card into?

AKSF
AKSF (@guest_683995)
December 3, 2018 15:22

You should also note that 100k/10k is available via call in to rep.

AKSF
AKSF (@guest_684032)
December 3, 2018 15:54

It’s definitely available still. Certain reps have it. People can check the code sharing thread on /r/churning to find out who to message for the info.

Mark G
Mark G (@guest_684033)
December 3, 2018 15:57

As a data point, I was able to get this offer 100k/10k just last week.

Jon
Jon (@guest_684082)
December 3, 2018 16:57

what number did you call and what did you say exactly to get the offer?

tolikfox
tolikfox (@guest_683988)
December 3, 2018 15:08

centurion lounges are overcrowded now they wanna overcrowd the wework spaces lol

Max
Max (@guest_684006)
December 3, 2018 15:37

Haha true! WeWork is out once they see the spike in craft beer bill starting Feb 2019.

NinjaX
NinjaX (@guest_685012)
December 4, 2018 20:34

no. they do like all the other lounges do…

Front Door Sign:
As our popularity and demand explodes, its critical WeWork maintains the sanctity of our work spaces and, therefore, can not welcome AMEX Plat card members at this time. Please place your name on the indefinite waiting list. Thank you.

– WeWork Management

Yoni
Yoni (@guest_683970)
December 3, 2018 14:32

Remain a Charge card??

Hmmm are going to do like they recently did with Gold card changes and convert it from a Charge Card to a Credit card.?

Because now just the Green Card and the Plat are the only remaining business charge cards left. With the 4/5 Amex Credit card limit it’s slows the churn.

CM
CM (@guest_684266)
December 3, 2018 20:27

Wait, what?! Gold is a credit card now? I think I’ve missed the memo, but I guess you’re right — looks like both Biz and Pers have an APR listed now.

Shitz, I was pretty certain set about getting Gold Personal for triple dip plus other two MR CCs very soonâ„¢ for the 0% APR, I guess that plan is moot now, because only 2 CCs in 90 days with AmEx?! :/ Plus, only 5 CCs total per account? :/

That’s a bummer! Plus, the 5 card limit. We’re f****d!

Sam
Sam (@guest_684490)
December 4, 2018 07:50
  CM

Whoa did not realize this… I got the Gold card and assumed it wasn’t taking up a 5 card slot…

NinjaX
NinjaX (@guest_685016)
December 4, 2018 20:41

cmon bruh. where in the world did u hear the amex gold personal is now a credit card?

Yoni
Yoni (@guest_685018)
December 4, 2018 20:50

NinjaX From the Business card page and from the new Rates & Fees page.

I might have assumed that they had – rather it looks like they are “Plum-izing” the card w/ with pay over time from opening the card:

“Business Gold Card
$295 Annual Fee¤.4X points that adjust to your spending.‡
Solutions to meet business needs

4X points on 2 select categories where you spend most each month‡
Get 25% points back, after you book a flight using Pay with Points‡
Flexibility to pay over time with interest, or pay your full balance, whichever is best for your business‡
APR on purchases will be a variable rate, currently 16.24%, 20.24% or 24.24%, based on your creditworthiness and other factors as determined at the time of account opening.¤

William Charles
Admin
December 4, 2018 20:50

It’s showing an APY range now which is confusing, but the APY range is just for pay over time.

P
P (@guest_683960)
December 3, 2018 14:24

Besides desktops and laptops, what products does Dell sell that would be useful for a monthly or annual Amex credit? I have never owned or bought a dell pc/laptop, but I don’t really want to buy one each year.

Max
Max (@guest_684016)
December 3, 2018 15:42
  P

I had a $200 Dell promo credit I had to use before it expired, and drove myself crazy going through their catalog without finding much of interest. Ended up getting a Bose soundbar that I gave as a gift. They also have headphones, monitors, games and other stuff possibly for resale if giftcards don’t trigger the credit.

P
P (@guest_684023)
December 3, 2018 15:44

Thanks for the details.