Following the changes to the personal version of the Amex Platinum card, the expectation is to see new benefits to the business version too. Via Viewfromthewing, Amex has said following about new benefits coming soon:
Beginning March 30, 2017, Business Platinum Card Members will get 5X Membership Rewards Points on flights and prepaid hotels at amextravel.com.
Business Platinum Card Members also get access to the recently announced new Global Dining Collection, as well as the expanded Global Lounge Collection and the Global By Invitation Only Events.
5x prepaid hotels at amextravel.com is the same benefit which they they just added to the personal Platinum card, and isn’t hugely exciting since you’re losing out on discounts offered by other OTA and also for loyalty/status reasons. However, the 5x airfare at amextravel.com which is new for the business version can be very interesting. There isn’t usually any reason not to book via amextravel.com and earn 5x in the process.
The personal card also got a 5x airfare benefit added back in October. The card earns 5x on airfare booked directly with the airline or via Amextravel.com. Starting March 30, the business version will also earn 5x on airfare but only flights booked via the Amex Travel portal.
Notably missing is any mention of the annual fee increasing from $450 to $550, but of course this is all preliminary info and there might be more changes including a higher fee and/or other benefits. Update: Annual fee will remain at $450.
Essentially, the business version will now have almost all the best benefits: the huge 50% rebate on MR redemptions for select flights (as described in this post), the 1.5x earning on $5k+ purchases, and now the 5x airfare on flight booked via Amex Travel. Maybe the fee will even remain the same at $450, although it’s likely it’ll go up to $550 like the personal version did.
Of course, the $200 Uber benefit on the personal card is a big edge of the personal card over the business version.
