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For the last few months, the Business Platinum Card from American Express has been offering a sign-up bonus of up to 100,000 Membership Rewards points (after you spend a total of $15,000 in the first three months). As expected, that offer’s just ended, and Amex has replaced it with a slightly less lucrative offer. Now, new cardholders can earn up to 75,000 points — but they’ll need to spend significantly more.
With the previous 100k offer, you’d earn 50,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first three months — plus another 50,000 points after spending an additional $10,000 in that same time period. With the current offer, however, you’ll only earn 50,000 points after making $10,000 in purchases in the first three months, and the additional 25,000 points come after you spend another $10,000, also within the first three months.
Of course, this is a business card, and as such it’s targeted to users who generally charge more than personal cardholders might. Depending on your situation, spending $20,000 in the first three months to earn the full 75,000-point bonus could be quite doable — but in any case this offer is a real step down from the previous one, both in terms of points haul and spending thresholds.
That’s not to say earning the sign-up bonus can’t score you some great travel redemptions. Based on TPG’s latest valuations, 75,000 Membership Rewards points are worth $1,425, and you could get even more value out of them if you transferred your points to a travel partner such as Singapore Airlines and booked a premium-cabin award flight.
Plus, sign-up bonus aside, the Business Platinum Card is more appealing than ever, now that it offers a 50% points rebate when you book airfare through Amex Travel. You’ll get half your points back when you book a flight in any class of service on the same airline you’ve selected for the annual $200 airline fee credit, and when you book a business or first-class flight with any carrier. This rebate effectively gets you 2 cents per point toward airfare — a very solid deal, especially since these bookings still earn you redeemable miles and elite status credit. You’ll also have access to tons of other perks, including Amex’s network of Centurion Lounges.
Bottom Line
This offer is clearly a big step down from the previous sign-up bonus of up to 100,000 points. Not only is the rewards haul smaller, but you’ll also need to spend quite a bit more to earn even 50,000 points. Still, if you can easily charge $20,000 in purchases to the Business Platinum Card from American Express, it could be worth signing up now — and regardless of the bonus, the 50% points rebate makes it a great option for flight redemptions.
Source: thepointsguy.com