American Express’s twin top-of-the-line travel credit cards, the American Express Platinum Card and the Business Platinum Card by American Express, are considered to be among the most powerful points-earning cards in the Canadian marketplace; however, they can also appear quite intimidating from a newcomer’s perspective due to their high annual fees.
One common approach is to start out by choosing between either the personal or the business version of this card in order to test-drive the many significant benefits on these cards and build your comfort with those $499 net annual fees. If you’re in this position, which card should you choose?
In this edition of the Head-to-Head series, we compare the personal and business Platinum cards in all the ways that matter to help you figure out which one is the better fit for you.
Head-to-Head: American Express Platinum Card vs. Business Platinum Card by American Express
Card Basics
We’ll start with the most basic criteria that should be considered when applying for any credit card: welcome bonuses, referral bonuses, the annual fee, and the rate at which you earn points on your daily purchases.
1. Welcome Bonus
On the personal version of the Platinum card, you can earn up to 90,000 Membership Rewards points upon spending $7,500 (CAD) in the first three months as a cardholder. That works out to be an average of $2,500 (CAD) per month to unlock the full welcome bonus, which is awarded in one fell swoop.
The business version of the Platinum card currently comes with a welcome bonus of up to 100,000 Membership Rewards points upon spending $10,000 (CAD) in the first three months as a cardholder. That works out to an average of $3,333 (CAD) in each of the first three months to unlock the full welcome bonus, which is also awarded in one go.
It’s worth noting that these offers are available through a referral link only, and the best-available welcome bonus without a referral link is 80,000 and 90,000 points, respectively.
Both welcome bonuses are very much worth pursuing, since it’s an easy way to boost your balance in a very short amount of time. However, the amount of spending required for each is relatively steep, although not unattainable by any means.
Keep in mind that you’ll also earn points for each dollar you spend as you work towards the welcome bonus. Since the Business Platinum Card by American Express has a flat earning rate of 1.25 points per dollar spent, you’ll wind up with a total of 112,500 points after meeting the requirement.
On the other hand, if you’re able to take advantage of the category multipliers on the American Express Platinum Card, you could wind up approaching the total welcome bonus on the Business Platinum Card, since you’d earn 3 points per dollar spent on dining, 2 points per dollar spent on travel, and 1 point per dollar spent elsewhere.
However, unless you’re able to maximize the category bonus on dining with the personal Platinum card, you’ll come out ahead with the Business Platinum card.
Verdict: Both cards currently offer a solid welcome bonus, which can go a long way towards helping you reach an aspirational travel goal.
However, if you’re able to meet the higher minimum spending requirement over the course of three months, the Business Platinum Card by American Express comes out ahead here, simply due to its larger bonus.
2. Referral Bonuses
One of the often-overlooked ways to earn points every year is with referral bonuses.
As a reminder, if you send a referral link for an American Express card to a friend or family member who is eventually approved for the card, you’ll receive some points as a referral bonus, and they’ll typically receive a better offer than what’s available to the public.
After you’ve posted pictures of yourself travelling in the throes of luxury to your social media accounts, you may receive questions from your network asking if you’ve won the lottery or received a nice promotion.
Once you’ve explained that you simply learned how to maximize credit cards and loyalty programs, they may ask you for advice, and this is a great time to earn points through referral bonuses.
With the Business Platinum Card by American Express, you’ll receive an extra 20,000 Membership Rewards points for each approved referral to either the personal or business version of the Platinum card, or the American Express Business Gold Rewards Card.
By this method, you can earn up to 225,000 points each year, as long as you’re able to refer 12 friends or family members.
With the American Express Platinum Card, you’ll earn an extra 10,000 Membership Rewards points for each approved referral to either the personal or business version of the Platinum card.
You can also earn up to 225,000 points each year this way; however, you’d need to refer 23 friends or family members to fully maximize the bonus.
If you choose to hold on to either of these cards year-after-year for their benefits, it’s certainly worth your while to pursue referrals. This way, you’re making full use of the card, and padding your balance as you do so.
Verdict: With 20,000 points per approved referral, and with the bonus awarded when referring to a total of three cards instead of just two, the Business Platinum Card by American Express comes out ahead in this metric.
3. Annual Fee
On the surface, it appears that the Platinum Card’s annual fee of $699 (CAD) is far higher than the Business Platinum Card’s $499 (CAD).
However, one should also factor in the $200 Annual Travel Credit perk on the Platinum Card, which can be used against any travel purchase booked through American Express’s in-house travel agency and can be redeemed once every membership year.
Taking into account the $200 travel credit, what we refer to as the Platinum Card’s effective annual fee is also $499 (CAD), bringing it on par with the Business Platinum.
As a minor point, the $499 annual fee on the Business Platinum may also be tax deductible if you’re using it for your small business purchases.
Verdict: The two Platinum cards are pretty much equal in this regard, with the caveat that you may need to put in a bit of extra effort to take full advantage of the Platinum Card’s $200 travel credit and bring the effective annual fee down to $499.
Combine that with the potential tax deductibility on the Business Platinum, and I’d say the business version holds a very slight advantage here.
4. Earning Rates
The differences between the two versions of the Platinum card start to show their colours when we look at a breakdown of the earning rates.
The personal Platinum will reward you with 3 MR points per dollar spent on dining purchases in Canada (including restaurants, coffee shops, and drinking establishments), 2 MR points per dollar spent on travel purchases (excluding local transit), and 1 MR point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
Meanwhile, the Business Platinum continues to offer 1.25 MR points per dollar spent across the board.
Which of these earning rates is more favourable will depend on your regular spending patterns. If you’re a city-dweller who goes out to eat and drink a fair bit, then the 3x earning rate on dining on the personal Platinum can add up especially quickly.
Meanwhile, if most of your spending falls into non-bonused categories, then you’d definitely prefer the Business Platinum’s 1.25x earning rate to the Platinum’s 1x return on general purchases. Indeed, given how valuable MR points are, the Business Platinum is one of the strongest Canadian credit cards for general non-bonused spending.
It’s also worth noting that you might not ultimately choose to get the Platinum Card for its “3-2-1” earning structure alone, because similarly high returns can also be achieved by holding a different portfolio of cards: the Cobalt Card offers 5 MR points per dollar spent on dining and groceries, while the American Express Gold Rewards Card also offers 2 MR points per dollar spent on travel as well.
Verdict: This will depend on the spending patterns of the specific individual. If you’re someone who travels and goes out to eat and drink a fair bit, you may place a greater value on the Platinum Card’s “3-2-1” earning structure; however, you could just as easily see a justification for choosing the Business Platinum’s flat 1.25x earning rate as well, especially when paired with other Amex cards in your portfolio.
Perks & Benefits
Aside from the card basics, it’s important to consider the other perks and benefits that come with each card when considering which one is right for you.
1. Hotel Elite Status
Both versions of the Platinum card reward you with an instant status bump to Gold Elite within the Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty program. You may enroll online under the “Benefits” section of your Amex dashboard upon receiving your card, or you may enroll via the contact centre as well.
Note that this perk is simply an automatic status bump up to Gold Elite, and doesn’t actually come with the 25 elite qualifying nights required to qualify for Gold Elite. Therefore, it won’t be too beneficial if you’re pursuing Platinum Elite status the next level above.
Furthermore, as of March 2023, the Business Platinum Card by American Express offers Hilton Honors Gold status to cardholders, which had been a perk on the personal Platinum card for years.
Hilton Gold status can be beneficial in entitling you to room upgrades and free breakfast at Hilton hotel stays, although it’s worth noting that you’ll get better treatment outside of North American hotels.
Verdict: Ever since Hilton Gold status became a perk on the Business Platinum Card by American Express, the two cards are essentially equal in this regard. This one’s a draw.
2. Lounge Access & Other Travel Perks
In the past, the lounge access benefits on the two Platinum cards had slightly different policies, but a few years ago Amex updated the terms so that both the Platinum and the Business Platinum now have virtually identical lounge access benefits.
In particular, you’ll get access to the entire Amex Global Lounge Collection, which includes a variety of different lounge providers (such as Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, Centurion Lounges, International Amex lounges, Delta Sky Clubs, etc.), each with their own slightly different access rules.
You can refer to this guide for the full breakdown of which lounges you may access and with how many guests in tow, although the relevant point here is that both the Platinum and the Business Platinum entitle you to the same level of access.
In terms of other travel benefits, both products also provide you with access to the Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts booking platform for luxury hotels, as well as its sister platform, the Hotel Collection, for mid-range hotels in major cities. There’s also the additional benefits when flying out of Toronto Pearson as well.
Verdict: Honours even.
Other Factors
Finally, we’ll take a look at the cards’ ancillary benefits and any other considerations that might sway your choice in favour of either the personal or the business versions of the Platinum Card.
1. Redeeming Points
Both cards earn Membership Rewards points under their respective earning structures outlined above (3-2-1 for the Platinum vs. a flat 1.25x for the Business Platinum).
These points can then be transferred to a variety of airline and hotel partners (the most common options being Aeroplan and British Airways Avios at a 1:1 ratio, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and Air France/KLM Flying Blue at a 1:0.75 ratio, and Marriott Bonvoy at a 1:1.2 ratio).
You also have the option of booking round-trip flights via the Amex Fixed Points Travel redemption chart, which can provide decent but not outstanding value based on the cash fare of a flight that you’d otherwise pay.
Lastly, there’s always the option of redeeming points against statement purchases at a baseline value of 1 cent per point (cpp). Either card allows you to redeem points against all eligible expenses at 1cpp.
Verdict: With the same transfer partners, the same value through Amex Fixed Points Travel, and the same flat rate of 1cpp through Use Points for Purchases, we have ourselves another draw.
2. Travel Insurance
Both the person and business versions of the Platinum cards have very comprehensive travel insurance coverage.
Most notably, both offer emergency medical insurance of up to $5,000,000 on the first 15 days of your out-of-province trip (for those aged 65 and under), $500,000 Travel Accident Insurance in the event of death or dismemberment, and full coverage for car rental theft and damage, hotel/motel burglary, flight delay, baggage delay, and lost or stolen baggage.
There are only a few small differences between the insurance terms across the two cards:
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Trip Cancellation Insurance: The Platinum Card covers up to $2,500 per insured person, per trip, up to a maximum of $5,000 for all insured persons combined; meanwhile, the Business Platinum Card only covers up to $1,500 per insured person up to a maximum of $3,000.
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Trip Interruption Insurance: The Platinum Card covers up to $2,500 per insured person, per trip, up to a maximum of $6,000 for all insured persons combined; meanwhile, the Business Platinum Card only covers up to $1,500 per insured person up to a maximum of $6,000.
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Purchase Protection Plan: While not strictly a travel insurance item, both cards also automatically insure your eligible purchases against accidental physical damage and theft, up to a limit of $1,000 per occurrence. The Platinum Card covers you for up to 120 days after purchase, while the Business Platinum only covers you for up to 90 days after purchase.
Verdict: While both cards’ travel insurance and purchase protection benefits are excellent, the Platinum Card offers slightly better terms on a few of those provisions.
3. Supplementary Cards
Adding supplementary cards on both the Platinum and the Business Platinum can come at a rather significant expense: the two cards charge $175 and $199 for supplementary cards, respectively.
However, it’s worth noting that supplementary cardholders also receive their own Priority Pass memberships and other types of lounge access as well, which can definitely justify these expenses if your supplementary cardholders are frequent travellers themselves.
Both cards also allow you to give an authorized user the respective “Gold” equivalents as well (the American Express Gold Rewards Card and the American Express Business Gold Rewards Card) for $50 apiece.
Verdict: If you’d like to extend the lounge access benefits on your Platinum or Business Platinum to a supplementary cardholder, then the $175 or $199 fee may be justified; the Platinum Card wins this round thanks to its slightly lower fee.
4. NEXUS Credit
Many credit cards have added a recurring NEXUS application credit as one of the benefits for cardholders.
When it comes to the pair of Platinum cards, only the personal card offers a $100 (CAD) statement credit every four years, which can be used to cover the cost of application or renewal fees.
Verdict: The personal Platinum card is the clear winner here.
5. Visual Appearance
Both cards are about as visually appealing as a credit card can be, since both take the form of a stylish metal card (or as Amex calls it, a precision-cut and personally engraved metal card), and both make quite the satisfying clang-clang-clang noise when you drop it on the table to pay your bill.
Verdict: There’s a bit of a fascination with metal cards in the credit card community, and the Platinum and Business Platinum both rock that slick metal look very well.
Conclusion
With a higher 2x earning rate on travel purchases, a $100 (CAD) NEXUS credit, and a more comprehensive travel insurance package, the American Express Platinum Card’s travel perks are arguably a cut above those of its business-oriented counterpart.
On the other hand, the Business Platinum Card by American Express has a higher welcome bonus, an elevated 1.25x base earning rate, and better potential through referrals.
If you’re just starting out and are deciding between one of these two cards to try stomaching its annual fee, then you’ll want to consider which of the above strengths are a better fit for your own needs.
However, once you move beyond that initial phase, the optimal strategy would likely involve alternating between both the Platinum and the Business Platinum at some point or another, as well as pairing either with other cards in the Amex ecosystem.
