American Express Platinum Business Card

Take a deep breath and swallow the news about the $1,750 annual fee on the American Express Platinum Business Card before you do anything else. After this, the news is all good, and the card will introduce you to an elite corporate lifestyle that most people can only dream about. The pinnacle of travel, entertainment, dining, blue-ribbon insurance cover and rewards points will be yours, all in the name of business.

Up to 99 supplementary cardholders, free of charge

Once you’ve paid the $1,750 primary card fee, there is no further cost for up to 99 supplementary cards. So you can choose to have just one for your spouse, or a couple of extra ones for trusted employees, or make the fee a very economical prospect indeed by issuing cards to all employees who have purchasing authority. Amex says that “The Business, the Basic Card Member and each Supplementary Card Member are jointly and severally liable for all Supplementary Card spending”, which means that the liability is shared with your employees to some extent.

150,000 bonus points to get you started

Spend just $5,000 in the first two months – not too difficult for most businesses – and Amex will get you off to a flying start by crediting you with a massive 150,000 Membership Rewards Ascent Premium points. (Read more about the Membership Rewards Ascent Premium program below).

If in the previous 18 months you haven’t held any other American Express card, you are eligible for this bonus points offer.

What are 150,000 Membership Rewards points worth?

What could you do with 150,000 points? You could convert them into Qantas Frequent Flyer points at a 2:1 exchange rate, resulting in 75,000 QFF points, enough for two return Business Class flights between Sydney and Brisbane (73,600 points) for example.

See below for more redemption options.

Elite lifestyle

Who knew that a charge card could package so many services designed to ease the stresses and challenges of a fast-paced corporate life? Here’s what Amex will give you with this card:

• Complimentary access to more than 1,200 airport lounges in over 130 countries for each cardholder and in some cases up to two guests. This is the American Express Global Lounge Collection, and it includes Centurion, American Express and Priority Pass lounges, as well as Virgin Australia lounges when flying with Virgin.
• International Airlines Program membership, giving access to savings of up to 20% on First and Business Class fares when booking through the Platinum Travel Service.
• The premium services of Platinum Business Concierge. This service includes not just the usual accommodation, dining and entertainment advice and reservations, but also legal or medical assistance if required, so that interruption to business (or leisure) is minimised.
• Membership of Amex Platinum’s ‘By Invitation Only’ program, providing invitations to unparalleled experiences that money alone cannot buy. Previous offerings include An Evening with Heston Blumenthal, Dinner with Bill Bryson, and a private Archibald Prize viewing.
• Fast-track membership in the elite tier of four luxury hotel guest programs: Radisson, Shangri-La, Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton.
• Accor Plus hotel membership, including a complimentary night’s accommodation each year, 50% dining discount, and more, worth $395 according to Amex.
• Fine Hotels & Resorts complimentary membership, including free breakfast, late checkout, early check-in, room upgrades and more, at over 1,000 5-star hotels worldwide – Amex estimated value is $700.
• 24/7 access to the American Express Platinum Travel Service, to save you time and help you find the best options for both business and your precious free time.
• A free, multi-device digital news subscription to the Australian Financial Review, valued at $628 p.a..

First class complimentary insurance cover

Most premium cards – and even some lesser ones – come with international travel insurance, but the travel insurance accompanying this card is particularly comprehensive and is designed to make business travel easier. There is also a suite of policies to cover goods purchased for both business and personal use and typical emergency situations. The long list of policies includes:

• Travel insurance (both international and domestic) for the primary and all supplementary cardholders, and their accompanying spouses and children. Unlike the vast majority of cards, there is no requirement to purchase trip fares, or meet a certain level of trip expenditure with the card, in order to activate the policy. Just holding the card is enough. Items and situations covered go far beyond a standard travel policy. They include:
  • Emergency medical expenses while overseas
  • Lost, stolen or delayed luggage, money and documents
  • Delayed, cancelled or missed flights
  • Cost of non-refundable expenses when a trip is unavoidably cancelled
  • Rental vehicle insurance excess waiver
  • Cost of resumption of journey interrupted by cardholder’s serious illness or a close relative’s serious illness or death
  • Loss of income as a result of serious illness or accident during a trip
  • Travel and accommodation costs for close relatives in the event of the cardholder being the victim of a hijack or kidnap
• Transport accident cover. Cash compensation of up to $400,000 is paid for loss of life or limb sustained as a result of an accident while travelling as a passenger on public transport or a commercial airline.
• Card account balance waiver. Clears any amount owing (up to $25,000) on the card if you make a successful transport accident claim.
• Business trip completion cover. Pays for another employee to complete a business trip on behalf of a cardholder whose trip is interrupted by serious illness or death (including the serious illness or death of a close relative).
• Purchase protection cover. Items bought with the card are protected against loss, theft or accidental damage for 90 days. (Many cards limit cover to personal items only, but since this is a business card, business purchases are included.)
• Refund protection cover. If a retailer refuses to let you return an unused item you bought with the card up to 90 days previously, Amex will refund the purchase price.
• Extended warranty/Buyer’s advantage. This doubles the manufacturer’s Australian warranty on items bought with the card, up to a maximum of 12 extra months.
• Rental vehicle insurance excess waiver in Australia, where the rental begins more than 150 kilometres from your normal residence.
• Monthly business expenses cover. This reimburses the monthly business expenses of self-employed primary cardholders if they are temporarily disabled and lose their income for 30 days or more. (Maximum benefit $3,000 per month, $12,000 per event.)
• Overseas legal assistance provides referrals to legal practitioners and advance of emergency legal fees and bail bond.
• Roadside assistance in Australia, including towing and a temporary replacement vehicle, in the event of vehicle accident or breakdown.
• Home assistance in Australia in emergency situations such as storms, including tradesmen emergency callout, referrals and expenses.

It’s clear that this is head and shoulders above the average credit or charge card complimentary insurance, and there’s a definite slant towards business needs.

All this, and rewards points too

Although the rewards points are appearing way down the list here, they may feature in a higher position in your personal assessment of a card’s value. If that’s the case, you aren’t going to be disappointed. Choose this card and you’ll earn up to 2.25 American Express Membership Rewards points per dollar, not just in the standard Ascent program but at the Ascent Premium level.

All purchases except government spending (e.g. ATO, Australia Post, vehicle registration, local government rates) will qualify for the 2.25 points per dollar rate, while government spending returns 1.0 points per dollar. And there’s no points threshold or cap.

The main significance of the Ascent Premium program is that Qantas is added to the list of airline frequent flyer programs to which you can transfer your points. The ten airlines are Qantas, Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Malaysian Airlines.

Redemption of points is easy, with lots of options

Although transferring your membership rewards points to a frequent flyer program is one of the most cost effective ways to use them, there are lots of other things you can do, to keep business costs down, reward your staff, or just please yourself:

• Shop online at davidjones.com.au
• Buy gift cards to use at major Australian retailers
• Purchase tickets for movies or other entertainment
• Book travel through American Express Travel, Hello World and Webjet
• Buy foreign currency through American Express
• Transfer your points to frequent guest programs: Hilton Honors or Marriott Bonvoy
• Exchange points for a credit on your card account

Let’s not forget that it’s all about business

If there was any chance of forgetting that this is a business card, not a personal card, it will reinforce its business credentials every month when the account statement comes, with the following features:

• It’s a charge card, not a credit card: the balance has to be paid in full on the due date, with no option to carry over any of the balance and pay interest charges. But you’ll still get up to 55 interest-free days each month to help you manage your business cash flow.

• The monthly account statement presents an itemised list of expenses for each cardholder (up to 99 at no extra charge), plus a consolidated version, with GST shown separately. This provides maximum tax return, BAS and business expense control readiness.

• All these statement details can be downloaded to Quicken, MYOB and Excel, to be assimilated into your accounting system.

• Online account management is available 24/7, with up to six months of historical transactions accessible. Paper statements can be switched off for greater convenience.

• SMS and email alerts are available, to advise payment due dates, payment confirmation and account balances.

• Businesses can apply to use American Express Access Line, an intermediary system to pay suppliers who do not accept American Express cards.

• You’ll have access to a dedicated account manager for business charge cards.

• Transactions under $100 are contactless, for speed and efficiency.

• Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay apps can transform your smartphone or other mobile device into a digital wallet.

• There’s an online fraud protection guarantee and 48-hour emergency card replacement, wherever you are in the world.

Other business-ready cards to keep in mind

American Express has a wide range of business credit and charge cards, and if $1,750 a year seems too big a hurdle, the American Express Gold Business Card or even the straightforward American Express Business Card might be more appropriate for your needs. Remember though, that these are more down-to-earth cards which don’t cater to the aspirational lifestyle you may be aiming for.

The Citi Prestige Card, although not specifically designed for business purposes, also offers a tempting range of built-in benefits and rewards points, for a lower price.

The ANZ Business Black Credit Card allows cardholders to earn ANZ Rewards points and comes with complimentary travel insurance.

The NAB Rewards Business Signature Card and NAB Qantas Business Signature Card also come with points earning and travel privileges, but no travel insurance.

If the best is what you want, this is probably it

Measured in terms of the dollar value of built-in benefits, this is probably one of the best cards available in Australia, if not the best. The Citi Prestige Card runs a close second, but it doesn’t have the business orientation offered by the American Express Platinum Business Card.

So if you are confident about the future of your business and want to help guarantee your success with superior insurance cover and the opportunity to travel and entertain in style and comfort while earning rewards, don’t be put off by the price tag. You should be able to recover the cost several times over, each and every year.