AMEX Business Platinum is killing 50% rebate – Get some extra points!





AMEX Business Platinum is killing the 50% rebate. I can’t begin to put to words how I feel about the matter. I’ve not even leveraged this particular benefit–it was only first announced in October. 

AMEX Plat, American Express Business Platinum, AMEX Platinum is killing the 50% Rebate

Image courtesy of American Express.

AMEX Platinum is killing the 50% Rebate – but what was it?

American Express enhanced the AMEX Business Platinum card benefits with a 50% rebate when you use Membership Rewards “Pay with Points” program. What does that mean?

  • For economy flights – you choose an airline, and Pay with Points and you get 50% back.
  • For Business and First Class – you don’t need to choose an airline, just do Pay with Points.
  • Expect to receive that 50% rebate 6-8 weeks later

Why is American Express pulling it back?

Perhaps the obvious reason is, that it is such a lucrative benefit that people might be using it more than American Express intended. I can’t blame people for using it. Nick had an excellent post to highlight the true value of the benefit. For many, it seemed like a no brainer. That said, some of us–me!–didn’t happen to have a huge cache of Membership Rewards points, and so with American Express rolling back the benefit so soon after rolling it out, those of us long time cardholders are left holding a bag so to speak.

American Express’ reasoning for giving new card holders better benefits than loyal cardmembers

When I called in, the reasoning I was given, was that the 50% points rebate was actually written into the legal terms. I get that, since its probably the 4th most highlighted benefit on American Express’ sales page. But, they really could give longer term loyal cardmembers a similar bonus, instead they are hiding behind the original terms of the application. 

Poorly played American Express! 

Getting a few more points

Reading this news, I was unhappy! I was almost as unhappy as I was with the Alaska Air no-notice devaluation of Emirates awards! So, I did what any normal, rational person would do. I called American Express and threatened to cancel my card! Incidentally, the statement closes tomorrow with my annual fee. Maybe that gave me a bit of an edge. I reached out to a few friends and the results varied.

  • My result: 10,000 Membership Rewards points for keeping my card open. 
  • A friend’s result: 15,000 Membership Rewards points (after initially being told to pound sand) because Massachusetts requires pro-rated annual fee refunds.
  • Unfortunately my wife, who’s annual fee is not yet due, received nothing, but her annual fee will be coming due soon.

Did you call to complain? Did you receive anything for it? 

8 thoughts on “AMEX Business Platinum is killing 50% rebate – Get some extra points!

  1. My annual fee hit 2 months ago and I kept it open due to the benefit. They should extend the benefit for anyone who’s anniversary hit during that window too since we paid for the new year on the card because of the benefit as part of the TOS. Bait and switch at its core.

  2. Actually I just got manually approved the day before this announcement. When asked why I wanted to apply I told them I started a business and I love the 50% rebate on pay with points on this card. I’m gonna call to complain once I get the card and threaten to cancel before I get charged the annual fee.

    • @P – I’d definitely call in and ask for more points! In your case, you might even get more than only 10k points!

  3. I called and complained and got 50,000 points. I’ve been a card member since 1988 and currently spend $500,000 year on business spending on the card. I am super upset about losing this perk. It was the only significant one and I really started to use it. Now I need to figure out my family’s travel plans for the next year so I can book it before my renewal in October.

    • Wow – glad to hear you got 50,000 points! I’m amazed though that they would still give you so little given your significant spend.

      • I tried for more, believe me. Truth is, I really started to use the perk and it’s a good one. I’m able to take my whole family to Europe biz class (3 of us) for basically 300,000 points. So much easier than dealing with blackout dates when transferring points and booking directly with the airline which also incurs taxes and other costs. It really takes an advanced engineering degree to figure out the best way to use your points.

  4. Pingback: FT4RL Recap, Meet-ups, AMEX Platinum, Noise Cancelling Headphones - Tagging Miles

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