So – if you haven’t gotten the AMEX Ameriprise Platinum card yet…well, you should. http://hackcreditcards.com/must-get/
Now more so than ever – AMEX Platinum cards are traditionally valued only for their perks (lounge access, Global Entry, etc. etc.), and not for their points earning rates, which were classically just 1 point per $1 spent – paltry compared to most cards, including the AMEX Gold card, which offered 2-3 points per $1 spent on a number of categories.
That all changes now. All personal AMEX Platinum cards, including the AMEX Ameriprise Platinum card, now earn a whopping 5 points per $1 spent on all airfare purchases made directly with an airline or through American Express Travel.
That’s a pretty big deal.
AMEX Business Platinum cards don’t benefit from this perk, but do benefit from arguably even better perks: 1.5 points per $1 spent on all purchases of $5000 or more, and 50% Membership Rewards points back when booking a flight through American Express Travel on their selected airline, or a business or first class ticket on any airline. This is huge – meaning that you’re effectively guaranteed a 2 cent:1 MR redemption rate on all your travel redemptions with your preferred airline or on business/first class flights, since it now only costs 50% of the normal MR rate to book such travel.
These are all fully paid flights too, so on top of that amazing 2 cent redemption rate, there are no blackout dates, and you can buy absolutely any flight you normally could with money, *and* earn frequent flier points on that airline on top of this redemption rate.
Effectively, with the 1.5 MR:$1 earning rate on all $5000+ purchases + the 50% redemption discount, you’re literally getting 3 cents of value for every $1 spent on your AMEX Business Platinum, which is absolutely absurd and unheard of for any card to do categorically for all purchases, not limited to any single category.
Hell, while writing this, I even convinced myself to apply for the AMEX Business Platinum card – so yeah, I’m not just shilling you here. This is the real deal, yo. I even have the AMEX Ameriprise Platinum already, but the benefits on the AMEX Business Platinum are just too good to pass up, especially if you have a company that spends a metric fuckton of money and can get the 100,000 point signup bonus going on right now: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/credit-cards/business-platinum/
You also get $200 reimbursed every calendar year when you make a purchase on your selected airline (which, in some instances, can actually be redeemed for literally cash-equivalent Amazon gift cards, and not even airfare (http://thepointsguy.com/2016/01/amex-airline-credits-for-amazon-gift-cards/), on top of $100 reimbursed for Global Entry/TSA Pre, free GoGo and Boingo internet access, all the epic lounge access benefits, etc. etc.
So yeah, these cards be da shit. Go get one, or two, or seventeen.