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Amex Business Platinum Rebate
The Business Platinum® Card from American Express and American Express Business Gold Cards offer members a 35% (and 25% respectively) rebate of the total number of Membership Rewards points used to book eligible flights through the Amex Travel Portal when you pay with points.
Using Membership Rewards points in conjunction with the pay with points rebate gives you a 1.54 cent per point value for Business Platinum members and 1.33 for Business Gold Cardholders. This basically means you’re redeeming points toward paid business or first-class flights on any airline, or any flight with your chosen airline for 1.54 cents apiece.
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American Express Platinum 35% Points Back: Membership Rewards Value
Generally, the best redemption value for your Membership rewards Points occurs when you transfer points to airline partners for award flights. However, in this case, you’re booking revenue flights through Amex Travel, which have some very significant advantages over award tickets. First, your pay with points airfare redemption is not only eligible for mileage earnings and elite status qualifications but even better there’s incredible availability since you’re not limited to award space. It’s also a huge time saver to not have to look for award space or worry about partner transfers.
Flights booked through Amex travel are considered revenue tickets by the airline so you’ll get all your airline miles and elite credit the same as if you booked directly with the airline. For added value this benefit stacks with discounted Insider Fares on sale through Amex Travel.
Related: How I Maximized $900 in American Airlines Amex Platinum Airline Credits
How the Amex Airline Bonus Benefit Works
Which Flights Are Eligible for the Airfare Rebate?
- Select the qualifying airline you want online, or by calling the number on the back of your Card.
- Use Membership Rewards Pay with Points to book business or first class flights or any flight with your selected airline through Amex Travel
- You’ll receive a rebate of 35% (or 25%) of the Membership Rewards points used approximately 6-10 weeks after charges appear on your billing statement.
- Max 500,000 bonus points rebate per calendar year.
Related: Get Elite Credit + Save: Stack Amex Points Rebate and Insider Fares
Amex Business Platinum Pay With Points Rebate Fine Print
- Your Selected airline for the Pay with Points Rebate and Airline Fee Credit will be the same
- A flight booked as part of a travel package or booked with the American Express U.S. Representative Travel Network is not eligible for the 35% Airline Bonus.
- Minimum Points to Qualify: You can pay all or in part with points with a minimum of 5,000 points.
- For Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines, or AirTran Airways, to receive your 35% Airline Bonus you must call Business Platinum Travel Service at 1-800-553-9497.
How to Pay with Points at Checkout
- To book with Membership Rewards Points, begin by searching for a trip as usual.
- At checkout, select either “Use Only Points” or “Use Points + Card” then apply Points to your booking.
- Initially your card will be charged the full dollar amount. Within 48 hours you’ll receive a credit applied to your account for the amount of Points you elected to use.
Final Thoughts: Is This a Good Way to Redeem Membership Rewards Points
I value Amex points around 1.5-1.8 cents a piece so for me this is right on par with redeeming my Membership Rewards at a great redemption value. Airline miles earned on paid flights vary depending on which program you credit your flights to but I’ve found that if I credit AA or Delta I get an additional rebate in miles valued at 5% minimum. Let’s look at an example: If I have book an AA flight I get 5 miles per dollar as a base AAdvantage member without elite status. AA Miles are worth about 1.4 cents a piece each to me- so (1.4 cents x 5 = 7 cents per dollar). This means I get an additional 7% back in redeemable miles. For me this is a huge benefit and this is why the American Express Business Platinum Card has a permanent spot in my wallet. For more info on where to credit your flights for maximum value check out: Easily Calculate How Many Miles You’ll Earn for a Flight.
Hi Bethany. Question..is the rebate up front or does Amex return the points later? If so, do you have an idea of how long it takes to get the points back?
Sadly, It’s not upfront, I’ve had it happen as quickly as 5 days and taken as long as eight weeks.
Hi Bethany. What if the flight you booked is with multiple airlines such as Delta then connection on Hawaiian Airlines? Originating flight is with Delta and it is selected airline.
It would have to be part of the qualifying itinerary otherwise only the first flight would count for the rebate. But as long as you book it through the AMX sight you’re good if it qualifies.
Looking at the fine print, it looks like if you book a first class or a business class ticket, then it doesn’t have to be the selected airline, is that true?
You are correct 🙂