AmEx Business Platinum vs. Chase Ink Preferred: Travel Perks or Flexibility?
These two cards differ in almost every way.
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Updated · 1 min read
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The Business Platinum Card® from American Express and the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card are on opposite ends of the business travel card spectrum. Which is better comes down to what you want more of: points or perks.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express has a massive annual fee but paltry ongoing rewards. Still, you’d be pressed to find another card with such extensive travel perks. For heavy travelers willing to pay for convenience, it's worth a look.
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card offers generous rewards on travel and common business expenses. And its welcome offer rivals many premium cards. But the card's travel benefits are fairly utilitarian.
How the cards compare
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Annual fee
$95
$895
Bonus offer
100,000
points
As High As 300,000 Points. Find Out Your Offer.
Rewards
1x-5x
points
1x-5x
points
Chase Ink Business Preferred vs. AmEx Business Platinum Card: deciding factors
Travel perks
🏆 Winner: The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express comes with a slew of perks that can help offset its steep $895 annual fee (see rates and fees).
| The Business Platinum Card® from American Express* | |
|---|---|
| Travel credits |
|
| Airport security |
|
| Lounge access |
|
| Hotel perks |
|
| Business credits |
|
| *Enrollment required. Terms and conditions apply. | |
Welcome offer
🏆 Winner: Toss-up
Both cards have excellent welcome offers.
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is easily attainable for most small businesses.
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
The Business Platinum card's welcome offer requires double the spend, but promises a nice chunk of Membership Rewards points.
You may be eligible for as high as 300,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $20,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Terms apply.
Annual Fee
$0 Ongoing rewards
🏆 Winner: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Both cards have the same base rate: 1 point per $1. It's the bonus categories and rewards that set them apart and give the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card a distinct advantage.
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card offers a full 1 point per $1 more on bonus spending than the American Express Business Platinum.
With the Chase Ink Business Preferred, you get 3X points on the first $150,000 in combined annual spending on:
- Travel.
- Shipping purchases.
- Advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines.
- Internet, cable and phone services.
The American Express Business Platinum only gives you 2X points in its bonus categories:
- Construction materials.
- Hardware suppliers.
- Electronic goods retailers.
- Software and cloud system providers.
- Shipping providers.
- Single purchases of $5,000 or more (up to $2 million per calendar year).
Notably absent from that list — travel. The Business Platinum card only offers bonus points (5X) on flights and prepaid hotels booked through its travel platform.
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Business credits
🏆 Winner: The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Beyond travel perks, the American Express Business Platinum also comes with a string of valuable credits on software, hardware and business tools.
- $150 Dell statement credit annually. Get an additional $1,000 statement credit after you spend $5,000 or more on Dell purchases on the same card per calendar year.
- $360 Indeed statement credit (up to $90 quarterly).
- $120 in statement credits per year ($10 per month) for wireless phone service.
- $250 statement credit after you spend $600 or more on U.S. purchases directly with Adobe each year.
- Terms apply.
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card gives you free DashPass and up to $10 off per month on DoorDash orders. But the monthly discount only applies to non-restaurant orders.
When it comes to business credits, these cards aren't even playing in the same league.
Which card should you get?
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express and the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card are two very different cards, which makes picking between them fairly uncomplicated.
If you can easily leverage all of the card's business credits and travel perks, the American Express Business Platinum is a smart pick. Even with the $895 annual fee (which can be tax deductible).
If you aren't concerned with lounge access and status, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is the better travel card.
To view rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, see this page.
