Amex Business Platinum Military Benefits Explained

The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express does not waive the annual fee for active duty military servicemembers under the new Amex MLA policy implemented January 2020. Check out this article if you receive an Amex SCRA denial letter.

If you are a veteran small business owner and interested in earning extra Amex points, the Amex Business Platinum Card can be an excellent travel rewards credit card.

Personal Amex cards, like The Platinum Card^® from American Express, waive all annual fees for military servicemembers and military spouses under the American Express interpretation of the Military Lending Act (MLA).

Learn how to apply The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express.

The Business Platinum Card ^® from American Express
Learn how to apply on our partner’s secure site

120,000 POINT WELCOME OFFER after $15,000 spend in the first 3 months of card membership
Earn 5x Membership Rewards^® points on airfare and prepaid hotels through amextravel.com, and 1x points on each dollar spent on other eligible purchases
Earn 1.5x points per dollar on eligible purchases over $5,000, up to $2 million per year
Earn 1.5X points on eligible purchases at US construction material & hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers
35% bonus on airline purchases with MR points: Use “Pay with Points” for a flight and get 35% of the points back, up to 1,000,000 per year
Up to $400 in Dell statement credits, enrollment required
Unlock over $1,000 in value per year for statement credits on select business purchases, including tech, recruiting and wireless with the Business Platinum Card.
$200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Card or any of the Additional Cards on your Platinum Card account.
$189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Use your Card and get up to $189 back per year on your CLEAR® Plus membership (subject to auto-renewal).
Access The American Express Global Lounge Collection^®
$695 annual fee (Terms apply, see rates and fees)

Read my post on how to get your Amex military fees waived. Or sign up for my 100% fee course that shows you how I get $12,000 per year in fees waived.

Active duty troops and their spouses are always eligible for the Amex SCRA and MLA fee waiver.

For National Guard, Air National Guard or Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard Reserves: You are eligible for the AMEX SCRA or MLA fee waivers if you are on active duty orders over 30+ days. Title 10 and Title 32 orders are eligible for the Amex fee waiver.

If you are Guard or a Reservist, I recommend you apply and open the card before going on 30+ day active duty orders, then follow my 3 step guide to getting your AMEX annual fees waived with SCRA.

Amex Business Platinum Military Offer

The spending hurdle is high on this card because it’s mainly focused on small business owners. Businesses can have thousands of dollars in expenses per month, between overhead, rent, inventory, payroll, and taxes.

Many military servicemembers run businesses on the side or have a second source of income. If your spouse owns his or her own business, that also opens up this card to you.

You don’t need an LLC to get business credit cards.

Business owners may also have to make estimated tax payments every quarter. Estimated tax payments can be made with a credit card through sites such as Pay1040.com. There are three official credit card processors listed on the IRS website.

Let’s say you make estimated tax payments of $25,000. Since the purchase is over $5000, you will earn 1.5x points on the transaction. That’s 37,500 points.

Plus, with this tax payment you’ll meet the minimum spend of $15k spend in 3 months.

That’s a fantastic return on spend! MR points are typically valued at 2 cents per point, so you’re getting 12%+ back on the $20,000 in purchases.

If you have a Charles Schwab account, you may be eligible for the American Express Platinum Card for Schwab. With the Schwab Platinum, you can transfer MR reward points to your Schwab checking account at a value of 1.25 cents per point.

That puts the 125,000 points at $1562 for $20,000 of spend, or 7.8% cash back. Again, that’s a great return and easily covers the 1.87% fee on credit card tax payments.

Amex Business Platinum for Military Servicemembers

I recently opened my own Amex Business Platinum. I had a lot of spending related to running this website, travelling for FINCON and Military Influencer Conference in DC, and my PCS to Hawaii.

My fees are waived on the Business Platinum since I opened it before January 2020. This is one of the best credit cards for military servicemembers. Other cards to consider are the best business credit cards for veterans.

Applying for Amex Business Cards Without An LLC

I currently run my business as a sole proprietor. Wikipedia defines a sole proprietor as:

A sole proprietorship, also known as the sole trader, individual entrepreneurship or proprietorship, is a type of enterprise that is owned and run by one person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity.

Running a business as a sole proprietor is the easiest way to earn lucrative business credit card welcome bonuses. If you ever sell anything on Etsy, Amazon, eBay, that’s income outside your W-2.

If you ever drive for Uber or Lfyt, that’s a side business as well. In the “gig economy” of today, many people have side businesses and don’t even realize it.

To apply for a business credit card as a sole proprietor, you just need your personal Social Security number. You don’t need a tax ID number or EIN.

I have personally opened up dozens of business credit cards over the years with just my SSN as a sole proprietor.

How to Use 120,000 Membership Rewards Points

American Express has 16 airline transfer partners. This makes it easy to get great value out of MR points. I transferred points to Singapore Airlines and flown business class from Dubai to Australia and New Zealand.

Recently I booked ANA First Class to Tokyo, Japan. I paid less than $500 cash for $27,000 tickets. You can see how I earned over 11 cents per AMEX point in my Amex Gold Card for military post.

How Long Does Amex MLA Fee Waiver Take?

Please note American Express is not waiving annual fees on new Amex business cards opened after January 2020.

Here’s the email I received from AMEX. I applied for AMEX SCRA benefits on my AMEX Business Platinum card on 12 August 2019 and received this email 7 weeks later on 3 October 2019.

This is the longest SCRA review I’ve had yet, usually it only takes a few days to weeks.

Dear Spencer,

To support the men and women who serve in the United States Armed Forces, we are handling your account referenced above in accordance with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act provides for a maximum annual interest rate of 6% per year on loans you received before starting active military duty. As of today, your account does not have a balance owed which generates interest charges so there is no eligible balance. However, we’ve credited your account for any applicable fees and previously billed interest if applicable, which you’ll see reflected on an upcoming billing statement(s). Additionally, we have suppressed the following fees from billing on your account statement for the duration of your active military duty:

*Annual Membership fees
*Overlimit fees
*Late Payment fees
*Returned Payment fees
*Statement Copy Request fees

This completes our review of this account. If there are any additional accounts you would like reviewed for Servicemembers Civil Relief Act benefits, please call us at 1-800-253-1720. If you are outside the United States, please call us collect at 1-336-393-1111.

We are grateful for the service and devotion you have shown to our country.

Sincerely,

American Express Customer Care

The Business Platinum Card ^® from American Express
Learn how to apply on our partner’s secure site

120,000 POINT WELCOME OFFER after $15,000 spend in the first 3 months of card membership
Earn 5x Membership Rewards^® points on airfare and prepaid hotels through amextravel.com, and 1x points on each dollar spent on other eligible purchases
Earn 1.5x points per dollar on eligible purchases over $5,000, up to $2 million per year
Earn 1.5X points on eligible purchases at US construction material & hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers, and shipping providers
35% bonus on airline purchases with MR points: Use “Pay with Points” for a flight and get 35% of the points back, up to 1,000,000 per year
Up to $400 in Dell statement credits, enrollment required
Unlock over $1,000 in value per year for statement credits on select business purchases, including tech, recruiting and wireless with the Business Platinum Card.
$200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Card or any of the Additional Cards on your Platinum Card account.
$189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Use your Card and get up to $189 back per year on your CLEAR® Plus membership (subject to auto-renewal).
Access The American Express Global Lounge Collection^®
$695 annual fee (Terms apply, see rates and fees)