6 Amex Business Platinum card benefits you'll want to activate right away, so you can enjoy hotel elite status, statement credits, and more

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• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express offers luxury benefits and rewards.
• Some perks require activation, including the annual airline fee credit and hotel elite status.
• You’ll also need to enroll for other benefits, like Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership.
• Read Insider’s guide to the best small-business credit cards.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is one of my favorite cards. It’s packed full of benefits that are perfect for small-business owners, freelancers, and remote workers.

Some of the card’s perks aren’t provided automatically; you have to activate them. So when The Business Platinum Card® from American Express arrives in the mail, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the benefits that are offered and take action so you can take advantage of them. After all, the card’s benefits go a long way in offsetting the annual fee of $595 (See Rates).

Here are six things you should do when you first get The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.

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We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.

Meet the minimum spending requirement to earn the welcome bonus

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

Right now, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is offering a whopping 100,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases within your first 3 months of card membership. While this is a relatively large minimum spending threshold, many small businesses spend that much on a regular basis — but if that’s not the case for you, it might be best to hold off on applying until you know you have a large purchase coming up.

American Express Membership Rewards points are worth, on average, 1.8 cents each according to Insider’s points and miles valuations — so you can expect to get about $1,800 in travel from the 100,000-point welcome bonus.

Enroll your card for Dell statement credits

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express offers up to $100 in statement credits between January and June, and another $100 in statement credits between July and December each year for U.S. purchases with Dell made with your card. To take advantage, you have to enroll your card first through your online account.

Once you’ve activated the credit, purchases made by the enrolled basic cardmember and any employee cardmembers on the account are eligible for the $200 annual credit. However, the benefit is limited to one per card account, so you won’t get a $200 statement credit for every separate employee card.

Pick your designated airline for the annual airline fee credit

One of the best benefits of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is up to $200 in annual airline fee credits**.

When you first open the card, then each year in January, you can select one qualifying airline from a list. The fee credit will reimburse you for things such as seat selection fees, inflight food and beverage purchases, and baggage fees. 

Airlines that qualify for the Amex incidental fee credit

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Delta
• Frontier
• Hawaiian
• JetBlue
• Spirit
• Southwest
• United

While you might be tempted to choose the airline you fly the most, that doesn’t necessarily make sense. For example, if you have the airline’s co-branded credit card, you may already get free checked bags. And if you fly Southwest, many things — including two free checked bags per passenger — are included for free.

So keep in mind both what airlines you are most likely to fly and which are most likely to charge you fees so you can get the full $200 in benefits.

Activate elite status with Hilton and Marriott

Like the personal version of the card — The Platinum Card® from American Express — The Business Platinum Card® from American Express offers complimentary Gold elite status with two hotel programs**: Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy. Gold isn’t the highest tier of status with either hotel chain, but these two status levels get you perks like bonus points, a better chance at scoring room upgrades, and (in the case of Hilton) free breakfast.

While these two benefits are “automatic” in the sense that you don’t have to earn them, you do have to activate status with each loyalty program. To do this, log into your Amex Business Platinum account online, and navigate to the Benefits tab. You’ll see the option to enroll for both programs, and you’ll need to enter your Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors account information (you can create an account with each chain for free if you don’t have one).

Apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck

Having access to speed through the security line or enter the US more quickly can make any travel day better. With The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, you’ll be able to apply for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck and have the application fee of up to $100 reimbursed. I recommend applying for Global Entry because it comes with TSA PreCheck.

After you apply, you’ll have to go into a Global Entry Enrollment Center (often at the airport) for a short interview and to have your photo and fingerprints taken. Depending on your home airport, it can take a few weeks to a few months to get an appointment, so it’s best to apply as soon as you can. If you already have Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, you can always use your application fee credit to pay for a family member or friend’s application.

Enroll in Priority Pass Select for airport lounge access

And finally, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express comes with a Priority Pass Select membership**, which is another great way to make travel days more smooth and enjoyable. With Priority Pass, you’ll have access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide — you just have to enroll before you can access them.

Don’t forget to do that when you get your new card by logging into your account online and hitting “enroll” under the Priority Pass section, so you have time to get your lounge access card before your next trip.

Keep in mind that The Business Platinum Card® from American Express also gets you access to Amex Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Club lounges (when you fly Delta), and other lounges that are part of the Amex Global Lounge Collection. There’s no enrollment required to access these locations.

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Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they’re subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.

**Enrollment required.

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