5 Reasons Why The German Version of The American Express Business Platinum Card is Worth 850€ Per Year
When it comes to “luxury travel” and rewards credit cards in Germany, there are not many options besides American Express Platinum Card. The personal version of the Platinum Card is, by far, the most comprehensive offering when it comes to the included statement credits, access to airport lounges, elite hotel and car rental statuses, insurance packages, and more.
If you’re self-employed or own a business that was established at least three months ago, you are eligible for the American Express Business Platinum Card. The benefits package differs quite a bit from the personal version of the Platinum card, especially in terms of insurance coverage, making the card really appealing if you run your own business. Here are five reasons to get the Business Platinum Card despite its 850€ annual fee.
Looking for the personal version of the Amex Platinum Card?
1. Statement credits for travel, Sixt Ride, and Dell
Its annual credits are the main way to offset the steep annual fee of the Business Platinum Card.
- 200€ for Amex Travel bookings for flights, hotels, and rental cars. The credit needs to be used all-at-once.
- 200€ for Sixt Ride, split into 8x20€ credits. Only applicable to pre-booked transfers and chauffeur services.
- 200€ for Dell Technologies.
If maximized, the credits alone add up to 600€.
In reality, you may not be able to get the full value out of all credits. Perhaps the worst one is the Sixt Ride benefit, where the credits can be used only for pre-booked transfers and chauffeur services, which are far more expensive than just booking an Uber or calling a taxi.
As for all of the other credits, it should be easy to get a full value out of them. Spending 200€ on the Amex Travel portal for business travel is a no-brainer. And 200€ is a nice discount to get something like an external display from Dell.
2. Free access to airport lounges around the world
The most flashy perk of the Business Platinum Card is lounge access. American Express claims to offer access to 1,400+ lounges in 140+ countries, including the following networks:
- The Centurion Lounges
- Escape Lounges
- Delta Sky Clubs (when flying Delta)
- Aspire Lounges (formerly AirSpaces Lounges)
- Plaza Premium Lounges
- Lufthansa Lounges (when flying Lufthansa Group airlines)
- Priority Pass lounges (free membership included, limited to 50 visits per year for new Amex Platinum members)
You can browse participating lounges in the Amex DE app, though I found that it’s missing a lot of locations that are listed on Amex’s US website, including ones at the Berlin airport. Guest policies vary between lounges, but in most cases, you can bring up to 2 people with you free of charge. You will have to pay for guests in the case of both Delta Sky Clubs and Lufthansa Lounges — though there’s an easy workaround if you always travel with the same companion…
The best thing about the German and most European versions of the Business Platinum Card is a free authorized user Business Platinum Card (hence the higher annual fee). In the US, adding authorized users costs $350. The authorized user card also has the same lounge access perks, so you don’t have to worry about guest policies.
Going back to lounges — the non-US versions of the Business Platinum Card also let you bring guests to The Centurion Lounges. Since February 2023, US cardholders must spend at least $75,000 annually to get the same perk.
Access to lounges was a big deciding factor when I applied for my personal version of the Platinum card. Since last year, I travel a lot both for work and private trips. My home airport of Berlin has a cafe participating in Priority Pass, giving me and up to two guests 23€ each to spend on anything. I also have access to the Lufthansa Business Lounge when flying Lufthansa, Swiss, and other Lufthansa Group airlines. The lounge recently went through massive renovations and left me very impressed.
Many Business Platinum holders swear by The Centurion Lounges. So far, I visited the Los Angeles and Seattle-Tacoma locations, and both had fantastic food and drink offering. I also went to the American Express Pop-Up Lounge in Stockholm’s Arlanda airport — a temporary replacement to American Express Lounge by Pontus in the Air restaurant. They have a pretty short menu of small dishes to choose from and free selected drinks.
Bonus perk: Fast Track at specific international airports
A less-known perk of the Business Platinum Card is access to Fast Track security check lanes at selected airports in European airports. All you have to do is show your Business Platinum card and scan your boarding pass. The participating airports include:
- Brussels (BRU)
- Helsinki (HEL)
- Rome Fiumicino (FCO)
- Milan Linate (LIN)
- Milan Malpensa (MXP)
- Naples Capodichino (NAP)
- Turin Caselle (TRN)
- Palermo Punta Raisi (PMO)
- Catania Fontanarossa (CTA)
- Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) — Terminal 2 and 5
- Göteborg Landvetter (GOT)
- Malmö (MMX)
- Vienna (VIE)
I had a chance to use this perk at the Stockholm Arlanda airport, where I was able to go through the Fast Track lane with a companion.
There are more airports in other countries also offering this benefit, like in Spain, Netherlands, and Canada, but they require local versions of the eligible card.
3. Elite statuses at hotels and car rental companies
The Business Platinum Card gives you elite status in selected hotel and car rental rewards programs without having to book anything.
You get elite status in the following hotel rewards programs:
- GHA Discovery Platinum Status
- Hilton Honors Gold
- Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status
- MeliáRewards Gold
- Radisson Rewards Premium Status
Typical benefits of elite status at hotel chains include discounted rates, better points earning rates, free room upgrades, welcome gifts, early check-in and late check-out. In the case of Hilton Honors, the Gold status even gets you and your companion a free breakfast.
When I stayed at Radisson BLU in Stockholm, the elite status gave me a 27% discount, a much nicer room with extra amenities, early check-in and late check-out.
As for car rental companies, you get elite status at:
- Avis President’s Club
- Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Five Star Status
- Sixt Platinum
Elite status at car rental companies gives you discounted rates, upgrades, and adding an additional driver for free in selected countries.
Bonus: matching your status
If you prefer a different hotel chain or car rental company, you can use elite statuses gained with your Amex to status match. You can use the StatusMatcher website to find out if and how a specific hotel chain, car rental company or airline will match your existing status.
Pro tip: at Hertz, you can request a status match with Avis to qualify for the President’s Circle status. This gives you some additional benefits compared to the Five Star status that comes with Amex Business Platinum.
4. Travel and health insurance packages
American Express cards offer the most comprehensive insurance package on the German market. The Business Platinum card comes with the following coverage:
- Travel cancellation insurance in case of illness
- Travel health insurance and travel accident insurance
- Travel comfort insurance for flight or luggage delays
- Rental car insurance in the event of damage
- Europe-wide “letter of protection” for your own car
- Personal liability and legal costs insurance when traveling
- 90-day return guarantee (also included with no-annual-fee PAYBACK card)
- 90-day purchase protection against theft and damage
What’s unique to the Business Platinum Card is the fact that all of the insurance benefits apply even when the card wasn’t used and there are no deductibles in case you submit a claim. Also, for the rental car insurance, there’s no “trip requirement”, so you’re insured even if you don’t have a hotel or a flight booking when traveling within Germany.
All insurance benefits also apply to all the additional free cards that come with the membership, including an additional Business Platinum Card, up to 98 free Gold Cards for employees, and two private version of the Platinum Card (though without any of the additional benefits).
For more details on the coverage, check the Amex Experiences app (only in German).
5. Other American Express benefits
Credit cards earning reward points are somewhat rare in Europe. It has to do with low interchange fees set by the EU. For private credit cards, they are capped at 0.3%. In the US, interchange fees average at 2% — giving credit issuers more room to reward their members with points.
But there’s a plot twist: American Express cards (and business/corporate cards) are not subject to the EU-set 0.3% cap. This makes Amex one of Europe’s few consumer credit cards offering reward points. The points earning rates are far from those outside the EU: 1€ spent gets you 1 Membership Reward point. For extra 15€ a year, you can get Membership Rewards Turbo, boosting your points earning rate to 3 MR for every 2€ spent.
You can use your points to cover card transactions, pay off the annual fee, exchange them for gift cards or book travel. In most cases, 1 MR point will get you 0.5¢ of value.
Transferring points to partner airlines or hotels is the way to get the most value out of them. This lets you book business class flights or hotel rooms at a much lower price than paying in cash.
Participating airlines:
- Asia Miles, 5:4, min. 1000 MR
- British Airways Executive Club, 5:4, min. 1000 MR
- Delta SkyMiles, 3:2, min. 3000 MR
- Emirates Skywards, 5:4, min. 1000 MR
- Etihad Guest, 5:4, min. 1000 MR
- Finnair Plus, 5:4, min. 1000 MR
- Flying Blue, 5:4, min. 625 MR
- Iberia Plus, 5:4, min. 1000 MR
- Qatar Privilege Club, 5:4, min. 1000 MR
- SAS EuroBonus, 5:4, min. 1000 MR
- Singapore KrysFlyer, 3:2, min. 1500 MR
Participating hotels:
- Hilton Honors, 1:1, min. 2500 MR
- Marriott Bonvoy, 3:2, min, 900 MR
- Radisson Rewards, 1:2, min. 1000 MR
You can also transfer MR points to the Amex-owned PAYBACK program at a 2:1 rate (min. 1000 MR). This lets you transfer points to Lufthansa’s Miles&More program later. Unfortunately, the rate will change to 3:1 from March 1st, 2024.
Access to Amex Offers
Another great way to get additional value out of an American Express card are Amex Offers. They let you get additional points or statement credits for purchases at certain retailers. Offers tend to be issued based on your spending habits, but some are accessible to all members. German cards may have up to 50 active offers to choose from at a time — US cards up to 300.
In the past, I used Amex Offers to get statement credits for purchases made at Amex Shop Small locations (usually offered in summer), paying with Apple Pay, or ordering coffee from Roastmarket. Since I have my no-annual-fee PAYBACK card, I earned 70€ through Amex Offers. Some of the most attractive offers let you save up to hundreds of Euros on hotel and airline bookings.
You have to activate Amex Offers manually using the online portal or the app. You can activate them semi-manually using this Javascript bookmarklet (just save if to your bookmarks and click when you’re on the German Amex’s online portal).
javascript:btns=[...document.querySelectorAll('.offer-cta')].filter(b => b.textContent === 'Angebot aktivieren');c=()=>{ b = btns.pop(); if (!b) return console.log('added all!'); b.click(); setTimeout(c, Math.random() * 1500 + 300) };c();Should you get the German American Express Business Platinum card?
Amex in Germany doesn’t face the same kind of competition as in the US. If you’re looking for a credit card to level up your travel experience with unlimited lounge access and elite statuses and offer you piece of mind with comprehensive insurance packages, there’s no better option in Germany than Amex Business Platinum. The 850€ annual fee may scare you off at first, but if you can take advantage of the included statement credits and often travel for business — the card should be a no-brainer to you.
Since I didn’t mention it earlier, the Business Platinum Card has unique features created with companies in mind. Instead of the standard 30 day liquidity, you can pay off the card in up to 58 days instead. The Business Platinum Card also comes with free AmexExpanse accounting tool, making bookkeeping easier.
Of course, no credit card is perfect. The biggest con for me are fees for transactions in foreign currencies at over 2% (based on a currency), which I wouldn’t expect from a card that costs 850€ per year. But if you have another card for payments outside of the Eurozone (like the Eurowings Premium card from Barclays) that’s not a big problem. I found Amex’s acceptance in most of Germany to be pretty good, though I really struggled to use it in Hamburg.
I hope this was helpful! Reach out to me on Threads if you have any questions.
Looking for the personal version of the Amex Platinum Card?
