Update 4/24/22 – It appears that Amex has targeted another round of cardholders for this No Lifetime Language offer. My wife was targeted again, after getting it two months ago (she applied again and we got the new card yesterday). Both times, there was no hard pull. This offer has an expiration date of 7/31, so it appears there’s time, but who knows when and if Amex will target or untarget individuals.
If you can make the (significant) spend, this is the best Business Platinum offer in recent memory.
This morning, Nick found a new American Express welcome offer for the Business Platinum card on his wife’s account under Amex Offers. Upon looking, my wife discovered it on her account as well. It’s a significant improvement on the best publicly available offer and does not include AMEX’s once-in-a-lifetime language. If you’re targeted, this could be a another good option for folks looking to pay their taxes via credit card.
The Offer
If you see this message, it means you’re not targeted:
Quick Thoughts and Key Card Details
The Business Platinum is a terrific card that’s loaded with perks. The current best public offer is below:
Card Offer and Details |
---|
This targeted offer is a huge improvement on the current publicly available, even without adding the AU card. Keep in mind that both the Dell and airline credits reset on the calendar year. This means that in the first year of card membership, you can get 3x Dell credits and 2x Airline Incidentals, adding an additional ~$400 in value if you only pay the annual fee once. While the various perks and credits on Amex cards can feel a little “coupon booky,” I find it pretty easy to get full advantage of these two and the wireless service credit as well.
This is obviously a terrific welcome offer if you can use the card and make the spend. Without even considering the additional perks and credits, it will end up being 160K MR (~$2500 based on our RRV) for around .4 cents each after taking into account the annual fee. My wife was approved for the targeted Gold offer with no hard-pull, which can be another YMMV benefit of these NLL targeted offers.
Can you get $600 in Dell Credits in 1 year? Apply now, spend $200 at Dell before June, then spend another $200 between July-Dec. Then spend another $200 in January 2023. Then cancel card before AF hits in June 2023? Or will Amex claw back the $200 used in January?
I know this “trick” works for getting the airline credit 2x with 1 year because it follows the calendar year. just not sure if it’ll work for Dell credits as well. also, I’m thinking of applying for this card in mid/end of June. If I buy something on Dell as soon as I get the card, I’m assuming as soon as the purchase posts, that will trigger the Dell credit and count for Jan-June (even though the credit may not show up until later, maybe in July).? how long do the credits typically take to show up?
Yes that will work! I’m not sure about a typical amount of time for the credits to show up. In the past, it’s usually been in a few days to a week, but with random times where it took much longer. More recently, it seems like longer delays are becoming more common. Anyway, yes the credit is based on the date that Dell charges you, not when the credit shows up. But sometimes Dell waits until shipping an item before charging you so make sure to order things that are in stock for near term delivery.
Thanks Greg. I know AMEX has been pretty strict about “gaming” the system and clawing back credits/rewards. But seems like this isn’t really bending the rules, but just more being saavy about the timing of using these credits. The only AMEX Cards I’ve have are the Hilton Amex cobranded cards so thinking of applying for the Amex Gold 90k offer AND the Amex Plat Biz 160k offer.
Any tips on the timing of how I should apply for both of these? (apply the same day, apply for one before the other with xxx # of days/weeks between applications)? I know the Gold offer expires 6/8 and the Platinum expires 7/31 (but I want to get the Platinum by mid June at the latest to get the Jan-Jun Dell Credit). Also I just got the Chase Aeroplan Card in Feb and The C1 Venture X in March if that makes a difference to AMEX when looking at # of cards recently opened.
I can’t think of any reason why you can’t just apply for both at once. They’re both charge cards (“pay over time” cards) and so they’re looser with approvals than with credit cards I believe.
I received this in my app but i alreadt got the busniess platinum sign up bonus last year my terms say limit 1 offer per card account, would i still be eligible for this?
Yes, as long as there isn’t “you can only receive this bonus once in a lifetime” language (which is usually not on targeted offers) you’ll be able to get another card and receive the bonus
So i also received a blue busniess plus off on my amex gold business for 50k spend 15k in 12 months on my app, applied was approved then received a email for my amex platinum busniess saying im eligible to apply for busniess blue plus with same offer and blue busniess cash for 600 statement credit for 15k in spend is this another offer for the blue could i sign up for it again even tho i was just approved last week and received another bonus seems like another separate offer in my busniess platinum card?
[…] not alone either…the points and miles blogosphere ( Frequent Miler most recently ) has been quite vocal about these offers being distributed regularly, but I just got another […]
I opened the second one a couple of weeks ago and paid taxes with it right away. Statement has not closed yet and I have not been charged the AF yet. I thought Amex pays out the welcome bonus right after the charges go over $15K but this has not happened to me. Should I start worrying or should I wait till the first statement generates? Technically they have 8-12 weeks to pay out but usually if something does not go normal, waiting does not solve it.
You know, our last bonus (on the Business Gold offer paying taxes as well) actually took until the statement closed to award points (although normally it’s closer to actually meeting the spend like you say). I would wait until the statement cuts and contact them if you don’t see the points then.
Tim, you are saying your wife got two of these roughly 60 days apart? I am in a similar situation, having applied about 2 months ago and now targeted for this. I haven’t yet applied as I was under the impression that applying for 2 of the same card in less than 90 days would be auto-denied.
Yes, roughly…probably more like 70-75, but still within 90 days. These targeted offers never seem to have the normal approval limitations.
i wasn’t targeted but I want it. Suggestions.
Tim, thanks for the tip. Have 3 already and it asks which card to use to pre-fill the application. Nuts. The odd thing is if I select the one where I have an AU already, it offers just 150K points, if I select a different one it offers the 160K.
P2 as well. Cannot do it yet though so I hope this will keep until 7/31.
Crossing my fingers for you…it’s an unusually long expiration date, isn’t it?
Well, I think I have to wait at least a month for the 90 days to elapse, but P2 went ahead and got it.
Also the longer I wait the easier it will be for the required spend. Just got so many cards recently … 🙂
I will go for it in June if still available (my most recent one was only in March). I am now thinking of selling on eBay all this stuff I get from Dell. Likely be $2400 this year for which I could get maybe $1800.
I have this offer on my account, actually under another Business Platinum card. I’ve gotten mailers to apply for two Business Platinum cards and a Business Gold this year and been approved for them all. The terms and conditions on this offer say “Limit one offer per Card Account.” Am I likely to receive the bonus if I’m approved?
You should yes…each time the offer pops up again, it’s a separate one. But man, I just can’t believe how often they are targeting some folks…including you, evidently!
I applied and was approved.
Doesn’t look expired to me. Page says valid till 7/31/22. Just applied and got approved for P2. Definitely targeted – couldn’t get it for P1 after logging in.
P2 just got instant approval.
Do you guys think the $1k spend on the AU card will also count toward the $15k spend or do you think it is $15k plus $1k?
Ideally I would like to charge $5k on AU and $10k on primary in order to qualify for 1.5x on all spend but not sure that will work.
Congrats! I would imagine that the spending on the AU card would count towards the bonus (normally they do). That’s a great idea to divide it in order to get 1.5x on the whole kit and caboodle.
spending on the employee cards counts towards the signup bonus with Amex.
It does not with US Bank employee cards though, as an FYI 🙂
Good tip on the US Bank thing.
Yeah, my experience has definitely been that Amex gives credit toward sign up bonuses for authorized user spend, but this particular offer is worded a bit ambiguously. I’m not sure I’ve seen Amex do one of these before where you have a separate bonus for spending on the authorized user card that is part of the sign up bonus. Barclays does those and it always works, but Amex is unclear. I’m guessing it will work. Amex usually posts SUBs very quickly after the spend so I’ll just give it a try once the cards arrive and see what happens.
Targeted! Sweet. But, man, I’m not sure I can drum up another $15K in spend. I’ve my bathroom and kitchen and new windows. 🙂
Got hit with major FOMO and applied today. Instant approval. Sweet!
Oops, typo above. Meant to say I’ve already done my bathroom…
FYI if trying to meet spend by paying taxes. Payment processors usually break up the tax payment into two charges — one for taxes and one for fees. So if trying for the 1.5x on this card make sure the tax payment itself is at least $5k without counting fees.
Great point, Larry.
$15k in 3 months is super steep for me, unfortunately
i actually dont think the offer is that great for those in P2.
1) you lose out on 20k in referral
2) can often get 20k bonus per employee when applying with lower offer not the 10k this one gives you
That’s a good point (no pun intended?) if hard pulls aren’t a concern and you can easily turn over those employee cards (and have the offer). You’d come out even (with a hard pull) after a referral +1 employee card. Ahead if you get the offer and do 2 employee cards.
more often then not, amex will not do a hard pull for current customers.
Referral links have lifetime language, typically,
I got an email with this offer this morning. I already have 2 biz platinum’s and 2 Biz Golds. I’m also starting to get worried about all these offers. Any chance Amex RAT team is doing this to find all of us? Most normal people not in the game wouldn’t even consider getting a 2nd or 3rd card with such a high annual fee unless they have multiple businesses.
RAT entrapment! 🙂
I can absolutely see the concern (I have it myself), but Amex has been pretty tolerant of multiple charge cards (ie, the 10 charge card limit). I do think there could be an issue if you did nothing but flip charge cards after a year, but if there’s a good balance of spend as well as keeping some cards longer, I think you’d be ok. Just be careful about meeting those minimum spends (mostly) legitimately.
Makes sense. Fingers and toes crossed for all of us 🙂
Why not secure message Amex and confirm that it’s okay to apply for this card (I’m pretty sure that it is, in fact, okay with them)? If there’s some trouble later, at least you’ll be able to quote an Amex representative stating that the offer was intended.
Has anyone got this new offer despite having the card (or 2) as in my wife’s case)?
… and been approved for a second or third for the same business?
Okay, I didn’t use your link above, Tim, but I logged on to each of our accounts and see the offer pop up immediately, though mine and my wife’s look different in wording and design and expiry dates for the offers. We actually have valid business reasons for having 3 of these cards each but … I don’t want to fall into any trap and lose everything …I guess we have a month or two to think about this and see some other data points. .
I actually meant has anyone got the card (been approved) not just this new offer?
A few weeks ago I got am email offer similar to this but when I applied I was refused on the grounds of already having the card.
Interesting. Did you happen to notice if the no lifetime language was on the offer?
No restrictive language at all.
You can only get approved for the same card family 90 days after the first approval, so maybe you hit that limit. It usually gives you the error of already having the card (and shows ‘Cancel’ when looking at the amex decline reason).
Good point. I am still within the 90 days. But on my 2nd card the offer came up with my name on the card sample in the offer, not the usual “C F Frost” so it was obviously targeted to me.
My offer is now gone …
You can call Amex after the 90 days on your previous application, and ask to get the application approved. I’ve done that several times successfully.
Hmmm. Worth a try … thanks
Unless you are buying a Dell product the value of the Dell credit could be much lower. For example, if you buy a peripheral device like a backup drive or Backup power unit the Dell price can be 50% or more than from Amazon or elsewhere.
Agreed. I have been able to get some good value by buying Xbox gift cards and then using those on the Microsoft store. There’s a 10% off code on Dell which, when combined with a 10% Dell Amex offer, gets you $250 in MS credit for $2.50 once all is said and done.
Sounds good, but why would Microsoft be any better? I can’t think what I would buy there …
For me it has been, partially because the prices are closer to reality, partially because it allows you to effectively “bank” Dell credits in your Microsoft account. I ended up buying a laptop with a year of credits between my wife and I. Dell has waaaayyy more stuff on its site, but the MS store is worth a look, if just for more possibilities.
Thanks, good point. Someone in the family could probably use the X-Box credit. One nice thing about Dell is that you can split a payment over 3 cards which works well with these multiple Biz cards.
That’s a good point about the split!
How many xbox gift cards can you use at one time when checking out on the MS store?
You load them to your Microsoft account and then pay from there with the total amount of credit you have. I’m not certain if there’s a limit to how much you can have in your account at one time, but if there is I’d imagine it’s pretty high.
The Microsoft account has a $1,000 limit on stored gift cards
Got 150k NLL targeted email yesterday. Looks like Amex is back to MR give always!
To get a 10x bonus on your spend I’d personally rather just get a CIC or CIU, and not have to worry about couponbooking.
The benefit with this offer is no hard pull.
Sometimes sure, but not guaranteed.
Chase doesn’t let you get 2 or 3 of them …. 🙂
Sure they do.
at the same time? same business?
Who can shed light on rules or penalties around having multiple Biz (or vanilla) platinum cards (or Biz or personal Gold cards)? My wife and I keep getting targeted for these, despite us having 3 Biz Plats between us and an assortment of the other cards as well. It could pay nicely to reap those SUBs. Anyone have experience with downsides?
Same. We have three biz plays and two biz gold but keep getting these. Makes me worried.
I haven’t seen anything showing that Amex has done any sort of clawback or shutdown from accepting multiple NLL targeted offers (in fact, I know a couple folks with 5+ BizPlats). That said, I also don’t remember a period of time where they’ve been quite so aggressive at targeting people for multiple cards, either.
What’s in it for Amex? If I have 1 biz card or 2 or 3 I presumably would spend the same amount.besides, perhaps, for the initial bonus. My particular business has 3 separate functions and I could use 3 cards to keep them separate – but then I could (almost) just as easily keep them separate on a spreadsheet.
Are they planning to devalue the points? limit the transfers? I just don’t get it.
Both my husband and I were Targeted for 190,000 Amex Biz P offer for $30k spend right before the AF increase. Easy win!
190k MR was your retention offer??