I earned back my Amex Business Platinum annual fee on a single hotel stay

After years of debating what would be the best business rewards card for me, I finally decided to apply for The Business Platinum Card® from American Express recently.

I had hesitated before because of the card’s $695 annual fee (see rates and fees), but I decided to go ahead with it because of an incredible welcome offer.

I figured I could pay the annual fee and then give myself a year to see if I could take advantage of enough of the card’s many upscale perks, including statement credits for things like Hilton stays (up to $200 annually), airline fees (up to $200 annually) and Global Entry or TSA PreCheck ($120 every 4years for Global Entry or up to $85 every 4 1/2 years with TSA PreCheck). Enrollment is required for select benefits.

Depending on whether I could leverage those perks, I could decide if it made sense to pay the fee for a second year.

Turns out I was able to recoup the value of the annual fee with a single two-night stay at one of my favorite hotels in the world, The Peninsula Hong Kong, thanks to one of the card’s money-saving benefits.

Here’s how.

Getting the Amex Business Platinum Card

The Business Platinum Card from American Express is currently offering a two-component welcome bonus (you can earn one or both of these offers, which end June 30):

• Earn 150,000 points after spending $20,000 on eligible purchases in the first three months of card membership.
• Earn a $500 statement credit after spending $2,500 on qualifying flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel within the first three months of card membership.

That’s a lot of spending, but 150,000 American Express Membership Rewards points are worth around $3,000, according to TPG’s May 2025 valuations. Throw in the $500 in statement credits after the qualifying flight spend, and that’s a whopping $3,500 in value you could get just for meeting those minimum spending requirements.

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Beyond the welcome offer, though, I was both interested in and curious to know whether I could maximize the card’s other ongoing perks, which include:

• Annual airline fee statement credit of up to $200 on charges by the airline you select each calendar year
• Statement credits for purchases made directly from any U.S. wireless telephone provider (up to $10 per month)
• Up to $199 per year in statement credit toward an annual Clear Plus membership for expedited airport security (subject to auto-renewal)
• Statement credit for Global Entry ($120) every four years or TSA PreCheck (up to $85) every 4 1/2 years
• Up to $50 per quarter statement credit (so up to $200 per year) for eligible purchases made directly with a property in the Hilton portfolio (Hilton for Business program membership is required)
• Up to $200 statement credit semiannually (so up to $400 per calendar year) for U.S. Dell purchases
• Complimentary Gold status with Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy
• Access to Amex Centurion Lounges, as well as Delta Sky Clubs that you can enter when you have an eligible same-day flight on that airline (up to 10 times per year, unless you spend $75,000 on purchases), Priority Pass lounges (excluding restaurant locations), Escape lounges and Lufthansa lounges when you have a same-day flight on that airline
• Cellphone protection*, for a maximum of $800 per claim with a limit of two approved claims per 12-month period
• Access to the Cruise Privileges Program and the International Airline Program
• A 35% airline bonus when you use Pay with Points to cover a first- or business-class ticket on any airline or an economy ticket on one airline of your choice (up to 1 million points back per calendar year)

Enrollment required for some benefits.

*Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.

I travel so regularly and extensively that I knew I would have no problem leveraging the vast majority of these perks. However, it does take some organization to ensure you’re getting the full value of all those quarterly, semiannual and annual statement credits.

Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts perks with the Amex Business Platinum

The one benefit I was really hoping to take for a test drive was American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts, which you can use for booking select participating properties as an Amex Business Platinum Card member.

Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts reservations come with all kinds of benefits in and of themselves, including:

• Noon check-in, when available
• Guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout
• Room upgrade upon arrival, when available at check-in (properties may exclude some room types, and some may only give you a room with a better view)
• Daily breakfast for two people
• Complimentary Wi-Fi (when a property includes Wi-Fi in a mandatory resort fee, you’ll receive a daily credit equal to the Wi-Fi cost)
• Experience credit (the experience should be valued at $100 or more and usually consists of a property, dining or spa credit)

I regularly stay at hotels in the Fine Hotels + Resorts portfolio, so I thought that this one benefit might be the main tool I could use to get enough value from my card to justify its steep annual fee. By trying it out on a few stays, I could see if I was coming out ahead.

As it turned out, just one hotel stay was enough to offset the card’s annual fee.

Here’s how a recent two-night stay at The Peninsula Hong Kong got me over $800 in value and cemented the Amex Business Platinum as a fixture in my wallet.

Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts perks and savings at The Peninsula Hong Kong

I took a recent trip around the globe that had me stopping in Hong Kong for a few days. It’s one of my favorite cities in the world, thanks in no small part to how many fabulous luxury hotels are available there.

Among the most storied of them is The Peninsula Hong Kong, which originally opened its doors in 1928, becoming one of the world’s most famous hotels.

On my very first trip to Hong Kong, when I was just 11 years old, my mother took me to The Peninsula Hong Kong for its legendary afternoon tea, and I still remember the lavish spread of pastries, the classical live music and the awe-inspiring lobby lounge.

Since then, I’ve had the chance to stay at the hotel a few times, but this would be the first time I have booked it using Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts.

I carefully tracked the value-added perks I enjoyed thanks to booking through Fine Hotels + Resorts. Here’s how they added up.

Room rate rebate: $320

At the time of my trip in March, the hotel was offering 25% off rates for standard rooms. Instead of paying $690 per night for a standard deluxe room, my rate came to just $530 per night. That meant a savings of $320 on a two-night stay.

A 2-category room upgrade: $460

When I checked into the hotel, the agent who assisted me — and basically acted as my personal concierge throughout my stay after that, arranging restaurant reservations at the hotel and out in the city, among other details — informed me that, thanks to my Fine Hotels + Resorts booking, I had received a two-category room upgrade to the grand deluxe king room category, which would have cost $230 more per night (it was not available at the 25% discount).

That meant I enjoyed slightly more spacious accommodations (about 20 square feet more than an entry-level deluxe room), plus a higher floor location and better city views. Of course, the best rooms at the hotel have harbor views, but the panorama of Kowloon’s skyscrapers and hills through my windows was still fantastic.

The room itself was also quite elegant, with a toned-down palette of cream, taupe, bronze and brown, a welcoming king-size bed that looked out toward the window and a large entertainment system. Like other Peninsula properties, the Hong Kong outpost also featured Peninsula-branded in-house technology, such as tablets that control all the room functions.

I especially loved the classic (and palatial) white and green marble bathroom with its enormous soaking tub. It came complete with an in-wall TV, dual sinks — one at either side of the room — and custom-blended bath products from local parfumier Angel Cheung.

Daily breakfast for 2: $260

Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings include complimentary daily breakfast for two.

At The Peninsula Hong Kong, breakfast is served in the sunny Verandah restaurant (with spillover into the Swiss-themed Chesa restaurant that is decorated like an Alpine chalet) and includes an extensive buffet of Western, Japanese and Chinese dishes, plus made-to-order omelets and all-you-can-drink coffee and tea selections.

The hotel normally charges $65 per person, per day for breakfast, so my two morning visits with a friend equated to a whopping $260 in value.

Dinner at Felix: $100

I could have used my $100 on-property experience credit at the hotel’s various restaurants or spa. In the end, my dedicated concierge was able to secure me a table at the top-floor restaurant, Felix, with prime harbor views.

The menu features contemporary European cuisine with heavy Mediterranean influences. For my dinner, I tried a rich but delicate starter of Japanese king crab with avocado puree and a delicate coriander tuile, followed by hearty lamb from France’s Aveyron region with spring vegetables and herbaceous za’atar sauce as my entree. To conclude the meal, I ordered the signature deconstructed Hong Kong milk tea dessert, which was creamy and light.

My bill, which also included two glasses of wine, came to around $230, but thanks to my Fine Hotels + Resorts credit, I saved $100.

My grand total in savings: $1,140

All told, I calculated my value-added benefits due to booking through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts at $1,140. That comes with a few caveats, though.

First, I probably would not have paid the upcharge to the grand deluxe room, considering how high that would have been with my discount. These rooms sometimes are just $60 to $100 more per night than standard deluxe rooms, so the upgrade value was inflated by the 25% discount I was able to enjoy on my booking. Still, that 25% was a lot of savings, and it was also available for a significant portion of the year.

Second, though I did save $100 on my dinner, the overall bill was still expensive, at more than $200 for a single person, so this benefit only comes in handy if you’re splurging anyway.

Finally, hotel breakfast prices tend to be relatively high, and you can enjoy plenty of great Hong Kong breakfast spots for much cheaper than $65 per person. So, if you tend to skip breakfast, that might not come in handy.

Still, for my needs, I felt like I got tremendous value from this single Fine Hotels + Resorts booking. I’m going to try to do the same on other stays throughout the year.

Other amenities at The Peninsula Hong Kong

My stay at The Peninsula Hong Kong this time was short, but hopefully I’ll get back there again soon. I love the hotel and its many amenities, so here are a few things you should try to experience there if you get to stay.

The Peninsula Hong Kong’s tony afternoon tea is still the stuff of legend, taking place in its ornately gilded lobby with live music drifting down from the minstrel’s gallery, so be sure to book a table and settle in for quite the afternoon affair.

The hotel’s many restaurants are each worth a visit. My favorite are Gaddi’s, which is in the former grand ballroom and has a Michelin star thanks to chef Anne-Sophie Nicolas’ meticulous French cuisine (be on the lookout for the famous Christofle silver duck and lobster press); and Spring Moon, also with a Michelin star, for sumptuous Cantonese banquets in a space that feels like an emperor’s summer palace.

A dip in the hotel’s sprawling indoor pool feels like swimming at Hearst Castle, thanks to the Greco-Roman theme and incomparable harbor views.

Meanwhile, there’s also an extensive fitness center with locker rooms featuring saunas, steam rooms and bath circuits.

The hushed spa offers treatments incorporating all-natural Irish Voya products and Margy’s Monte Carlo skin care line.

If your budget allows, there’s no experience like being chauffeured in one of the hotel’s bespoke Rolls-Royce Phantoms — in the hotel’s signature green color, of course — on private drives through the city or to and from the airport (transfers cost around $200 each way).

Although Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings include availability-based noon check-in and guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout, the point is pretty much moot at The Peninsula since Peninsula Hotels offer a “Peninsula Time” benefit where you can check in as early as 6 a.m. and check out as late as 10 p.m., depending on your particular travel plans.

Finally, The Peninsula is renowned for its service — just picture those white pillbox-hatted doormen — and my stay proved the rule. Not only was I greeted by name by practically every staff person I met, but all I had to do was ask for help with everything from restaurant reservations to museum tickets to suggestions for an inexpensive foot massage on nearby Nathan Road. In short, I felt taken care of but not chaperoned, and it created a balanced and beautiful sense of hospitality.

Bottom line

The Peninsula Hong Kong is still one of my favorite hotels in the world, even after all these years, and my recent stay there was just another wonderful memory I’ll have of the property.

What made it even better was the fact that I got well over $1,000 out of my stay by booking through American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts with my new Business Platinum Card from American Express.

Of course, you have to be staying at expensive luxury hotels and spending money on things like meals and spa treatments in order to maximize the benefits of the Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts program. But if that fits your travel needs, then there’s no question you can reap hundreds of dollars in value out of each and every hotel stay you book through the program.

For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum, click here.