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The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express are easily 2 of the most recognizable travel credit cards on the market. In addition, they’re often considered to be a symbol of luxury and status.
Since both cards offer fantastic benefits and lucrative point earnings, you might think that it can be exceptionally difficult to be approved for them. But are the Amex Platinum card and the Amex Business Platinum card as exclusive as they are made out to be?
As with most other credit cards, when you’re applying for the Amex Platinum card or the Amex Business Platinum card, the issuing company (American Express, in this case) considers factors such as your credit score, length of credit history, and your income.
Here’s a breakdown of those factors to help you determine your chances of being approved for the Amex Platinum card or the Amex Business Platinum card.
Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a welcome bonus offer of up to 125k (or 150k) points with the Amex Platinum. The current public offer is 80,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)
Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a huge welcome bonus offer of up to 170,000 points with the Amex Business Platinum. The current public offer is 120,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)
One of the most important factors, if not the most important, for any bank or credit issuer is your credit score, which goes from 300 (the worst score) to 850 (the best). It’s important to know the 5 factors that make up your score:
Understanding these factors can help you understand how they affect your score and what that overall score means.
Your payment history is the most important aspect of your credit, as it is responsible for 35% of your overall score. To receive a high credit score, you need to show a consistent history of on-time monthly payments. If you have a history of late payments (especially recently), you’re unlikely to get approved for a card like the Amex Platinum card or the Amex Business Platinum card.
Hot Tip:Avoid missing a credit card payment by setting up autopay! This ensures you’ll never miss a payment and your account remains in good standing. Just make sure you’re spending responsibly and don’t go into overdraft.
The second most important aspect of your credit score is your credit utilization. It accounts for 30% of your overall score.
Credit utilization is the percentage of available credit that you have currently borrowed. For example, if you have a credit card with a $5,000 limit and make $2,000 in charges, your credit utilization will be 40% when the statement posts.
The lower you keep your credit utilization, the better. If you’re constantly maxing out your credit cards each month (even if you’re paying off the balance in full), it will hurt your credit. Try to pay most or all of your balance off before your statement post. This will help keep your overall credit utilization low and improve your credit score.
Hot Tip:You may have heard that it is good for your credit score to leave a small balance on your credit card every month. This is absolutely not true. Keeping a small balance on your card will only cost you money in interest. Always pay your credit card bills off in full and on time!
Your average age of accounts is how long you’ve had all of your credit card accounts open, averaged out. The average age of accounts is calculated by totaling the monthly ages of all accounts, then dividing this sum by the number of accounts. For example, if you have had a credit card open for 4 years and another for 3 years, your average age of accounts is 3.5 years.
The average age of accounts accounts for 15% of your total credit score.
If your credit history is relatively new, it is important not to open up too many new accounts in a short timeframe. New accounts will lower your average account age, which will have a bigger effect on your score if you don’t have a lot of other credit information.
The impact is not as significant as other categories, though — new credit makes up just 10% of your overall score.
Your credit mix makes up the final 10% of your credit score. Though this category is often the most confusing for people, borrowers with a good mix of revolving credit and installment loans generally represent less risk for lenders.
In other words, if you have multiple forms of credit extended to you — say in the form of credit cards, car notes, student loans, or housing loans — you appear less risky to credit lenders.
Bottom Line:As you can see, just 3 factors make up 80% of your credit score. While it is true that opening a new credit card can lower your overall age of accounts, many other factors can actually improve with a new account if it’s used responsibly.
For the most part, getting approved for the Amex Platinum card is not as difficult as you might think. As long as your credit score is in the high 600s or higher and you have a couple of years of clean credit history, you’ve got a strong chance of being approved.
To know if your credit score is high enough for the Amex Platinum card or the Amex Business Platinum card, you need to know what your credit score is in the first place. But how do you find your credit score?
If you already have a credit card account open, then you likely already have access to your credit score. Most credit card issuers offer a free monthly credit monitoring service that informs you how your score fluctuates month to month.
You can also easily open an account on a site like Credit Karma. Credit Karma is a free online service that helps you keep track of your credit score, gives you a breakdown of each factor, and monitors for fraudulent activity. You can also check your credit score for free at each of the 3 credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian).
If you’re applying for the Amex Business Platinum card using an employer identification number (or EIN), as opposed to your Social Security number, then Amex will perform a check of your business credit score. But what is a business credit score, and what makes it different from your personal credit score?
For starters, your business is tracked by its name, address, and EIN. Personal credit scores are private, but business credit scores are publicly available and can be viewed by anyone by visiting business credit reporting agencies like Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax Business, and Experian Business. Finally, your business credit score is on a scale of 1 to 100.
Though business and personal credit scores use different numbering systems, they effectively function the same as having a great business credit score will help you get approved for small business credit cards, take out business loans at lower rates, and qualify for lower insurance premiums.
We recommend a credit score of 670 or higher for the Amex Platinum card and the Amex Business Platinum card. If you’re applying for the Amex Business Platinum card using an EIN, then we recommend that your business credit score be 75 or higher.
These scores may be lower than you were expecting, but the truth is you don’t need a credit score of 800 or over to get approved for premium credit cards!
Keep in mind that, while this is a general recommendation, there is technically no minimum required score for the card. Likewise, there is no score that will guarantee your approval, either. Some applicants have been approved for both the Amex Platinum card and the Amex Business Platinum card with scores in the 600s, while others have been denied with scores in the 800s.
Remember: Your credit score is just a single factor that Amex considers before it will approve or reject you for the Amex Platinum card or the Amex Business Platinum card. So what else matters when banks are determining whether or not to approve you?
Hot Tip:Not sure what your credit score is considered? Learn what good and low credit scores are, along with 5 ways to boost your score.
Want to apply for the Amex Platinum card with confidence? You’re in luck because Amex offers the Check With Confidence tool, which allows you to see which cards you are prequalified for.
Using the tool is simple: You just enter your name, address, the last 4 digits of your SSN, and your income to receive prequalified offers in just 30 seconds.
Better yet, searching doesn’t impact your credit score. Once you receive your results, you’re under no obligation to apply for a card — it’s OK to window-shop. You get a good idea of whether you’d be approved before you even submit the application, at no cost to you. It’s a win-win scenario.
Aside from your credit score, there are several other factors that can heavily influence whether a bank will approve you for a new credit card.
Your stated income on your application plays a large role in your approval odds. On average, those with an Amex Platinum card or Amex Business Platinum card tend to have high incomes — though a high income is by no means a requirement. We recommend that your annual income be at least $50,000 or higher before applying for the Amex Platinum card.
The Amex Business Platinum card gives you a little more wiggle room because even if you have a low business income or are just starting your business, you can still qualify for an Amex small business card. Even part-time business owners, freelancers, side hustlers, and sole proprietors are eligible for the Amex Business Platinum card.
Let’s say you’ve just been denied for a new credit card despite having a relatively high score. Confusing and frustrating, right? The reason may be that you haven’t had a credit history for long enough.
What’s happening is that credit issuers deem people new to credit riskier than those who have been responsibly using credit for many years. So don’t take it as a personal insult. Keep your credit high and try again later — you’ll likely get a better result if you wait a bit.
We recommend that you have at least 2 years or more of blemish-free credit history before applying for the Amex Platinum card or the Amex Business Platinum card.
If your credit score isn’t high enough to get approved for the Amex Platinum card or the Amex Business Platinum card, there are several ways to improve your credit score. Keep in mind that low or no credit is by no means a permanent state.
Your credit can be improved by following these steps:
If you have a low credit score or have never had a credit card at all, you’ll likely struggle to get approved for most credit cards.
In this case, opening a secured credit card or a card with a low limit is usually the best option. If you successfully manage the card by making payments on time, your score will begin to improve relatively quickly.
Hot Tip:Do you need to repair or build your credit score? The Capital One Platinum Credit Card is a great option with fraud coverage for unauthorized charges and access to a higher credit limit after you make the first 5 monthly payments on time.
One easy option that can make a big difference to your score is being added as an authorized user on someone else’s credit card, which shows that someone else trusts you with their credit. It can help lower your credit utilization, improve your payment history, and increase the average age of your accounts.
But you should only ask someone to add you as an authorized user if they themselves are responsible with their credit. If you’re an authorized user on the account of someone who regularly carries a high balance and misses payments, this can damage your score — even though you aren’t the main account holder!
We’ve previously gone into detail about being added as an authorized user for the Amex Platinum card (rates and fees).
This step is helpful for everyone, even if you already have a fantastic score. Inaccuracies and potential fraud cases on your credit report can greatly decrease your score. (How much your credit changes depends on how severe the error is.) What’s worse, you may not even know about it!
Regularly monitor your credit report. If you see anything that seems suspicious or inaccurate, or if you receive an alert for a new account that’s unfamiliar to you, dispute the credit error immediately.
If you’re in the market for a premium travel credit card, the Amex Platinum card and the Amex Business Platinum card are definitely 2 of the best options on the market. Both cards offer airport lounge access, hotel elite status, and earn one of the most lucrative points currencies, Membership Rewards points.
If you have a solid annual income, a good credit score, and a few years’ worth of great credit history, you stand a solid chance of being approved for either the Amex Platinum card or the Amex Business Platinum card. If not, follow the tips outlined in this post and you’ll be on your way there in no time!
The information regarding the Capital One Platinum Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
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Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in outlets like The New York Times.
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