Amex Platinum Business card worth it?

[ninja-tim]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new around here, but just wanted to ask something relating to this card.

I'm being offered an Amex Plat business card, dedicated for purchases with one wholesaler/supplier only, won't name who, but they have a relationship with Amex and allow customers to use only Amex credit card to pay accounts, with some conditions though.

The basics of the card:
-$600 annual fee ($750 upon card renewal)
-0.95% surchage/'processing' fee for all purchases with this supplier (30% tax deductible being a business related cost)
-Complimentary 'normal' Platinum business card for all other business related expenses not relating to this wholesaler.

Wholesaler Amex card rewards:
-1.5pts/$ up to 375,000 pts then 1pt/$ thereafter. Uncapped, no expiry on pts. 375,000 bonus pts limit is reset each year.
-3 MR pts = 2 Miles (Krisflyer, velocity, asiamiles, etihad, etc)

Say for example, I spend $600,000 on this wholesaler each year, cost breaks down to this:
Annual Fee ($600) + Surcharge ($5700) = $6300 in fees each year.
MR= 725,000 pts p.a. = 483,333 miles(if my calculations are correct)

MEL-LHR = 175,000 asiamiles business class return
MEL-LAX = 145,000 asiamiles business class return on qantas
MEL-HKG = 80,000 asiamiles business class return

My question are these:
How much is the average cost of these flights? and is this card worth it in the end after subtracting all the fees etc?
Also, would FBT apply to redeeming these flights?

Thanks everyone.

edit: one more thing to add, I just looked at qantas business MEL-LAX, is it really 500,000 qff pts one wat?

 

[mitwg]

The question would whether you would be traveling in the first place if you didn't have the points. If your answer is yes, then the card would definitely be worth considering.

For instance using Asia miles as an example, the MEL-LHR ticket would easily cost $7k+ on sale with Cathay so this flight alone would easily cover more than the cost of the card. With the fuel surcharges, the current rate would cost you around $7000 HKD which would work out to be around ~$1000. Asia miles are definitely on the more expensive side along with Krisflyer on the fuel surcharges.

Good thing about Amex obviously is you can transfer points to various programs so you can get some great deals (such as on Malaysia AUS-KUL-LHR for around 100k miles return) if you search for deals.

And yes, QFF redemptions do cost much more than some other programs but it is also much easier to earn miles on the QFF than competing programs (i.e. I'm diamond with CX but they offer no bonuses on miles flown whereas QFF does) so in this perspective, it makes sense that their awards cost more miles.

 

[ninja-tim]

Well, I probably won't be travelling anytime soon this year, prob not until next year. So yes I would be travelling even without points, but with points I get to upgrade from Y to J class and get free flights.

Anyone know much about redeeming rewards on business card and FBT?

 

[mitwg]

FBT won't apply to flight redemptions made through AMEX MR. The 'benefit' here isn't something that a employer provides but is rather a feature of a consumer product that you have chosen.

 

[ninja-tim]

FBT won't apply to flight redemptions made through AMEX MR.

Ah, thanks, my accountant is away on holidays so couldn't ask him.