American Express has announced that big changes are coming this fall to their flagship travel cards: *amex platinum* and *biz platinum*. But long beforehand, an incredibly valuable travel perk is on the chopping block.
American Express is making a significant cut to one of our favorite benefits on the Business Platinum Card, the 35% Pay With Points rebate. Come Sept. 18, 2025, cardholders will no longer get 35% of their points back when booking any business or first class ticket – on any carrier – through Amex Travel. Instead, that rebate will only be eligible for flights on just one U.S. airline – the carrier you've selected for your card's up-to $200 annual airline fee credit.
Frequent Miler first spotted this nasty change, and it's a major downgrade.
Currently, Business Platinum cardholders can book first or business class flights on virtually any airline – plus tickets in any cabin on their selected carrier – and get a 35% rebate within a few weeks. So while a $1,800 business class flight on United, Lufthansa, SWISS, or other carriers would cost 180,000 Amex points upfront, you'd get 63,000 points back to your account soon after, reducing the net cost to just 117,000 points.
That made it one of the most cost-effective ways to book premium cabins using points – particularly when you could find reasonable fares. But by limiting it to just the one U.S. airline cardholders choose this September, that benefit is getting neutered big time.
Why Amex Is Likely Making This Change
This move is sad … but not entirely unexpected.
Just last summer, American Express gave its *biz gold* a major overhaul, raising the annual fee from $295 to $375 (see rates & fees) and completely axing the 25% Pay With Points rebate in the process.
While the Business Platinum is keeping the rebate (for now), it's clearly being scaled back. Earlier this week, cardholders began seeing a new disclaimer in the benefits section of their Amex accounts, previewing the change coming this fall.
This timing also aligns with bigger shake-ups on the horizon. Amex confirmed on Monday that it's preparing a major refresh of both *amex platinum* and Business Platinum Card later this year. The removal of a premium travel perk like this one likely signals a broader reshuffling of benefits and almost surely means a higher annual fee.
And it's no coincidence this news comes just days after Chase announced its own updates: A refreshed *chase sapphire reserve* and the launch of a brand new Sapphire Reserve for Business card. Both of these will officially be available early next week on Monday, June 23.
As a part of that rollout, Chase revealed that Ultimate Rewards points will no longer be redeemable at a flat 1.5 cents each through Chase Travel. Instead, cardholders will need to hunt for limited-time “Points Boost” offers to get more value.
Meanwhile, Amex is also tightening other Business Platinum benefits. Starting July 1, new restrictions on the popular Dell and Adobe credits are set to kick in. taken together, these cuts point to a broader strategy shift and all but solidifies that a vastly different Business Platinum Card is on the way.
Bottom Line
Starting Sept. 18, 2025, the 35% Pay With Points rebate on the Amex Business Platinum card will be limited only to flights booked on your selected U.S. airline – no more getting points back on first or business class flights across all airlines.
If you've got big travel plans and a healthy stash of Membership Rewards points, consider booking those premium cabin flights before this change takes effect to lock in one of the card's best benefits while you still can.
