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Eligibility is limited for the Amex Offers discussed in this post. Enrollment is required in the Amex Offers section of your account before redeeming.
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express offers one of the best ways to rack up lots of Membership Rewards points.
Earning 2x Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 of business expenses (then 1x) annually makes the Blue Business Plus a high-value rewards card. That's a higher earning rate than most of Amex's other more splashy business cards for non-bonus-category spending. Even better, the Blue Business Plus won't add to your Chase 5/24 count.
However, don't expect a long list of perks on this card. Let's look at the positives and negatives to see if the Blue Business Plus is the right card for you.
- Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
- 0.0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a variable rate, 17.49% - 27.49%, based on your creditworthiness and other factors at account opening. APR will not exceed 29.99%
- Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply.
- You've got the power to spend beyond your credit limit* with Expanded Buying Power. *The amount you can spend above your credit limit is flexible, so it adapts with your use of the Card, your payment history, credit record, financial resources known to us, and other factors. Just remember, the amount you can spend with Expanded Buying Power is not unlimited.
- No Annual Fee
- Terms Apply.
- Rates & Fees
- Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply.
Page Contents
Blue Business Plus Pros
- Earn 2x points on up to $50,000 of spending each year (then 1x).
- Earns valuable American Express Membership Rewards points.
- No annual fee (Rates & Fees).
Blue Business Plus Cons
- Bonus earning is limited to the first $50,000 in spending each year.
- Limited benefits.
- Has a foreign transaction fee of 2.7% of each transaction after conversion to U.S. Dollars. (Rates & Fees).
Blue Business Plus Welcome Offer
The Blue Business Plus doesn't always have a welcome bonus of points from a spending requirement. Luckily, it does right now, offering 15,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
Moreover, new cardmembers receive an introductory APR of 0% on purchases for 12 months from date of account opening, then Variable APR of 17.49% - 27.49% (Rates & Fees). You must pay off the entire balance before your promotional APR ends to avoid paying interest on purchases.
This makes the Blue Business Plus a great low-cost method of financing major business purchases that are too large to pay down the full balance by the end of the month. Just make sure you pay off the balance within the introductory period; otherwise, you'll start paying hefty interest.
How to find targeted credit card offers
The bonus of 15,000 Membership Rewards points is currently the highest publicly available offer for the Blue Business Plus. However, it's worth checking for targeted offers that could result in an even larger bonus.
You can try checking for a higher offer through the CardMatch tool, using different web browsers, private browsers, via email, regular mail, or even within your Amex account when logged in. As you can tell, Amex doesn't make it easy to distill where to find the best offer possible!
If you don't find a better offer elsewhere, we'd appreciate it if you apply through our links. This helps support AwardWallet and gives us the resources necessary to provide our points, miles, and card content free of charge.
Related: How To Get Targeted Credit Card Offers
Blue Business Plus Benefits
One downside of the Blue Business Plus is that it's light on benefits. Cardmembers can leverage the following:
Spend above your credit limit
Unique to American Express business cards is their expanded buying power, which is the capacity to spend above your credit limit without paying over-the-limit fees or having purchases declined. With this benefit, you still collect rewards on the full amount spent—even the portion spent over your credit limit.
The degree to which you can exceed your credit limit is determined by multiple factors, including your purchase, payment, and credit history. The total amount spent above your credit limit is due in full each month as part of your minimum payment. And American Express may not approve every purchase you want to make above your credit limit.
Travel and purchase protections
The Blue Business Plus doesn’t come with the long list of benefits offered by some of other premium card options from Amex, but you do receive the following travel and purchase protections:
- Car rental loss and damage insurance (secondary)
- Extended warranty coverage (extend the Original Manufacturer's Warranty for up to one year)
- Purchase protection (protect covered purchases for up to 90 days)
Access to Amex Offers
As with other American Express cards, you'll have access to Amex Offers. These targeted offers can provide cash back or bonus points on purchases made with eligible merchants. You'll need to enroll in the offers before using them, but these can provide significant savings over the course of a year.
Eligibility is limited for the Amex Offers discussed in this post. Enrollment is required in the Amex Offers section of your account before redeeming.
Blue Business Plus Earning Rates
The headline benefit of the Blue Business Plus is the ability to earn 2x Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 of business expenses each calendar year (then 1x). Eligible purchases on Amex Travel also earn 2x points and will not count toward the first $50,000.
For small companies that have diverse expenses, a great earning rate without having to worry about spending in the right category keeps things simple. You can move expenses to any card that beats the base 1x return after you reach the annual spending cap.
Related: Do American Express Membership Rewards Points Expire?
Redeeming Points With the Blue Business Plus
Transfer to partners
American Express points are some of the most valuable around, especially if you take advantage of the Membership Rewards transfer partners. With 18 airline partners and three hotel partners from which to choose, it's easy to make high-end redemptions a reality. For example, you could snag a round-trip business-class ticket to Europe by transferring 68,000 Amex points to Iberia — or even fewer points during an Avios transfer bonus.
Better yet, you can access these transfer partners without paying an annual fee on this card. For comparison, Citi and Chase don't provide access to their full list of transfer partners unless you have a card with an annual fee.
Beware, however, that not all Amex transfer partners are created equal. Options like Marriott Bonvoy can represent a poor use of your points and should be avoided unless necessary — such as topping off a balance for a redemption.
Related: How to Redeem American Express Membership Rewards Points — And Which Options Are Best
Amex Travel
It's also possible to redeem your points within the Amex Travel portal. You can use your points for flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, and more.
However, you should be wary of redeeming in this way. Amex tends to undervalue its own points within the portal and will usually give you a value of less than 1 cent per point for your bookings. The only exception to this is for flights, where you'll receive 1 cent per point in value — or even a little more if you're able to find one of Amex's “Insider Fares.”
Gift cards
If shopping is more your speed, you're able to redeem Amex points for gift cards. However, these tend to represent a pretty poor use of points — often 1¢ apiece or less.
Statement credits
Like with gift cards, Amex also allows you to redeem points against any purchases that you've made but will give you poor value on these redemptions. Your points are worth 0.6¢ apiece for statement credits.
Pay With Points
If you have an Amazon account (or any other site where Pay With Points is enabled), you can opt to redeem your Amex points for any purchases that you make. Redeeming a single point will get you one cent in value. However, the value declines from there, making this another bad use of your points. The only time this is a good use of points is when you can redeem a handful of points (or even just one) for big discounts on Amazon.
Shopping
Finally, Amex has its own shopping portal where you can redeem your points for a variety of items. These include things like headphones, computers, cell phones, and other gifts. Don't use your points here. A recent example required 200,200 points for an iPhone 15 (costing $929 + $72 in taxes), which means you'll get a dismal 0.5 cents per point in value.
Application Restrictions
You should be aware of the application rules for American Express cards:
- You can hold a maximum of five traditional American Express credit cards and up to 10 cards with no preset spending limit.
- You will be approved for a maximum of two Amex credit cards in 90 days.
- Amex has a “once per lifetime” rule in which you can't earn a welcome bonus on a card you've had previously.
On a positive note, this specific card doesn’t increase your 5/24 count with Chase. Thus, you can add this card to your wallet without it affecting your ability to apply for Chase cards in the future.
Related: How To Get a Business Credit Card in 3 Steps
Cards That Compete With the Blue Business Plus
For most businesses, the Blue Business Plus is a winner. But that doesn't mean it's for your business. Here are a few additional cards to consider:
- If you prefer earning cash back over travel rewards, the Blue Business Cash provides a great return on non-bonus expenses. It has the same earning structure as the Blue Business Plus, except instead of earning points, cash-back rewards are automatically credited to your account as a statement credit. Learn more in our full review of the Blue Business Cash.
- If you're under 5/24 and want to earn bonus points in select business categories, consider the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. It has a $95 annual fee and earns 3x points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year, then 1x). Check out our full review of the Ink Preferred for all the details.
- If you want travel perks plus statement credits, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is an excellent premium card. Although it charges a hefty $695 annual fee (Rates & Fees), statement credits for Dell, Indeed, wireless telephone service, airline incidental fees, and CLEAR® Plus provide up to $1,400 in annual value. Travel benefits include airline lounge access and hotel elite status. Our full review of the Business Platinum Card has more details. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
(Terms apply)
- Earn 2% cash back on all eligible purchases on up to $50,000 per calendar year, then 1%. Cash back earned is automatically credited to your statement.
- 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 on all other purchases
(Terms apply)
- Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. electronic goods retailers and software & cloud system providers.
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on each eligible purchase with U.S. shipping providers.
- 1.5X earning rates are subject to a cap of $2 million in purchases per calendar year.
Related: Best Small-Business Credit Card Offers This Month
Bottom Line
The Blue Business Plus is a top rewards card, offering an amazing return on non-bonus spending with 2x Membership Rewards points on business expenses and no annual fee. As the Blue Business Plus doesn't add to your Chase 5/24 count, this is a great card to pick up in between personal applications. But it's also a valuable asset to your rewards strategy, helping you earn a minimum of 2x on your purchases by using this card when you don't have a card that earns more with a given merchant.
- Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on the Card within your first 3 months of Card Membership.
- 0.0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a variable rate, 17.49% - 27.49%, based on your creditworthiness and other factors at account opening. APR will not exceed 29.99%
- Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply.
- You've got the power to spend beyond your credit limit* with Expanded Buying Power. *The amount you can spend above your credit limit is flexible, so it adapts with your use of the Card, your payment history, credit record, financial resources known to us, and other factors. Just remember, the amount you can spend with Expanded Buying Power is not unlimited.
- No Annual Fee
- Terms Apply.
- Rates & Fees
- Earn 2X points on everyday business purchases such as office supplies or client dinners. 2X applies to the first $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter. Terms and limitations apply.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (Rates & Fees), The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees), The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card (Rates & Fees), and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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