Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.
December 30, 2024: The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express features a modest welcome offer that isn’t terribly exciting on its own, but can be a nice perk on a useful card.
The card is a good choice for small business owners who want to earn 2x Membership Rewards® on up to $50,000 of small business spending each calendar year (then 1x thereafter) or keep their stash of Membership Rewards® alive using a card with no annual fee. (See Rates and Fees)
Here’s what you need to know about the welcome offer on The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express.
Best welcome offer available: 15k points after $3,000 spent in 3 months
Annual fee: annual_fees
(The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express)
Best sign-up welcome offer: bonus_miles_full Learn how to apply.
This bonus is earned as Membership Rewards® points.
My take: Mediocre bonus, but a useful card
I’m not going to get excited about earning 15,000 Membership Rewards® points as part of a welcome offer. Membership Rewards points are difficult to redeem for cash back and there are other, more generous easy-to-earn welcome offers available.
But if you are invested in the Membership Rewards program, the card can be useful and you should get the card (and earn its welcome bonus) if you haven’t ever had it.
That’s because the Blue Business Plus is one of the few Membership Rewards-earning cards with no annual fee, making it an attractive downgrade option if you no longer have a use for a more expensive Membership Rewards-earning business card.
When you close a card, you’ll lose all of your Membership Rewards points unless you have at least one other Membership Rewards-earning card open. Many people find that downgrading a higher annual fee card to the Blue Business Plus is a good way to keep their points alive.
But if you downgrade to the Blue Business® Plus card and haven’t earned the bonus with a new card application, you’ll give up your opportunity to ever earn this bonus.
If you can meet the minimum spending requirement to earn the bonus, there’s little downside to getting this card. It has no annual fee and as a small business card, it won’t add to your 5/24 count.
Welcome offer eligibility: Can you earn the bonus?
American Express cards have “lifetime language” in many of its welcome offers that prevents you from earning the bonus if you’ve ever had the card before. The The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express is no different:
You may not be eligible to receive the welcome offer, intro APR offer, and intro plan fees offer if you have or have had this Card or previous versions of this Card.
Offer terms of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
One subtlety that’s important is that the terms say may not be eligible rather than are not eligible. Ultimately, whether or not you are eligible for a bonus is up to Amex. Anecdotally, American Express seems to “forget” that you’ve had a card after about seven years.
Fortunately, American Express will tell you prior to finalizing your application if you are eligible to earn the welcome bonus. If you are not eligible, you’ll see a popup during the application process that allows you to withdraw your application with no impact to your credit score.
About The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express has a simple value proposition: Excellent rewards on everyday spending, paired with decent purchase protection and extended warranty benefits. The card has no annual fee. (See Rates and Fees)
The card earns 2x Membership Rewards® points on everyday eligible business purchases, on up to $50,000 of spending per year. Thereafter, you’ll earn 1x points on eligible purchases.
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card is a good choice for business purchases of equipment and durable goods, thanks to its extended warranty and purchase protection benefits. You’ll also be protected with Amex’s car rental loss and damage insurance when you rent a car with the card, but the benefit provides secondary coverage.
The best ways to use Amex Membership Rewards®
With the welcome offer on The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, you’ll earn Membership Rewards® points. Membership Rewards is a transferrable point currency that can provide incredible value if you transfer them to Amex’s airline transfer partners. Here are a few pointers on using Membership Rewards.
Great for point transfers to partners. Transferring Membership Rewards® points to airline partners provides by far the most opportunity to get the best value out of your points. You’ll usually bet the most value from your points by using them for flights in premium cabins. We’ve found Aeroplan, Flying Blue, ANA Mileage Club, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways Executive Club, Delta SkyMiles, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to be the must useful transfer partners.
Bad for cash rewards. Membership Rewards typically aren’t great if you want cash back rewards. Unless you hold specific variants of the Platinum card or have a business checking account with Amex, you’ll get at most 0.6 cents per point from statement credits. Consider a card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® or Citi ThankYou® Points instead.
Most other uses of Membership Rewards offer fairly mediocre value, between 0.5 and 1 cent per point of value.
Amex disclosures
For rates and fees of the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, please visit this link: See Rates and Fees
Amex Extended Warranty benefit disclosure: When an American Express® Card Member charges a Covered Purchase to an Eligible Card, Extended Warranty§ can provide up to one extra year added to the Original Manufacturer’s Warranty. Applies to warranties of five (5) years or less. Coverage is up to the actual amount charged to your Card for the item up to a maximum of $10,000; not to exceed $50,000 per Card Member account per calendar year. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
Amex Basic Purchase Protection benefit disclosure: When an American Express® Card Member charges a Covered Purchase with their Eligible Card, Purchase Protection can help protect their Covered Purchases for up to 90 days from the Covered Purchase date if it is stolen or accidentally damaged. The coverage is limited to up to $1,000 per occurrence, up to $50,000 per Card Member account per calendar year. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
Amex Basic Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance disclosure: Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance can provide coverage up to $50,000 for theft of or damage to most rental vehicles when you use your eligible Card to reserve and pay for the entire eligible vehicle rental and decline the collision damage waiver or similar option offered by the Commercial Car Rental Company. This product provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered. Geographic restrictions apply. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.
