AMEX Blue Business Plus Business Credit Card [Update 2022.7: 15,000-point welcome bonus; no annual fee]

AMEX Blue Business Plus Business Credit Card

[Note]If this is your first time applying for a business credit card, please first read “Introduction to Business Credit Cards” carefully.

Highlights

• 2x points earning: Earn 2x Membership Rewards on the first $50,000 in purchases each year. If you also have an MR card that allows airline mileage transfers, this can be quite valuable.
• No annual fee and transferable points: After the AMEX Everyday Card, this is another no-annual-fee card that lets you transfer points to airline miles for higher-value redemptions.
• 0 APR: Purchases after opening the card can enjoy a 9-month intro 0% APR period. You only need to pay the minimum each month. Be sure to pay at least the minimum every month. See also: How to handle payments during 0 APR and Practical uses of credit card 0 APR

AMEX Card Benefits

• [Business card only] AMEX Open Savings: Use an AMEX business credit card at participating merchants to earn an extra 2x MR or receive a 5% discount. Merchants include FedEx Express and FedEx Ground, Hertz^®, HP.com, and more. See: Open Savings introduction
• AMEX Offer: Examples include Amazon spend 20, get 20 back; Walmart 15-5; and 75-10 on phone bills. AMEX often gives cardholders generous deals that let you earn cash back while spending. See: Recent great AMEX Offers, Summary of past great AMEX Offers, and Detailed guide to AMEX OFFER.
• [Business card only] More and better AMEX Offers: As a business card, it may receive more valuable offers, such as 20% off at Staples, Office Depot Offer, Sam's Club, etc. (gift cards may be eligible). These targeted offers generally are not sent to personal cards.
• Small Business Day: AMEX cardholders can participate each year in Small Business Day promotions, with extra rewards at participating merchants. See: Introduction to the Small Business Day promotion
• High credit limits: AMEX is very generous with customers and often gives much higher credit limits than other banks.
• Triple credit limit increase: Starting on day 61, AMEX cardholders may be able to request a credit limit increase up to 3x the original limit through the website.
• Free ShopRunner membership: Enjoy free two-day shipping at many online stores. See details here: official link
• Extended warranty: Items purchased in full with an AMEX card get the manufacturer’s warranty extended by one year automatically.
• Free credit report: Cardholders can check their EX credit bureau credit score for free. See: Comparison of free credit scores

Cons

• No especially strong bonus categories

Introduction to Membership Rewards

• Points Value: The average value is 1.5c/p, so 100 MR = $1.5 (Points Value & Analysis)
• Direct Redemption: Redeem travel through amextravel.com at 1c/p (without a premium card); redeem eligible flights through amextravel.com at 1.54c/p (with Business Platinum); redeem for cash in an investment account at 1.1c/p (with Schwab Platinum).
• Points Transfers: Transfer 1:1 to ANA miles (good for round-trip US-China flights and round-the-world tickets); transfer 1:1 to British Airways miles (good for China-Japan routes and short-haul domestic US redemptions); transfer 1:1 to Air Canada miles (good for US-China business class awards and infant tickets); transfer 1:1 to Delta (good for business class, and can also redeem any Delta flight at 1c/p).
• Points Features: All MR points earned by one person are pooled into a single account and can be used directly. As long as you still have at least one MR-earning card open, all MR points will remain valid; be sure to use them up before closing all of your cards. Nearly all MR-earning cards allow you to transfer MR points to airline miles or hotel points. MR points can be transferred to airline or hotel accounts in an authorized user's name.
• My Take: The most common use of MR is transferring to airline miles, mainly ANA, Air Canada, Delta, and British Airways. Delta can help cover SkyTeam options; ANA and AC can selectively cover Star Alliance options; BA can be used for some oneworld awards. Among these, ANA is especially valuable for US-China economy, business, and first class awards. AC and Delta are also good for covering domestic US flights, while BA is best for nonstop domestic US flights. Hotel transfers are a weak spot for MR, and none are really worth transferring to. As for booking hotels or flights directly through AMEX Travel, you usually only get 1 cent per point in value, so I generally do not recommend it. Cash back and gift cards also max out at only 1 cent per point. Therefore, the final valuation is 1.7c, mainly considering the broad airline partner coverage, mostly instant transfer times (ANA takes 2-3 days; others are instant), and the value of these airline miles. The weaknesses are that MR is not very useful for hotel redemptions, and direct airfare bookings do not provide strong value either.
• Detailed Analysis: Membership Rewards Guide >>

My Take

This card was updated on 5/25/2017, changing to 2x MR points on all purchases. If you have a lot of everyday spending that does not fall into bonus categories, such as rent, tuition, or insurance, this card is a solid way to earn 2x.

If you also have the AMEX Business Platinum card, then the 1.5x value when redeeming for flights plus the 2x MR earned by this card is roughly equivalent to 3% back on all spending.

Most importantly, this card also allows Membership Rewards to be transferred to miles (the previous version did not). If it fits your situation, this is a no-annual-fee card worth keeping long term, and you won’t have to worry about your points expiring.

Application:

[Note]If this is your first time applying for a business credit card, please first read “Introduction to Business Credit Cards” carefully.

This card is relatively easy to get approved for; in general, about one year of credit history is often enough for instant approval. This card is a charge card.

• AMEX official application status check link
• For the same AMEX credit card, the public welcome bonus is generally available only once (once-per-lifetime restriction)
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-528-4800, 877-399-3083, 866-314-0237) to speed up credit card approval or request a review of a denied application.
• AMEX limits you to 4 credit cards and 10 charge cards total.
• You can apply for a total of two AMEX credit cards every 90 days, excluding charge cards.
• After you submit your application, a pop-up may appear telling you that you are not eligible for the welcome bonus. In that case, it is usually best not to continue with the application (detailed analysis)
• More about applying for AMEX credit cards

Application Link