The Blue Business Plus Credit Card

Note: American Express is a Frequent Miler advertiser. Please see our Advertiser Disclosure.

The Blue Businessâ„  Plus Credit Card

FM Mini Review: 2X rewards for all spend (up to $50K per year) with no annual fee makes this card a winner.

Card Type: Amex Credit Card

Base

Earning rate: 2X Membership Rewards points on all purchases, up to $50K spend per calendar year (then 1X thereafter). Terms apply.

Overview

The The Blue Business Plus Credit Card is the only card offering transferable points and 2X rewards for all spend. That's fantastic. And, it has no annual fee!

Card Advantages

  • No annual fee.
  • 2X Membership Rewards points on all eligible purchases. Enough said.
  • When paired with The Business Platinum Card from American Express OPEN, you can use points to purchase flights at a value of 1.5 cents per point thanks to the Business Platinum pay with points rebate.
  • If you cancel all other Membership Rewards cards, your Membership Rewards points will stay active and still transferable to airlines.
  • Signing up for this card does not impact your 5/24 count.

Card Disadvantages

  • This is a credit card, not a charge card, so it is subject to Amex's limit of 5 credit cards per person.
  • 2X earnings are capped at $50K spend per year.

Rewards

Amex Membership Rewards points can be incredibly valuable if you know how to use them. In general, if you use Membership Rewards points to pay for merchandise or travel, you won't get good value from your points. One exception is with the Business Platinum card where you'll get a 35% point rebate when using points to book certain flights. This gives you approximately 1.5 cents per point value, which is pretty good. Another exception is with the Business Gold Card where you'll get a 25% point rebate when using points to book certain flights. This gives you approximately 1.33 cents per point value. If you don't have either card, then your best bet is to transfer points to airline miles in order to book high value awards. More details can be found here: Amex Membership Rewards Complete Guide.

Application Tips


Amex Application Tips



  • Safe to Apply: Amex is the safest bank for trying your luck at a new welcome bonus. They don’t usually issue a hard pull when denying your application. Plus, they’ll now warn you during the application process if you’re not eligible for the bonus.

  • Lifetime Rule: If you've ever had the same card before, you are most likely prohibited from getting a welcome bonus for the card if you apply now. Fortunately you'll be warned during the application process if this is the case. Amex is known to "forget" that you've had a card after about 7 years.

  • 5/90 Rule: In general, you can get at most one credit card within 5 days and 2 within 90 days. The 5 day limit is not enforced when your applications are automatically approved. Neither rule is enforced for charge cards.

  • 5 credit card max:Amex usually won't approve applications for new credit cards if you already have 4 or more Amex credit cards or 10 or more charge cards.

  • Better Offers: You may be able to get a better offer than the best available public offer. Details here.

  • Hard inquiries combine into 1 when approved same day


Check application status here.
If denied, call reconsideration: 877-399-3083 (new accountholders); 866-314-0237 (current accountholders)

How to Meet Spend Requirements

In order to meet minimum spend requirements, people often look for options to increase spend in ways that result in getting their money back. These techniques are referred to as "manufacturing spend". American Express has terms in their welcome offers that exclude some manufactured spend techniques from counting towards the minimum spend requirements for the welcome bonus. For example, most new cardmember bonuses have terms like this:
Eligible purchases to meet the Threshold Amount do NOT include fees or interest charges, purchases of travelers checks, purchases or reloading of prepaid cards, purchases of gift cards, person-to-person payments, or purchases of other cash equivalents.
That said, many techniques for meeting minimum spend are perfectly fine. Here are some techniques that are safe for meeting Amex minimum spend requirements (click each link for more information):

Related Cards (Membership Rewards)

The Platinum Card® from American Express
 
 
 
75K points + up to $300 in statement credits + 10x US Gas Stations and US Supermarkets
75K after $5K spend in first 6 months plus 20% back as a statement credit for restaurant purchases worldwide for the first 12 months up to $300 back plus 10x on eligible purchases at US gas stations and US supermarkets on up to $15K in purchases in the first 6 months. Terms apply.

$550 Annual Fee

 
 
American Express® Gold Card
 
 
 
60K Points + up to $250 in statement credits
60K after $4K spend in first 6 months plus 20% back as a statement credit on restaurant purchases worldwide for the first 12 months up to $250 back. Terms apply.

$250 Annual Fee

 
 
The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express
 
 
 
10K points
10K after $1K spend in 3 months. Terms apply.

No Annual Fee

 
 

Info about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.

Alternate offer: Some find they are targeted for an offer of 20K after $2K spend in the first 3 months.

 
 

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