The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

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Card Details and Application Link
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
 
 
 
15K points
15K after $3K spend in 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)
Click Here to Apply

No Annual Fee

 
 

Alternate offer: Some people have been targeted for an offer in their online account for 50K points after $15K in purchases in their first 12 months.

Recent better offer: 20K after $3K spend in 3 months (Expired 6/21/17)

 
 

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. (Rates & Fees)

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, and if you already have an Amex card, they won't usually issue a hard pull when approved for another one. 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.

  • 90 Day Rule: You can get at most two credit cards within 90 days. This rule does not apply to Pay Over Time (charge) cards.

  • 5 credit card max: Amex usually won't approve applications for new credit cards if you already have 5 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)

Card Offer
The Platinum Card® from American Express
 
 
 
125K points + 15x when you Shop Small in the US & at restaurants worldwide
125K after $6K spend in first 6 months plus 15x on eligible purchases when you Shop Small in the US and at restaurants worldwide on up to $25K in purchases in the first 6 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)

$695 Annual Fee

 
 
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
 
 
 
120K points
120K points after $15K spend in the first 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)

$595 Annual Fee

 
 
American Express® Gold Card
 
 
 
75K Points + up to $250 back
75K 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. (Rates & Fees)

$250 Annual Fee

 
 
American Express® Green Card
 
 
 
50K Points + up to $150 back
50K after $2K spend in first 6 months plus 20% back as a statement credit on restaurant purchases worldwide for the first 12 months up to $150 back. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)

$150 Annual Fee

 
 
American Express® Business Gold Card
 
 
 
70K Points
70K points after $10K spend in 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)

$295 Annual Fee

 
 

Alternate offer: Some people clicking find that they are targeted for an offer of 85K points after $10K in purchases in the first 3 months.

Recent better offer: 70K points + up to $300 in statement credits: 70K points after $10K spend in 3 months + up to $150 in statement credits for US shipping purchases and up to $150 in statement credits US advertising purchases. [Expired 4/7/21]

 
 
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
 
 
 
15K points
15K after $3K spend in 3 months. Terms apply. (Rates & Fees)

No Annual Fee

 
 

Alternate offer: Some people have been targeted for an offer in their online account for 50K points after $15K in purchases in their first 12 months.

Recent better offer: 20K after $3K spend in 3 months (Expired 6/21/17)

 
 

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[…] additional 5 points per dollar over what your card earns anyway, I chose to load this offer to my Blue Business Plus card since it earns 2X points by default (on up to $50K spend per year).  So, I can now earn 7X on $400 […]

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[…] transfers, then you’re good to go.  The best fee-free options that allow transfers are: Blue Business Plus (my preferred choice) and Amex […]

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[…] great 2X Everywhere cards that are the focus of this article are the Citi Double Cash and the Amex Blue Business Plus.  Both cards have no annual fee.  Both cards earn the equivalent of 2 points per dollar for all […]

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[…] to use a business card, though, at the time of this writing the list shows only one option: the new Blue Business Plus Credit Card.  But, there is a reason that I probably won’t use that particular card for this purpose […]

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P-nope

Is the 2x up to $50,000 per year per business account or per card? For example, if there are 3 employee cards, do each card get 2x up to $50,000 per year for a total of $150,000 spending at 2x MR or is it $50,000 cumulative spending for all cards?

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Nick Reyes

$50K cumulative per account — employee cards don’t get separate caps.

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[…] are transferable to Virgin Atlantic especially if you wait for a transfer bonus.  For example, the Amex Blue Business Plus card has no annual fee and earns 2 points per dollar for the first $50K annual spend.  If you then wait […]

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[…] are lots of good ones (found here), but if you want one with no annual fee then go for either the Blue Business Plus or the Everyday Card.  Previously it was necessary to have a consumer Amex card, but that […]

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[…] next best option that I currently have available is the Amex Blue Business Plus card which earns 2X everywhere, on up to $50K per year of spend, then […]

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[…] any of the below categories, you can do very well.  Particularly noteworthy is the no-annual-fee Blue Business Plus Credit Card which offers 2 points per dollar for all spend, up to $50K spend per calendar year (then 1X […]

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[…] payment fee means that you can essentially buy miles for 1.22 cents per dollar. Even better, the Amex Blue Business Plus credit card earns 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar. In this case you can essentially buy […]

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