The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express Review (2025) – A “must have” card

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There aren’t many credit cards that we consider to be “must-have” cards for any serious miles and points fan, but the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express is one of them. This card comes with a $0 annual fee (see rates & fees – terms apply) and is one of the more rewarding cards you’ll find for spending in non-bonused categories.

The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

In brief

Points-earning credit cards don’t come much more basic than this, but this is still a card that can really enhance a credit card portfolio – it comes with no annual fee and it offers a better return on spending in a wide range of categories than most other points/cash back cards.

In detail

Here’s what you need to know about the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express

Annual fee:

$0 – (see rates & fees – terms apply)

Cost of employee cards:

$0 – (see rates & fees – terms apply)

Current welcome bonus (terms apply):

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.

Earnings:

2 Membership Rewards Points/dollar on all eligible spending up to a limit of $50,000/year and 1 point/dollar thereafter (terms apply).

Other key benefits (terms apply)

• Transfer points to a variety of airline and hotel loyalty programs (more details here)
• Set spending limits on employee cards
• Access to Amex Offers

Why this is a great card

You may be looking at the information above and wondering why we’re such big fans of this card, but the answer to that is simple – it offers a better than average rate of return in numerous spending categories where most other points-earning cards offer a poor rate of return. This is one of the very best credit cards you can have for everyday spending.

To show you what that means I’m going to use our valuations for Amex Membership Rewards Points, Chase Ultimate Rewards Points, and Citi ThankYou Points. These are all based on the value we know we can get out of each of them without much effort at all:

• Amex Membership Rewards Points = 1.5 cents/point
• Chase Ultimate Rewards Points = 1.5 cents/point
• Citi ThankYou Points = 1.5 cents/point

Note: Those values are probably at the lower end of a lot of people’s valuations, but we prefer to be prudent rather than overly optimistic.

With an earning rate of 2 points/dollar on all eligible spending up to $50,000 (1 point/dollar thereafter) and at a valuation of 1.5 cents/point, the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express offers an effective rebate of 3 cents/dollar or 3%.

If a person is spending on airfare, on general travel, on dining, or at grocery stores, there are better cards than the Blue Business Plus Card that they can use for spending in those categories (although most of these “better” cards also charge an annual fee), but those aren’t the only categories that people spend in.

When it comes to spending at …

• Drugstores
• Department stores
• Clothes stores
• Hardware stores
• Electrical supply stores
• Home improvement stores
• Car valeting centers
• Wine merchants
• Movie theatres
• Sports events
• Music events

… and a whole host of other places, most Amex/Chase/Citi points-earning credit cards will only offer 1 point/dollar or a 1.5% effective rebate. The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express offers double that.

On top of this, it’s important to remember that the Membership Rewards Points that the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card earns can be transferred over (in a 1:1 ratio) to a variety of loyalty programs including the following:

• Aeroplan
• Flying Blue
• British Airways Executive Club
• Delta SkyMiles
• Singapore KrisFlyer
• Hilton Honors
• Marriott Bonvoy

By transferring points to these programs, it’s likely that with a little bit of effort, the overall effective return from the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card will be greater than 3% – That’s pretty amazing for a card that doesn’t charge an annual fee (see rates & fees – terms apply).

Bottom line

The cards that usually get the most publicity are the ones that offer great returns on spending in high-profile categories like travel and dining but, in the real world, most people do a lot of their spending in categories where the majority of cards don’t offer a bonus. That’s where this super-simple, no annual fee card comes into play.

The key to a solid miles and points strategy is to have all your bases covered so that you’re never in a position where you’re forced to use a card that only earns you 1 point/dollar (or an effective rebate of no more than 1.5%). To help achieve that aim, the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express is an invaluable tool that you should almost certainly have in your wallet.

We hold this card and we love it because every time we use it, we know that without it, we would probably be leaving points on the table.

For rates and fees of the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, please see rates & fees (terms apply)