American Express Blue BUSINESS Card Review (discontinued for new applications)
Updated November 1, 2016. This product is replaced by American Express Blue Business Plus.
The Facts
The Math
This non-fee business card returns 1.3x MR points per dollar spent. If you don't have a premium MR card, the maximum reward you get is equivalent to 1.3% which is not particularly interesting compared to better alternatives such as Capital One Spark (1.5% without an annual fee and 2% with a $59 annual fee).
However, once you have a premium MR card such as Amex Business Gold Rewards Card which allows points to be transferred to frequent flyer miles, the value of Business Blue increases dramatically. You need to value one MR point at 1.54 cent to break the 2% mark. And if you have Amex Business Platinum Card which offers an increased redemption rate for airfare booked through Amex Travel without a service charge, the value of MR points can be fixed at 2 cents a piece, Business Blue will return 2.6% for general spending, leaving cashback cards in the dust.
The Conclusion
If you have a premium Membership Rewards card, your non-fee Blue Business Card could be extremely valuable, especially when you have the Business Platinum Card. We can only wish Amex brings the relationship bonus feature to the personal Blue Card.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: none
- Signup Bonus: 10,000 points after the first purchase within 3 months of new account opening, 10x points on the first $2,000 U.S. restaurants purchases in the first 6 months, and 2x points on the first $50,000 purchases within the first year. Historical Best Bonus: 10K + up to 18K from dining + up to 50K from general spending.
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 1x everywhere. You also receive an anniversary points bonus that equals to 30% of your purchases made during the previous membership year. This essentially makes the card return 1.3x points for all purchases. Note that this relationship bonus is not available on the personal Blue Card.
- The Best Use of Membership Rewards (MR) points: Normally, Amex Membership Rewards points can be redeemed for statement credit, merchandise gift cards, travel, shopping, etc., up to 1 cent per point. While Blue Business is not eligible for the transfer feature that is available on certain other Amex cards, if you have a product that has the transfer feature such as Amex Green, Gold, Platinum Cards, you can pool all your MR points together and thus points earned through Blue Business become eligible to be transferred to frequent flyer miles or frequent guest points. Please see our featured review on four major programs that have transfer features - SPG vs. MR. vs. UR vs. TY.
- History: The interesting relationship bonus was introduced in 2012: 10% on the first anniversary, 20% on the second anniversary, and 30% on the third and each anniversary after. In 2013, the relationship bonus was enhanced from phase-in to a flat 30% no matter how long you hold this card.
The Math
This non-fee business card returns 1.3x MR points per dollar spent. If you don't have a premium MR card, the maximum reward you get is equivalent to 1.3% which is not particularly interesting compared to better alternatives such as Capital One Spark (1.5% without an annual fee and 2% with a $59 annual fee).
However, once you have a premium MR card such as Amex Business Gold Rewards Card which allows points to be transferred to frequent flyer miles, the value of Business Blue increases dramatically. You need to value one MR point at 1.54 cent to break the 2% mark. And if you have Amex Business Platinum Card which offers an increased redemption rate for airfare booked through Amex Travel without a service charge, the value of MR points can be fixed at 2 cents a piece, Business Blue will return 2.6% for general spending, leaving cashback cards in the dust.
The Conclusion
If you have a premium Membership Rewards card, your non-fee Blue Business Card could be extremely valuable, especially when you have the Business Platinum Card. We can only wish Amex brings the relationship bonus feature to the personal Blue Card.