FAQ about Amex Blue Business Plus Card

Amex released a new 2x everywhere card called the Blue Business Plus card. There is a maximum of $50,000 in spend per calendar year which earns 2x, beyond that it earns just 1x per dollar.

  • Here’s a Direct Link (non-affiliate) to the card offer, but you should really signup when there’s a bonus or using a referral link which has a bonus.

In this post we’ll discuss the new card in more detail and answer some of the questions readers asked as well.

 

Does the card have a signup bonus?

Most public signup links don’t have any signup bonus. However, affiliate channels do have a 20,000 MR signup bonus offer after spending $3k. We don’t use affiliate links on the site, but you can go to your favorite blogger who does have those link and use theirs.

A reader also found a non-affiliate link with the offer: Direct Link

I doubt we’ll see a bigger signup bonus on the card (with the possible exception of targeted offers); my impression is that this is Amex’s new ‘Double-Cash’ kind of card, not something that they’ll promote with big bonuses. Good chance this 20k bonus is time-limited.

If I previously had the old Blue for Business, can I get the signup bonus on this card?

The rule with Amex is that you can’t get the bonus if you had the card previously (even if you didn’t get a bonus the first time). This card, too, has those terms: “Welcome bonus offer [is] not available to applicants who have or have had this product.”

Typically, a rebranded product would be considered a new card which means you can get the bonus on this new version of the card. I reached out to @askamex to verify and they confirmed that you will be eligible for the bonus.

Will the card count toward 5/24 on my credit report?

Amex business cards don’t show up on the credit report and won’t count toward 5/24. Further, balances shown on Amex business cards don’t hurt your credit score since they aren’t reported to the personal credit bureaus.

Can I get this card if I already have 4 Amex cards?

This card is a credit card, not a charge card, which means it counts toward your limit.

The limit used to be 4, though recently many people have been able to get 5. The limit combines personal and business cards. If you already have 5 Amex credit cards, you won’t be able to get this card.

Is the old Blue for Business card still available?

It’s been discontinued for new signups in favor of the new version. Many people still have the old version from previous signup.

What’s are the key differences between the old Blue for Business card and the new Blue Business Plus card?

Key changes:

  • The new card earns 2x everywhere (up to $50k) while the old version earned just 1.3x (after the annual bonus).
  • The new card earns real, transferrable Membership Rewards points while the old one earned an anomalous, non-transferrable version of MR points. (This doesn’t matter for people who have other real MR-earning cards.) There are now two options if you want a no-fee Amex card to keep your MR points alive: Amex Everyday and Blue Business Plus.

Can I product change my old Blue to the new Blue Business Plus card?

The old Blue for Business card should be easily product-changable to the new version. We’ll need data points to confirm. No hard pull is done for product changing. [Update: People are reporting that Amex is not allowing this now. If I had to guess, I’d say that it just takes time to be able to product-change to a new product, and in a few months it’ll work.]

The timing is also good since many people have just a few months left until their old Blue for Business card 2.3x offer ends. Just be sure to wait until your 30% bonus posts at the end of the year before switching.

If you product change instead of applying, you’ll lose out on the 20k signup bonus. While that bonus is on the small side, remember this card isn’t showing up as new on your credit report anyway, so it’s just the hard pull.

You have to decide if a hard pull is worth 20k MR to you. A year ago I’d have said no, now I’d probably do it. Remember, Amex has been approving some existing customers without any hard pull at all.

Can I product-change a different card to the new Blue Plus?

Good question.

You certainly won’t be able to product change a charge card to become a credit card or a personal card to become a business card. That leaves us with six potential candidates for product changing: SPG, one of the Delta cards, SimplyCash, and Lowes.

The best chance would be SimplyCash since it’s not a co-brand. Data points needed.

My impression had always been that co-brands could not be product-changed, however, there is one data point of someone who was able to change a Delta to a Blue last year. (They even sent me a screenshot showing the two cards with the same card number.)  If you try this, please let us know how it went.

Will I get 3x on Uber (2 base + 1 promotional)?

I don’t think so. It’s not in this list of cards.

Does the card have any fees?

No annual fee. It does have a 2.7% foreign transaction fee.

Should I signup for the card?

It obviously depends a lot on how you value Membership Rewards points. Remember, MR value will go down soon for a lot of people when the Platinum 50% rebate dies.

If you value MR at a conservative 1.5%, then this will be a 3% card for $50k of annual spend. That’s an extra $500 in rewards over a 2% card or $250 over a 2.5% card. Or we can compare it to the Everyday Preferred which earns 1.5x. You can earn an extra 25,000 MR points each year by using the business card.

It’s also good for those who are always maxed out on their 2% cards – this will be another solid, all-around card to use (within it’s $50k limit). The card primarily makes sense for someone who will max out the $50k spend or come close to it.

For me, another big advantage to this card is that fact that it’s a fee-free business card for Amex Offers! Due to all the scrutiny on how many new cards appear on your credit report, I try adding AUs to business cards instead of personal cards. The problem is that I don’t want to add AUs to a card like business Platinum which might get cancelled at year’s end. A fee-free card is a perfect candidate for AU’s.

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Jim
Jim (@guest_1307439)
December 31, 2021 20:21

Question: does this card still earn 2x? Have been putting a lot of spend on this card but looking at my January point balance, I didn’t see a lump sum or regular transaction bringing 2x points.

imnotashopaholic
imnotashopaholic (@guest_756970)
May 7, 2019 23:21

Embarassingly I just learned about this card. It seems that there is no sign up bonus for this card. Would it make sense to wait, or should I just apply or try to PC my Blue for Business card to this?

Vic
Vic (@guest_678442)
November 26, 2018 14:04

 Chuck Not the most important thing, but BBP still has 10,000 welcome bonus via referral, meaning the first line of the post is inaccurate.
(came to this post from the year-end checklist post)

John
John (@guest_547857)
January 5, 2018 19:25

Not able to product change from Blue Business to Blue Business Plus.

Adam
Adam (@guest_593561)
May 11, 2018 16:27

Same for me. I just called and attempted to do a product change from Blue for Business and was told that the Blue Business Plus card is not available for product change from any card. You have to submit a new application.

Roberta E Eastman
Roberta E Eastman (@guest_436694)
July 9, 2017 22:56

Actually I just looked and Im up over 400,000 points. 298,151 are UR and the rest are MR.

No idea on how to best use them.

Julian Banks
Julian Banks (@guest_476525)
September 13, 2017 18:52

You should join a travel group for advice on how to maximize your points. I have one with a Facebook group if you’d like to join.

Roberto
Roberto (@guest_552629)
January 19, 2018 21:13

If you are sitting on a pile of AMEX MR points, consider the Schwab Platinum from AMEX. It lets you cash out MR points –> Schwab at 1 : 1.25. Coupled with the Blue Business card, that’s 2.5% cash back on everyday spend (up to $50k/yr). DoC has a great writeup on the Schwab card. I just got it and the transfer out process for MR points is super smooth (and instant). Need to consider the hefty $550 AF though and see if it’s worth it. (For me it’s a no-brainer, as AMEX is super generous with SCRA benefits.) I’m hoping the 20k sign up bonus comes back on this card and if it does, I’m pulling the trigger!

Roberta E Eastman
Roberta E Eastman (@guest_436686)
July 9, 2017 22:44

Thank you again for this incredible site. I saw the offer for the card with the 20,000 sign up points. Came here, checked it all out (bcuz goodness knows you cant read through all the crap that Amex posts and actually understand it).

Determined yes, good idea so I have a choice to get rid of Amex Business Gold if I dont want to pay a fee and voila! Surprised by the large credit line. You guys rock!!

Didnt get the card # right away tho and it says it will take 7-10 days to get the card. I will call them tomorrow and try to move them along.

20,000 more points to add to my already 300,000 points I have earned just from reading this site.

Which by the way I still have no idea how to best use these points with no interest of traveling outside of the USA.

Any ideas?

Andrew
Andrew (@guest_431201)
June 30, 2017 11:36

The link is dead. Any new one? Thanks.

William Charles
Admin
June 30, 2017 21:58

No

DJ
DJ (@guest_425503)
June 22, 2017 13:54

Turned down on trying to convert my Delta Skymiles business card to Blue – as the award structures are different (Skymiles vs membership rewards), I cannot product change.

Anyone else had success?

Chicagoan33
Chicagoan33 (@guest_421598)
June 16, 2017 00:16

Hi for the folks that got approved instantly, was the cc# given to you immediately or did you have to wait for it to arrive in the mail? Thanks.

alex
alex (@guest_425707)
June 22, 2017 18:59

Approved instantly here, did not get the entire cc# but can see the last 5 digits on the confirmation email.

Nick
Nick (@guest_417799)
June 9, 2017 13:46

My first statement closed yesterday and I already spent over 3k but did not see any point posted. When do I expect to see the 20k bonus points?