UPDATE: This offer has expired.
Last year American Express launched a brand new credit card – The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express. This card will give you 2x points on every single purchase (up to $50,000 in purchases per year, 1 point per dollar thereafter) – no category restrictions. It is as simple as you can get and on top of it there is no annual fee! For awhile now there has been no welcome bonus for new applicants, which is never enticing. But I am glad to see now that they are offering a limited time bonus where you’ll receive 10,000 bonus points.
This is by no means an amazing welcome offer compared to other cards out there, but something is better then nothing! And for a no annual fee card that comes with great benefits, it is still decent. The 10,000 bonus points is worth a minimum $100 if you redeem your pints for cash, but I prefer to earn around 2 cents per dollar with my Membership Reward points, valuing the bonus points at about $200.
The points earned with this card also gives you the FULL access to the Membership Reward program. This means that points can be transferred to partner programs, which is a rarity for Amex Membership Reward earning cards with no annual fee. The only other card that offers this is the The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express. So we now have a personal and business card offering full access to the program with no annual fee. Having a full earning no annual fee Amex Membership Rewards card is important as it keeps ALL your points active if you’ve earned them from another card and then decide to cancel the card.
On average, American Express points are worth somewhere between 1.5 and 2 cents per point. Of course some will get a much higher value as well, typically when redeeming for business or first class airlines seats. Now, since you are earning 2x points, that means every dollar spent with this card can average you about a 3 to 4 cent return in points! That is an incredibly high value, especially for such a simple card! If you are a high spender and do end up spending $50,000 on the card within the calendar year, that will yield you 100,000 points!
Making Money on a No Annual Fee Card!
Since this is an American Express credit card, you are also able to earn a ton of statement credits throughout the year if you decide to take part in the Amex Offers promotions that I write about often. With these offers, you’ll earn ‘X statement credit, when spending Y amount’ at a participating merchant. The Amex Offers are great when it is a merchant that you’d make a purchase at anyways!
My thoughts
I absolutely LOVE no annual fee American Express credit cards. I absolutely recommend having at least one of the two FULL earning American Express no annual fee cards in your wallet. This allows you to never have to worry about losing your points if you cancel a card with an annual fee! Also, I personally am able to earn a ton of statement credits with the Amex Offers that are only available to those with American Express cards.
Overall, this is a great card to earn double points on your purchases without having to think about categories. Keep in mind though that American Express typically only allows you to have 5 credit cards (not charge cards) in your name at a given time. You can learn more about this maximum here.
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