The American Express Blue Business Plus… almost perfect.

If someone were to tell you that there’s a travel card that gives you 2x points on every dollar, you might think of the Venture or Venture X cards issued by Capital One. But no, there’s a card that offers 2x points per dollar one everything… with a $0 annual fee. We are talking about the American Express Blue Business Plus card.

Some Clarity

This is a business card, but you don’t necessarily need to have a profitable or even legally established business. As long as you have a business name with the intent to use it for business purposes, you can sign up for the card. For the most part, the approval process yields a fairly high success rate.

Sign-up Bonus

At the time of writing this post, the sign-up bonus you’ll receive is 15,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $3,000 within 3 months. This is not a big bonus, but if you’re getting this card, your primary goal is probably not the bonus. It’s the multiplier.

The Multiplier

Here’s where the card shines: 2x points per dollar on everything (up to $50,000 per calendar year), and then 1x point per dollar on everything thereafter. Unless you own a larger business, it will be hard to spend $50,000 per year on the card, making it a perfectly viable catch-all card.

Why It’s Not Perfect…

All of this sounds too good to be true because it somewhat is. The card has a 3% foreign transaction fee, meaning you’ll be losing money if you take it abroad. Additionally, American Express acceptance can be a hit or miss outside of the US, further cementing the fact that this would not operate as a successful catch-all card internationally. Capital One’s Venture card lineup sports better options, being issued as either a MasterCard or Visa with no foreign transaction fees (check out this blog post for more on Venture cards).

Should You Get This Card?

There’s really not a lot of downside if you do apply for the card. Since it’s a business card, it doesn’t count towards your personal credit report. The 2x multiplier is great, especially if you are already part of the American Express ecosystem. Just keep it at home when you go on trips to avoid those pesky foreign transaction fees.

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TLDR

Annual Fee: $0

Sign-up Bonus: 15,000 points after spending $3,000 within 3 months.

Multipliers:

• 2x on EVERYTHING (up to $50,000 per year)

Pros:

• No annual fees.

• An amazing catch-all multiplier.

• As a business card, it doesn’t affect your personal credit report as long as you pay on time.

Cons:

• Foreign transaction fees.

• American Express is a hit or miss abroad, affecting its reliability abroad.

Get if you…

• …are already part of the American Express ecosystem.

• …if you want to segregate your small business expenses from your personal expenses.

Don’t get if you…

• …are established within another ecosystem for your rewards points.

• …are looking for a card to take abroad.