Amex Business Cards Compared – An Easy Choice?

by Daniel | Last Updated May 22nd, 2024

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If you’re interested in getting an Amex Business credit card but don’t know which card to get, then this video is perfect for you.

Basically what I’ll do is cover all of the finer details of each Amex Business card to help give you a better understanding of what each card offers in terms of benefits and perks and which card is the best choice for you.

https://youtu.be/zH05FVOj3j4

Who Are These Cards Good For? 

Well, not surprisingly these cards a specifically designed for business owners.
And this can be anything from a small business to a large business, or you could be an Uber driver, Airbnb host or content creator, it really doesn’t matter. 

You will see in the video that there is a card for pretty much any business situation.
Starting with the American Express Blue Business Plus credit card, which has no annual fee, all the way up to the American Express Business Platinum card which has a rather high annual fee of $695.

How To Get More Value From Membership Reward Points 

So all 4 of these Amex cards have slightly different points earning ability depending on which card you choose.
And earning points is a great way to help provide you with quite a lot of value.

Now when it comes to redeeming Membership Reward Points through Amex, depending on what category your choose to use your points on will affect the actual value of your points.

So with low offer benefits such as shopping through merchant partners you will only receive 0.5 cents per point.
Wheres, when you redeeming points through American Express Travel, you will earn 1 cent per point.

So its important to keep this in mind so you can get as much value out of your points as possible.

Now it’s worth noting that you can receive a lot more value than this just by transferring your Membership Reward Points to one of the travel partners.
And if you do this, you will almost always find the most value when transferring points to one of the Airline Partners.

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As an example, I like to use a website called seats.aero to find amazing deals through a whole range of different airlines.

And how this works is quite simple, first of all just head over to seats.aero and then click on the ‘Explore’ button here at the top of the screen.

Then in the drop down menu you will see that there is a list of airlines, and each airlines basically shows you which credit card  is a part of their program.

Now I tend to find that ‘Air France/ KLM ‘Flying Blue’ has some amazing deals, and they actually cover 36 different airlines, so there is a wide range of flights to choose from.

So I’ll select ‘Air France/ KLM Flying Blue, then I’ll make sure it is showing fights from North America to Europe.
I’ll then just scroll down to the bottom of the page and look for flights that are flying out of JFK.

Then I’ll just scroll back up to the top of the page, and then click here where it says ‘Business’ to organize available business class flights that can be booked with points.

And you will see here, there is a flight from JFK to Paris (CDG) Flying Business class for 55,000 points.

Now to get the details of this flight, I’ll just click the little information tab here, which will bring up the flight details, then I’ll click here on Business.
And it shows me that the flight will require 55,000 points plus an additional $203.70.

Now if I go to the AirFrance website, this flight will cost $2,683 if I were to pay in cash.

That means I am getting a points value of around 4.5 cents per points, which is really good, and much more than redeeming points directly through American Express.

So if you want maximum value for your hard earned points, this is one way to do it.

American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card

This card is great for anybody who has recently just started a business and is looking for a way to start to getting some extra value out of their everyday business expenses. 

It’s also the only card on this list that offers an Intro APR of 0% on purchases for the first 12 months of card ownership. This can be really helpful when you are first stating a business, as it can help provide you withthe ability to receive interest-free financing.
This can then allow you to pay for things such as new inventory for your business and then pay it off over time without incurring any interest.

Sign Up Bonus 

Now at the time of writing this article it is possible to earn 50,000 Membership Rewards Points if you can manage to spend $8,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of opening the account.

So this will require an average spend of around $670 a week for the first 3 months of card ownership to actually receive the signup bonus.
Now based on Membership Reward Points being worth 1 cent per point when redeemed through American Express Travel, you are looking at a value of $500.

But when redeem through Flying Blue, like I showed you before, it is possible to earn upwards of 4.5 cents per point, meaning this sign-up is potentially worth $2,250.
And just note that it is possible to see even more value than this, it just depending on what flights are actually available as the time you make the booking.

Benefits

Now in terms of benefits, the American Express Blue Business Plus credit card only really offers the 0% Intro APR.
But to be fair, this can be quite helpful depending on what your current situation is with your business.
Even though the other cards in this article do have more benefits on offer, they also have annual fees.
So it’s worth considering if you need the extra benefits that are offered with the other cards.

Earning Points 

Now when it comes to earning points, the Amex Blue Business Plus credit card has two options.

First of all, it is possible to earn 2x points for purchases, and with this there are no category restrictions, so it makes it very easy to take advantage of.
Now this is limited to $50,000 per year, which works out to be 100,000 points.

Once you meet this limit, all spending you make on the card will receive just 1 point per dollar spent.
And this is the same for all other purchases that are made on the card.

So its for a card that has no annual fee, I really like the fact that it Is possible to earn quite a decent signup bonus, receive access to a 0% APR for the first 12 months and also earn up to 100,000 points via its 2x points earnings on any categories. 

American Express Business Green Rewards Card

Important To know

Now I just want to let you know that both this card and the Amex Blue Business Plus credit card will incur foreign transaction fee of 2.7% if you happen to use the either card whilst you are overseas.

So neither card is worth traveling with, as it could end up costing you quite a bit in additional fees.
If you are considering traveling and using your credit card, both the Amex Gold and Platinum business cards have no foreign transaction fee, making them a much better choice if you do travel for work a lot.

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Sign Up Bonus 

So at the time of writing this article, it is possible to earn just 15,000 Membership Rewards Points after you meet the spend requirement of $3,000 within the first 3 months of opening the account. 

Now whilst theses substantially less points than what you can earn with the Amex Blue Business Plus credit card, its spend requirement is also $5,000 less, so it will be a lot easier to actually meet this spend requirement to receive to sign up bonus.
Basically, it is a spend of $250 a week for 3 months, which is not too bad.

So if you redeem these points through Amex Travel you can expect a points value of 1 cent per point, making this sign up bonus worth $150.
And if you transfer the points over to one of the airline partners, you can expect a much high points value, as I showed you earlier in this article. 

Benefits

Now when it comes to benefits, the Amex Business Green Rewards card falls flat, as it has no benefits at all.
And if you have no desire to own a credit card that has no benefits, then I guess this card may be a good fit for you.

Personally, as a small business owner I would much prefer the Amex Blue Business Plus credit card.
First of all because it has no annual fee, it also offers a 0% intro APR on purchases for the first 12 months.
And its points earning structure is easier to take advantage of.

Earning Points 

So in terms of earning points, the Amex Business Green Rewards card has 2 options.

It is possible to earn 2x points for any flights or prepaid hotels that are booked through Amextravel.com
Then all other purchases that are made on the card will earn you 1 point per dollar spent. 

So Im not as much of a fan of this card compared to the Amex Blue Business Plus credit card, mainly because it has an annual fee and doesn’t provide any benefits at all.

American Express Business Gold Card

You also have 2 color options to choose from, the original Gold card or the Rose Gold card.

Sign Up Bonus 

So at the time of writing this article, it is possible to earn 125,000 Membership Rewards Points if you can manage to spend $10,000 on the card over the first 3 months of card ownership.

This is a spend of $2,000 more than what the Amex Blue Business Plus credit card requires, but you do  actually receive 75,000 additional points with the Amex Gold Business card. 

So it’s a spend of around $835 per week for 12 weeks, which is a fair amount of money.
Then based on a points value of 1 cent per point for transfers made through Amex travel, you are looking at a value of $1,250.

And if you use the 4.5 cents per points value I showed you at the start of the article by transferring points to one of the travel partners, you are looking at a value of around $5,625.

Benefits

Now seeing that this card has a rather hefty annual fee of $375, it’s good to know that it has a few benefits that can help to offset this fee.

The first benefit is a $240 Flexible Business credit, and this is provided to you in $20 allotments each months over the course of the year.
This can be used at the following businesses:

• FedEx
• Office Supply Store
• Grubhub

One thing that would make this benefits better (in my opinion) would be if you could use the entire credit all in one go.

There is then a $155 Walmart+ credit, which is good if you do shop at Walmart.

These two benefits, if utilized in full totally cover the cost of the annual fee.

Earning Points 

Now the most valuable aspect of the Amex Business Gold card is its ability to earn points.

So essentially it is possible to earn 4x points from 2 different categories that your business spends the most on in each billing cycle.
And these 2 categories can be chosen from a total of 6 overall categories, which are:

• Purchases made through US media providers for advertising
• Purchases made at Electronic goods retailers or software and cloud system providers
• Purchases made at US Restaurants, which include take out and delivery
• Gas station purchases
• General transit purchases
• Monthly wireless telephone services from US based companies

Now, it’s worth noting that the 4x points earnings is capped at a total spend of $150,000 each calendar year, which works out to be 600,000 Membership Rewards Points.
If and when you meet this cap, these purchases will then only earn 1 point per dollar spent 

Now it is possible to earn 3x points for flights and pre paid hotels that are booked through Amextravel.com
Then all other purchases that are made on the card will earn you 1 point per dollar spent. 

So as you can see, the Amex Business Gold card has a much better points earning potential than both the Amex Green and Blue business cards.
If you can justify the $375 annual fee and make use of the benefits on offer, then this card offers a ton of potential value. 

American Express Business Platinum Card

Whilst there are some very useful benefits that provide great value, there is also a few benefits that aren’t really worth it.

Sign Up Bonus 

Now at the time of writing this article, it is possible to earn a whopping 200,000 Membership Rewards Points if you can manage to spend $20,000 on the card within the first 3 months of opening the account.

That’s a spend of around $1,670 each week for 3 months, which is a reasonable amount of money, but if you have a mid to large sized business, this spend requirement shouldn’t be to hard to meet.

Now if you transfer these points to Amex travel, you would receive points value of 1 cent per point, which means you would see a value of $2,000.
And if you use the 4.5 cents per point valuation from earlier in the article, you are looking at a value of around $9,000.

So it’s a pretty decent signup bonus in my opinion, and if you transfer these points wisely, you will receive a ton of value. 

Benefits

Now as you would expect, the Amex Business Platinum card offers quite a broad range of benefits to help offset the rather high annual fee of $695.

And if you are considering this card, just make sure you are able to make use of some of these benefits, as you are technically paying for a majority of them via the annual fee.

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So starting with business related benefits there is a $400 Dell Technologies credit that is provided in 2 lots of $200.
Basically you can use up to $200 per 6 month period.

And there are plenty of products available through Dell which is great.
I must say that it would be nice if they gave you the option to use this credit through Apple, as not everyone uses PCs.

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The next benefits is a $360 credit that can be used through ‘Indeed’
And this is great if you are looking for talent specifically through Indeed.

I think it would be nice to have a broader range of options to choose from when searching for talent, as there are plenty of other great platforms such as Upwork that offer a huge range of different professionals that can help with your business.

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There is then $150 credit that can be used at Adobe Creative Solutions.
And I like this, specifically as I actually use Adobe products for my business.

So in terms of business related benefits, you are looking at around $1,030 in value, which is great if you can make use of it.
Even if you can use just 70% of this, it will essentially cover the cost of the annual fee.

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Now there is also some pretty valuable personal related benefits that also com white Amex Business Platinum card.

The first and most value benefit (at least in my opinion) is access to the Global Lounge Collection.
This essentially provides you access to a multiple of different airport lounges such as the Centurion Lounge, Delta Sky Club to name a few.

You will also receive a Priority Pass Select Membership that is valued at around. $469, and this basically extends your ability to access an additional 1,500 airport lounges from all over the world.

I’ve been using this specific benefit with my Amex Platinum card over the past few years and really like it, specifically because I travel a lot.

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Now the next benefit that is actually quite easy to use is the $200 Airline Fee Credit.
With this, you can choose one airline that is a partner of Amex and then use the credit for things such as baggage fees or inflight food and refreshments.

I actually use this benefit through United to access the United Club when I travel through airport that has a United Club.
So it’s a pretty good benefit to have.

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There is then a $189 CLEAR Plus credit which is designed to get you through Airport security a little quicker than TSA Pre Check.
But from my experience using it, I haven’t noticed much of a difference in time saved getting through security.

If I had to actually pay for CLEAR I definitely wouldn’t get it.

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Now similar to this is a $100 credit for use on either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.
And again, just like CLEAR access, there are so many people now using this benefit that it really isn’t much more efficient than just going through the regular access line.

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So there are two more benefits worth mentioning.

The first is access to the Fine Hotels + Resorts Program, this provides you with a $100 hotel credit for bookings that are 2 nights or more.

Then there is the Cruise Privileges Program, this provides you with a credit of up to $300 for eligible bookings on a wide range of different cruise ships. 

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And finally there are a few hotel and car rental privilege programs that you join.

The Hotel Programs are:

• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status
• Hilton Honors Gold Status

And then you can receive Premium Car Rental Privileges through the following companies:

• Hertz President’s Circle
• Avis Preferred
• National Car Rental Emerald Club

So as you can see the Amex Business Platinum card has a ton of added benefits, which can be worth quite a lot, assuming you can make use of them.

Earning Points 

Now before I go over the points earning potential of the Amex Business Platinum card It’s worth noting that there is a benefit called the 35% Airline Bonus.
With this you can essentially receive up to 1 million bonus points back per year.

And how this works is quite simple, for every 10 points that you redeem using Membership Rewards Pay with Points through American Express Travel, you will receive 3.5 additional points back on your account.

Now this can only be used for either First or Business class flights on any airlines, as long as it is booked through Amextravel.com
So if you do travel a lot, specifically by Business or First class, this can potentially save you a fair amount of money each year.

If you mange max out the limit of 1 million points each year, you are looking at a value of $10,000.

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So the highest points earning potential with this card is the ability to earn 5x points on flights or prepaid hotel bookings that specifically made through amextravel.com 

Then all other travel that is booked through amextravel.com will earn 2x points.

It is then possible to earn 1.5x points for purchases that are $5,000 or more through the following categories:

• U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers
• At U.S. electronic goods retailers, software & cloud system providers,
• And at U.S. shipping providers

Just note that this is limited to a total spend of $2 million each year.

Then all other purchases that are made on the card will earn you 1 point per dollar spent. 

Final Thoughts

Ok, so that covers pretty much everything you need to know about all 4 of these Business related credit cards from American Express.

And not surprisingly, the more you pay for a particular card, the more benefits you will receive.
So to some degree like a lot of credit cards with an annual fee, you are essentially paying for a majority of the benefits they offer.

I specifically like the Amex Business Gold card because it has a great points earning ability of 4x points per dollar spent on a broad range of categories.
This makes it quite easy to earn a ton of points through everyday business related expenses. 
It also has a great signup bonus of 125,000 points.

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It is also has a very straight forward points earning structure that allows you to earn 2x points on purchases, with no category restriction.
And best of all, it has no annual fee.

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Now if you are looking for a good airline branded credit card make sure to check out either my Amex Delta SkyMiles credit card review here, or my United MileagePlus credit card review here.