Amex Business Cards Compared – Which Card Is The Best?

by Daniel | Last Updated Nov 29th, 2024

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If you’re interested in getting an Amex Business credit card but are confused by all of the different options they have available, then this article is perfect for you.
Essentially what I’ll do is dive in to all of the finer details of 5 different 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 and your business.

https://youtu.be/YAQF4Mn9YiY

Who Are These Cards Good For? 

Well each of these cards has strengths tailored to specific business needs, from travel perks and rewards maximization to cash flow flexibility.
So let’s take a closer look at each card.

American Express Blue Business Plus Card

Some of its key benefits: include the ability to Earn 2x Membership Rewards points on all purchases up to a spending cap.
And best of all there is no categories to track.
It is ideal for businesses with varied expenses, smaller budgets, or anyone looking for a straightforward rewards structure.

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American Express Business Green Card

Key benefits include rewards on travel and everyday business spending with a lower annual fee compared to Platinum or Gold. This card is suited for businesses that need a flexible rewards program without paying for premium benefits.

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American Express Plum Card

Key benefits include 1.5% discount on early payments and the option to pay balances within 60 days without interest if you pay the minimum due. It is great for businesses that prioritize cash flow management over rewards.

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American Express Business Gold Card

Key benefits include Flexible earning categories (like airfare, advertising, and U.S. restaurants) with high rewards on the two highest spend categories each month. It is good for businesses with predictable, recurring expenses in select areas.

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American Express Business Platinum Card

Key benefits include strong rewards on travel, extensive airport lounge access, and valuable perks like hotel elite status and statement credits for travel expenses. It is ideal for businesses that can maximize premium benefits and travel frequently.

Annual Fee And Sign-up Bonus 

Now from here, let’s take look at how valuable the sign-up bonus is and how much the annual fee will cost you each year for each card.
And seeing that there are 5 different Amex cards in this review, they all vary quite a bit, both in terms of the annual fee and sign up bonus.

American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card

Now when it comes to a signup bonus, currently it is possible torn 15,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend $3,000 on the card within the first 3 month s of opening the account. 
Along with this, it is also possible to get a 0% Intro APR on purchases for 12 months, from the dates off opening the account. 

Now with Amex Membership Rewards Points being valued at 1 cent per points when redeemed through American Express Travel, this signup bonus is worth $150.
But if you transfer these points over to one of the many travel partners, it is possible to reeve a lot more value than this, and this goes for all of the cards in this review. 

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American Express Business Green Rewards Card

And with Amex Membership Rewards Points being valued at 1 cent per points when redeemed through American Express Travel, this signup bonus is worth the same $150 as the Blue Business Plus card.
So although it does cost $95 more than the Amex Blue Business Plus card on an annual basis, it doesn’t have a better signup bonus.

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American Express Plum Card

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American Express Business Gold Card

Now with Amex Membership Rewards Points being valued at 1 cent per points when redeemed through American Express Travel, this signup bonus is worth $1,250, which is really good!

And somewhat similar to the Amex Blue Business Plus card, you will also receive a 0% Intro APR for 6 months.
So it’s not the same 12 months as the Blue card, but it’s better than nothing.  

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American Express Business Platinum Card

So as you might expect, the most expensive Business card on offer from Amex (not including the Amex Centurion business card) offers the most value from its sign-up bonus. 

Which Card Has The Best Points Earning Potential?

Ok so now we know how much each card costs on an annual basis and what they are offering as a sign-up bonus, let’s take look at the points earning ability of each card.
And if your looking to get a ton of value out of your credit card, this is clearly an important factor to consider when choosing a credit card.

American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card

Essentially it is possible to earn 2x points for purchases, and with this there are no category restrictions, so it is very easy to take advantage of.
Now it’s worth noting that this is limited to a total spend of $50,000 per year, which works out to be 100,000 Membership Reward points.
Once you meet this cap, all spending you make on the card will then receive just 1 point per dollar spent.

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American Express Business Green Card 

Essentially you can earn 2x points on 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.

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American Express Plum Card

In place of earning points it is possible to earn 1.5% cash back on your balance as long as it is within 10 days of your statement closing date.
As an example, if you were to charge $10,000 to your card during a statement period and then paid it off within 10 days of the statement date you would earn 1.5% cash back, and in this case, that would be $150.

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American Express Business Gold Card

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 

It is then 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. 

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American Express Business Platinum Card

So the highest points earning potential with this card is the ability to earn 5x points on flights and 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. 

So as I mentioned before the Amex Business Platinum card also comes with the 35% Airline Bonus, and how this works is quite simple.
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 there are a two ways you can use this benefit.
The first way is to use the points for either a First or Business class flights on any airlines, as long as it is booked through Amextravel.com
Then the second way to use this benefit is to use your points to book a flight on your selected qualifying airline.

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.

Which Card Has The Best Benefits And Perks?

Ok so now that we know what the annual fee, sign-up bonus and points earning potential of each card is, let’s take a look at the benefits that actually come with each card to see how they compare. 

American Express Blue Business Plus Credit Card

So even though the other cards in this video all come with more benefits, they also have annual fees, so you you will be paying extra to have access to more benefits.

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American Express Business Green 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.

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American Express Plum Card

But like I mentioned earlier, it does allow you to earn 1.5% cash back when you pay off your balance at within 10 days of your statement closing date.
It also allows for up to 60 days to pay without interest as long as you make the minimum payment due by your payment due date.

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American Express Business Gold Card

So 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
  

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, and leave you with an additional $20 in positive credit.
So although it might look like you are getting a ton a free benefits when you first look at the American Express Business Gold Card website, it is really only a $20 credit.

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American Express Business Platinum Card

So initially there are a handful of different business related benefits, and if used in full you will be able to totally make up for the annual fee. 
The first benefits is a $400 Dell Technologies credit that is provided in 2 lots of $200.
Essentially you can receive up to $200 in statement credits per 6 month period.

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

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There is then $150 credit that can be used at Adobe Creative Solutions, and with a ton of different programs to choose from, this credit is pretty easy to make use of. 

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Then finally for the business related benefits there is a $120 wireless credit that is provided in $10 allotments each month.

So in terms of business related benefits, you are looking at $1,030 in value, which is really good if you can make use of it.
If you do use all of the credit, it totally covers the annual fee and leaves you with a positive credit of $335.

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Now along with these business related benefits there is also some pretty valuable personal related benefits that also come with the Amex Business Platinum card.

The first and most value benefit is access to the Global Lounge Collection.
This basically provides you access to a whole range of different airport lounges such as the Centurion Lounge and Delta Sky Club to name a few.

Along with this you will also receive a Priority Pass Select Membership that is valued at around $469.
This basically extends your ability to access an additional 1,500 airport lounges from all over the world.
And if you would like to learn more about Priority Pass, check out my review here.

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Another benefit that comes with the Amex Business Platinum card is a $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, inflight food and refreshments or even lounge access if you choose an airline that has airport lounges.  

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There is then a $199 CLEAR Plus credit which is designed to get you through Airport security a little quicker than TSA Pre Check.
And currently CLEAR is available at over 50 different airports across the US.  

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Somewhat similar to this is a credit worth up to $120 that can be used for either TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.

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Then 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.

The second benefit is the Cruise Privileges Program which provides you with a credit of up to $300 for eligible bookings on a wide range of different cruise ships.

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Finally there are a few hotel and car rental privilege programs that you can join for extra benefits.

The Hotel Programs are:

• Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status
• Hilton Honors Gold Status
  

Then you will 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 whole range of valuable benefits, which can be worth quite a lot if you can make use of them.

Final Thoughts

Ok, so that covers pretty much everything you need to know about all 5 of these American Express Business credit cards.
And as you saw in this article, the more you pay for the annual fee, the more benefits and perks you receive.

So if you are looking to get one of these cards its worth considering if you will use the benefits that comes with each specific card.
It is also worth being aware of your spending habits, as each card offers a different points earning structure.
If you know you can make good use of the higher points earning categories through your everyday spending habits, you will end up getting more value from your chosen card.

Now if I had to pick one of these cards I would have to go with the Amex Platinum Business card as it offers a huge amount of value.
And because I know I would be able to utilize a majority of these benefits, it makes sense for my situation.

If you’re not that keen on all of the added benefits and perks, then I would recommend looking in to the Amex Blue Business Plus credit card.
First of all it has no annual fee, it also has a very straight forward points earning structure that allows you to earn 2x points on purchases, with no category restriction.
And with a 0% into APR for the first 12 months of card ownership, it can be helpful in securing interest free debt if you need it. 

Now if you’d like to learn more about what exactly The Amex Trifecta is, check out this article here.