Blue for Business Credit Card from American Express Review

Who is the Blue for Business Credit Card from American Express Good For?

The Blue for Business credit card from American Express belongs to the Membership Rewards family. It’s a solid, no-annual-fee business card that provides excellent benefits to the cardholder.

You get a $100 sign-up bonus, a 30% point annual Membership Rewards points bonus, up to two additional points or a 5% percent discount at the participating OPEN partners and more.

In addition, there are standard American Express benefits, such as purchase protection, baggage insurance, extended warranty and special benefits from the American Express OPEN program to help you run your business more efficiently.

You can redeem Membership Rewards points for gift cards, merchandise, Amazon shopping, travel, etc. This card is not eligible to transfer points to the American Express partner airline frequent flyer programs.

Sign-Up Bonus:

You get $100 after the first purchase.

Points Earned:

• 2 points for each dollar of eligible purchases made on the American Express Travel website — 2.6% after the annual 30% bonus.
• 1 point for everything else — 1.3% after the annual 30% bonus.
• 2 additional points when you buy at the participating Open merchants — 3.9% after the annual 30% bonus.

What Do Your Points Get You?

You can redeem your points for merchandise, toward your credit card payments, booking travel on the Amex website, Uber rides, Amazon shopping, or gift cards.

Usage Perks:

• No annual fee
• Sign up bonus without spending requirements
• 30% annual point bonus
• Good travel and business benefits
• Open program

Usage Quirks:

• Can’t transfer points to airlines
• Poor value for most redemptions
• Limited number of the Open merchants

How Far Do Your Points Go?

Since this card doesn’t allow you to transfer points to Amex partner airlines, your best bet is to redeem Membership Rewards points for gift cards, especially when Amex is running a special bonus promotion. That will give you at least one cent per point, while most other methods yield around 0.7 cents.

You should always avoid spending points for merchandise, since you will effectively get about 0.5 cents for a point or even less. If you want to buy something with points, always redeem your points for a gift card first. Using points on Uber rides at one cent for a point as well.

Additional Cardholder Benefits:

• Extended Warranty
• Purchase Protection
• Baggage Insurance
• Global Assist Hotline
• Chip Technology
• Travel Accident Insurance
• Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance
• Open Savings
• ReceiptMatch