A 20K AMEX Blue Business Plus Bonus Offer (update: the 20K offer is no longer available) has been added to the Best Travel Credit Cards page under the cards that are best for everyday spending. This offer (HT: Reddit) is an excellent bonus for a no annual fee card, and just as importantly, a card that earns 2X Membership Rewards points on all spend, up to $50,000 per year. Here are the offer terms:
- Earn 20,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $5000 on the card within your first 3 months of card membership
- Apply by 12/31/18
- Earn 2X points on the first $50,000 in purchases each year; 1 point per dollar on purchases after the first $50,000
- No annual fee
Why Most of My Non-Travel, Non-Dining, non-5X U.S. Spend Goes on the AMEX Blue for Business
Since the Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3X Ultimate Rewards points on all travel and dining, has no foreign transaction fee, and also includes travel insurance (see Chase Sapphire Reserve Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Insurance) virtually all my travel and dining spend goes on the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
The Ink Cash is used for 5X on Amazon and Whole Foods spend, and we use the Chase Freedom for its quarterly 5X bonus categories.
But for other U.S. spend that otherwise doesn't earn a spending bonus, the AMEX Blue for Business card is generally the one we use, for its 2X earn rate, at least where AMEX is accepted. The SPG AMEX has been sock drawered, since the card now only earns 2/3 of an SPG point (see Which Credit Cards to Replace the SPG AMEX?)
For Couples, Still Better to Refer Your Partner to the 10K AMEX Blue Business Plus
Keep in mind that if you have a partner and only one of you has the AMEX Blue Business Plus, you're better off referring your partner to the 10K AMEX Blue Business Plus because the referrer earns 10K bonus Membership Rewards points and the 10K version of the card only has a $3000 minimum spend requirement, $2000 less than the $5000 spend requirement for the 20,000 signup bonus.
Best Uses of AMEX Membership Rewards Points
Right now, an especially good use of AMEX Membership Rewards points is transferring to Virgin Atlantic, with the 30% transfer bonus at least if you want to book ANA First Class to Asia (keep in mind this award must be booked as a round trip, and it can be scarce for couples, so works best if you have a lot of flexibility or just need one award seat).
You can also transfer AMEX Membership Rewards points to ANA to book roundtrip business class awards to Europe for 88,000 miles, although fuel surcharges can be high.
Another good use can be transfers to Aeroplan, as you can redeem for a one way business class award from the U.S. to Europe for 55,000 miles. While more than ANA awards, it gives you the flexibility to book a one way, since ANA awards must be booked as roundtrips. Just keep in mind that Aeroplan charges high fuel surcharges on Lufthansa, Austrian and LOT (the relevant carriers for U.S. to Europe travel) as well as on ANA, Asiana and Thai Airways. Stick with SWISS Business Class or Brussels Airlines to avoid fuel surcharges on awards to Europe.
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No longer works
The link still works for me, but I’ve heard that some readers, when they put in their AMEX user ID and password, are not targeted. You can also apply by phone at 888-351-6736. Offer code is GA6F:0004.
I had to apply on the phone and it did work. Thanks so much!