Here’s Why You Should Have The Best Standalone Everyday Mileage Earning Credit Card: Blue Business Plus AMEX

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Update: The 0% intro period of 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers is now valid for 12 months.

The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express launched in May 2017 and it’s still a winner.

It earns 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar everywhere on up to $50,000 of purchases per calendar year. You can have multiple of the same card and you would get 2 points per dollar on $50,000 of annual spending for each primary card that you have.

Best of all, there is no annual fee. Terms and restrictions apply, see rates and fees here.

Currently, the Blue Business Plus AMEX offers a 12 month intro period of 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers. After 12 months you’ll pay a variable rate, which is currently 15.49% to 21.49%.

As interest rates have climbed other cards have also gotten rid of their APR offers. Earlier this month the 0% APR on balance transfers was removed from Chase Ink cards.

0% APR is a lucrative offer as carrying balances on consumer cards can have a very harmful effect on your credit score, but because as the Blue Business Plus AMEX is a business card, those balances won’t hurt your credit score.

The Chase Quinfecta strategy is highly lucrative for racking up and redeeming points, but you’ll need to have between 2 and 5 Chase cards to maximize that strategy. You’ll also have to have at least one card with an annual fee.

With the Blue Business Plus AMEX you can rack up the points on everyday purchases and transfer them into airline miles without needing any other cards or paying any annual fees.

Plus, AMEX often has transfer bonuses to airline partners, something that Chase purposefully never has. For example when AMEX is offering a 40% mileage transfer bonus you’ll have effectively earned 2.8 miles per dollar spent on this card! If you value the airline miles at 1.5 cents each, that’s an effective rebate of 4.2% everywhere!

You can transfer points to airlines like ANA, Air Canada, Avianca, or Singapore for Star Alliance travel. Points transfer to Aeromexico, Alitalia, Air France/KLM, or Delta for Skyteam travel. Transfer to BA, Cathay Pacific, or Iberia for OneWorld travel. Other transfer options include El Al, Emirates, Etihad, Hawaiian, JetBlue, or Virgin Atlantic. Mileage transfers can be quite lucrative for one-way, last-minute, or premium class travel. The value with airline miles can be under a cent each if used poorly, but properly used the points can be worth 2 cents, 5 cents, 10 cents, or even more per point, the sky is the limit. Multiply that value by 2 points per dollar spent plus rotating transfer bonuses and you can see how valuable this card can be.

If you also have The Business Platinum Card® from American Express you can get a 35% points rebate on coach airfare on the airline of your choice and a 35% points rebate on business/first class airfare on all airlines. That’s a great benefit as it allows you to combine the amazing everyday earnings of Blue Business Plus AMEX and get a fantastic value for your points even when there is no award space. Plus AMEX has insider fares that allows you to save even more on the redemption.

However unlike using the Chase Freedom Unlimited® or Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card for everyday spending via the Chase Quinfecta, you don’t need another card to transfer points into miles. The Blue Business Plus card can do that all on its own.

The main drawback of the Blue Business Plus AMEX is that other than the APR offer, there is no public welcome bonus. Other great everyday spending cards have bonuses, such as $500 in the form of 50,000 points on the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card , 70,000 miles on the Barclaycard Arrival Plus® World Elite Mastercard®, and 3 points per dollar for the first year (up to $20,000) on the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. But the long-term earnings of 2 points per dollar everywhere makes the Blue Business Plus AMEX a very strong card.

This is a business card, but you may already have a business that needs a card to keep track of expenses. For example if your name is Joe Smith and you sell items online, or if you have any other side business and want a credit card to better keep track of business expenditures you can open a business credit card for “Joe Smith” as the business. You don’t need to file any messy government paperwork to be allowed to do that. Just be sure to select “Sole Proprietorship” as the business type and just use your social security number in the Tax Identification Number field.

It’s important to just write your own name as the business name if you are just applying for your own small business as a Sole Proprietorship that doesn’t have any business paperwork.

AMEX business cards don’t appear on your credit report. That’s good for several reasons.

First of all, they won’t count against your 5/24 count for opening new Chase cards. Only cards on your report that have been opened within the past 24 months count for that.

Secondly, if you close a business card it won’t ever have an effect on your score.

Thirdly, when you spend money on personal cards your credit score will be hurt even if you pay your bill on time. A whopping 30% of your credit score is based on credit utilization. You can pay off your card bill before your statement is generated to avoid that, but that takes effort and laying out money well before you have to. Additionally it’s good to have the statement close with a couple dollars to show the card is active and being paid every month. On an AMEX business card it’s just not reported, so you can wait until the money is due without it having a negative effect on your score.

That makes the 0% APR on a business card a very strong offer.

Will you apply for the Blue Business Plus AMEX?