Compare the Features and Benefits of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express and
The Platinum Card® from American Express

With the Blue Business Plus, small businesses can maximize their everyday business purchases, whether it’s shopping for office supplies to paying for client dinners to restocking inventory. There’s no annual fee and a nice welcome bonus to boot.

You can earn valuable Membership Rewards points at a terrific rewards rate: 2x bonus points per dollar spent on all eligible purchases, up to the first $50,000 spent per year; 1X thereafter. This makes the Blue Business Plus a great fit for businesses who don’t want to keep up with confusing bonus categories and spend less than this $50,000 limit every year. Above all, American Express Membership Rewards points are acclaimed for flexibility, as you can redeem them for travel, gift cards, charges on your statement credits, and more.

While you’ll be assigned a credit limit upon account opening, you’ll have access to Amex’s unique expanded buying power tool. This gives you the flexibility to pay for expenses potentially above your credit limit, which is important for business owners who likely have thousands of dollars of expenses every year. You’ll also get access to a 0% introductory APR rate on purchases in the first 12 months of account opening.

There are also important business expense management tools that can help you keep track of your business’s annual revenue and expenditures. With complimentary access to QuickBooks and Vendor Pay by Bill.com, the Amex Blue Business Plus is a fantastic starter card whether you own a new business or have a side hustle.

Rates and Fees for the the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card

In many ways, the American Express Platinum card is the crème de la crème of premium travel rewards credit cards. There are not only a laundry list of embedded perks — from hotel and rental car elite statuses to complimentary access to airport lounges through the Global Lounge Collection — but this card also can provide serious value in the form of statement credits with partner merchants. You can see the full list of benefits above.

Truth be told, it may require some work to fully maximize the card’s many perks but it shouldn’t be difficult to recoup at least some, if not all, of the card’s $695 annual fee (Rates and Fees).

An overhaul of the Platinum in 2021 showed Amex wanted to expand this card well beyond travel. While it’s unlikely the Platinum will ever fully shed its decades-long roots in the travel sphere, Amex also hopes to play a role at the top of your wallet whether you are at home or away.

Of course, on the travel front, the card still earns 5X on airfare purchased directly with the airlines or through the Amex Travel portal (on up to $500,000 of airfare purchases per calendar year), 5X on prepaid hotels, provides the most access to lounges of any card issuer, and has built-in travel protections and elite-status perks. This is on top of all the other relatively-recent lifestyle benefit additions — from Uber credits, Equinox credits, preferred restaurant reservations with Resy, and much, much more.

A few notes you need to know:

Amex now has language restricting you from getting the bonus on this Card if you have or have had this card OR have had this Card, the Platinum Card^® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card^® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards.

Additional Platinum cards are $195 each.

If you want an Authorized User card with none of the benefits, that is still available as the “Companion Platinum Card.” They will simply be able to make charges that post to your account.

Bottom Line:

While the Platinum is a solid choice for most cardholders looking to level up their travel experience, consider other options from both Chase and Capital One including the $550-per-year Chase Sapphire Reserve and $395-per-year Capital One Venture X credit card.

Rates and Fees for the The Platinum Card® from American Express