The American Express Blue Business Cash^TM Card and Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express both have new initial bonus offers. Until recently neither one had an up front bonus offer at all.

For a no annual fee small business cash back card the American Express Blue Business Cash^TM Card is great, offering 2% cash back on all eligible purchases on up to $50,000 per calendar year, then 1%. Cash back. The new upfront offer is to earn a $250 statement credit after you make $3,000 in purchases on your Card in your first 3 months. (See rates and fees.)

What I’m really excited by is the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. This is the strongest earning Membership Rewards cards outside of spending bonus categories.

This card no annual fee card earns 2X Membership Rewards points on the first $50,000 in eligible purchases (1 point per dollar thereafter). That makes this the best most rewarding card for up to $50,000 in otherwise-unbonused spend. (See rates and fees.)

When the card first came out there was a 20,000 point offer. That was four years ago. I don’t recall anything similar broadly available after that. However now there’s an upfront offer to earn earn 15,000 Membership Rewards points after $3,000 spend in eligible purchases within the first 3 months of cardmembership.

I value Membership Rewards points at 1.8 cents apiece. So for me 2x on unbonused spend is ‘worth’ 3.6%. That’s largely because of the wide array of Membership Rewards transfer partners many of which offer exceptional value:

• Star Alliance: Aeroplan, ANA, Singapore, Avianca
  
• oneworld: AsiaMiles, British Airways, Iberia, Qantas
  
• SkyTeam: Aeromexico, Alitalia, Air France KLM, Delta
  
• Non-alliance: Etihad, Emirates, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Aer Lingus, Virgin Atlantic
  
• Hotels: Choice, Hilton, Marriott

ANA Mileage Club, the Japanese Star Alliance program, offers some of the lowest points rates on premium cabin awards in the world. Air France KLM in my view offers the best value in SkyTeam. Emirates’ points are key because their first class awards have been restricted from partners. These partners make Membership Rewards the best transferable currency.

For rates and fees of the American Express Blue Business Cash^TM Card, click bere.
For rates and fees of the the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.