American Express Business Green Rewards Card Review

Who Is the Amex Business Green Rewards Card Good For?

The Business Green Rewards Card is part of the American Express Membership Rewards program. This entry-level business charge card is designed for those who are self-employed or own small businesses, and would like to earn reward points on their purchases.

Membership Rewards is a good general rewards program that allows you to redeem points for gift cards, Amazon shopping and more, but it also has excellent travel benefits, including the ability to transfer points to some of the best airline loyalty programs in the world.

With a low $95 annual fee that’s waived for the first year, the Business Green Rewards Card can be a good way to check out the Membership Rewards program. If it works for you, you should consider applying for one of the premium cards in the program.

The Business Green Card is similar to the personal Green Card, but it offers a few more benefits, such as additional awards and savings on business purchases from select Amex partners. The sign-up bonuses for the two cards sometimes differ, too. So if you’re eligible for both, you may want to see which card has the better bonus at the time of your application.

Remember that this is a charge card, not a credit card, so you must pay off your balance every month.

Sign-Up Bonus:

The current sign-up bonus is only 5,000 points after the first purchase made with the card.

Points Earned:

• 2 points per dollar spent on the Amex Travel website
• 1 point per dollar for everything else

What Do Your Points Get You?

You can redeem your Membership Rewards points for a variety of awards, including shopping on Amazon, gift cards and Uber rides. You can also book travel on the American Express Travel website, but the best way to use your points is to transfer them to one of Amex’s 17 airline partners. Frequent flyer programs offer you the best value for your points.

You should be aware that transfer rates to some airlines are not at a 1:1 ratio. Many are, but, for instance, JetBlue transfers at a rate of 250 Amex points for 200 JetBlue points.

Another consideration is that there is a small transfer fee for domestic airlines. For example, transferring 25,000 points to Delta incurs a fee of either $15.

Usage Perks:

• Ability to transfer points to 17 frequent flyer programs
• Earn more points for booking travel
• Purchase travel with points and still earn miles
• Up to five free cards for family or employees
• No annual fee for the first year

Usage Quirks:

• Small sign-up bonus
• Small fee for transferring miles to domestic airlines
• Mediocre value for points for many nontravel redemptions

How Far Do Your Points Go?

The 5,000-mile sign-up bonus is not enough to book anything but a cheap one-way flight or hotel room, but as your point balance grows, so will your options.

You can transfer 15,000 to 25,000 points to British Airways, Air Canada or Delta and get a round-trip flight in the U.S. or Canada. JetBlue can fly you to the Caribbean for 40,000 to 45,000 points. And if you have 60,000 points, Singapore Airlines will fly you to Asia.

The best benefit of this card is that you can choose which airline you want to fly and maximize your value and comfort.

Additional Cardholder Benefits:

• Extended warranty
• Purchase and return protection
• Protection against damage and theft
• Global Assist Hotline
• Baggage insurance
• Trip cancellation coverage
• Car rental loss and damage insurance
• Roadside assistance hotline
• OPEN Savings benefit for business-related purchases