Engine X
No-annual-fee travel charge card: 6–10% Engine points on Engine hotel/car bookings, 1.5% on other spend; no personal guarantee
Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card
No-annual-fee Membership Rewards earner: 2X on the first $50,000 of eligible purchases per calendar year (then 1X), plus a 12-month 0% intro APR on purchases
Costs & Pricing
| Metric | Engine X | Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $0 | $0 (CMA: Annual Fee None) |
| Employee card fee | $0; unlimited physical and virtual cards | $0 (CMA: Annual Fee for Additional Cards: None) |
| Purchase APR | N/A — charge card. No purchase interest if paid by due date. No published purchase APR range. Marketing “0%” means no annual fee plus charge-card float until the due date, not an intro APR. | Variable Prime + 9.99% to Prime + 21.74% (marketing 16.74%–28.49% as of late Aug 2026 at Prime 6.75%). Placement by creditworthiness and other factors at opening. Cap 29.99%. CMA formula wins over landing-page vintage ranges. |
| Intro APR (purchases) | Not offered (not a revolving product) | 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from account opening, then the variable purchase APR |
| Foreign transaction fee | $0 (International Transaction Fee: $0 / None). Ordinary Visa FX conversion still applies (rate not separately itemized). | 2.7% of each transaction after conversion to U.S. dollars (via AE Exposure Management Ltd.) |
| Late payment fee | $40 per late payment | Up to $39; $39 if Minimum Payment Due is not received by due date, not to exceed the Minimum Payment Due |
Rewards & Value
| Metric | Engine X | Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card |
|---|---|---|
| Base earn rate | 1.5% back in Engine points on Qualifying Card Purchases (everyday / off-Engine spend, including flights even if booked on Engine) | 2 Membership Rewards points per $1 on the first $50,000 eligible purchases per calendar year, then 1X. Official copy: no category restrictions. Cap resets each calendar year, not cardmember anniversary. |
| Welcome bonus | 20,000 Engine points after the company activates an Engine X card and completes $2,000 in Qualifying Off-Platform Purchases within 30 days of first Card activation. Off-platform = card spend not booked through Engine.com. Engine travel bookings do not count. Employee/additional-card off-platform spend does count (company-level). First-time Engine X customer; one bonus per company. Offer ends 11:59 p.m. ET, 31 December 2026 (incentive terms updated 1 Jun 2026). | Standard public offer (Amex compare and partner pages, late Aug–early Sep 2026): 15,000 Membership Rewards points after $3,000 eligible purchases in the first 3 months. Historical typical public offer has sat at 15k/$3k/3 mo for years. |
| Redemption value | Official cents-per-point not disclosed. Points have no cash value and are redeemable only through the program. Checkout shows a point-to-dollar value before confirm. Secondary (TPG, 20 Aug 2026): statement credit described at ~50% of booking value — unofficial; do not hard-code 1¢ or 0.5¢ as issuer fact. Disclose user-selectable factor: 1.0× if redeemed for Engine bookings; 0.5× if using TPG’s statement-credit haircut. | Issuer examples for 10,000 points: $60 toward eligible Card Charges (~0.6¢); $100 on AmexTravel.com flights (~1.0¢); $70 at Amazon.com (~0.7¢); up to $100 toward select gift cards. Transfer value is partner- and award-dependent. Disclose cash/statement at 0.6¢ and AmexTravel flights at 1.0¢; do not assume transfer uplift unless the user picks a partner. |
| Transfer partners | Not offered (no Chase/Amex/airline transfers) | Membership Rewards program (not card-unique; lists move). Commonly 16 airline + 3–4 hotel partners as of mid/late 2026. Secondary catalog compilations: most airlines 1:1; Aeromexico 1:1.6; Cathay 5:4; Emirates 5:4; JetBlue 250:200 or 1:0.8; Hilton 1:2; Marriott 1:1; Choice 1:1; Leading Hotels of the World reported 4:1 after July 2026. Etihad Guest transfers ended 30 June 2026. Re-check the logged-in MR transfer page. Typical minimum 1,000 points (JetBlue lower). Transfers generally no fee. Points do not expire while the Rewards Account remains open and in good standing. |
Credit & Eligibility
| Metric | Engine X | Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card |
|---|---|---|
| Personal guarantee | Official apply page: “We also do not require personal guarantees.” Program terms: company is the liable party. Owner KYC still collected. Confirm no hidden guaranty in the Issuing Bank Terms accepted at offer. | Yes. CMA: Joint and Several Liability — both the Basic Card Member and the Company are each individually responsible for the Account. We may seek payment from either or both. |
| Credit check | Official: no hard pull, will not impact personal credit score. Soft-pull vs none-at-all on a bureau file is not separately named. Last-4 SSN is for identity verification (CIP), not described as a full credit pull. | Business credit may be impacted on submit; personal credit not impacted to receive a decision; personal credit may be impacted if the applicant accepts the card. Soft-then-hard pattern. Whose file: the applying Basic Card Member. |
| Employee cards | Unlimited physical + instant virtual, including 1099 / temporary workers. Spend controls by employee, project, expense type, category, merchant, transaction. Physical cards ~8 business days. Company remains liable. | $0. Benefits dashboard copy: add up to 99 Employee Blue Business Plus Cards. Owner earns MR on employee eligible spend; alerts and summary reports. Owner/Company remain liable. Spend controls via alerts/Account Manager — not a Ramp-style native policy engine. |
| Product type | Business charge card + spend-management card (pay-in-full each cycle; assigned line of credit; no revolving APR). Not a consumer credit card. Sibling: Direct Bill (credit line limited to Engine hotel/flight/car bookings — not this card). | Revolving business credit card with a stated Credit Limit plus Expanded Buying Power (excess due in full with the minimum payment). Not a charge card and not a fintech spend-management card. |
Pros & Cons
Engine X
Pros
- $0 annual fee and $0 employee/virtual-card fees
- 6% (scaling to 10%) Engine points on Engine hotel and rental-car bookings — unusual on-platform travel earn at $0 fee
- No personal guarantee and no hard personal credit pull (official apply language)
- Charge card + Autopay + spend controls + unlimited cards for employees and 1099s; travel booking, policy, and folios in one dashboard
- $0 foreign-transaction fee in the fee table
Cons
- Elevated earn does not apply to flights or off-Engine hotels; marketing “up to 10% on travel” is broader than the legal category
- Pay-in-full charge card; $40 late / $40 returned-payment fees; no revolver
- Points have no cash value; official ¢/point not published; statement-credit value may haircut vs booking (secondary)
- Sole proprietors ineligible; U.S. entity + EIN required
- No published lounge, TSA/Global Entry, or card-insurance benefits guide; product is new (Mar 2026) so limit ranges and servicing quality are thinly documented
Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card
Pros
- $0 annual fee and $0 employee-card fees
- 2X Membership Rewards on the first $50,000 eligible purchases each calendar year with no category tracking
- AmexTravel.com 2X that does not consume the $50k cap
- 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months
- Points sit in Membership Rewards and can transfer to airline/hotel partners; purchase protection and extended warranty listed on the official benefits block
Cons
- 2X layer caps at $50,000 per calendar year, then 1X
- 2.7% foreign transaction fee
- Public welcome bonus is modest versus premium Amex business cards (15k / $3k / 3 mo on compare pages)
- Joint-and-several personal liability
- No lounge, GE/TSA, trip-cancellation, or cell-phone benefits on the official list; post-intro APR band is high (16.74%–28.49% variable)
Verdict
Engine X
Engine X is a TMC + charge card, not Direct Bill and not Ramp/Brex. Most SMBs stay Silver (6% / 1.5%). Skip it if travel will not move onto Engine, if you need revolving credit or transferable miles, or if you are a sole prop. Confirm the live 20,000-point offer (through 31 Dec 2026) requires $2,000 off-Engine spend within 30 days of first card activation.
Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card
This is the Membership Rewards twin of Blue Business Cash — same chassis, same $50k cap, same 0% intro, not cash back and not Business Gold. Confirm the live apply-flow welcome (15k standard vs targeted 25k–75k). Poor daily driver for uncapped high spend, foreign spend, or anyone who will revolve after the intro period.