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50,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points with the American Express Business Explorer Credit Card
Card Overview
American Express is offering 50,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points for new American Express Card Members who apply for the Business Explorer Credit Card and spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first 3 months from approval. Benefits of this card include complimentary American Express lounge access plus a range of insurances and high points earn rates on spend.
Key Attributes
50,000 Bonus Membership Rewards Points, when you spend $3,000 on eligible purchases within the 3 months of your approval date.
Up to 99 employee cards at no additional cost
Free access to The Centurion® Lounge at Sydney or Melbourne Airport twice a year
Complimentary Travel Insurance
Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay support
Interest rate of 23.99% on all purchases
Earn 2 Membership Rewards Points per $1 spent on eligible business purchases except government bodies where you will earn 1 point per $1 spent
Annual Fee: $149 p.a.
Card Members who currently hold or who have previously held any other Card product issued by American Express Australia Limited in the preceding 18 month period are ineligible for this offer.
American Express is offering 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points for new Card Members who apply for the American Express Business Explorer Credit Card and spend $3,000 on eligible purchases within 3 months of your approval date.
There is no minimum spend requirement on this offer. Also, offer eligibility criteria states that Card Members who currently hold or who have previously held any other Card product issued by American Express Australia Limited in the preceding 18 month period are ineligible for this offer.
Key differences between the personal Explorer and Business Explorer Credit Cards
1. Lower annual fee
The Business Explorer Credit Card has a lower annual fee of $149 p.a. compared to the $395 p.a. on the personal Explorer Credit Card.
2. No $400 travel credit each year or smartphone screen insurance
The Business Explorer Credit Card does not include the complimentary $400 travel credit that’s available on the Personal Explorer Credit Card. This is an understandable strategy with the lower annual fee, and the $400 travel credit could be harder to use by some businesses for business travel purposes.
The smartphone screen insurance policy is also missing from the Business Explorer Credit Card.
Otherwise, the benefits are similar between both versions of the Explorer card
You’ll find that the points earn rates and partners, twice-yearly access to an American Express lounge, Travel Insurance and up to 55 days interest-free on purchases are the same for both cards.
Points earned from ongoing spend are set at a solid 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar, which equates to 1 frequent flyer points per dollar, again for most frequent flyer partners.
Card Details
Card
American Express Business Explorer
Loyalty Program
American Express Membership Rewards Gateway
Points earned from spend
2 Membership Rewards Gateway points earned per $1 on all purchases except government bodies where you will earn 1 point per $1 spent
Included Insurances
Travel Insurance
Medical Emergency Expenses Cover (PDS)
Overseas transaction fee
3% of the converted amount
Mobile wallet
Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay
Interest rate
23.99% p.a. on all purchases
Annual fee
$149 p.a.
You’ll also receive access to The Centurion® Lounge in Sydney or Melbourne twice per year without charge, a nice perk for international travellers in Economy.
Earning points with the American Express Business Explorer Credit Card
Important update: Changes are coming to the American Express Membership Rewards program from 15 December 2025. Several airline transfer rates will be updated, Thai Airways will be removed as a transfer partner, and new program details will take effect. To learn more about what’s changing and how it may affect your points transfers, see our guide to the upcoming Membership Rewards changes.
The card belongs to the American Express Membership Rewards program for points earned and redemption. We’ve covered Membership Rewards in-depth in our full guide to the program here.
The points earn rate on spend is 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar equates to 1 frequent flyer point (in Velocity, Asia Miles, Etihad Guest, and most other frequent flyer programs) per dollar spent when transferred.
Effective Frequent Flyer Program Point Earn Rates
Frequent Flyer / Hotel Program
Points earned from spend
Velocity Points
1 point / $1
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
1 mile / $1
Etihad Guest
1 mile / $1
Hilton Honors
1 point / $1
Marriott Bonvoy
0.67 point / $1
Singapore Airlines Krisflyer miles
0.66 mile / $1
You’ll also earn full points on the Business Explorer Credit Card for utilities and bills, unlike some other American Express cards. This means you’ll get full points on ‘telecommunications’ and ‘utilities’ but not on government charges, such as ATO and Australia Post.
American Express Membership Rewards Partners
Transfer Rates
Velocity Frequent Flyer
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
Etihad Guest
Malaysian Airlines Enrich
Qatar Avios Privilege Club
THAI Royal Orchid Plus
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
2 Membership Rewards points = 1 frequent flyer point
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Emirates Skywards
3 Membership Rewards points = 1 frequent flyer point
Marriott Bonvoy
3 Membership Rewards points = 2 Marriott points
Hilton Honors
2 Membership Rewards point = 1 Honors point
Air New Zealand Airpoints
200 Membership Rewards points = 1 Airpoints Dollar
Helloworld
American Express Travel Online
David Jones Pay with Points
Myer Pay With Points
Get a room upgrade and US$100 hotel credit at high-end hotels
Card Members of this product can get special benefits when staying two or more consecutive nights at a high-end hotel booked through American Express’ The Hotel Collection. You will get:
a US$100 hotel credit to spend on dining, spa and resort activities
a complimentary room upgrade at check-in (subject to availability)
Your US$100 credit can be used to eat at restaurants within the hotel
Included Travel Insurance
As usual with the included insurances for credit cards, it’s not really possible to make a solid recommendation – each insurance is usually good for different reasons and different people.
The Travel Insurance included with the Amex Business Explorer Credit Card are the following:
Personal Baggage, Valuables, Money and Travel Documents Cover
Card Account Balance Waiver Cover
Medical Emergency Expenses Cover
Business Trip Completion Cover
Trip Cancellation and Amendment Cover
Travel Inconvenience Cover
Public Transport Accident Cover
Personal Liability Cover
Just like most other credit card insurances, to activate the Travel Insurance – you’ll need to have paid for your return trip on your card, or with your Membership Rewards points.
This guide references some of the benefits of insurance policies provided with this card. You should read the PDS and obtain independent professional advice before obtaining this product.
Considering this card for Business-related transactions?
American Express offer a range of both business and consumer charge and credit cards. They do permit business transactions to be made on personal cards, unlike some other banks, but you might find some of the other business-focused benefits of the business cards to be appealing or more appropriate.
So – if you’re a sole trader or a business looking to earn points with your business spend – this card would still work for that purpose.
American Express Cards work with Apple Pay®, Google Wallet™ and Samsung Pay, meaning you can use this card on your smartphone for easier payments.
Read the Point Hacks guide to using Apple Pay or for using Google Wallet and Samsung Pay, including instructions on how to add your American Express card to those services.
With this feature set up, it means you could still use your NFC-enabled phone to make purchases with your American Express account, even if your physical card is lost or stolen and pending replacement.
Eligibility criteria for bonus points for existing American Express Card Members
American Express are quite specific about whether existing Card Members will be eligible for bonus points if they apply for a card, are approved, and meet the minimum spend criteria.
Card Members who currently hold or who have previously held any Card product issued by American Express Australia Limited in the preceding 18 month period are ineligible for this offer.
American Express don’t allow existing Card Members, even for different types of American Express cards (e.g. Charge, Credit or Business) to be eligible for bonus points offers for cards in a different family.
How the Business Explorer Credit Card compares with other American Express Business Cards
When looking at the American Express Business card range, the Business Explorer Credit Card now replaces the void left by the Business Accelerator card (no longer available to New Card Members as of early 2019), which had a $160 annual fee, and 2 Membership Rewards Ascent points per $ spent which is also equivalent to 1 frequent flyer point per $1.
It’s then well below the $1750 p.a Business Platinum Card which is on a whole other level in terms of benefits – but also fees. The points earn rate on the Business Platinum Card is also higher across most spend at 2.25 points per $1 except on government spend where they are the same at 1 point per $1.
Our take on the American Express Business Explorer Credit Card
This is a great addition to the American Express Membership Rewards range and helps fill a niche for business owners with substantial spend patterns for a card.
If you don’t meet the criteria for this card, then arguably the personal version of the Explorer card is the more useful option—the $400 travel credit that comes with that card offsets the annual fee and can be quite useful for travels. American Express are also fine with using their personal cards for business purposes and, otherwise, the differences between the cards are relatively minor.
50,000 bonus Membership Rewards Points with the American Express Business Explorer Credit Card was last modified: November 25th, 2025 by
Community Comments
Applied for this card under our business with over a million dollar turnover per year and was issued with a $3k limit which renders the card almost useless. Amex business banking customer service couldn’t be worse (I was transferred to 7 different people) and won’t let us speak to the credit team to have the limit increased. Also I think your article states you can’t use the card for ATO payments when you can. You just get 1 point for every $1 not 2. Not sure if we’ll keep the card or just cancel it before we get charged $149 fee.
This card is a dud mostly as Amex are very tight about credit limits.
My business has a million dollar turnover and they won’t increase the limit of 20G
As an existing Amex Business Explorer customer, it is somewhat disappointing that this Business version of the card does not appear to qualify for the Amex referrals scheme nor the Amex Connect discounts.
The 50,000 Business Loyalty Bonus is attractive but why exclude these two ‘standard’ Amex benefits?
Thank you for your support. For this particular card at this time, our affiliate link has been removed, so please feel free to apply directly through American Express.
It would qualify, yes. And once you have the card, the transactions you put on it would be up to you but you would need to meet the business eligibility criteria to apply in the first place.
Applied for this card under our business with over a million dollar turnover per year and was issued with a $3k limit which renders the card almost useless. Amex business banking customer service couldn’t be worse (I was transferred to 7 different people) and won’t let us speak to the credit team to have the limit increased. Also I think your article states you can’t use the card for ATO payments when you can. You just get 1 point for every $1 not 2. Not sure if we’ll keep the card or just cancel it before we get charged $149 fee.
I am looking for a good points credit card for my company. I am the director.
I already have a personal Amex (issued directly by Amex)
Will I still qualify for the bonus points for this business card if I already hold a personal?
This card is a dud mostly as Amex are very tight about credit limits.
My business has a million dollar turnover and they won’t increase the limit of 20G
As an existing Amex Business Explorer customer, it is somewhat disappointing that this Business version of the card does not appear to qualify for the Amex referrals scheme nor the Amex Connect discounts.
The 50,000 Business Loyalty Bonus is attractive but why exclude these two ‘standard’ Amex benefits?
You state the bonus transfers as 75,000 points. Don’t you mean 45,000?
60,000 * .75?
Thanks Kelvin, guide is now updated!
Hi Keith, I would like to apply via Point Hacks for this card, however cannot find the referral link ?
Thank you for your support. For this particular card at this time, our affiliate link has been removed, so please feel free to apply directly through American Express.
would this card qualify for Reward Pay ATO points? and would they have an issue with you using this card for personal expenses too?
It would qualify, yes. And once you have the card, the transactions you put on it would be up to you but you would need to meet the business eligibility criteria to apply in the first place.