Updated May 2023. Do you have small business income or work as an independent contractor? Freelance, Uber/Lyft, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Airbnb? A small business credit card separates your personal and business expenses and can build up your business credit profile. If you are not a corporation or LLC, you can apply as a sole proprietorship, with your name as the business name and your Social Security number as the Tax ID number. These are the top 10 credit card offers that I would personally apply for right now (or have already). Recent changes:
Added Hilton 165k+FreeNightReward, Alaska 70k, Ink Preferred 100k/$1250.
Removed Marriott 125k, Hilton 165k, Ink Cash 90k w/ No AF, Ink Unlimited 90k w/ No AF, Hawaiian 90k
This is a companion post to my Top 10 Best Credit Card Bonus Offers for personal cards. Notice that small business bonuses are on average even higher than those on consumer cards.
The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card
- 150,000 Hilton Honors points + Free Night Reward after $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. Limited-time offer ends 7/19/23. See link for details.
- Earn a Free Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year. Earn another Free Night Reward from Hilton Honors after you spend an additional $45,000 in purchases on your Card in the same calendar year.
- $95 annual fee.
Chase Ink Business Preferred Card
- 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points (worth $1,000 straight cash back or $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®) after $15,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. See link for details.
- 3X points on the first $150,000 spent on travel, shipping purchases, internet/cable/phone services, and advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines.
- Primary rental car coverage when renting for business purposes.
- $95 annual fee.
- Subject to 5/24 rule.*
- 50,000 bonus United miles after $5,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. See link for details.
- Free first checked bag for both you and a companion (a savings of up to $140 per roundtrip).
- Expanded award availability. Having this card makes it easier to redeem for that saver award economy ticket.
- 5,000-mile “better together” bonus each anniversary when you have both the United(SM) Business Card and personal Chase United credit card.
- Primary rental car coverage when renting for business purposes.
- $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99.
- Subject to 5/24 rule.*
Business Platinum® Card from American Express
- 120,000 Membership Rewards points after $15,000 on eligible purchases in the first 3 months.
- HUGE list of additional perks including $400 Dell, $360 Indeed, $150 Adobe, $120 wireless phone annual credits, $200 annual airline fee credit, $189 CLEAR credit, $100 TSA/Global Entry credit, Centurion airport lounge access, and more. See link for details.
- $695 annual fee.
Chase Ink Business Unlimited Card
- $750 bonus cash back (75,000 Ultimate Rewards points) after $6,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. See link for details.
- Flat 1.5% cash back on all purchases with no limit.
- No annual fee.
- Subject to 5/24 rule.*
- $750 bonus cash back (75,000 Ultimate Rewards points) after $6,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. See link for details.
- 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on cellular phone, landline, internet and cable TV services each account anniversary year.
- No annual fee.
- Subject to 5/24 rule.*
Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card
- 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. See link for details.
- Additional Free Night Award upon card anniversary (worth up to 35,000 Bonvoy points). Earn another additional Free Night Award after spending $60K in purchases on your Card in a calendar year.
- Annual fee is $125.
Hawaiian Airlines Business MasterCard
- 70,000 Hawaiian miles. 60,000 miles after $2,000 in purchases in first 90 days. 10,000 miles after a qualifying purchase is made on an employee card. See link for details.
- Receive a one-time 50% off companion discount for roundtrip coach travel between Hawaii and The Mainland on Hawaiian Airlines.
- $99 annual fee.
CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard
- 65,000 American Airlines miles after $4,000 in purchases in first the 4 months. See link for details.
- First checked bag free on domestic AA flights for you and up to 4 companions ($60 value per roundtrip, per person).
- $0 annual fee for the first year, then $99.
- 60,000 Hyatt points after $5,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. See link for details and rough valuation of points.
- Up to $100 in Hyatt statement credits – spend $50 or more at any Hyatt property and earn $50 statement credits up to two times each anniversary year.
- $199 annual fee.
- Subject to 5/24 rule.
Bank of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Card
- $500 statement credit after $5,000 in purchases in the first 90 days. See link for details.
- 3% cash back on your choice of six categories. 2% cash back on dining and unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. The 3% and 2% cash back applies to the first $50,000 in combined category/dining purchases each calendar year, 1% thereafter.
- No annual fee.
US Bank Business Leverage Card
- 75,000 bonus points after $7,500 in purchases (on the Account Owner’s Card only) in first the 4 months. 75,000 bonus points can be redeemed for $750 in cash back. See link for details.
- Availability may be restricted to certain states.
- $0 annual fee for the first year, then $95.
Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business Card
- 50,000 miles (worth a $500 statement credit) after $4,500 in purchases in the first 3 months. See link for details.
- Flat 2X points per dollar spent on all purchases with no limit.
- $0 annual fee for the first year, then $95.
- Up to 70,000 TrueBlue points. 60k miles after $2,000 on purchases in first 90 days, and 10k miles after a purchase is made on an employee card. See link for details.
- First checked bag free for the primary cardmember and up to 3 companions when tickets are purchased with your JetBlue Plus Card.
- $99 annual fee.
Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Business Card
- Up to 70,000 American Airlines miles. 60k miles after $2,000 on purchases in first 90 days, and 10k miles after a purchase is made on an employee card. See link for details.
- First checked bag free on domestic AA flights for you and up to 4 companions ($60 value per roundtrip, per person).
- $95 annual fee.
Alaska Airlines Visa Business Card (Bank of America)
- 50,000 Alaska miles + $100 Statement Credit + Companion Fare Voucher after $3,000 in purchase within 90 days. See link for details.
- Companion fare voucher is “Buy one ticket, get one for $122” ($99 fare plus taxes and fees from just $23).
- Free checked bag on Alaska flights for you and up to six other passengers on the same reservation (worth $60 roundtrip per person).
- $70 annual fee for company, plus $25 per card.
* Note: Certain Chase cards have a “5/24 rule” which is an unofficial rule that they will automatically deny approval on new credit cards if you have 5 or more new credit cards on your credit report within the past 2 years. This rule applies on a per-person basis, so if you are new, you might want to start with those Chase cards.
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could you please throw some light on
– Travel Insurance provided by Orbitz vs credit card travel insurance vs none vs other ?
Cost factors ?
Whats covered for international travelers, whats not ?
If a connecting flight is missed, does the insurance cover, etc.
You should warn business owners regarding BUSINESS cards such as the capital one card which reports occasional delinquent payments on one’s PERSONAL credit report – unlike Chase and American Express business cards which do NOT negatively affect one’s personal credit report!
Is Delta Gold 70k miles still available? When clicked on the link, it says 60k bonus miles.
The linked Delta post lists the consumer cards first, and then the business cards on the bottom. Right now the Delta consumer card is 60k, but if you scroll down the Delta Gold Business card is 70k. Hope that helps, sorry for any confusion.
https://www.mymoneyblog.com/delta-skymiles-american-express-cards-limited-time-offer.html
ah, got it. Thank you!
Anyone only if Chase Ink preferred still give 100K paid off you supply in-branch (vs 80K online)?
I’m going to apply a card for my new business, That is what info I am looking for. Also, Gonna share this with my friends!
I’d like you suggest you consider a comparison of “grace period days” aka “interest free days” in your business credit card comparisons. I just learned the hard way that this varies from company to company and card to card. For example – capital one 27 days grace – chase 20 days grace – discover 25 days grace. A week is a material difference when using for business and timing cash flow, etc.
PNC Bank offers 1.5% cash back, and a $200 bonus for spending $3000 in the first three billing cycles.
https://www.pnc.com/en/small-business/borrowing/business-credit-cards/pnc-cash-rewards-visa-signature-business-credit-card.html
The information about Wells Fargo Business Platinum Credit Card needs correction: your page says spend “$3,000” in the first 3 months, but the actual Wells Fargo pages says spend “$5,000” in the first 3 months:
https://www.wellsfargo.com/biz/business-credit/credit-cards/platinum-card/
Thanks, fixed!
Does anyone know if any of these cars have PRIMARY rental car insurance. I find that I put rental cars, as well as Doordash and Lyft on my personal Chase Sapphire Reserve even when they are business expenses and then have to deal with reimbursing myself later. And if the Chase business cards have these perks as well?
Thank you, Jonathan.
These are hefty spend requirements in 3 months…$5,000 to $7,000. In what ways could an ordinary/frugal person spend on necessities this much ?
Yes, business cards usually have higher spending requirements and won’t work for everyone. Businesses often have higher expenses, even though it may not equate to revenue. You might buy $3,000 of goods and resell then for $3,500, which only leaves you $500 of profit but you had to spend that $5k so why not maximize that spending?
Makes sense. Thank you
Thanks, Jonathan.
It would be helpful to know which of these (if any) don’t require a personal guarantee. I prefer my business card to run off the business’s credit, but most of these require a personal SSN. What’s the best option for running the card on the back of the LLC?
I’m pretty sure that all of the small business credit cards listed above require a personal guarantee.
Thanks Jonathan for this info and sharing! I noted on the Barclay site it states may not qualify for offer if had a card or another current card with Barclay. I thought business and personal are usually kept separate ? I have held personal Barclay cards in the past.
I read the language as being specific to the JetBlue card. If you’ve never had a JetBlue card before, you should be fine. Usually personal and business are considered separate cards.
Great list. It’s hard to beat the Chase cards for business purposes, but Amex is a close second for me.
Just got the Chase Ink Business Unlimited it includes 0% rate for 12 months on all purchases in 90 days of opening, plus the $750 cash back on $7,500 in the 1st 90 days and 1.5% cash back.
I applied and got a note saying we’re processing and reviewing the application. How long did it take for you to get approved?