The Top 5 Business Credit Cards

any people can get a small business credit card. Opening small business cards roughly doubles the number of amazing miles and points cards available to you.

Every small business credit card I’ve gotten I opened by putting my social security number as the tax ID, and by saying that my business is a sole proprietorship. I got many of the cards when my business revenue was very low.

Here are the top cards, broken down by Best Sign Up Bonus, Best Category Bonuses, Best for Everyday Spending, Best for Perks, and Best for Cash Back. Depending on what kind of business you have, how much/what kind of spending the business does, and what your overall goals are, the best card for you will vary.

• Ink Plus by Chase
• Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Card by Bank of America
• Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express
• Business Platinum Card® from American Express
• Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi

Best Sign-Up Bonus: The Ink Plus

The Chase Ink Plus offers 60,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards after spending $5,000 in the first three months on the card. Ultimate Rewards transfer 1:1 to United, British Airways, Southwest, Korean, Virgin Atlantic, and more. I value Ultimate Rewards very highly because of this versatility– at about 2 cents per point. That makes this sign-up bonus worth $1,200.

I have to also mention the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Card for this category. The sign-up bonus isn’t all that impressive on its own (30,000 Alaska miles for spending $1,000 in three months), but when you consider that you can potentially earn the sign-up bonus repeatedly in a relatively short span of time, and the fact that I value Alaska miles very highly (1.75 cents each), the card becomes a lot more interesting.

Best for Everyday Spending: SPG Business Card

The Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express OPEN earns 1 Starpoint per dollar on all purchases.

Starpoints transfer to over 30 airlines, most at a 1:1 ratio. Whenever Starpoints transfer at a 1:1 ratio, you always get 5,000 bonus miles for every 20,000 points transferred.That effectively means that you are earning 1.25 airline miles per dollar on all purchases with this card. Key 1:1 transfer partners:

• American Airlines
• British Airways
• Delta Air Lines
• Alaska Airlines
• Korean Air
• Singapore Airlines
• Virgin America
• Many More, but NOT United

The card comes with 25,000 bonus Starpoints after spending $5,000 in the first six months. Points can also be used for free hotel nights, Cash & Points stays, and Nights & Flights awards.

The annual fee of $95 is waived the first 12 months.

Best Category Bonuses: The Ink Plus

The Chase Ink Plus offers 5x Ultimate Rewards on up to $50,000 each account anniversary year for purchases at:

• office supply stores
• cellular phone services
• landline phone services
• internet and cable TV services

The card also earns 2x points at gas stations and hotels on up to $50,000 each account anniversary year.

All other purchases earn 1 Ultimate Reward per dollar spent.

Best for Perks: Business Platinum Card from American Express

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is the king of perks for business cards. The card comes with:

• $200 in airline fee credits per calendar year (how I turn my credits into airline tickets)
• $100 credit for Global Entry once every five years
• Delta, Priority Pass, and Centurion lounge access (900 lounges in 120 countries through The Lounge Collection)
• SPG Gold Status
• Complimentary Gogo® and Boingo Internet

Here is how to set up and maximize those benefits.

The card comes with 40,000 bonus Membership Rewards after spending $5,000 in the first three months. It earns 1 Membership Rewards per dollar on all purchases except when you book on the American Express Travel website, which earns 2x per dollar spent.

The card has a $450 annual fee that is NOT waived, but if you are an avid traveler, the perks should more than make up for it.

Best for Cash Back: Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi

The Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi, exclusively for Costco members, earns:

• 4% cash back on eligible gas for the first $7,000 per year and then 1% thereafter
• 3% cash back on restaurants and eligible travel purchases
• 2% cash back on all other purchases from Costco and Costco.com
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

Read my full review of the card here.

Bottom Line

Depending on how much spending power your business has and how much you travel, all of the cards above have their own strengths that might benefit you and your small business more than others.

If your business has a lot of expenses and you therefore have a lot of spending power, you’ll probably want either the Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi or the Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card depending on whether you prefer cash back rewards or travel rewards.

If your business is still growing and doesn’t have a lot expenses, then perhaps you’ll get more out of the Ink Plus or the Alaska Airlines Visa® Business Card with their valuable sign-up bonuses.

If you travel often enough to highly value perks like lounge access and hotel status, whether your business has spending power or not, the Business Platinum Card® from American Express should be appealing.

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Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.