Best Credit Cards for Business Travel Expenses (Dining, Flights, Hotels, and More)

INSIDER SECRET: In addition to great ongoing perks for business travelers, the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card currently offers the biggest welcome bonus of any of the Chase Ultimate Rewards points earning cards.

Did you know you’re forfeiting valuable miles & points if you’re not using the right card to pay for your business travel? One of the largest perks of traveling for business is being able to have your expenses paid for while keeping all the points for yourself.

I traveled for work consistently in 2017. However, I was pretty broke and fully invested in cash back credit cards. I currently look back and hate myself for missing out on all those points!

If you are a traveling professional, I’ll recommend a few of the best travel credit card options for business expenses:

You can travel like a boss and earn credit cards like a boss with these credit cards for business travel!

Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

 

The Ink Business Preferred is our top pick for paying your travel expenses for business.

With the Ink Business Preferred, you’ll earn 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites, and search engines.

So, for example, if you average $3,000 per month in travel expenses, you’ll earn 108,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points over the year!

The Ink Business Preferred also has the most valuable welcome bonus on this list (by FAR). You’ll earn 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s worth at least $1,000 in travel.

But it can be worth much more if you transfer those points to valuable partners like Southwest, British Airways, and Hyatt. Check out our video on how to transfer your points to airlines and hotels here.

You’ll also get outstanding benefits and perks from the Ink Business Preferred, like cell phone insurance. That, along with travel benefits, makes the Ink Business Preferred worth much more than the annual fee for most folks.

Check out our review of the Ink Business Preferred here.

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass Card

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card

If you’re traveling frequently, you’re most likely staying in large chain hotels and Hilton has done a great job with their line of American Express cards. I’ve been able to earn over 500,000+ points through their new cards, and you can earn even more than I did with your traveling career!

One of our favorites is the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, that earns 12 points per dollar at Hilton hotels; 6 points per dollar at US restaurants, US supermarkets and US gas stations; and 3 points per dollar on all other eligible purchases.

On top of that, the welcome bonus is a hefty 125,000 Hilton Honors Points after you spend $2,000 in eligible purchases within the first 3 months.

With those kinds of earnings rates, your points balance will build up in no time. Plus, you’ll get automatic Hilton Gold status and the opportunity to earn Diamond status by spending $40,000 a year on the card. Along with a weekend night reward from Hilton Honors after you spend $15,000 on purchases on your card in a calendar year and 10 Priority Pass lounge visits every year.

Read our review of the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card here.

American Express Gold Card

While you are traveling for work, chances are you will be eating out a bunch.

With the American Express Gold Card, you can earn 4X Amex Membership Rewards points per $1 at restaurants. Plus, you’ll get up to $120 in dining credit, broken into $10 monthly over the course of a year to spend at certain restaurants. Those are great benefits for anyone dining out a lot.

In addition to perks like these, you’ll earn 35,000 Amex Membership Rewards points when you spend $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening an American Express Gold Card. And you’ll earn 3X points per $1 on flights booked directly with the airline or through AMEX Travel.

There is a $250 annual fee with this card (See Rates & Fees), but if you are able to use the AMEX Gold’s benefits and perks, it’s easily worth the annual fee.

Here’s our full review of the Amex Gold card.

A delicious meal with clients can be even sweeter when earning valuable American Express Membership Rewards points!

Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is an extremely efficient card for the avid business traveler. It comes with top-of-the-line travel perks, excellent travel insurance, and its strong earning rate makes it easy to rack up Chase Ultimate Rewards points quickly.

Currently, the Chase Sapphire Reserve has a 50,000 point bonus after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. These points alone are worth at least $750 in travel!

The card does have a $450 annual fee, but it also comes with up to a $300 travel credit (Chase will reimburse your first $300 in travel spending each cardmember year).  You will also earn 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1 on travel and dining (effectively 4.5% back toward travel!), both very large expenses for a business traveler.

In addition, the Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with a vast number of benefits and perks to make your travels easier, including up to a $100 statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck (you don’t have to remove your laptop from your bag or take off your shoes and jacket at the airport security checkpoint)

And the free Priority Pass airport lounge membership lets you freshen up before a meeting or relax as you wait for your outbound flight.

Check out our review of the Chase Sapphire Reserve here.

Bottom Line

Paying your business travel expenses with the right card will net you an incredible amount of points and miles! The best part about this is if your company reimburses you, you don’t even need to spend your own money! Our four top picks are:

Check out our full guide on the best small business credit cards. And let us know your top credit card picks for business travelers!

For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, please click here.

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