Once you dip your toe into reward travel, you quickly see the IMMENSE travel potential, and are quickly looking for any and all point earning opportunities you can.

The more points you earn = the more steeply discounted vacations for your family.

Thankfully business credit card provide maybe THE easiest way to earn points for nearly free travel…and way too many people write them off thinking they aren’t eligible because they don’t have an official LLC or EIN.

It is SO much easier to qualify for business credit cards than you think. AND you can get so much more nearly free travel out of business cards than you think!

Business credit cards truly do = the X factor to earning hundreds of thousands of points for travel annually (all without impacting your personal credit long term!!)

Why are business credit cards valuable for travel?

Business credit cards provide an massive ROI on earning points for travel, because often times they provide the HIGHEST welcome offers, for the LOWEST annual fees.

For example, some of our FAVORITE business cards are the Chase Ink family of cards.

This includes the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (no annual fee), Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (no annual fee), and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card ($95 annual fee)!

These cards provide anywhere from 75,000-120,00 points for travel (where personal Chase cards may only provide a 20,000-60,000 point welcome offer!)…all with a crazy low $95 annual fee to NO annual fee.

Yes, FREE points for travel.

Although, there is an initial pull on your personal credit to be APPROVED for a business credit card, the card does not touch your personal credit ever again from there on out. This is another reason why people LOVE the earning opportunity of business cards!

As well, many business cards allow you to earn the bonus again and again (every 24 months from the last time you earned the bonus on these Ink cards for example!). So as you can see, the earning potential here is INVALUABLE.

Lastly, business cards can be very helpful if you need to take a break from personal credit card applications! For example, for the Chase Ink cards, you need a 5/24 slot OPEN to be approved for one of these cards, however they do not TAKE UP a 5/24 slot long term. If you have been in the reward travel world love enough, you know how valuable this is!

Who is eligible for business credit cards?

Like I said, it is SO much easier to qualify for business credit cards than you think.

Do you need a business to apply for a business card? YES.

Do you have an eligible business and probably don’t even realize it? Also, YES.

• Your business does NOT need to be your primary source of income
• You do NOT need employees to be a qualified business
• You do NOT need to file a formal business application to be considered a business in the eyes of the government or banks

ANY way you make money outside of a W-2 qualifies you for business credit cards. NO side hustle is too small! You do NOT need an official LLC or EIN to apply for business cards, you can apply as a sole proprietor with your social security number!

This can literally double to triple your travel earning potential!!

Examples of what qualifies as a business

• Occasionally reselling items on Facebook Marketplace
• Taking on a few photography clients a year
• Any sort of consulting on the side
• MLM work
• Any time you are paid as a 1099 contractor
• Owning real estate
• Selling old kids clothes at a resale shop
• Tutoring
• Coaching
• Freelancing
• Poshmark or Ebay sales

…the list could go on and no. ANY means you make some extra cash on the side qualifies you for business cards applying as a sole proprietor!

If I could give people ONE piece of advice when it comes to easily earning points for more travel for your family, it would be THIS: do nottttttt sleep on the vacation earning potential of business credit cards wrongly thinking you do not qualify!!

How do I apply for a business credit card?

Applying for a business credit card as a sole proprietor is like 5min EASY!

If you do in fact have an official LLC or EIN, you will apply with that information. However, if your income earning side hustle doesn’t have an official designation you can follow my line by line steps below!

Once of my favorite points earning biz cards are the no annual fee Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card and Ink Business Cash® Credit Card. This application example will walk you through a Chase business card application, but the general process applies to any business credit card!

Learn how to apply for the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card HERE.

Learn how to apply for the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card HERE.

Learn how to apply for the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card HERE.

When applying as a sole proprietor, you will put the authorizing officer title as owner and the Tax ID type you will be applying with will be your social security number!

(If you DO have an EIN, you will select that option! It is incredibly easy to apply for an EIN for free though online as well…you can do that here!)

When it is asking for your “Total Gross Annual Income,” it is inquiring about the total amount of money your household brings in as a whole (this is NOT asking about your business income).

So if you are a stay at home mom, you would report here your spouse’s salary if you do not work outside of the home.

“Legal Business Structure” is Sole Proprietor. Did you know you by default exist as a sole proprietor whenever you make money outside of a W-2 without filing any sort of paperwork? This is the automatic designation the government gives you just my essentially existing!

This is important! When you enter your “Business Legal Name” – unless you have an incorporated business with an official business name- you will want to use YOUR name here! If not, the bank will ask you for verifying documents to prove this other business name. You can however prove your business name being your name, with documents such as a Driver’s License, Social Security card, or Utility Bill.

**Even when applying with an EIN, you will still enter your social security number! This is essentially to just prove you are who you say you are. So yes, there will be an initial pull on your credit to be approved for a business card with an EIN/LLC, however the card never touches your personal credit after that again!

Lastly, when stating your “Annual Business Revenue,” be honest! If you only make $200 a year occasionally selling items on FB Marketplace- state that! No amount really is too small.

You can even apply for a business credit card for a business that isn’t running just yet. This can be your actual annual revenue or PROJECTED annual revenue.

(same applies when filling out your monthly spend!)

Don’t be too worried about getting your NAICS category perfect, there really is no “wrong” answer here!

That’s it! Click submit and you likely have the easiest points for travel ever headed your way!

What if my application goes into review?

It is VERY common for business credit card applications to not get instant approval! (DON’T stress!)

You may receive an email (or letter in the mail) asking you for additional documentation to support your application…again, don’t fret this is verrrryyyyy common.

The email should lay out for you exactly the documentation they are requesting and what the valid documents would be. However, if you applied as a sole proprietor, just know if they are asking for “proof of your business identity” – as I mentioned uploading something like a Drivers License, Social Security card, or Utility bill satisfies that documentation.

Typically once people upload these documents, they are approved for their new card within hours to a few days!

If you haven’t heard anything from the bank after a few days after a pending approval, then call into the main bank line to get a status update!

What business credit card is the most valuable for travel?

Like I mentioned, some of my very favorite cards are the Chase Ink Business Cards.

These cards put the MOST valuable points for travel in your pocket, with little to NO annual fee…and without impacting your credit long term! Truly a GAME CHANGER.

The Chase Ink Business Preferred usually has a HUGE welcome offer and boasts an annual fee of only $95 (this can be downgraded to a no annual fee version of the Ink cards after that one year mark)

**The Preferred card allows you to transfer points directly to airline and hotel partners of Chase alone, without another card!

The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card and Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card offer large valuable welcome offers for NO annual fee (yes essentially just FREE points for travel).

**If deciding between the two I recommend just going with the one that has an elevated offer at the time. If not, the Unlimited card is a great place to start because of the 1.5x points on ALL purchases!

Although, you need an Ultimate Rewards earning credit card (I recommend the #1 overall personal travel rewards card- the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card), these no annual fee business cards are GOLD for SO easily racking up a tonnnnn of points for travel and then transferring over to your “homebase” Sapphire card!)

…and the Chase Ink cards just scratch the surface on the points earning potential of business credit cards!!

Common FAQs about business credit cards

WHAT IF I AM DENIED?

First of all, DON’T freak out! This is totally normal and ok if you have been in reward travel for any amount of time!

If your application is outright denied (either instantly or by mail), then call the bank! Many times denials can be overturned.

The representative will likely have some questions for you. Just make sure your answers match your application! Be prepared to answer questions about why you want the card and how you expect to use it. Also, often times banks will only extend you so much credit (at times 50% of your reported household income across all your cards), so make sure to mention you are willing to move credit around from other cards!

If the rep doesn’t automatically approve your application, call again. These decisions at this point in the process are pretty subjective, so don’t be afraid to call again!

CAN I PUT PERSONAL PURCHASES ON A BUSINESS CREDIT CARD?

It is very very widely accepted practice to use personal purchases to meet a minimum spend. It is not illegal in anyway to put personal expenses on a business credit, but banks are required to “ask” you to use it for business expenses only due to regulations in the “CARD Act”. I have never seen ANYONE run into any issues.

There is no direct connection between private credit card companies and the IRS. So there is no automatic tax implication if you apply for a business credit card (of course always talk to your accountant about the earning threshold for reporting income!)

However, I do 100% recommend making sure you are documenting business expenses separately for tax + accounting purposes.

I SEE THE INK CARDS EARN CASH BACK, IS THAT TRUE?

These cards are advertised as cash back cards, but they really earn Chase Ultimate Rewards that can be redeemed as cash back if you choose. OR you can pair your no annual fee Ink cards with a Chase Sapphire, and transfer your points to any of Chase’s airline and hotel transfer partners (which is obviously where the real value is!)

DO I HAVE TO HAVE A SAPPHIRE TO OPEN AN INK CARD?

The order you get the cards in does NOT -matter! You can open say the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card to take advantage of an elevated offer and then open a personal Sapphire card later. You don’t need to have the Sapphire card first!

WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE A SAPPHIRE CARD BUT MY SPOUSE DOES?

Chase allows you to combine points across ANY cards with ANYONE in your household! EX- you can call Chase to move your Ultimate Rewards from your Ink card to your partner’s personal Sapphire account!

CAN I HAVE MORE THAN ONE INK CARD?

Yes, you can have each Ink card (3 versions total) for each business you have! So if you have an EIN, you could apply for each card under your EIN and also with your SSN as a sole proprietor. If you are using the same SS# on all applications just make sure to space those applications out by a minimum of 30 days!

For example, between me and my spouse we have THREE ways we can apply for business credit cards: our official LLC Wayfaren (this business!), me applying as a sole proprietor for occasionally selling on FB Marketplace, and him applying as a sole proprietor for taking on 1-2 woodworking clients every year. So with the Chase Ink cards, that would be NINE total cards we can use to leverage points for travel!!

HOW OFTEN CAN I GET THE BONUS ON THE INK CARDS?

Chase’s Terms & Conditions state that you can earn the bonus on the Ink cards every 24months. It is a red flag to Chase if attempting otherwise. If your account is terminated- it is for a LIFETIME. Personally, my points with Chase are too valuable to put myself at risk by applying any sooner.

I hope this guide to business credit cards was helpful- truly they NEED to be apart of your nearly free travel strategy! Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions!