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Business owners know better than most that running a company involves spending a lot of money — sometimes unexpectedly. Between things like stocking up on supplies, entertaining clients at restaurants, and traveling for conferences, spending can quickly exceed what’s been budgeted for. That’s why choosing a business credit card that offers cash or points back on the things you buy the most is so crucial to minimizing the impact of expenses on your business’s bottom line.
Here, we highlight three cards that offer competitive rewards to the businesses that use them for expenses like travel, dining, and supplies. Using cards like these, you can make your business expenses work for you all year round — not just during tax season.
Capital One Venture X Business
For $395 — a relatively low annual fee in the business credit card space — the Capital One Venture X Business card offers a lot of value, especially to companies that consider travel one of their primary expense categories.
The rewards
Unsurprisingly, the Venture X Business card is set up to keep users in the Capital One Business Travel ecosystem, offering 10x miles on hotel and rental car purchases and 5x miles on flights, if booked through Capital One Business Travel using the card. Other purchases earn 2x miles with no annual cap.
So long as your account remains open, these miles do not expire.
The welcome offer
The Venture X Business card’s welcome bonus is pretty generous, but it requires what could be considered a somewhat hefty up-front spend, depending on how large your business is. New cardholders must spend $30K in the first 3 months in order to earn a 150,000-mile welcome bonus.
Miles are worth about 1 cent each when redeemed for travel booked through Capital One Business Travel or as statement credits to cover eligible travel expenses. In other words, this bonus amounts to $1,500 in travel money (well over three times the card’s annual fee). Miles are also transferable to over 15 other travel loyalty programs.
Additional perks & considerations
- This card covers the cost of a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application (up to $120 in the form of a statement credit once every 4 years) if you pay for the application with this card.
- This card grants its holder access to Capital One’s network of over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide.
- Cardholders receive a $300 credit annually toward travel booked through Capital One Business Travel.
- This card’s balance must be paid in full each month, so it doesn’t have a stated APR.
The takeaway
As mentioned above, this card’s rewards system is designed to keep its users booking through Capital One’s travel portal, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. For busy business owners who travel frequently, using one portal to book travel rather than comparing prices across vendors has its perks.
For travel-forward businesses, the savings and rewards that come with this card vastly outweigh the $395 annual fee, especially if you plan to take advantage of the Pre Check and use your $300 travel credit. Before applying for this card, it’s important to be sure that your business’s cash flow is sufficient for you to pay off your full balance each month—something this card requires.
American Express® Business Gold Card
The American Express® Business Gold Card is another travel-oriented option with a similar annual fee ($375) and a hefty welcome offer that jetsetting business owners would do well to consider.
The rewards
The Business Gold Card’s rewards system is pretty robust. Cardholders earn 4x Membership Rewards Points (equivalent to about one cent a piece) on their top two eligible categories (category options include advertising, restaurants, certain physical and digital tech purchases, non-air transit, and cell phone service). Top categories can change month to month, making the rewards flexible, but the 4x points do max out at $150,000 per year (after that, purchases earn 1x points).
For airfare and hotels, the card offers 3x points for prepaid bookings through AmexTravel.com. All other eligible purchases earn 1x points. So, for businesses that book a lot of travel (and have high expenses in one or more of the 4x categories), rewards can stack up fast.
Points can be redeemed at AmexTravel.com or via partner airline or hotel loyalty plans (popular options include Delta, Hilton, and Marriott Bonvoy) or redeemed as a statement credit, usually at a lower rate (i.e., less than one cent per point).
The welcome offer
The Business Gold Card’s welcome offer, in some cases, is a little better than that of the Capital One Venture X Business card discussed above. After approval, new cardholders can receive as high as 200,000 Membership Rewards Points (valued at about $2,000) after spending $15,000 in the first three months (half of the spend required to earn the Venture X Business card’s 150,000 miles).
But there is some fine print here — not all applicants are offered the maximum welcome amount, so you do have to submit to a credit check before you find out the size of your actual welcome offer, and some applicants may be approved without being eligible for a points offer at all.
Additional perks & considerations
- Cardholders are also eligible to earn a Flexible Business Credit of up to $240 annually (up to $20 per month) in statement credits for eligible purchases at FedEx, GrubHub, and office supply stores. Enrollment is required, so don’t forget to select this offer after approval.
- Businesses that use their Business Gold card to pay for a Walmart+ membership are reimbursed for their $12.95 membership fee (plus tax where applicable) each month in statement credits.
- This card does not require its balance to be paid in full each month, so any remaining balance is subject to a variable APR.
The takeaway
The Gusiness Gold card, like the Venture X Business card, encourages businesses to book their travel through the company’s travel portal, but again, this isn’t the end of the world. What really sets this card apart is the flexible 4x points on your top two spending categories each month. The fact that these categories can change monthly based on what your company happens to be spending the most on is also a great feature — you don’t have to lock in your two favorite categories ahead of time.
Like the Venture X Business card, the value that comes from the Business Gold card far outweighs the annual fee, especially if you make use of the Flexible Business Credit and the free Walmart+ membership credit.
Again, however, it’s important to note that if the welcome offer is what draws you to this card, it is not guaranteed to all approved applicants, and it may not be as high as the 200,000-point maximum.
American Express Business Platinum® Card
This next card, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, is designed for larger companies — bigger spenders who want to earn more points on larger purchases. As such, it comes with a higher price tag than the previous two options, at $895 per year.
The rewards
This card doesn’t offer the 4x points on flexible categories like its Gold sibling does, but its travel rewards are higher. Cardholders earn 5x points on prepaid hotels and flights booked through AmexTravel with no cap on points earned in this category.
Cardholders also earn 2x points back on up to $2,000,000 per year spent in “key business categories,” which include construction materials and hardware from U.S. sellers, electronic goods, software, cloud systems, shipping providers, and any eligible purchases of $5,000 or more. Max out the $2 million spend in these categories over the year, and you’re earning 4 million points worth around $40,000.
Rewards can be redeemed at AmexTravel or any of its travel partners, or as a statement credit (usually at a lower rate).
The welcome offer
The Platinum Business card ups the ante of the Gold, offering applicants as high as 300,000 Membership Rewards Points (worth around $3,000) after a $20,000 minimum spend over the first three months. Like with the Gold card, however, this maximum is not guaranteed and varies in size depending on applicant details.
Additional perks & considerations
- Cardholders receive up to a $600 per year hotel credit (in the form of an up to $300 statement credit twice a year) on prepaid bookings of two or more nights at eligible hotels booked through Amex Travel.
- Cardholders get access to Centurion Lounges, up to 10 complimentary visits annually to Delta lounges when flying Delta, and a free Priority Pass Select membership (enrollment required), which offers access to a network of more than 1,550 travel lounges worldwide.
- Cardholders can receive up to $200 annually in statement credits to reimburse incidental fees charged by one airline of the cardholder’s choice.
- Cardholders can be reimbursed via statement credits for an auto-renewing CLEAR® Plus membership ($209 per year).
Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
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