How To Use Credit Cards To Save On Business Travel

Enterprise journey may be very costly, however there are methods to avoid wasting — and probably the most efficient instruments for saving cash is a bank card. The very best enterprise playing cards for journey can save enterprise vacationers each money and time whereas providing worthwhile journey rewards and money again. Premium journey rewards playing cards may also go a good distance towards bettering the journey expertise by providing vacationers upgraded airline seats and free lodge rooms, in addition to entry to airport enterprise lounges.

Right here are some things you are able to do to save cash on enterprise journey — whereas including consolation and comfort — utilizing a bank card.

Use your card to avoid wasting on resorts

When paying for a lodge keep, probably the most efficient methods to save cash is to make use of a bank card that’s supplied by the lodge chain. Lodge rewards playing cards can help you lower your expenses in a number of methods. First, they function bonus factors or money again for lodge costs, which might later be redeemed without spending a dime evening stays. Moreover, a lodge rewards card can give you credit score towards elite standing within the lodge loyalty program. And whenever you maintain that standing, you’ll take pleasure in perks like precedence customer support, room upgrades and even waived charges.

For instance, the World of Hyatt Enterprise Credit score Card* from Chase provides the cardholder (and as much as 5 workers) Discoverist standing, in addition to 5 qualifying evening stays for each $10,000 you spend in a calendar yr. After spending $50,000 in a calendar yr, cardholders additionally obtain 10 p.c of their redeemed factors again as bonus factors (on as much as 200,000 factors redeemed) for the rest of the calendar yr. And because you get worker playing cards without charge, their spending counts towards the $50,000 requirement.

Discoverists obtain further factors and perks like free bottled water and a couple of p.m. late checkouts. And when vacationers obtain top-tier World of Hyatt Globalist standing, perks embody free breakfast, suite upgrades and free parking on award nights. Cardholders additionally get entry to Hyatt Leverage, Hyatt’s international enterprise journey program that provides particular charges on taking part Hyatt resorts worldwide.

Save on flights with a companion cross

While you’re touring with a colleague, nothing saves cash like receiving two tickets for the value of 1. Fortunately, a number of airline bank cards provide companion passes. As an example, the Alaska Airways Visa® bank card from Financial institution of America provides a companion fare from $122 ($99 fare plus taxes and charges from $23) every account anniversary after you spend $6,000 or extra on purchases throughout the prior anniversary yr.

Higher but, the British Airways Visa Signature® Card* from Chase incorporates a Journey Collectively Ticket which you could earn after spending $30,000 in purchases in a calendar yr. This offers you two airline award tickets for simply the value of taxes and charges. Simply be aware that British Airways has a behavior of imposing notoriously excessive provider surcharges, particularly on its awards in enterprise in firstclass.

However maybe the very best companion cross is the one supplied by Southwest Airways, which is often achieved by incomes 135,000 qualifying factors in a calendar yr. Nonetheless, holders of a Southwest® Speedy Rewards® Efficiency Enterprise Credit score Card can earn a welcome bonus of 80,000 factors for spending $5,000 in purchases in the course of the first three months — getting you greater than midway to the Companion Cross throughout your first yr. And cardholders obtain a lift of 10,000 qualifying factors yearly and may earn qualifying factors from bank card spending and flight purchases. As soon as earned, the Southwest Airways Companion Cross provides limitless tickets to your designated companion for simply the value of taxes, usually $5.60 every means inside the US.

Get free expedited safety

Many enterprise vacationers are compelled to waste unimaginable quantities of time going by airport safety. However with the correct bank card, you and your workers may be reimbursed for expedited safety program memberships.

Many bank cards now embody reimbursements for TSA PreCheck and World Entry, which incorporates TSA PreCheck. TSA PreCheck lets you undergo an expedited safety screening the place you’ll be able to depart your footwear on and your 3-1-1 liquids and laptops in your carry-on suitcase. World Entry provides expedited immigration screening whenever you arrive in the US.

Some enterprise bank cards function a credit score of as much as $100 for TSA PreCheck or World Entry — together with the Capital One Enterprise X Enterprise, the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Enterprise American Categorical Card and the IHG One Rewards Premier Enterprise Credit score Card. In actual fact, the TSA maintains a listing of all playing cards that provide this free credit score. The credit score is usually obtainable simply as soon as each 4 years.

A number of bank cards additionally provide free or discounted Clear Plus membership. Clear is a non-public firm that authenticates your identification utilizing biometrics earlier than escorting you to the entrance of the TSA strains, both PreCheck or commonplace. For instance, The Enterprise Platinum Card® from American Categorical or a private card just like the American Categorical® Inexperienced Card* provide as much as $189 in credit for Clear Plus membership.

When you’re questioning which program would work greatest for you, right here’s our comparability of TSA PreCheck vs. Clear.

Get free enterprise lounge membership

One other means that vacationers waste money and time is after they have a layover or an airport delay. Airport meals is mostly costly and of inconsistent high quality, whereas sitting round a crowded departure gate could be a waste of productive time. However when you have an airport enterprise lounge membership, then you’ll be able to take pleasure in a free meal whereas having a much less hectic place to get work performed.

A number of playing cards provide airport lounge entry. The American Categorical Enterprise Platinum provides entry to a wide range of lounges — together with the Centurion Lounges, Delta SkyClubs and the Precedence Cross Choose lounge community. The Capital One Enterprise X Enterprise card additionally provides a Precedence Cross Choose lounge membership, in addition to entry to its new and increasing record of Capital One lounges.

Alternatively, you may contemplate an airline co-branded card. For instance, the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Enterprise American Categorical Card provides entry to the Centurion Lounges and the Delta Sky Golf equipment whereas the Citi® / AAdvantage® Government World Elite Mastercard® provides entry to American Airways Admirals membership lounges.

Earn elite standing with an airline

Having elite standing with an airline frequent flier program may be extraordinarily worthwhile. Historically, the one solution to earn that was by really buying airfare after which flying. Nonetheless, airways are more and more providing elite standing — in entire or partially — by bank card spending.

For instance, the American Airways AAdvantage rewards program lets you earn any stage of elite standing merely by spending on its co-branded bank cards. The JetBlue TrueBlue program provides the prospect to earn all 4 ranges of its Mosaic elite standing utilizing a mix of bank card spending and flying. The United Quest℠ Card* from Chase lets you earn 25 Premier Qualifying factors (PQPs) for each $500 you spend on purchases together with your Quest Card (as much as 6,000 PQP in a calendar yr) that may be utilized towards your Premier standing qualification on United MileagePlus, as much as the Premier 1K stage.

Make the most of assertion credit and extra

Though it may be troublesome to find out the precise worth that some bank card advantages present, different advantages are way more simple. In actual fact, many enterprise bank cards provide annual assertion credit, free checked luggage and extra.

For instance, the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Enterprise card permits cardholders to verify their first bag without spending a dime when flying with Delta. The United℠ Enterprise Card features a free checked bag for you and a companion plus an annual $100 assertion credit score whenever you make not less than seven United airways purchases of not less than $100 per yr. Amex Enterprise Platinum cardmembers stand up to $200 a yr in assertion credit towards qualifying airline charges together with your chosen airline, whereas The Hilton Honors American Categorical Enterprise Card provides a “Free Night time Reward” after making $15,000 in purchases in a calendar yr. You possibly can even earn a second reward evening after making $45,000 in purchases throughout a calendar yr.

Easy methods to flip enterprise rewards into private journey

A fantastic thing about incomes journey rewards is that they’re retained by the bank card’s major account holder. So if you’re a small enterprise proprietor, you obtain possession of the entire factors and miles that you just earn out of your bank cards — together with any rewards earned by approved customers of your playing cards. Likewise, you additionally earn rewards for something you cost to your private bank cards for firm journey your employer reimburses.

The underside line

The important thing to saving each money and time on your small business journey is knowing and maximizing the potential of your bank cards, together with their journey advantages. Through the use of the correct bank card to your wants, you’ll be able to take pleasure in extra productive enterprise journeys whereas incomes factors and miles towards your subsequent trip.

Try our record of the very best small enterprise bank cards or use Bankrate’s free CardMatch device to seek out the correct card for your small business.

*Issuer-required disclosure assertion

Details about the World of Hyatt Enterprise Credit score Card, British Airways Visa Signature® Credit score Card, American Categorical® Inexperienced Card, Citi® / AAdvantage® Government World Elite Mastercard® and United Quest℠ Card has been collected independently by Bankrate and has not been reviewed or authorized by the issuer. Info relating to the Alaska Airways Visa® bank card was final up to date on February 1, 2024.