Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
You’re losing out on hundreds of thousands of points and miles if you don’t take advantage of small business credit cards because you think you’re not a business. Full stop. Many people get squirrelly about business credit cards because they believe they are doing something illegal or that they’re not allowed to.
If someone other than an employer pays you to do something, you’re pretty much a small business. (I’m not a financial or tax advisor, nor am I an accountant. But I am a small business owner!)
You don’t need a fancy suite in some office tower or a Main Street storefront to be a small business. Let’s use me as an example. I basically have four small businesses:
- photo editing work
- voiceovers
- ghostwriting work
- this blog
Not all of them are full-time. Side-hustles are perfectly OK.
You don’t even need a business tax ID from the federal government or your state; your Social Security Number will work. I know plenty of people who have “Doing Business As” (DBA) companies under their names and SSNs. (Personally, I prefer the protections a corporation offers. But that’s another discussion.)
Frankly, putting professional expenses on my business credit cards makes life a lot easier when it comes to paying bills and itemizing those purchases for my taxes.
Plus, I can earn fantastic welcome offers when I’m approved for new small business cards! It really works great.
Here are some examples of small businesses you may already operate:
- Driving rideshare and/or food delivery
- Selling items online (eBay, Poshmark, Offer Up, Facebook Marketplace, etc)
- Graphic design
- Housesitting
- Babysitting
- Petsitting
- Providing handywork services
- Online content creator (YouTube, TikTok, etc.)
- Self-publishing books
- Tutoring
- Providing some kind of consulting
You get the point. And now it’s time for you to get the points!
What Are Some Cards People Actually Use?
If you own a cell phone and/or outside Internet provider and use it for any business purposes, I highly suggest looking into the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card. It earns 5X Chase points (worth at least 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year on these two categories (then 1%) on internet, cable, and phone services and at office supply stores. And there’s no annual fee. (All information about the Ink Cash was collected independently by Eye of the Flyer. It was neither provided nor reviewed by the card issuer.)
I put most of my other business purchases on my The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. It earns 2X points on up to the first $50,000 in eligible purchases each year (then 1X). Plus, there’s no annual fee. (Rates & Fees.)
One of my family members is a rideshare and food delivery driver. He has a small business card and charges a portion of his car insurance, cell phone bill, car repairs, gas, vehicle registration, parking, and amenities for his riders (bottled water, USB cords, etc). He likes the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card because there’s no annual fee and he earns 1.5X Chase points per purchase. He doesn’t want to bother with multiple cards and Chase points are very flexible, so this works just fine for him. (All information about the Ink Unlimited was collected independently by Eye of the Flyer. It was neither provided nor reviewed by the card issuer.)
A friend of mine has a 9-to-5 but moonlights as a freelance graphic designer (he’s excellent, I’m happy to refer you!). He uses a business credit card to pay for stuff like software subscriptions, home office supplies, computer supplies, etc. He sticks his expenses on a Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card.
Final Approach
People lose out on hundreds of thousands of points and miles by not taking advantage of small business cards. Figure out if anything you do is a small business — or consider starting a side-hustle! You’re missing out on tons of bonus points if you don’t!
For rates and fees of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, please visit this link.
For rates and fees of Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, please visit this link.
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
