The best business credit cards for travel rewards in July 2024

Travel credit cards are often touted as the best credit cards for businesses—no matter their size. With every transaction getting you cashback, travel rewards, or access to coveted airport lounges, we understand why you might be considering a travel rewards card.

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But with all the travel credit cards out there, it’s hard to decide which business travel credit card is the best fit for your business. Are you looking for airline mile rewards? Welcome offers or no foreign transaction fees? What about low annual fees?

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In this article, we’ll cover the best business credit cards for travel perks and what to look for in a travel credit card. Let’s get started.

Best business credit cards for travel rewards in July 2024

Here’s a summary of our picks for the best business credit cards for travel:

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• Ramp Visa Corporate Card
• American Express Business Platinum Card
• Bank of America Business Advantage Travel Rewards World Mastercard Credit Card
• Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business American Express
• Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card
• Chase Ink Business Preferred Card

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How does a business travel credit card differ from a personal travel card?

You might wonder if using your personal credit card for business is good for now. However, there are key differences between business and personal travel credit cards that can work towards the growth of your business. A business travel credit card can:

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• Draw the line between personal and business finances: Separating your personal finances from your business finances is crucial for your company’s success. Whether you operate as a sole proprietor or a corporation, separating your finances is necessary for legal and tax reasons.
• Get rewards for your business: Business travel credit cards have better rewards. For example, you might enjoy travel rewards, airline miles, or access to a VIP lounge.
• Give you access to higher credit limits: Business travel credit cards offer higher credit limits than personal travel cards, making them ideal for bigger business purchases
• Help you build business credit history: If you make timely payments each month, you’ll build a strong business credit history and contribute towards a favorable business credit score

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8 tips for choosing a business credit card for travel

Choosing the best business credit card for travel depends entirely on the needs of your business and employees. If you travel often, you’re probably looking for card offers that supplement your business trips rather than a generic rewards program.

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Unfortunately, more travel benefits often mean higher fees. To pick the best card, give some serious thought to what’s most important to you.

1. Consider the annual fees

Many cards that offer attractive travel benefits come with hefty annual fees. Generally, the higher the fee, the better the membership rewards. As such, the annual fee you pay will fluctuate based on the travel benefits and rewards that come with the card. If you’re diligent about using all the perks your card offers, they could offset the fee. Otherwise, you may want to choose a different card.

2. Watch for welcome bonuses

Most business credit cards for travel entice you with a welcome offer soon after opening the card. For example, you may get 100,000 bonus points after spending $10,000 in purchases in the first three months of your card membership.

3. Know the APR

Pay close attention to the APR offered by business credit cards. If you don't pay your credit card balance in full each month, this interest can quickly compound. The more you owe, the harder you’ll find it to pay off the debt.

4. Research the reward rates

Business travel cards offer various reward rates depending on your purchases. For instance, you might earn 5x points per dollar when you book through their flight portal, but only 1x points for all other purchases. With some cards, rewards points might be worth 25% more when you redeem them for travel purchases. Understanding the rewards program will help you make the most of your card membership.

5. Foreign transaction fees

Since you’ll be using it for travel, you want a card with no foreign transaction fees. If your card gets you great exchange rates but you need to pay transaction fees every time, it negates any benefits you might enjoy. Most business travel cards offer no transaction fees, but it's best to double-check the fine print.

6. General or co-branded?

If you enjoy using a specific brand or airline for travel, you may want to consider co-branded options rather than a general business travel card. For example, the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business Card from American Express gives you rewards across different airlines and hotels. You get access to rewards from the main airline as well as any of their partners.

7. Consider purchase protection

Where will most of your traveling take you? No matter where you go, purchase protection can kick in as a backup. It works as a form of insurance on your purchases and covers things like airfare, hotels, and rental cars. This could remove the need for you to purchase additional travel insurance.

8. Compare travel perks

Look into the travel perks of the business cards you’re considering. For example, does your card come with airport lounge access? If your business is located near a smaller airport, your employees will likely spend more time changing flights at larger airports with longer layovers. They might benefit more from an airport lounge than employees who live near a larger airport and take nonstop flights.

Downsides of a dedicated business credit card for travel

Although there are several benefits of a business credit card, there are also some downsides. Initially, you may have thought securing a business travel credit card would have you and your employees enjoying luxury airport lounge access around the world. However, this isn’t the case for many companies.

Higher interest rates

Due to the often rich rewards they offer, business travel credit cards usually come with a higher APR than general corporate cards. Interest rates can be as high as 24%, much higher than the standard 16% you’ll see with traditional cards.

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Sky-high interest rates like these cancel out any potential travel rewards for your company. If you aren't paying off your credit card in full every month, these cards might be more trouble than they're worth.

Steep annual fees

Business travel credit cards come with several perks, but they also have high annual fees. As we covered earlier, the American Express Business Platinum Card has a steep yearly fee of $695. With such a high cost, you’ll need to ensure that the card's benefits outweigh the costs.

Limited cards create hassles

Credit card issuers have limits on how many cards you can issue to employees. This can quickly create chaos within the office.

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If you own a small business with 30 employees but only receive 10 cards from your card issuer, it can be confusing and time-consuming to track who’s using which card and chase down employees for travel expense reimbursements.

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If you give an employee your travel card, you might also wind up using your personal card for business expenses out of necessity. This opens you up to personal liability for your many business expenses.

Simplify business travel with Ramp’s all-in-one corporate card

Instead of a business travel card, consider a card that meets all your business's spending needs. While traditional credit cards encourage spending to earn rewards, Ramp’s corporate cards offer cashback on purchases and come with spend management software designed to help your business save.

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Ramp cards also come with travel management features like real-time trip expense monitoring, custom trip budgets and spending categories on employee cards, and easily accessible travel itineraries. All these features add up to save Ramp customers an average of 5% a year.