“Be Honest With the Application and Call If You Get Denied”

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Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers. Welcome to our Small Business Card Reader Success Series, where Million Mile Secrets Readers share how they opened a small business credit card to get Big Travel with Small Money!

Small Business Card Interview:   Anthony

1.  Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your small business.

I recently switched jobs, but until last month I was an attorney practicing in a small law firm for about 10 years.

2.   Why did you decide on the card(s) you chose?

The list of the business cards I have are below and brief reason I applied for each one:

• Chase Marriott Premier Business:   Good signup bonus, which I used to pool with my Starwood points for myself and my wife for 7 nights at a Marriott hotel and 110,000 Southwest points, which allowed my wife to get the Companion Pass before that option lapsed earlier this year.  Also, the card’s annual free night outweighs the annual fee.  I started traveling more work, so it’s nice for the extra points as well when staying at a Marriott hotel
• Chase Ink Plus (no longer available):   5X points in certain categories, which can’t be beat
• Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express:   See above; I needed additional points to combine with my Marriott points to get the Marriott Hotel + Air package.   When combined with the personal version of the card, it gives you a good boost in status when you stay at a Starwood hotels
• The Business Platinum® Card from American Express:   I initially applied because of its 100,000 point welcome bonus.  I also liked the 1.5 points per $1 on purchases over $5,000.   I won’t keep this card because of the The Blue Business®️ Plus Credit Card from American Express, though, and due to the annual travel credit being a pain to redeem
• The Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express:    Other than getting a lower annual fee Amex card that had a good sign-up bonus not sure why else I applied.  I recently received and completed an offer to get 50,000 points if I spent $5,000 in 3 months – this made me love this card even more; plus the bonus points went into my account within 3 days of the purchase going through!
• The Blue Business®️ Plus Credit Card from American Express:   I applied for this card because of the $0 annual fee (See Rates & Fees) and 2X points per $1 on the first $50,000 in business purchases per year; then 1x – hard to beat for non-travel and non-restaurant spending.  I only keep 2 cards on me at all times, so this pairs well with my Chase Sapphire Reserve.  I was frustrated that I missed out on the limited-time 20,000 point sign-up bonus

3.   Describe the application.  ex. Did you apply as a sole proprietor with your social security number or some other way?

On all the cards, I applied as a sole proprietor with my Social Security Number.

4.   Which factors do you think lead to your applications being approved?

The factors I think helped for each card were having a good income, great credit score, and a history with each bank prior to applying for the business cards.  On 2 of the cards, I called to follow up and offered to move credit from a personal card to the business card, which helped get me approved.

5.   What would you tell someone who’s never applied for a small business card?

I recently had my wife apply for her first small business card.  My tips for her were to be honest with the application (there isn’t any reason to exaggerate income as you don’t need a lot to be approved) and don’t be afraid to call if you get denied.  Because you can often move credit from a personal card to a business card in order to get the new card approved.

6.   Now the fun part!  How do you plan to use your miles or points to get Big Travel with Small Money? 🙂

My wife and I visited Ireland last month (largely on points) and thoroughly enjoyed Aer Lingus Business Class from Boston to Dublin (it’s hard to beat this for value), stayed at the Westin Dublin and then a return Dublin to Boston flight in Delta Business Class.  It was our first time ever in lie-flat seats, which make flying so much better!

Future goals:

• Take a family trip with our 2 kids and our nanny (looking at Hyatt Ziva Cancun via Chase Ultimate Rewards points and 2 free Hyatt nights) and flights from and back to Kansas City
• Visiting Spain and France – We will likely use my British Airways Avios points to get flights on Iberia
• Visiting London – This is a great redemption option for my 7-night Marriott hotel, but it stinks that British Airways charges such high fees even when using points, so not sure when this will happen
• My wife and I both have the Southwest Companion Pass for the rest of 2017 (mine expires this year though), so we’ll be using Southwest points to make a few trips the rest of the year to take our kids and visit family and friends in different states

Thanks for sharing your small business card experience, Anthony!

For rates and fees of the Blue Business Plus card, please click here.

Want to Share Your Story?

If you’d like to share your small business card success, please send me a note!  Emily and I would love to hear about how it went for you!