| Credit Card Combo | Why These Cards Go Well Together | |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card |  and | Earn our favorite flexible points Get access to bonus spending categories like travel, dining, cable and internet, and more! |
| The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express | and | Rack up flexible AMEX Membership Rewards points which you can redeem for gift cards or transfer directly to travel partners like Delta and Hilton Get $200 worth of statement credits for airline incidental fees such as baggage fees |
| Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card and Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business | and | Very simple rewards system, which makes it easy to earn and redeem miles |
Signing-up for certain personal and small business card combos means you can earn multiple welcome bonuses. And that’s the quickest way to put extra cash in your pocket or earn Big Travel with Small Money!
Plus, smartly pairing the right cards can help you earn bonus rewards in multiple spending categories. This can mean extra cash back or miles & points to use for free travel!
Keeping a personal card AND business card in your wallet also makes it simpler to organize your expenses. For example, team member Keith uses a business card for his eBay reselling side hustle.
And don’t forget, you might be eligible for a small business card without realizing it! You just need a for-profit venture to qualify yourself as a small business. You can even apply as a sole proprietor by using your social security number on the application.
Best Credit Card Combo
- Chase Sapphire Preferred – Chase Ink Business Preferred (Best for Newbies!)
- American Express Platinum – American Express Blue Business Plus
- Capital One Venture – Capital One Spark Miles for Business (Best for Easy Redemptions!)
Ranking the Best Personal and Business Credit Card Combos
1. Chase Sapphire Preferred – Chase Ink Business Preferred
Link: Chase Ink Business Preferred
Link: Our Review of the Chase Ink Business Preferred
Link: Chase Sapphire Preferred
Link: Our Review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred
You can earn extremely flexible Chase Ultimate Rewards points with the Ink Business Preferred and Sapphire Preferred cards.
If you’re new to the miles & points hobby, this is the best card combo to consider getting first. Because Chase has strict application rules, which makes it difficult to get most of their cards if you sign-up for lots of other cards from other banks.
Points with these cards are valuable because you can redeem them for:
- Cash back (1 cent per point)
- Airfare, hotels, and car rentals with no blackout dates through the Chase travel portal (1.25 cents per point)
- Award flights and hotel stays by transferring points directly to travel partners like Hyatt and United Airlines
Prices on Chase’s travel portal are usually the same as booking directly. But you’ll likely get the most value from your points by transferring them to travel partners.
With both cards, you’ll also get access to multiple bonus categories!
With the Ink Business Preferred, you’ll earn:
- 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points for every $1 you spend on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites, and search engines (up to a maximum of $150,000 in combined purchases per account anniversary year)
And with the Sapphire Preferred you’ll get:
- 2X points for every $1 you spend on travel and dining
That’s in addition to the the lucrative welcome bonus available on both cards!
With the the Ink Business Preferred, you’ll earn:
- 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account.
And with the Sapphire Preferred, you’ll earn:
- 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of opening your account.
So with this card combo, you can earn a total of 130,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after meeting minimum spending requirements. That’s worth $1,300 in cash back or $1,625 worth of flights through the Chase Travel Portal. Or you can get even more value by transferring points to book travel!
Having lots of options for using your points and lucrative sign-up bonuses makes this 2-card combo the 1st place winner!
2. AMEX Platinum – AMEX Business Platinum
Link: The Platinum Card® from American Express
Link: Our Review of the AMEX Platinum
Link: The Blue Business℠ Plus Credit Card from American Express
Link: My Review of the AMEX Blue Business Plus Card
Having both the personal AMEX Platinum card and the no-annual-fee AMEX Blue Business Plus card can be a powerful combo for many reasons. Most importantly, you can potentially rack up LOTS of AMEX Membership Rewards points!
With the AMEX Platinum Card, you can earn 60,000 AMEX Membership Rewards points after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of opening your account.
Plus get valuable benefits like:
- $200 in statement credits per calendar year for airline incidentals with your selected airline (luggage fees, in-flight food & drink, etc.)
- $200 in Uber credit per year (but there are restrictions)
- Access to airport lounges (Delta, Escape, Priority Pass, Airspace,Centurion, and American Express International Lounges)
- and more!
- Terms apply
There are also unique perks with each card, which can help boost your points balance.
With the AMEX Platinum card, you earn 5X AMEX Membership Rewards points for booking flights and hotels through AMEX Travel.
And with the AMEX Blue Business Plus card, you’ll earn 2 AMEX Membership Rewards points per $1 spent on all purchases, on up to $50,000 spent each calendar year (then 1X thereafter). It doesn’t get much simpler than that. And those points can really add up!
Note: The AMEX Blue Business Plus card is currently offering 10,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first three months. Offer ends 9/26/18.
American Express Membership Rewards points are valuable because you can transfer them to 20 airline and hotel partners. But I don’t recommend cashing them in for statement credits or merchandise, because you’ll get less than 1 cent per point that way.
The downside of this combo is that you’ll have to spend $50,000 in order to make the most bonus AMEX Membership Rewards points with the AMEX Blue Business Plus card. And the restrictive $200 in Uber credits per year with the personal AMEX Platinum makes this benefit less useful. And it also makes it harder to justify paying the card’s $550 annual fee.
3. Capital One Venture – Capital One Spark Miles
Link: Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business
Link: Our Review of the Capital One Spark Miles Card
Link: Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card
Link: Our Review of the Capital One Venture Card
This is an excellent card combo if you’re looking for a simple rewards program. You don’t have to worry about bonus spending categories, blackout dates, or transfer partners.
If you apply for both of these cards, you can get $1,000 worth of travel. This can offset essentially any travel purchase, like airfare, Airbnb stays, seat upgrades, baggage fees, and much more!
With the Capital One Spark Miles, you’ll earn 50,000 Spark miles (worth $500 in travel) after spending $4,500 on purchases within the first 3 months.
And with the Capital One Venture card, you’ll earn 50,000 Venture miles (worth $500 in travel) after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months.
It would be great to see Capital One offer a travel credit to offset the cards’ annual fees. Or add transfer partners to increase the flexibility of the miles.
Bottom Line
The best credit card combos include:
- Ink Business Preferred – Chase Sapphire Preferred
- AMEX Platinum – AMEX Blue Business Plus
- Capital One Venture – Capital One Spark Miles
Chase wins the top spot for the best credit card combo with the Ink Business Preferred and Sapphire Preferred.
With both cards, you can earn huge (and valuable!) sign-up bonuses. Plus, you can redeem the points you earn with these cards for cash back or for Big Travel! It’s our #1 combo for folks new to miles & points.
If you’re looking for the most straightforward rewards program, consider the combo from Capital One. And if you spend a lot and can make the most of perks like lounge access and Uber credits, the card combo from American Express could be your best option!
I’d love to hear your opinions on the best credit card combo!
Capital One Venture – Capital One Spark Miles
Can one apply for both these cards on the same day so credit inquiry can be merged, since Capital one inquires hit all 3 bureaus and are reported to bureaus for both personal and business cards unlike Chase/Amex/Citi/BOA?
I don’t have personal experience, but reports online say Capital One won’t approve you for 2 cards in one day, even if one is personal and the other business.
None of these rules are in writing, but some folks suggest waiting at least 6 months between Capital One applications.
If it’s points that you are primarily after (especially long term), I personally think the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold or Everyday Preferred is a better option for the personal card combined with the Blue Business Plus.
Thanks for the comment, AJ. It really does depend on your spending habits! The combos you mentioned would work well for folks who spend a lot on travel, food, or gas, for example.