Open Your World and Qualify for Business Credit Cards

When I first got involved in credit card churning and travel hacking, I ignored anything I saw about business credit cards. I thought they didn’t apply to me since I’m not a CEO at some big organization nor a big entrepreneur. This was really disappointing since many business credit cards offer the best miles earning opportunities for what I’m looking for! But I continued to ignore them all.

That changed this fall when I was approved for my first business credit card that came along with a 70,000 bonus miles sign up offer! That means by the time I max out all the miles earning on this card, I’ll have 320,00 miles on it. That’s enough for two round trip tickets to Africa in first class! Or a whole lot of economy seats to multiple destinations. Clearly, business cards are valuable commodities.

Now that I wrote about the Southwest Companion Pass which allows free flying for 2 years, I’m getting a lot more questions on this deal. And part of it requires you to be approved for 2 credit cards from Southwest, one of them being a business card. For those of you out there who own your own business which supplies your primary income, this is not a problem. However, for everyone else who isn’t quite sure, read on about some ways in which you too can qualify for a business credit card.

Chase offers the best Business Credit Card which is the one I have: The Chase Ink Plus. The Southwest Business cards are also through Chase. The biggest advantage is earning 5x points back on every purchase made at Staples with these cards. So when I buy $10,000 worth of visa gift cards from Staples each month for my Bluebird account, that’s 50,000 miles. The card does max out at earning 250,000 miles per year, but I’ll still take it! How can you get attain these powerful cards? First, let’s figure out what exactly a business is.

A business is an entity that provides goods or services to consumers. They are primarily designed to increase the wealth of their owners through profit- however this doesn’t mean you have to be earning a profit right this moment. Many startups take years to actually realize a profit and as most businesses are privately owned, this is quite common for credit cards. Also, many private organizations are based on a sole proprietorship- in simple English this just means it’s run by one person, no employees involved.

So, if you happen to be a dentist who owns their own practice, simple. That’s very clear and obvious and you can apply for a credit card using your dental office information.

However, say you’re thinking of starting up a business. My husband falls into this category as he’s involved with a group starting an investment club. While this is more of an official situation, you could also fall into this category if you’re thinking of starting an Etsy account to sell your homemade crafts. Or getting on ebay to sell your old clothes and other items. Or, maybe you’re a college student planning to sell back books on Amazon (a bit more of a stretch, I know). Maybe you’re a craigslist guru who buys and sells items at a profit. Maybe you’re going to have a yard sale and need to buy materials to advertise and refreshments to offer your customers. There are lots of ways to stretch it and make it work.

I’ve also heard that for Chase cards it’s possible to be approved even if the business isn’t started. It’s referred to as a start-up venture. I’ve never tried this personally, but it’s worth a shot. So if you’re getting ready to start buying fabric supplies to make blankets and baby clothes to sell but haven’t gotten there yet, you could fall into this category. You can explain that you are looking for a business credit card to separate those expenses from your personal cards. But since the rate of businesses succeeding in the first few years are so low, banks tend to be a lot tougher on approving credit cards in these situations.

Also, if you are licensed professional (realtors or graphic designers for instance) who are approved for consulting services, you may able to use this for your application.

So if you fall into any of the areas discussed above, even something simple like holding garage sales every few months, you may be eligible for a business card. You don’t have to be an incorporate company to apply, you could qualify under a sole proprietorship. Above all, just be honest in your application. Don’t make up some big fancy business that is bringing in multi millions each year- that will not bode well and could get you into lots of trouble. I used this blog as my business since next year I aim to try to get some advertising on it that could result in some $.

There are lots of possibilities for qualifying. Keep an eye out for the next post to walk through the actual steps of applying for a business credit card. You can also check out this blog for more information: http://millionmilesecrets.com/2011/06/09/3-ways-you-may-qualify-for-a-business-credit-card/