Points Guy, regarding #8, if you sign up for a business credit card as a DBA (you use your SSN for t

Last week s limited-time 75,000-point sign-up bonus offer for the Amex Business Gold Rewards card was a good reminder that many of the credit cards currently on the market that are geared uk seaside hotels towards business carry rewards and benefits that are just as great and sometimes better than the personal credit cards that are out there including huge sign-up uk seaside hotels bonuses, category uk seaside hotels spending bonuses, and tons of other perks. A lot of people uk seaside hotels seem hesitant to apply for them, though, so I wanted to create a #TT top ten list of great reasons why you should take advantage of business credit cards.
1. You don t need a business to get one. This seems to trip up a lot of people who think that you need an actual, incorporated business with its own Federal ID number in order to apply for a business credit card. While you should aim to use your business uk seaside hotels credit card for business related expenses, each credit card company has a different threshold for what information they require for someone to get a business card. Most are very flexible, but Citi is generally the toughest, often requiring proof of your business, including government EIN and business checking account information. However, many small businesses start out as simple DBAs (Doing Business As) which simply denotes a business name used by a person or entity that is different from the person's or entity's true name. So if you start a small Ebay business and want to keep those finances separate from your personal expenses, it would be conceivable that you'd want a business credit card. You can also say that you have a sole proprietorship company, and in this case, you can just provide your social security number when asked for EIN and usually that suffices.
uk seaside hotels 2. Business credit cards don t sit on your personal uk seaside hotels score. I want to start by clarifying that you get a 2-5 point hit on your personal credit score when you apply for a business credit score since banks use it to assess your creditworthiness and these cards are still personally guaranteed. However, after you have opened a business credit card, that line of credit sits separate from your personal credit line so utilization and other factors shouldn't affect your personal credit score. This is good if you run big balances on your business cards since it won't artificially damage your personal credit score. Just be careful, though, since if you default on a business card, expect the issuer to come after you personally since they are guaranteed by your personal credit.
3. Keeping expenses separate. Almost all of us have that credit card or cards that we put all our business or non-personal expenses on, whether we have a business of our own or not. It s important to keep your personal expenditures separate from your business ones especially as tax season draws nigh whether you re just getting reimbursed or you are operating your own company. uk seaside hotels Having a separate business credit card makes tracking expenses easy and you'll pay less in accounting fees if your accountant doesn't have to sort through personal vs. business expenses (plus it's easier to get everything straightened out if you ever get audited by the IRS). This is also a great reason for a bank or issuer to give you a personal credit card when you apply since it s one of the major reasons people apply for business credit cards in the first place.
4. More sign-up bonuses. If you ve already churned through most of the personal credit cards currently on the market, applying for business credit cards allows you to go for a whole new set of sign-up bonuses. Though you'll have an inquiry on your credit, you'll also be eligible for a sign-up bonus like the Ink Bold and Ink Plus s 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points, the Southwest Business Card with card has a 50,000-point sign-up bonus , the  Starwood uk seaside hotels Business Amex 's 25,000-point bonus, or that limited-time Amex Business Gold 75k sign up.  If you already got the 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles on both the personal Visa and Amex, you could always get one of their business cards like the Citi Executive / AAdvantage World Elite Mastercard or the CitiBusiness / AAdvantage World Mastercard to rack up even more miles, or the the sign-up bonus of 10,000 Medallion Qualifying Miles with first purchase Business Delta Reserve card from Amex if you need that little extra bump for elite status. Check out my list of the best business cards for earning uk seaside hotels travel points, miles and cash back. Just remember, many business cards have higher uk seaside hotels spending requirements , so know what you're getting yourself into before you sign up.
5. Different uk seaside hotels bonus spending categories. Just like personal credit cards that have category spending bonuses such as the Sapphire Preferred s 2x on travel and dining and the Amex Premier Rewards Gold s 3x on airfare and 2x on gas and groceries, many business uk seaside hotels credit cards extend spending bonuses on certain categories of merchants, so by using your business cards on those specific categories while continuing to use your personal cards on the categories where they earn a bonus, you can maximize even more of the dollars you are spending. The Business Gold Rewards card from Amex, for instance, has the same 3/2/1 earning structures as the personal card, awarding 3x points on airfare, 2x points on purchases in the U.S. for advertising in select media, gasoline at U.S. stand-alone gas stations, and shipping uk seaside hotels and 1x points on other purchases. Restrictions: Points are earned only on eligible purchases. Bonus points limitations apply. The Chase Ink Bold and Ink Plus both offer 5 points per dollar spent on office supplies/cell phone/internet/landline/TV, 2 points per dollar uk seaside hotels on gas stations and hotels and 1 point per dollar on everything uk seaside hotels else. Restrictions: $50,000 max spent in both 5x and 2x categories. For its part, the CitiBusiness Thank You card earns 3 points per dollar spent on eligible purchases in rotating categories.
6. Business perks. Amex and Chase both have geared rewards programs and benefits specifically for their line of business credit card products. uk seaside hotels Amex OPEN Savings gives automatic discounts at certain vendors: like 5% off Hyatt, 5% off Courtyard by Marriott and up to 10% off at Office uk seaside hotels Max as well as 90 days of purchase protection and extended warranties. For its part, Chase gives cardholders of both the Ink Plus and Ink Bold complimentary Lounge Club membership. It's sort of like Priority Pass membership where you pay to join and then each time you visit a lounge, you pay a day pass fee. Lounge Club has 350 VIP airport lounges worldwide and membership is priced at $150 per person per year. Ink Bold and Ink Plus cardholders get two free lounge passes per year and then after that, they will have to pay the usual $27 per person per visit fee. The Ink Plus also gives you access to Chase's Blueprint service which helps you design a plan to pay off purchases in flexible uk seaside hotels ways and track your spending.
7. More types of cards. Although many banks decide how many credit cards you can have based on your overall credit line limit, some banks have limits on the number of cards you can have. For example, you can only have four personal credit cards with Amex. However, Amex will let you get an unlimited number uk seaside hotels of business and charge cards as long as your credit is healthy, so if you ve maxed out the bonuses that you can get on personal cards from a single bank, having the option to get business versions of those cards is a great way to keep those bonuses coming in and to be sure you are maximizing those category spending bonuses on every single purchase.
8. Establishing a business credit history. This one goes hand-in-hand with the fact that your business credit card s line of credit doesn t sit on your personal report. While you hopefully have a high personal FICO score to apply for the card in the first place, once that card is open, its entire record sits separate from your personal credit. If your business takes off and you apply for loans for purchases, real estate, or other large expenses, uk seaside hotels however, banks will look at your business line of credit when determining your interest rate, and the more established your line of credit, the better rates you re likely to get.
9. Protections. Although purchase protection and insurance is generally less generous on business credit cards than with personal cards, they can still provide valuable and comprehensive protections against fraud and on purchase the same as any Visa, Mastercard uk seaside hotels or American Express card does so that if something goes wrong with something your business purchases, it won t have a crippling effect on your bottom line. For instance, both the Chase Ink Bold and Ink Plus cards as well as the CitiBusiness AAdvantage card are World Mastercards, which come with warranty extension, price protection, and Master Rental Insurance on car rentals find more details on these benefits here . American Express s OPEN Savings plan also offers a host of protections including warranty extension, purchase protection and car rental and loss insurance, so the benefits are fairly comprehensive.
10. More spending power. uk seaside hotels Business credit uk seaside hotels cards often come with higher lines of credit, which is how many small businesses get off the ground. uk seaside hotels Just remember, especially with business charge cards, you need to pay the bill off in full every month or else you ll incur huge fees, which will likely negate the value of the points/miles accrued.
Points Guy, regarding #8, if you sign up for a business credit card as a DBA (you use your SSN for the application) will the business credit line still help your business s creditworthiness, or do you need to use a business EIN for that?
I caution those who want to double dip the Business and Personal side. These extra sign-up uk seaside hotels points come at a cost. In most cases these cards will incur fees at sign up (Amex Plat/Delta Reserve) and/or yearly uk seaside hotels membership fees (Chase). Its all well and fine the first year, you get that fat bonus and your off to Tahiti. Well what do you do next ye