topic Travel SUB Business/Personal Card in Business Credit

Travel SUB Business/Personal Card

recoveringfrombk7 — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 13:38:42 GMT

DH and I fly east to west once a year to see family + do business related things. This has gotten more expensive since our youngest is now over 2 and our oldest we pull out of school, so we went from 2 people to 4 this year. We prefer Newark out of convenience, but we are also near enough to PHL, JFK, and LGA. We prefer to fly into SNA, but we are also near enough to LAX, BUR, and LGB. So we have some flexibility if need be. As my name suggests, I am rebuilding from CH7, discharged in 10/2018. DH has good scores (~770 for FICO8). He is over 5/24 until January 2021. He owns a small business and has a United Explorer business card that we used the 60k SUB to cover one way of our trip this year and it really softened the expense as he digs out of personal debt from starting his business and I dig out of personal debt from student loans.

What are some business card options that would help us similarly for our 2021 trip (he has essentially no personal spend beyond household bills/rent, which we'd prefer not to change our current routine for - but we can if that's the best route)? I figured I'd ask now since SUBs tend to rotate and someone may advise to apply at a certain time. His small business doesn't do a lot of spend, average is about ~1k/month outside of rent/utils, but we have an uptick in expenses around June/July and spend about 5k during that time - so ideally that's when we'd crank out a SUB.

Super longterm once we are planning to travel with the kids internationally once per year, but realistically that's 5-7 years out (mortgage, student loans, and personal debt will be $0 and then our salaries get a lot more mileage). By that time I'll be able to get personal AMEX cards and we will want lounge access, etc. Right now we're just looking to help with the domestic flight.

Thanks!

Re: Travel SUB Business/Personal Card

Citylights18 — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 13:55:55 GMT

Chase Ink Preferred is 3x travel and has a reasonable SUB spend requirement of 5,000 for 80k points. The AF is reasonable at $95 and has the same transfer benefits as the personal Chase Sapphire Preferred.

They would pair nicely with the United card he already has since the points between Chase and United move at a 1 to 1 ratio.

Re: Travel SUB Business/Personal Card

recoveringfrombk7 — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 14:08:51 GMT

@Citylights18 wrote:
Chase Ink Preferred is 3x travel and has a reasonable SUB spend requirement of 5,000 for 80k points. The AF is reasonable at $95 and has the same transfer benefits as the personal Chase Sapphire Preferred.

They would pair nicely with the United card he already has since the points between Chase and United move at a 1 to 1 ratio.

Business cards are subject to personal 5/24 I thought? Definitely interested in that card, but thought it was not an option currently.

Re: Travel SUB Business/Personal Card

Aim_High — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 15:50:27 GMT

@recoveringfrombk7 wrote:
@Citylights18 wrote:
Chase Ink Preferred is 3x travel and has a reasonable SUB spend requirement of 5,000 for 80k points. The AF is reasonable at $95 and has the same transfer benefits as the personal Chase Sapphire Preferred.

They would pair nicely with the United card he already has since the points between Chase and United move at a 1 to 1 ratio.
Business cards are subject to personal 5/24 I thought? Definitely interested in that card, but thought it was not an option currently.

That's exactly the first card that came to my mind also. The 80K SUB is very rich and you can redeem it for $800 cash (or) $1200 in Chase UR portal travel redemption or even up to $1600 if you transfer to partners at up to 2ccp valuation. I got the INK Preferred for the SUB and downgraded mid-year to the INK Cash card that fit my spend better and has no AF. Chase even gave me partial credit for the prorated annual fee.

Business cards are interesting when it comes to 5/24. You must be under 5/24 to be accepted for a new business card. But once you hold it, they do NOT count against your 5/24 since it's based on new personal cards. That's why it's good to add them before you max out your 5/24 slots. Doing it that way basically lets you bypass 5/24 as you add combinations of new personal and business cards.

Re: Travel SUB Business/Personal Card

wasCB14 — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 21:33:47 GMT

@recoveringfrombk7 wrote:
DH and I fly east to west once a year to see family + do business related things. This has gotten more expensive since our youngest is now over 2 and our oldest we pull out of school, so we went from 2 people to 4 this year. We prefer Newark out of convenience, but we are also near enough to PHL, JFK, and LGA. We prefer to fly into SNA, but we are also near enough to LAX, BUR, and LGB. So we have some flexibility if need be. As my name suggests, I am rebuilding from CH7, discharged in 10/2018. DH has good scores (~770 for FICO8). He is over 5/24 until January 2021. He owns a small business and has a United Explorer business card that we used the 60k SUB to cover one way of our trip this year and it really softened the expense as he digs out of personal debt from starting his business and I dig out of personal debt from student loans.

What are some business card options that would help us similarly for our 2021 trip (he has essentially no personal spend beyond household bills/rent, which we'd prefer not to change our current routine for - but we can if that's the best route)? I figured I'd ask now since SUBs tend to rotate and someone may advise to apply at a certain time. His small business doesn't do a lot of spend, average is about ~1k/month outside of rent/utils, but we have an uptick in expenses around June/July and spend about 5k during that time - so ideally that's when we'd crank out a SUB.

Super longterm once we are planning to travel with the kids internationally once per year, but realistically that's 5-7 years out (mortgage, student loans, and personal debt will be $0 and then our salaries get a lot more mileage). By that time I'll be able to get personal AMEX cards and we will want lounge access, etc. Right now we're just looking to help with the domestic flight.

Thanks!

If you want a nonstop flight between SNA and EWR, it looks like you're really limited to one or two United flights a day. I've done that with a layover at SEA during Alaska fare sales. Not great, but I have Cent lounge access and it can be significantly cheaper than a nonstop flight at times.

I generally favor LAX and JFK. Pricing is generally more competitive with so many airlines flying the route.

One SUB idea would be to get non-reporting business cards (Amex business cards don't report, not sure about others) and use them for LAX-JFK or other routes where a lot of airlines fly.

Barclays has JetBlue and AA business cards. Both fly LAX-JFK. I don't know if they report personally.

Re: Travel SUB Business/Personal Card

Five6Two — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 22:41:35 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:

Barclays has JetBlue and AA business cards. Both fly LAX-JFK. I don't know if they report personally.

+1. I applied and was approved for the Barclays JetBlue Biz and received over 60k points after meeting SUB spend (and adding employee card). It does not report to personal bureaus but it also does not report to any biz bureas from what I have seen. You may try and go for both JB and AA since the SUB spend is only $1k plus one purchase on employee card.

Re: Travel SUB Business/Personal Card

Five6Two — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 22:43:39 GMT

@recoveringfrombk7 wrote:
@Citylights18 wrote:
Chase Ink Preferred is 3x travel and has a reasonable SUB spend requirement of 5,000 for 80k points. The AF is reasonable at $95 and has the same transfer benefits as the personal Chase Sapphire Preferred.

They would pair nicely with the United card he already has since the points between Chase and United move at a 1 to 1 ratio.
Business cards are subject to personal 5/24 I thought? Definitely interested in that card, but thought it was not an option currently.

Not sure who you or DH bank with, but Chase currently has a promo out (google it, as I think links are prohibited here) that offers $300-500 bonus for opening a Chase Biz Checking. At that time, you can inquire as to any pre-approvals in branch - not guaranteed, but worth a shot. Plus, if you can afford to park $1500 in the account for 6 months you'll get a nice bonus.

Re: Travel SUB Business/Personal Card

recoveringfrombk7 — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 23:07:31 GMT

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Re: Travel SUB Business/Personal Card

NimbusIII — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 05:32:20 GMT

If it is primarily domestic flights that will bring you the most benefit then I would suggest the following:

1)Amex Delta platinum business: 80,000 bonus miles with 3k spend in 3 months. This will get you discounts this year. At the anniversary year you get another 20k bonus miles and a companion certificate. Free first bag for up to 4 on the same itinerary. You continue to get a companion ticket each anniversary year the card is open. Plus with amex 3x cli makes it a viable growth card for small businesses. You can also access delta sky club for $39. However it does have an annual fee of $250. You also get TSA precheck (with each card, yes an AU card +$85)

2nd) would be Alaskan airlines business card with bank of America. Not as strong on the bonus miles at 40k but also has the renewing companion certificate and free first bag. The best part is the anual fee is only $50. You may even be able to use with American Airlines depending on the structure of the new partnership.

Hope this is helpful! Both cards are relatively easy to obtain for a business.