7 Tips To Maximize Rewards with Business Credit Cards

How To Maximize Rewards with Business Credit Cards

You can maximize the rewards you earn with your business credit cards a number of different ways.

Let’s take a look at 7 of our favourite ways to get the most from your company’s credit card spending.

Choose the right card

The first thing you want to do to maximize rewards with business credit cards is to make sure that you choose the right card for your business and even for each expense.

Generally, credit cards tend to focus their earning potential on a specific spending categories, and by paying attention to these categories and their earning rates, your loyalty rewards accounts will be bountiful in no time.

Choose the right card – Canadian expenses

As an example, if your company has employees who travel often for work and stay at Marriott hotels, you likely want to consider paying these expenses with the Marriott Bonvoy^® Business American Express^®* Card.

By choosing this card, you earn 5 Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 spent on these stays, and these points can later be redeemed for free hotel stays, ultimately saving you a nice chunk of money.

Additionally, depending on how your business spends money, you may have the opportunity to maximize rewards earning in spending categories like travel, food and drink, gas and rideshares, recurring bill payments, and more.

Based on where you spend your money, you may want a credit card like the American Express^® Aeroplan^®* Business Reserve Card to help you earn Aeroplan points and give you excellent travel perks…

…or perhaps you’re in need of a card like the Scotia Momentum^® for business Visa* Card that earns well across many categories, like recurring payments, office supplies, restaurants, and gas, and gives you some simple cash back as a reward.

Choose the right card – Overseas expenses

Also, if your business spends money overseas or on websites that charge in foreign currencies, you could consider using a card like the Scotiabank Passport^® Visa Infinite Business* Card. This is one of the few credit cards in Canada that doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee.

Not only that, but this card earns flexible Scene+ points that you can redeem for many types of rewards, with the best value found in travel redemptions and redeeming for groceries and dining out (great for buying office treats!).

No matter what your business expenses include, there’s a way for you to maximize the points and rewards that you earn by having the right selection of credit cards.

Choose rewards you’ll use

Another key factor in maximizing your rewards is to choose business credit cards that earn rewards you’ll actually use.

You could choose flexible rewards currencies like Scene+, American Express Membership Rewards, RBC Avion points, and TD Rewards, hotel and airline-specific rewards currencies like Aeroplan and Marriott Bonvoy, or a combination of both.

To help you decide which reward currencies you should collect, consider how you prefer to save money and what your ideal redemptions look like.

For example, if you never stay in hotels, it won’t make any sense to collect Marriott Bonvoy points, or if you’re afraid to fly, you probably don’t want to choose Aeroplan points as your primary focus for points collecting.

Redeem wisely

When it comes time to start redeeming the rewards points you’ve earned with your business credit cards, it’s worthwhile to get to know the most valuable and least valuable redemption options.

Most loyalty programs have a redemption or two that give you the best dollar value, as well as other redemption options that tend to be less valuable.

Keeping tabs on how you can get the most out of your points is a great way to maximize your rewards with business credit cards. Check out our loyalty program guides and our guides to redeeming different points currencies to strategize your next redemption:

Earn the welcome offer

These days, most credit cards come with some sort of welcome offer when you sign up as a new card member.

This welcome offer is often a large chunk of points or a time-limited elevated earning rate, and taking advantage of it can give you a significant rewards boost.

Importantly, keep in mind that welcome offers do tend to fluctuate, so if your goal is to maximize your rewards, it can be valuable to wait for a notable offer when shopping for a new business credit card.

Consider subscribing to our Milesopedia newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best welcome offers available.

Use your business credit card for every expense

By using your credit cards responsibly for as many of your expenses as possible, you can quickly earn lots of valuable rewards. That said, there have historically been some expenses that you weren’t able to pay with a credit card.

In the past, expenses like rent, income taxes, and GST/HST typically needed to paid by debit cards or bank transfers. However, there’s now ways to pay these expenses with a credit card, letting you maximize the rewards you earn. 

Chexy is a payment platform that lets you use a credit card to pay for things like rent, bills, and taxes, that you can’t usually use a credit card for.

To use Chexy for these expenses, you simply pay through the platform with your preferred Visa or American Express card, adding Chexy’s 1.75% fee and pocketing the rewards earned by your credit card in return.

This option also gives you a chance to double-dip your earnings, thanks to a partnered promotion between Chexy and Aeroplan. Chexy for Small Business and Aeroplan are working together to let you earn bonus Aeroplan points when you meet specific spending thresholds.

With this opportunity, you not only earn these bonus Aeroplan points, but you also earn the rewards associated with whichever credit card you use for the payment.

Take advantage of the card’s perks and benefits

Another great way to maximize your rewards with business credit cards is to take advantage of all the perks and benefits that come with your cards.

For example, the Business Platinum Card^® from American Express comes with airport lounge access, an annual travel credit, automatic Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status and Hilton Honors Gold Elite status, a statement credit to help cover your Nexus application fee, and more.

The Scotiabank Passport^® Visa Infinite Business* Card also give you complimentary airport lounge access and travel perks, but it then differentiates itself in a unique way thanks to its ability to save money on foreign currency purchases by not charging the typical 2.5% foreign transaction fee.

Additionally, travel insurance, mobile device insurance, purchase protection, and extended warranty are common benefits with many cards and can be particularly helpful for frequent travellers and for business purchases made on the card.

Since all these benefits are included with your credit card’s annual fee, there’s no reason not to maximize your usage of them to get as much as possible from your business credit cards.

Flexibility is your friend

Choosing to earn a flexible rewards currency gives you lots of options when it comes to redemptions, and this, in turn, can help you maximize rewards with your business credit cards.

Some of the best flexible rewards programs include:

• Scene+
• American Express Membership Rewards
• RBC Avion Rewards
• TD Rewards
• BMO Rewards
• NBC À la carte Rewards

These flexible rewards programs let you earn points that you can redeemed for travel, groceries, dining out, merchandise, gift cards, statement credits, and more.

Additionally, programs like American Express Membership Rewards and RBC Avion Rewards give you an added level of flexibility by letting you transfer your points to other loyalty programs.

Points transfer programs like these are a great to maximize your rewards since you can transfer points to popular options like Aeroplan, Marriott Bonvoy, WestJet Rewards, Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles, British Airways Avios, and more.

Bottom Line

As you can see from above, there are so many ways to maximize rewards with business credit cards.

We hope that our tips have helped you feel more capable of getting the most from your business expenses, and that you’re now ready to earn smarter, redeem better, and save more money!

FAQs

Can I have more than one business credit card?

Yes, you can have multiple business credit cards at the same time. By having multiple cards that earn different rewards currencies, you can maximize your earnings and diversify your rewards wallet.

Can I pay my rent with a credit card?

Yes, you can pay your rent with a credit card by using a payment platform like Chexy.

For a small fee, Chexy will facilitate your rent payment by credit card, letting you earn rewards on this common expense. You can also use this platform to pay other expense such as your GST/HST and other business taxes.

What’s the best rewards currency to earn as a small business?

The type of rewards currency that you should earn really depends on your redemption preferences and priorities.

Some people will benefit from collecting airline-specific points like Aeroplan, others will get the most from hotel-specific programs like Marriott Bonvoy, and many will prefer the flexibility of reward currencies like American Express Membership Rewards, Scene+, and TD Rewards.

Give some thought to how and where you most prefer to save money, and choose a program or two that fit those redemption desires.