I Am Entrepreneurial. And So Can You!

Many facets of the miles game are not quite what they seem to be at first glance.

Spending is not always actual spending.

Miles and points are not always rewards for actual travel.

And businesses are not always actual businesses.

Previously, in my post “business time,” I explained how it is that you are probably already a business owner.

You are so Entrepreneurial and you don’t even know it…

Not in the sense of actually making money from your own business. Let’s not get carried away here.

More in the sense of being an appropriate applicant for business credit cards.

Now you may not want to take ethical advice from me.  I once applied for a business license from the city for a fictional pizzeria so that I could shop for cheap pizza flour at Restaurant Depot.

But please ignore my sketchy past for a second and hear me out.

You can safely apply for a business card without;

1. Actually owning a functioning business.

2. Telling one lie on your credit card application.

3. Doing anything in the least bit unethical or illegal.

All it takes is you imagining a conceivable business, and honestly reporting your personal income, and your business income (zero dollars in my case,) on a business credit card app.

(As an example: my current businesses are a pizza company, and this blog, and my wife ((who loves to sew)) has an online kids clothing business.)

When you fill out your application you simply declare yourself a sole proprietorship, and put your Social Security number into the space for your own tax ID number.

You likely will not be approved immediately. But what you will do is call the reconsideration line, and talk about your business plan and your actual income (which is what’s actually securing the credit line, ) and you will likely be approved.

And why go through this hassle to get a business card when you don’t really have a profitable business (yet?).

Here are five good reasons why business cards should be in the wallet of every self respecting travel hacker.

1. Some of the best credit card sign-up bonuses are for business cards. (The Chase Ink immediately comes to mind.)

2. Most banks will approve you for one business card and one personal card each churn. This allows you to access more of the best credit card offers from the most generous banks.

3. Credit spending on your business cards does not affect your credit utilization ratio, one of the most important factors in determining your credit score. So when deciding on whether to manufacture spend on a business or personal card, all else being equal, I will always choose the business card. (No credit score risk as long as I pay the spend back in full.)

4. Some business card offers are slightly better than their personal card counterparts. (I chose the club Carlson Business card over the personal card during my last churn, because The annual fee was $15 less.)

5. The Southwest companion pass can be yours in a single credit card churn! This should be the value focused domestic traveler’s (as opposed to the luxury focused international traveler’s) number one prize in travel hacking.

So there you have it. Isn’t it time you embraced your inner entrepreneur?