May 17, 2025 · 10 mins read
Santosh Kumar
If you charge a lot of business expenses to a credit card each month, you may as well get something in return. Fortunately, the best business credit cards for travel make it easy to earn cash back, flexible rewards, and even points for airfare and hotel stays. However, choosing a business credit card for travel isn't always easy. This list will get you on the right track.
Volo Pay's corporate cards are the perfect solution if you require a business travel credit card. With the recent introduction of a 20% TCS (Tax collected at source) on international credit card expenses above INR 7 lakhs in a financial year, many businesses were concerned that they would have to pay an extra amount for frequent business travellers after a certain point.
It was soon clarified that corporate expenses such as an employee traveling on behalf of a company or due to business reasons will not incur the 20% TCS deduction. Even so, many were concerned as to how an expense would be categorized as a personal or business expense. It would take a lot of paperwork and effort to make sure that business expenses are categorized as such.
To solve this issue and separate personal & business expenses, you need to get corporate cards such as the ones provided by Volo pay. Any expense through a corporate card will always be categorized as a business expense. Its international virtual corporate cards will let you book flight tickets and hotels securely. As part of the finance team, you can also set custom spending limits for each employee's card.
The SBI Central Travel Account Credit Card offers a comprehensive solution for corporate travel needs. It provides centralized billing and allows businesses to set customized spending limits for individual employees. The card offers rewards and benefits such as accelerated reward points on travel-related expenses and exclusive access to airport lounges.
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The Axis Bank Central Travel Account card is designed to simplify travel expense management for businesses. It offers features like centralized billing, customized spending limits, and detailed expense reporting. The card also provides travel insurance coverage and access to airport lounges, enhancing the travel experience for cardholders.
The Citi Corporate Card is an ideal choice for businesses seeking a versatile credit card for travel expenses. It offers comprehensive expense management tools, including detailed reporting and integration with accounting software. The card also provides global acceptance, making it convenient for international travel.
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The American Express Corporate Card is known for its premium features and global acceptance. It offers travel benefits such as airport lounge access, complimentary travel insurance, and rewards on travel-related expenses. The card also provides expense management tools and dedicated customer support for businesses.
Business travel credit cards work in much the same way that personal credit cards do, with a few slight differences. From a travel perspective, many best businesses credit cards for travel are similar to personal travel credit cards, but may have different bonus spending categories that are focused more toward businesses, the ability to earn more benefits after meeting spending requirements or other business-focused perks.
Some business travel credit cards add perks to make life as a road warrior more tolerable and often more pleasant.
There are three basic types of travel cards: general travel cards, airline cards, and hotel cards.
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With general travel credit cards, you can redeem rewards for a lot of things. Options may include statement credits, trips booked via the issuer's travel portal, online purchases, and gift cards. Depending on the rewards program, you may also be able to transfer rewards to airline or hotel loyalty programs.
General travel cards are more flexible than co-branded airline or hotel credit cards, which is a big plus for travelers who aren't necessarily loyalists or for those who travel to destinations with fewer hotel options. Cardholders can also worry less about blackout dates or other travel restrictions because rewards are not tied to a sole provider.
Airline credit cards offer perks that are especially useful to frequent flyers. They can be co-branded, meaning you earn rewards with a particular airline.
Airline cards can deliver a more economical, comfortable flying experience. Benefits often include free checked bags, priority boarding, complimentary or discounted access to airport lounges, and discounts on in-flight purchases.
Hotel credit cards are generally most valuable when used to book eligible accommodations. Co-branded hotel credit cards work best for loyal guests of a specific hotel group. If you regularly stay at properties within a hotel group, you can earn rewards that you can use for free nights at participating hotels.
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Figure out the type of rewards you want to earn. The most important factor among business credit cards for travel is the type of points you earn. Do you want to earn airline miles with a specific program? Hotel points? Flexible points? Maybe straight cash back is easier for you to manage. Only you can decide the right type of rewards for your travel goals.
Align your spending with the card. Research how much your business typically spends each month. If you’re applying for a card offering a welcome bonus, select one you easily qualify for based on your typical spending.
Compare cardholder perks. Decide whether you want travel perks like annual travel credits, airport lounge membership, or credits for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. Seek out cards that offer the benefits you need.
Evaluate the rewards program. If you want rewards you can use in several different ways, you may want to opt for a flexible business credit card that lets you transfer rewards to airlines and hotels or book travel directly.
Verify fees. Ensure you’re aware of any annual fees associated with the card as well as foreign transaction fees if you’re planning to travel internationally.
While travel credit cards come with multiple benefits, you should make proper use of them in order to make the most of the rewards program. Here are a few do’s and don’ts:
Understand the travel benefits on your card and plan your travel around them.
Register for the lounge access program as soon as you get the card in order to avoid any last-minute hassle.
Maximize your air mile earnings by putting the highest-earning purchases on the said card.
If you plan on getting a new credit card for a big trip, look for a sign-up bonus and welcome gifts that help make the trip easier for you.
Redeem the accumulated reward points for travel spends
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1: Ignore the rewards/air mile program on the card
2: Use the card for cash withdrawal in a foreign country, as it would incur finance charges from the day of withdrawal, along with a forex markup fee.
3: Keep your bills overdue, as it will lead to high-interest charges, which will nullify the value of the benefits that you could avail.
4: Use the reward points for non-travel vouchers or merchandise from the card issuer's catalogue.
Each travel rewards credit card has its own rewards program. The rewards program will highlight the rewards rate, explain any tiered categories and outline redemption options. You can find out how much you've earned in rewards by logging into your account or referring to your card's monthly billing statement.
Here's a brief summary of what to expect when you redeem rewards, but remember that specific details vary by credit card issuer.
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Redemption options might include using points or miles to pay for airfare, getting a statement credit, receiving free hotel nights, or buying merchandise at a discount.
One of the best features of a general travel credit card is that you have flexibility to choose whatever airline meets your needs. Some cards also have their own travel portal where you might get more value for each mile or point redeemed.
Log into your account and you'll find redemption options, as well as directions for redeeming your rewards. Many general travel rewards cards have airline partnerships, which give you many options when booking your travel.
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An airline-branded credit card often comes with generous rewards and excellent benefits, including in-flight credits, priority boarding, waived baggage fees, baggage insurance and 24/7 emergency assistance.
The method for redeeming airline-branded credit cards will vary by issuer, but you can usually redeem them online or by phone. Some allow you to redeem miles on their webpage. For specific details, you should go to the credit card's homepage.
Some airline cards use dynamic pricing, which means award rates can vary by date. With these airline credit cards, flexibility with travel dates can help you get the most bang for your buck.
Hotel-branded credit cards are best for those who are loyal to a specific hotel group. They often come with generous rewards, like tiered rewards and perks. Redemption options might include using your points for free or discounted hotel stays, hotel services and upgrades, gift cards and airfare.
Similar to airline cards, some hotel cards use dynamic pricing, so award values can vary depending on changes in demand for a date. For example, your rewards will unfortunately be worth less during a period of high demand.
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Yes, LLCs can qualify for a business credit card, which can help the entity organize expenses (which helps uphold limited liability protections), build business credit, and leverage rewards perks. An LLC may need a good credit history and proven annual revenue to qualify. And the LLC owner may need to put up a personal guarantee to assume liability for any unpaid balances.
Corporate credit cards are usually issued to companies, not individual cardholders. While employees’ personal credit typically won’t be affected by corporate credit card use (unless they put up a personal guarantee), opening an account may impact business credit scores, since activity gets reported to business credit bureaus.
Most travel credit cards offer free airport lounge access but the number of complimentary visits varies from card to card. Also, some card may only offer domestic lounge visits while others may offer both domestic and international lounge visits.
Yes. A travel credit card can be used for daily expenses beyond the travel category. In fact, putting other expenses on the card would help you accumulate more miles/rewards which can later to redeemed to get discounted/free flight tickets or hotel stays.
No. Domestic travellers can also get travel credit cards and save on their trips within the country through air miles, complimentary lounge access, hotel memberships, and more.
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