5% Unlimited Cash Back on Flights and Prepaid Hotels Booked at American Express Travel Online; otherwise earn 2%
5% Unlimited Cash Back on Flights and Prepaid Hotels Booked at American Express Travel Online; otherwise 2%
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
It’s easy to look at this card and wonder how it differs from the American Express Blue Business Cash™ card, with no annual fee, and wonder why you’d pay a $295 annual fee on this card.
The primary two reasons are:
1) This card is a No Preset Spending Limit card. If you put heavy spend on a business card, you would max out the credit limit on the Blue Business Cash™ very quickly.
2) Importantly, that card only earns 2% on the first $50,000 spent annually on eligible purchases and just 1% thereafter. Terms apply.
This card will earn you the full 2% on unlimited spend. You’ll earn back the $295 annual fee (in Rewards Dollars) after the first $14,750 in eligible spend. If you are spending $500,000 on the card annually, that is a rounding error on the way to 2% cash back on everything else.
Previously, you had few options for such high spend, with the Business Platinum Card® as the obvious choice.
However, the Business Platinum earns just 1% in Membership Rewards points on all spend outside select categories. Specifically, it earns 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar on up to $2 million in eligible purchases in the U.S., per calendar year, in the following select business categories combined:
The Business Platinum card also earns 5X per dollar on airfare and prepaid hotel purchases with American Express Travel. Terms apply.
So the cash back from an unlimited 2% on this Graphite Business Cash Unlimited may be far more worthwhile to you, especially if you don’t play the “points game.”
And don’t forget you’ll also get an unlimited 5% Cash Back on American Express Travel® on flights and prepaid hotel bookings through Amex Travel®. That can really add up for business travel collectively booked on the Amex Travel platform.
Card Members can get metal Employee Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Cards for $95 per year for the first 5 Cards, and $95 for each thereafter, with the ability to earn Reward Dollars on purchases and receive alerts to help Card Members know who’s spending and where.
This card competes squarely against the Capital One Spark Cash Plus and the Venture X Business which earns 2X Capital One Miles.
Rates & Fees for the Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card
Rates and Fees for the The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card
Rates and fees for The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Earn 5X Miles on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel.
Earn 5X Miles on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
💳 This card earns Capital One Miles. Capital One often runs transfer bonuses where you can get even more points when you transfer to airline or hotel partners at designated times. Transfer bonuses are awesome. Get 20%, 30%, 40% or more bonus miles when you transfer points at the right times. But they are easy to miss!
You can see all past Transfer Bonuses from Capital One Miles here.
Even better? Get notified when a new transfer bonus comes out and again before it ends (either or both, your choice). Sign up for free alerts right here. 🔔
The Capital One Venture Business card is a uniquely simple small business credit card.
With 2X Capital One Miles earned per dollar spent on all eligible purchases (plus the option to earn 5X miles on hotels, rental cars, and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel), you can really rack up the miles fast.
And while Capital One Miles used to simply be worth a penny each towards travel, that’s changed entirely since Capital One made their miles transferable.
Many small business owners don’t worry about bonus categories, but they do want as many rewards points for their business spend as possible. And they want, on top of that simplicity, to know they are getting a top end rate of return on spend.
The Capital One Venture Business accomplishes both goals. 2X miles on everything with no limit is among the best options among all small business credit cards. While the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express also earns 2X points on purchases, it is capped at $50,000 in spend per year whereas the Capital One Venture Business has no limit.
And then for redeeming your points, you can simply spend them for travel at a penny a point, or you can use the airline and hotel transfer partners which have really expanded to include some great transfer partners like JAL Mileage Bank.
As an additional bonus, this low annual fee business card comes with up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® every four years.
Overall, it’s a super simple card that is an excellent choice for small business owners that love to travel on their time off.
Need to Know: Capital One generally will make a credit inquiry with all three credit bureaus. For new Venture Business customers, Capital One will not report to personal credit bureaus as long as an account remains in good standing. This card is on our list of credit cards that do not report the credit line to your personal credit profile.