Which Credit Card for Big Spenders?

You don’t have to be among the super rich to have exceptionally high credit card spend, you may have big reimbursable business expenses or be in a position to front significant reimbursable expenses for work.

Before you go down that road, of course, you want to be comfortable that your employer won’t stiff you — either due to payment bureaucracy (some companies have been known to arbitrarily deny reimbursements, or to take 6-12 weeks to reimburse, which may make it impossible to manage).

But if your company’s rules allow it, if you’re confident in their ability to pay, and if they pay timely enough that you won’t get stuck with finance charges, it’s a way to earn big miles. I know that many (but certainly not most!) of my readers are in this situation.

• The most credit you can get. I carry the American Express Platinum card and use it not just for lounge access (Delta, American, US Airways plus several more through Priority Pass Select), $200 annual airline fee credit, and Fine Hotels and Resorts program but also because American Express will approve larger charges than anyone else will for me using this card. So I can pay bigger bills and earn more points.

  Another good option for this sort of thing is the Business Gold Rewards card from American Express. It waives the annual fee first year and offers 50,000 Membership Rewards points after $10,000 in spend within 5 months (this offer says it expires November 28). As a charge card rather than a credit card they require you to pay it in full each month, which you should do anyway, but it also means that with a demonstrated record of paying promptly they tend to be willing to float some very large charges. This card also earns triple miles on airfare and double miles on advertising (GoogleAds!), gas, and shipping.

• Moving credit around. Over the years I’ve generated quite a bit of credit with American Express on their credit cards as well. I have both a Starwood American Express and a Hilton Surpass American Express. When I have a big Starwood hotel bill, I move credit over to the Starwood card. I’ll have a decent chunk of credit available on the Hilton card for part of the year, until I meet the $40,000 required spend for Diamond status in the HHonors program and I’ll move more credit over if I need to pay a large Hilton bill (9 HHonors points per dollar). American Express for years offered the ability to move credit between cards at will online, took that ability away during the financial crisis, and brought it back earlier this year.

  Chase tends to give reasonably large opening limits, so does Citibank, the nice thing about Chase is their willingness over the phone to shift and combine credit lines which I do rather than flat-out cancelling cards, I’ve built up some significant Chase limits that way which allows me to put large charges on their cards (and also gives me excess credit with which to horse trade for new approvals on additional Chase cards that offer good signup bonuses).

• Maximize mileage return with bonuses for high spend. There’s elite qualifying mile and stay/night bonuses from airline and hotel cards, I’ve mentioned the Hilton HHonors Diamond status that I get for putting $40,000 on the Hilton Surpass American Express card. But I especially like the annual bonuses for high spending on the American Express Premier Rewards Gold card (15,000 bonus points after $30,000 in spend in a year) and the Chase Ink Bold small business card (up to 47,500 bonus points for hitting spending thresholds: 7500 after $25,000; 15,000 more after $50,000; and 25,000 more after $100,000 in a year).

• Bonuses for specific types of spend. If your big reimbursement spend is airfare, the American Express Premier Rewards Gold gives you triple points on airline spend.

  If it’s travel generally, nothing tops Chase Sapphire Preferred which gives double points on airfare, hotel, taxi, tolls, car rental, etc. and has the added bonus of no foreign currency transaction fees — I’m writing this after having left a hotel in Bangkok and arriving at a property in Koh Samui, both would earn 9 Hilton points per dollar with the Amex Surpass card but I’m putting it on the Chase Sapphire Preferred — I value those two points per dollar and no foreign currency conversion fees over the 9 Hilton points but paying the fees.

  Although in the US, I’d always put Hilton charges on the Surpass Amex, just as I’d put Starwood charges on the Starwood Amex, and Hyatt charges on the Hyatt Visa (I’d do this last one abroad, too, as the Hyatt Visa has no foreign currency fees either). The bonuses on hotel spend are big enough. I wouldn’t, however, value the earning from a Marriott Visa or Priority Club Visa enough to switch from Sapphire Preferred to those cards. Hotel cards are great if you’re a meeting planner or otherwise putting large hotel events on your card.

For those fortunate enough to be able to run large sums of reimbursable expenses through their personal cards, it’s important to be able to secure sufficient credit to take advantage of the opportunity and then choose the card that’s most rewarding for the type of spending and amount of spending you’re going to do.