Business Traveler Guide
Whether you’re new to business travel or you’ve been a road warrior for years, the variety and complexity of rewards programs for frequent travelers can be dizzying. Today we’re going to take a look at the best hotel and airline rewards programs for business travelers with this Business Traveler Guide, as well as the credit cards you should pack before hitting the road.
Business Traveler Guide
- Hotel and Airline Programs to Consider if You are a Frequent Business Traveler
- Hotels – Earning and Using Elite status – easiest to earn and best overall value
- Airlines – Earning and Using Elite status – easiest to earn and best overall value
- 101 recommended approach for absolute beginner switching from debit cards (cards to get and which hotels, airlines to prioritize)
Hotel and Airline programs to consider if you are a frequent business traveler
Hotels
Picking a hotel chain is all about location, location, location. Even if a hotel chain could have the best perks in the world it could still be useless if it doesn’t have properties where you need to go.
If you travel to a limited number of places and Hyatt hotels are convenient for where you need to go, World of Hyatt offers some excellent benefits for top-tier Globalist elites, including free breakfast and suite upgrades. However, Globalist status is relatively hard to obtain — it requires 60 nights in Hyatt hotels, but there are few shortcuts — so you’re not competing with as many people for elite benefits.
If you want to easily rack up rewards to use for free nights, IHG One Rewards is probably your best bet. Furthermore, this hotel chain is probably best known for its Holiday Inn and InterContinental brands and includes a dozen others like Kimpton, Crowne Plaza, and Hotel Indigo. IHG frequently offers promotions that let you earn thousands of bonus points on stays. The IHG portfolio now includes more than 6,000 hotels across 100+ countries. When it comes to redemptions, award nights start as low as 5,000 points and typically range from 10,000 to 70,000 points per night, with some luxury properties reaching 100,000 points or more.
Airlines
For business travel, you’re probably going to want to focus on either one of the big three airlines (American, Delta, and United) or one of the smaller carriers that still have a significant network (Southwest, JetBlue, and Alaska). Whichever airline is right for you, this is going to depend a lot on where you live and where you most frequently travel, since every airline has different strengths and weaknesses in their route network.
Most US airlines have a strong presence in New York and Los Angeles. Beyond those cities, here’s a broad overview of what the US landscape looks like:
- West Coast/Southwest: Alaska and Southwest both have a strong presence throughout. United hubs in San Francisco and Denver, Delta has a small hub in Seattle, and American has a hub in Phoenix and Los Angeles.
- Midwest: American, Southwest, and United have big hubs in Chicago, and Delta has hubs in Detroit and Minneapolis.
- Northeast and Mid-Atlantic: American, Delta, JetBlue, and Southwest all have a lot of coverage here; United also has a good number of flights to/from its hubs in Newark and Washington-Dulles.
- South and Southeast: American has hubs in Charlotte, Dallas, and Miami; Delta’s headquarters is in Atlanta, and United has a major hub in Houston. Southwest also has a significant presence, including its Dallas headquarters.
Hotels – Earning and Using Elite status – easiest to earn and best overall value
You can typically obtain low- or even mid-level status with most hotel programs simply by holding a credit card from that hotel chain. For example, the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card gives you automatic Platinum status (its middle tier), the World of Hyatt Credit Card will get you entry-level Discoverist status, and holding any of Marriott’s credit cards from Chase or American Express will get you at least Silver status (its top tier Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card will give you Platinum).
Hilton, however, offers by far the easiest status to acquire from credit cards. Furthermore, you’ll get Hilton Honors™ Silver status with a no annual fee Hilton Honors credit card, and you can even obtain top-tier Diamond status with the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire card.
For most business travelers, opening a couple of hotel credit cards will give you enough status to enjoy benefits at various hotel chains while maintaining flexibility to pick the best rates and locations. Most importantly, if you’re looking to obtain higher status (or just not looking to open a bunch of credit cards), Hilton is still the easiest to achieve for many people since you can qualify based on the number of stays rather than the number of nights. Also, IHG is relatively easy to achieve since you can qualify on either points or nights (note that with IHG credit cards, reaching certain spending thresholds can automatically earn you elite status—the level depends on the card and how much you spend). Overall, the IHG program doesn’t offer as much in the way of elite perks as the others.
Airlines – Earning and Using Elite status – easiest to earn and best overall value
Airline programs are somewhat more complicated than hotel programs, and more geographically dependent. So, here’s a rundown of the programs that offer the best value for business travelers and why.
Atmosâ„¢ Rewards (formerly Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan)
If you live on the West Coast or travel there frequently, Atmos Rewards serving Alaska and Hawaiian airlines, offers perhaps the easiest path to the elite status of any US airline. That’s because while most frequent flier programs tie your elite status to spending a certain amount of money with the airline every year, Alaska’s elite program is based solely on the distance you fly. Furthermore, you also earn miles based on the distance you fly rather than the amount of money you spend, which distinguishes Alaska from other U.S. airline programs.
Atmos Rewards no longer uses MVP branding. Instead, it features four elite tiers—Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Titanium—that offer progressively higher bonus points: 25%, 50%, 100%, and 150%, respectively. Only Titanium members enjoy complimentary day-of-departure upgrades into long-haul business class for themselves and a companion. Meanwhile, change-fee waivers are granted through the Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card, not via elite status.
The main downside to Alaska Airlines is its limited route network outside the West Coast. While most large and medium-sized cities elsewhere in the country have at least 1-2 flights a day on Alaska, they’re all to one of its West Coast hubs, so you don’t have the same number of options as other carriers. And while Alaska has a number of useful airlines among its Global Partners, in most cases your Alaska elite status won’t be recognized when traveling on those partners as it would if you had status with American, Delta, or United.
American Airlines AAdvantage, Delta SkyMiles, and United MileagePlus
If Alaska doesn’t make sense for you, you’re probably going to be looking at one of the big three global carriers. Over the years, these three programs have become largely indistinguishable from one another. Here’s what the status qualification requirements look like:
| Airline | Status Tier | Qualification Criteria (2025) | Key Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines (AAdvantage) | Gold | 40,000 Loyalty Points | - Complimentary upgrades on eligible flights - Priority check-in and boarding - First checked bag free |
| Platinum | 75,000 Loyalty Points | - All Gold benefits plus - 9 miles per dollar on eligible flights - Priority security screening | |
| Platinum Pro | 125,000 Loyalty Points | - All Platinum benefits plus - Complimentary upgrades to First Class - Enhanced upgrade priority | |
| Executive Platinum | 200,000 Loyalty Points | - All Platinum Pro benefits plus - Systemwide upgrades - ConciergeKey® services | |
| Delta Air Lines (SkyMiles) | Silver Medallion | $5,000 Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) or $25,000 in eligible Delta SkyMiles® American Express Card spend Plus, 25,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) or 30 Medallion Qualification Segments (MQSs) | - Complimentary upgrades to Delta Comfort+® - Priority boarding - First checked bag free |
| Gold Medallion | $10,000 MQDs or $25,000 in eligible Delta SkyMiles® American Express Card spend Plus, 50,000 MQMs or 60 MQSs | - All Silver benefits plus - 8 miles per dollar on eligible flights - Priority security screening | |
| Platinum Medallion | $15,000 MQDs or $25,000 in eligible Delta SkyMiles® American Express Card spend Plus, 75,000 MQMs or 90 MQSs | - All Gold benefits plus - Unlimited complimentary upgrades - Choice Benefits selection | |
| Diamond Medallion | $28,000 MQDs or $25,000 in eligible Delta SkyMiles® American Express Card spend Plus, 125,000 MQMs or 140 MQSs | - All Platinum benefits plus - Global and Regional Upgrade Certificates - Dedicated Medallion phone line | |
| United Airlines (MileagePlus) | Premier Silver | 12 Premier Qualifying Flights (PQFs) + 4,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) or 5,000 PQPs | - Complimentary upgrades to Economy Plus® - Priority check-in and boarding - First checked bag free |
| Premier Gold | 24 PQFs + 8,000 PQPs or 10,000 PQPs | - All Silver benefits plus - 8 miles per dollar on eligible flights - Priority security screening | |
| Premier Platinum | 36 PQFs + 12,000 PQPs or 15,000 PQPs | - All Gold benefits plus - Complimentary upgrades to First Class - Enhanced upgrade priority | |
| Premier 1K | 48 PQFs + 16,000 PQPs or 20,000 PQPs | - All Platinum benefits plus - Global and Regional Upgrade Certificates - Dedicated Premier Service line |
Each program offers standard benefits like bonus miles (you’ll earn more award miles for each dollar spent), priority lines, free checked bags, priority boarding, and priority phone numbers for customer service. Also, mid-tier elites gain lounge access when flying internationally, on their airline and most of its partners. Each airline also offers the ability to waive at least part of the qualifying spend requirement by spending a certain amount of money on the airline’s credit card (starting at $25,000). Other benefits vary slightly depending on the airline:
- Same-day change fees: All three airlines waive same-day confirmed change fees for mid-tier elites and higher; American also waives same-day standby fees for Golds.
- Award ticket fees: American waives these for all elites. Delta only waives them for Platinum and higher. United offers discounts for Silver and Gold members and waives them for higher tiers.
- Extra legroom seats: American and United allow mid-level elites to select these seats for free anytime; low-level elites can select them for free at check-in if they are still available. Delta treats these as an upgrade, which happens shortly after booking for Platinum and Diamond elites, and 1-3 days before departure for Silvers and Golds.
- Upgrades: American and Delta offer complimentary First Class upgrades to all elites, in order of status. American only offers unlimited domestic upgrades to its top-tier Executive Platinum; all other elites get unlimited upgrades on flights under 500 miles, but otherwise, have to redeem 500-mile upgrade coupons’ which are earned based on your flying during the year.
Since the programs are so similar, for most people it’s going to make the most sense to select the airline that has the most service to where you live and where you travel. So, if you have a truly equal choice between two carriers, you can take these differences into account.
Southwest Rapid Rewards
Although Southwest doesn’t offer business class seats, it does offer an elite status program called A-List and A-List Preferred. The program is more limited when compared to other domestic airlines. This will allow those with A-List status to select a preferred seat at the time of booking, while A-List Preferred members can select an extra legroom seat at the time of booking. Within 48-hours of departure, A-List members can also select an extra legroom seat. This is for flights starting Jan. 26, 2026. Those with status will also receive priority boarding and A-List Preferred members also get free in-flight WiFi.
Southwest does have one jaw-dropping element of its program for extremely frequent fliers: the Southwest Companion Pass. This is essentially unlimited 2-for-1 travel for almost 2 years. So this could make Southwest very compelling if you travel with a partner!
JetBlue TrueBlue
First of all, JetBlue has just one elite status tier, Mosaic, which requires either $5,000 in spending on JetBlue flights or $4,000 in spending plus 30 flight segments. (You can also obtain this status by spending $50,000 on a JetBlue credit card). Like Atmos Rewards, JetBlue waives change fees for its elite members. Mosaic members also get complimentary alcoholic drinks on board, a unique benefit among US carriers (other airlines only offer a single free drink).
Also, JetBlue does have a handful of partner airlines but generally speaking it’s much more difficult to get outsized value from JetBlue points than from other programs, so JetBlue status is mostly useful if you live in New York, Boston, or Los Angeles.
If you earn status with this airline, your status will last until December 31 of the following year. For example, if you earned status in 2025, your status will last until December 31, 2026.
101 recommended approach for absolute beginner switching from debit cards (cards to get and which hotels, airlines to prioritize)
If you’re lucky enough to be able to put business expenses on your own credit card and get reimbursed, business travel can be an incredibly lucrative source of points and miles with the right combination of credit cards. And even if you’re required to use a corporate card, some credit cards offer significant perks just for holding them. If you’re a business traveler new to credit cards, here are a few steps to follow.
#1: Pay off your credit cards every month. Credit cards that earn miles and points have extremely high-interest rates, which far outweigh the rewards you can earn from using the card.
#2: Start off slow. Credit card companies will likely become concerned if you apply for a bunch of credit cards all at once – they’ll think you’re struggling with your finances. For that reason you may also find it difficult to be approved for premium cards if you don’t have much of a credit history – if that’s the case, a more basic airline or hotel card may be a good place to start or even a no-annual-fee card that’s part of a larger rewards program like the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
#3: Chase comes first. Finally, Chase has the most restrictive rule when it comes to approving applications for new credit cards, commonly called the 5/24 rule: if you’ve opened 5 or more new accounts with any bank in the past 24 months, you won’t get approved for most Chase cards. That means if you’re looking to open new credit cards, you’ll want to start with Chase if you’re eligible. Learn how to use Travel Freely to check Your 5/24 status INSTANTLY.
#4: Start with a credit card that offers solid rewards on travel. For most business travelers, even though it’s a personal card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a solid bet: you’ll get 3 points for every dollar spent on dining, a $300 travel credit every year, a Priority Pass Select lounge access, and a credit of up to $120 to enroll in Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. The points you earn with the card can be transferred to airline and hotel partners or redeemed directly in the Chase Travelâ„ portal for outsized value.
So if you don’t have much of a credit history, consider starting with another Chase card first like the Chase Freedom Unlimited: because you’ll still earn valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and if you sign up for the Sapphire Reserve later you can transfer those points to the new card. Therefore, you can maximize your points for Hotels and Flights with our Chase Ultimate Rewards Sweet Spots.
#5: Open a credit card with your preferred hotel chain. As mentioned above, hotel credit cards generally offer some level of elite status just for holding the card, for that reason you will immediately improve your experience at those hotels. Furthermore, you’ll also earn more points for every stay with your elite status, and even more if you use the card to pay for stays at that hotel chain.
#6: Sign up for a credit card with your preferred airline. Finally, besides earning a significant number of points for signing up and meeting a minimum spending requirement, most airline credit cards offer perks like free checked bags, priority boarding, and discounts on in-flight purchases when flying that airline. United even makes more award tickets available to its credit cardholders.
