Best Business Credit Cards for Dining Of 2023

Entertaining business clients, ordering catering for events and paying for employees’ meals can add up. So it makes sense to find the best business credit card for your dining expenses.

With the right credit card, you can turn all that eating out into award flights, hotel nights or cold hard cash back. As you’re considering which credit card is right for your business, pay attention to the types of rewards you’ll earn, the card’s fees and other card benefits.

CNBC Select reviewed dozens of the most popular business credit cards to determine the best options for dining purchases. (See our methodology for information on how we choose the top dining business credit cards).

Who’s this for? The American Express® Business Gold Card is ideal for small business owners who want to earn valuable travel rewards. It earns elevated rewards for your two highest-spend categories each billing cycle, including purchases made at U.S. restaurants.

Standout benefits: This card offers a 25% rebate when you use Pay with Points to book certain flights, baggage insurance, trip delay insurance, secondary rental car insurance, no foreign transaction fees and up to 99 employee cards (see rates and fees).

Will the annual fee pay off?: The biggest selling point of this card is how easy it makes it to earn Amex points. Experts value Amex points at two cents each, which means you’d need to earn at least 14,750 points to effectively offset the annual fee — or just $3,688 in spending each year in the card’s 4X bonus categories.

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Who’s this for? The U.S. Bank Business Triple Cash Rewards World Elite Mastercard® is a perfect fit for business owners who value the simplicity of cash back. It earns 3% back at restaurants and a handful of other useful categories.

Standout benefits: Cardholders can earn an annual $100 software credit after making 11 consecutive monthly purchases with an eligible software provider.

Will the annual fee pay off?: This card has no annual fee, so all of the rewards, bonuses and benefits you earn are profit from day one.

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Who’s this for? The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card is a good choice for business owners who want to transform their dining expenses into hotel nights, particularly at Hilton Honors properties. Purchases at U.S. restaurants earn 6X Hilton points.

Standout benefits: Cardholders receive automatic Hilton Honors Gold status, with an opportunity to earn Diamond status after spending $40,000 in a calendar year. The card also comes with 10 complimentary Priority Pass airport lounge visits per year (enrollment required) and the opportunity to earn up to two free night rewards each year (one when you spend $15,000 in a calendar year and another after you spend $60,000).

Will the annual fee pay off?: The Hilton Business Card has a manageable $95 annual fee (see rates and fees) that’s easy to justify. For example, if you value airport lounge access this card’s 10 Priority Pass lounge visits can more than make up for the annual fee. A Standard Plus Priority Pass membership with 10 visits included normally costs $329 per year. Factor in the value of the automatic Hilton elite status and you’re sure to come out ahead.

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Who’s this for? The United℠ Business Card is useful if United is your preferred airline and you want to earn airline miles for your business dining expenses. It earns 2X United miles at restaurants and has perks that are useful for United frequent flyers.

Standout benefits: This card comes with two United Club lounge passes per year, the first checked bag free (for the cardholder and a companion), priority boarding and 25% back on inflight purchases and United Club premium drink purchases.

Will the annual fee pay off?: This card has no annual fee for the first year, then it’s $99. If you travel with United Airlines just a couple of times a year, it’s not hard for the annual fee to pay off. The two United Club lounge passes would normally cost over $100 and getting up to two free checked bags can save you up to $140 per roundtrip flight (if you’re traveling with a companion).

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The American Express® Business Gold Card stands out for its flexible bonus reward categories based on where your business spends the most.

Rewards

• 4X points per dollar on two select categories where you spend the most each month (on up to $150,000 in combined purchases from these categories each calendar year)
• 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases

Eligible spending categories for the 4X bonus include:

• U.S. purchases for shipping
• U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
• U.S. purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software and cloud solutions
• U.S. purchases at gas stations
• U.S. purchases at restaurants
• Airfare purchased directly from airlines
• Terms apply

Welcome bonus

Earn 70,000 points after spending $10,000 on eligible purchases within the first three months of card membership.

Annual fee

$295 (see rates and fees)

Notable perks

The main appeal of the American Express Business Gold Card is its ability to earn 4X Membership Rewards points in a range of categories. However, it also comes with access to various expense management tools and travel and purchase insurances. Eligible purchases automatically qualify for baggage insurance, trip delay coverage, purchase protection and extended warranty protection.

In addition to transferring their points to Amex’s various airline and hotel partners, cardholders can qualify for a 25% points rebate when using the Pay with Points feature through the Amex Travel portal. This rebate applies to all business and first-class flights or any flight with the card member’s selected airline. You can receive up to 250,000 points back with this benefit per calendar year.

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The U.S. Bank Business Triple Cash Rewards World Elite Mastercard® is a no annual fee card that earns cashback across multiple useful bonus categories.

Rewards

• 5% cash back on prepaid car rentals and hotels booked through the U.S. Bank travel center
• 3% cash back at gas stations and EV charging stations, office supply stores, cell phone service providers and restaurants
• 1% cash back on all other purchases.

Welcome bonus

Earn $500 in cash back after spending $4,500 on the card in the first 150 days of account opening.

Annual fee

$0

Notable perks

The U.S. Bank Business Triple Cash Rewards card has a generous 0% intro APR offer. For purchases and balance transfers, you’ll get 0% intro APR for the first 15 months (balance transfer fee of $5 or 3%, whichever is greater), then the regular APR of 19.24%-28.24% applies.

Card members can also earn an annual $100 statement credit for eligible software purchases. To qualify for this credit, you’ll need to make 11 consecutive eligible monthly software purchases directly with the software provider.

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The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card offers solid earning rates and useful benefits for anyone who frequents Hilton hotels, whether it be budget property brands like Hampton by Hilton or luxurious brands like Waldorf Astoria and Conrad.

Rewards

• 12X points per dollar spent directly with Hilton hotels and resorts
• 6X points at U.S. gas stations, U.S. purchases for shipping, wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers, flights booked directly with an airline or through the Amex Travel site, car rentals booked directly from select car rental companies and U.S. restaurants
• 3X points on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $3,000 in purchases on the card within the first three months of account opening.

Annual fee

$95 (see rates and fees)

Notable perks

Cardholders get complimentary Hilton Gold status and are upgraded to Hilton Diamond status after spending $40,000 on the card in a calendar year. You’ll also have an opportunity to earn up to two free night certificates. You can earn the first free night after spending $15,000 on the card in a calendar year and the second after spending $60,000 within the same period. This card comes with 10 free Priority Pass airport lounge visits per year and has no foreign transaction fees (see rates and fees). Other perks include various travel and shopping protections, as well as access to expense management tools.

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The United℠ Business Card card is an airline business card with a reasonable annual fee and money-saving perks for frequent United flyers.

Rewards

• 2X miles per dollar on United purchases, gas stations, dining, office supply stores and local transit (rideshares, tolls, mass transit, taxis, trains)
• 1X mile per dollar spent on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

Earn 50,000 United miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from when you open the account.

Annual fee

$0 annual fee for the first year, then $99

Notable perks

The United Business Card’s priority boarding, 25% off inflight purchases and free checked bag benefits can save you money and time. Frequent flyers can qualify for a $100 United travel credit after purchasing seven or more United flights (of $100 or more) in a card anniversary year. And when you’re traveling on all those United flights you’ve purchased, you can relax at a United Club lounge with the two free passes you get each year (normally $59 per day pass).

Just by having this card, you’ll have expanded access to low-priced, saver award flights. Plus, United elite members who have this card get access to upgrades on award flights. To complement these benefits, the card helps you earn elite status more quickly by providing 500 Premier qualifying points (PQPs) for every $12,000 you spend in a calendar year (up to 1,000 PQPs).

If you pair this business card with a personal United card and this business card, you’ll receive a 5,000-mile anniversary bonus. Card members are also eligible for one year of complimentary DashPass membership, allowing you to save on food deliveries.

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The best business cards to consider are the ones that best align with your business needs. Having a separate business card for dining expenses can make sense if that is a big part of your budget. But if not, you’ll want a card that rewards you for more than just eating out.

Aside from where the card earns rewards, also pay attention to the type of rewards the card earns. Cash-back business cards are useful because it’s money you can add to your bottom line. But if travel is an essential part of your business, then travel rewards may be more valuable.

Some business cards have no annual fee and others come with large annual fees. Usually, if a business card has a higher annual fee, it’ll have more valuable benefits. These perks can make the annual fee worth paying, but only if you’ll take advantage of the benefits. So before you pay a big fee just to have a card, make sure you’ll get more in return than what you’re paying.

Food can be a significant business expense, and with the best business credit cards for dining, you’ll be rewarded for those purchases. You can earn everything from cash back you can use to offset your bills to flexible travel rewards that transfer to airline and hotel loyalty programs. On top of that, many of these cards offer additional money-saving benefits such as travel and purchase protections and statement credits.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit business card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best business dining credit cards.

To determine which business cards offer the best value for dining, CNBC Select analyzed the most popular credit cards available to U.S. business owners. We compared each card on a range of features, including the annual fee, employee card fee, rewards, welcome bonus, introductory and standard APR and foreign transaction fees, as well as factors such as required credit and customer reviews when available. We also considered additional perks, the application process and how easy it is to redeem points.

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For rates and fees of the Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.

For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, click here.

For rates and fees for the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, click here.