I’d like to share seven of my simple business travel and expense tips for startups that I’ve picked up over the years. The title of this post shows 200 tips — I have provided 7 to get started and I’d love CN readers to add 193 more! It’s critical in the current economic times that we maximize every dollar/euro/yen/etc that we spend on goods and services. 

Tip #1 - Use business credit cards

This is probably the most overlooked business item I’ve seen with startups. Even if you are one person in a basement, you can get a business credit card using your own personal name. Each card provides a different set of benefits but here are some ideas to consider:

• JetBlue - gives a direct 5% discount
• PriorityClub - provides additional points per stay over the personal card
• Delta - 5% off on all flights, plus miles for usage

You need to find the card that works best for you as x airline might not fly from your homebase. But you need a business credit card. Another side benefit, business cards don’t show up on your personal credit report so it can help you "hide" any company debt.

Tip #2 - Get a business AMEX card

American Express has a program called Open which offers a variety of discounts at many national chains for car rentals, Kinkos, FedEx, etc. There is even a 5% discount now for Yahoo Search Marketing. Again, if you purchase anything at any of these chains, you need an Open card.

Tip #3 - Use the same hotel chain or airline where possible

Being able to maximize a hotel or airline program means staying within the same chain whenever possible. I like Priority Club and Starwood the best but almost every chain has a program. It’s not just enough to use the card when you check-in, you need to maximize the bonuses to hit the big freebies and top program levels. The more loyal you are to a chain, the more offers they will send you. Make sure you check FlyerTalk for your hotel and flight programs to check bonuses. Many bonuses aren’t sent to everyone but most times you can still grab them.

Tip #4 - Mobile Plan Discounts 

Talk to your mobile provider - many times if you can link up multiple numbers from your staff, you will be eligible for good company discounts. I’ve seen discounts as high as 15% on AT&T and T-Mobile.

Tip #5 - Shopping with Fatwallet rewards

If you shop online, check out Fatwallet rewards. They offer cash back when you shop through their merchant gallery. It’s easy and you shop through the normal merchant’s site but you just click from Fatwallet. For example, NewEgg pays 1% back, CircuitCity 2%, Staples, Office Depot, etc. About 200 stores are listed.

Tip #6 - Put your butt in a better seat

SeatGuru should be your first stop once you have picked a flight. The site displays every seat on almost every plane and which seats are best. Sure this won’t save you any money, but it will save your ass some pain when you are flying cross-country or international. If you fly a lot, ExperFlyer can help you find the best fares by showing you fare buckets versus the traditional pricing on airline Web sites. And FlightStats tells you a lot about the flights you are considered — on-time is a good thing.

Tip #7 - Using Priceline or Hotwire

While I don’t use these services too often as they conflict with the usage of rewards cards, if you do use either, BetterBidding should be your first stop. They will tell you what others have bid and won so you know what to bid. Never bid before doing your research!

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JetBlue has announced a new partnership with PayPal today that brings the micropayment service to travelers on the airline. I think of PayPal as the candy rack near the cash register - it’s perfect for impulse purchases. Is a flight an impulse purchase? No, but in any event the airline now has additional fare collection flexibility.

With JetBlue now facing competition from newcomer Virgin America for tech travelers, it’s time for JetBlue to step up their technology offerings. Sure JetBlue is testing BetaBlue (with email/IM access) on one plane, but it’s not enough. For example, why not add a channel to the live tv that lets a user browse from say the top 2 million RSS feeds? That seems easily programmed. Rather than more Internet video like Virgin is offering, I’d prefer to see more productivity offerings so that a cross-country flight can keep me moving forward.

Check out the printer we used for our business cards:

Like one of those brave chimpanzees NASA sent to space before humans, CNET’s Caroline McCarthy today took to the heavens aboard the inaugural flight of “BetaBlue,” JetBlue’s new onboard Wi-Fi service. It’s supposed to allow passengers access to email and IM via their BlackBerrys and Yahoo accounts.

But, according to McCarthy’s account — “It all reminded me of an ultra-low-end mobile browser” — the service failed to meet even our modest expectations for it, crashing at least twice during the intrepid reporter’s journey.