Nowadays, small business credit cards are more competitive than ever before. Not only can they help you earn valuable rewards for your business, but in some cases, business credit cards also offer valuable perks that can save you a lot of money and offer peace of mind with your purchases.
In this post, I’d lke to take a detailed look at one of the most compelling business cards out there. The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card continues to be one of the most rewarding business cards out there, and is part of the excellent collection of Chase Ink Business credit cards. There’s not another business card that offers a combination of a huge welcome bonus, generous return on spending, and useful perks, all while having such a low annual fee.
Link: Learn more about the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card with 100K bonus points
Chase Ink Business Preferred Card basics
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is one of the all-around best and most well-rounded business credit cards out there, in my opinion. The card has an incredible welcome bonus, reasonable annual fee, excellent bonus categories, and valuable perks. So, let’s look at the details of the card.
Chase Ink Preferred welcome bonus: 100K Ultimate Rewards points
The Ink Business Preferred Card is offering a welcome bonus of 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $8,000 on purchases within the first three months.
I value Ultimate Rewards points at ~1.7 cents each, so to me, 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points are worth ~$1,700. This is a great reward, and among the best welcome bonuses on any business credit card.
Chase Ink Preferred $95 annual fee
The Chase Ink Business Preferred has a $95 annual fee, which is among the most reasonable annual fees you’ll find on a premium business card. You can add employees to your card at no extra cost, meaning you can also earn points for their spending at an accelerated rate.
That’s especially affordable when you factor in all the perks and bonus categories. As a point of comparison, I also really like the American Express® Business Gold Card (review), which is the Amex business card with the best bonus categories. However, that card has a much higher annual fee.
Earning points with the Chase Ink Business Preferred
One of the things that makes the Chase Ink Preferred Card so great is that it offers a lucrative points earning structure, as you can earn up to triple points on many purchases.
Chase Ink Preferred 3x points bonus categories
The Ink Business Preferred Card offers triple points in several useful categories that your business may spend quite a bit in, including:
- Travel
- Shipping purchases
- Internet, cable, and phone services
- Advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines
Those are some extremely useful and widespread bonus categories for most businesses. The “travel” category covers all kinds of things, from flights, to hotels, to rental cars, to parking, to ridesharing.
A lot of businesses have internet and phone service expenses, so you can earn triple points in those categories as well. If you’re a business that spends a lot on social media or search engine advertising (i.e., Facebook or Google), that could pay off very nicely as well.
See here for an exact breakdown of what’s included in each category.
Based on my valuation of points, that’s like earning a return of ~5.1% on spending in those categories, which is exceptional. In my opinion there’s not a more well-rounded business card out there in terms of the rewards you’ll get, and this card “only” has a $95 annual fee.
Chase Ink Preferred $150,000 annual bonus limit
You’re capped on earning 3x points with the Chase Ink Business Preferred on the first $150,000 spent in the above categories combined every account anniversary year. That means Chase isn’t using a January 1 through December 31 calendar, but rather, it’s based on a rolling 12 months from when you opened your account.
Chase Ink Preferred no foreign transaction fees
The Chase Ink Business Preferred has no foreign transaction fees, so it’s an ideal card for purchases abroad.
Redeeming Chase Ink Business Preferred points
The Ink Business Preferred Card earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which are one of the most valuable points currencies out there. There are two ways you can efficiently redeem those toward travel rewards:
- Points can be redeemed for up to 1.75 cents per point with Points Boost through Chase Travel℠
- Points can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to over a dozen loyalty programs, including 10 airline programs and three hotel programs
The Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel partners can be found below.
In general, my favorite use of Ultimate Rewards points is transferring them to airline and hotel partners, where you can get outsized value for aspirational redemptions. For example, you can redeem for first and business class tickets that would cost thousands and thousands of dollars if paying cash, or for luxury hotels that would cost $1,000+ per night.
For example, you could transfer 35,000-45,000 points to World of Hyatt for a free night at Ventana Big Sur, which is an Alila property that often costs $2,000+ per night.
Alternatively, you could transfer miles to one of the Ultimate Rewards airline partners so you could redeem for ANA’s incredible first class, when a one-way ticket would often cost $10,000+.
Chase Ink Business Preferred Card benefits
As you can see above, the Chase Ink Preferred Card offers an incredible sign-up bonus, and huge 3x points earning categories. But the benefits of this card go way beyond that.
Let’s look at some of the other benefits the Ink Business Preferred offers, ranging from rental car coverage, to an amazing cell phone protection plan (in all cases, you’ll want to consult your cardmember agreement for full details).
Chase Ink Preferred cell phone protection
With how expensive smartphones are nowadays, there’s a lot of value to having a credit card with cell phone protection, and that’s something that the Ink Business Preferred Card offers.
The Ink Preferred offers up to $1,000 per claim in cell phone protection against covered theft or damage for you and your employees listed on your monthly cell phone bill when you pay it with your Ink Preferred. You can have a maximum of three claims in a 12 month period, and there’s a $100 deductible per claim.
On top of that, when you charge your cell phone bill to the Ink Preferred, you’ll be earning triple points on that purchase.
Chase Ink Preferred rental car collision damage waiver coverage
The Ink Business Preferred Card offers primary collision damage waiver (CDW) coverage for rentals of most types of vehicles in most countries. This is one of the best credit card rental car coverage & insurance policies you’ll find:
- This is valid when renting globally for business reasons, and is valid outside the United States when renting for personal reasons as well
- Decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card
There aren’t any countries that are specifically excluded from coverage through Chase cards, but the benefits guide does note that “coverage is not available where it is prohibited by law or by individual merchants, or is in violation of the territory terms of the rental agreement.”
You can confirm coverage for a particular trip by contacting the benefits team at 877-631-0919. Coverage is primary globally when renting for business purposes, while it’s primary internationally for personal rentals, and secondary in the United States for personal rentals.
When renting a car you’re also potentially earning triple points on your car rental by charging it to the Ink Preferred, since this qualifies as travel.
Chase Ink Preferred extended warranty protection
With the Chase Ink Business Preferred you can extend the time period of a United States manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.
Chase Ink Preferred trip cancellation & interruption insurance
The Chase Ink Business Preferred offers potentially valuable travel coverage. If your trip is cancelled or cut short by sickness, severe weather, and other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $5,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.
For example, I really like the trip delay coverage. If your trip is delayed by 12 hours or more, you can get up to $500 reimbursed for hotel accommodation, meals, and transportation. You just need to pay for the travel with your card, or with your Ultimate Rewards points.
Pool points with Chase no annual fee cards
While the Ink Business Preferred Card, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review), and Chase Sapphire Reserve (review) are valuable alone, they also make other cards more valuable.
Chase has four fantastic no annual fee cards that can earn Ultimate Rewards points. I’m talking about the:
The catch is that not all Ultimate Rewards points are created equal. By having the Ink Business Preferred, you can convert the points earned on the no annual fee cards (where one point is ordinarily worth a penny) into “premium” Ultimate Rewards points.
These can then be transferred to the Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel partners. Personally I value these points at ~1.7 cents each, so having the Ink Business Preferred makes other cards more valuable as well. That’s a major reason to have an Ultimate Rewards card with an annual fee.
Chase Ink Preferred card eligibility & how to get approved
Every credit card comes with its own eligibility terms, though fortunately the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card has among the less restrictive terms. As you’ll see when you look at the offer terms for the card, here are the rules:
The new cardmember bonus may not be available to you if you have ever had this card. We may also consider factors pertinent to your business in determining your bonus eligibility.
If you want to be approved for a Chase Ink Business Card there are some general restrictions to be aware of:
- The Ink Preferred is subjected to Chase’s “5/24 rule,” meaning you typically won’t be approved for the card if you’ve opened five or more new card accounts in the past 24 months (many business card applications don’t count toward that limit); that being said, there are increasingly data points that this is no longer enforced
- You are eligible for the Ink Preferred if you have the Ink Unlimited and/or Ink Cash, as those are considered to be separate products
- While there’s no hard limit to how many Chase credit cards you can have, there is often a limit to how much total credit Chase will extend you
- Generally, I recommend only applying for one Chase business card every 30 days at most
My experience applying for the Chase Ink Preferred Card
I applied for the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card as a sole proprietorship a couple of years back. Chase’s business card applications are pretty straightforward. The first section just requires completing personal information, which is pretty standard for any credit card application.
The next section asked for business information. You should always answer credit card applications truthfully. Here’s how I went about that, applying for my sole proprietorship:
- For legal business structure, I selected “sole proprietorship”
- For the legal business name, you can just use your name
- For the tax ID type, I selected social security number, and entered that
- Then I entered the information about number of employees (one), business phone number (same as my personal number), business establishment date, and business revenue
- For the business category, I selected “professional, scientific, tech services,” and then for the business type I selected “other prof, scientific, & technical svcs,” and then for the business sub-type I selected “other professional/sci/tech services”
I submitted my application, and found that I was instantly approved. In my experience, instant approvals on Chase cards (particularly business cards) are pretty rare, so I was really happy to see that!
Is the Chase Ink Business Preferred right for you?
While I think the Chase Ink Preferred is the most well-rounded business credit card out there, it’s not necessarily for everyone. So I’d like to look at some comparable cards and share my thoughts on which makes the most sense.
Sapphire Preferred vs. Ink Preferred
Since both are Chase cards and have “Preferred” in the name, I figured it made sense to compare the Ink Preferred to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review). What’s different about these cards?
- The Ink Preferred is a business card, while the Sapphire Preferred is a personal card
- The Ink Preferred has a bonus of 100K points, while the Sapphire Preferred has a bonus of 75K points after spending $5,000 within three months.
- The Ink Preferred offers up to 3x points on travel and other categories; the Sapphire Preferred has the advantage of offering 3x points on dining and online groceries
- The Ink Preferred offers cell phone protection, with the Sapphire Preferred doesn’t
- The Sapphire Preferred offers a $50 annual hotel credit, while the Ink Preferred doesn’t
I’m simply comparing these two cards because both have “Preferred” in the name, though I think the Ink Preferred is a significantly more well-rounded card.
Good complements: Ink Cash & Ink Unlimited
While the Ink Business Preferred is Chase’s premium business credit card, there’s also the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (review) and Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (review). These two cards are excellent complements, and it can make sense to pick up one of them. The other two cards offer similar welcome bonuses, have no annual fee, and offer excellent bonus categories:
- The Ink Business Cash offers 75,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 within the first three months
- The Ink Business Unlimited offers 75,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 within the first three months
- The Ink Business Unlimited offers 1.5x points on all business purchases, so this is one of the best business cards for everyday, non-bonused spending
- The Ink Business Cash offers 5x points on the first $25,000 of combined purchases per cardmember year on office supply stores, internet, cable TV, mobile phones, and landlines, and 2x points on the first $25,000 of combined purchases per cardmember year on restaurants and gas stations
See here for a full comparison of the three Chase Ink cards.
Want a business card earning cash back?
While I think the Chase Ink Business Preferred is useful for most businesses, there is one exception. If you’re looking for a cash back business card, I wouldn’t recommend the Ink Business Preferred long term, as it’s more geared to those looking for travel rewards.
If you want to earn cash back, consider a card like The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card (review), which has no annual fee and offers 2% cash back on all eligible purchases on the first $50,000 of purchases each calendar year, 1% thereafter ((Rates & Fees)).
Alternatively, if you have a business with a lot of spending, consider the Capital One Spark Cash Plus (review). The card offers a huge welcome bonus, unlimited 2% cash back, and an annual bonus of $150 when you spend $150,000 or more on the card.
Bottom line
The Chase Ink Business Preferred Card is the single most well-rounded business credit card out there, in my opinion. The card offers a massive welcome bonus, incredible 3x points categories for common spending categories for businesses, and amazing protection, ranging from rental car damage to cell phone protection to purchase protection.
Arguably, the Ink Business Preferred is also the ideal card to use as a “hub” for your Ultimate Rewards points, in particular to maximize the value of other no annual fee cards. Assuming you can complete the minimum spending, I’d highly recommend applying for the Ink Business Preferred.
While I’d say this card isn’t worth it for someone strictly looking for cash back, otherwise you simply can’t go wrong with the Chase Ink Business Preferred, in my opinion.
If you have the Ink Business Preferred, what has your experience been with the card?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card (Rates & Fees).
