Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card review

While its 90,000-point sign-up bonus (after spending $8,000 in the first three months) may be first thing that catches your eye, you may be wondering what else the Chase Ink Business Preferred card has to offer. The card doesn’t include nearly the breadth of features as, say, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card, but there is much to like about it.

The card features a 3X bonus rate with a very high combined purchase limit ($150,000 on travel and select business categories annually). This may be especially appealing if your business spends a large amount in the card’s bonus categories, which include travel and internet advertising.

Extra points: Since the Chase Ink Business Preferred is part of the Chase Ultimate Rewards card family, it should pair nicely with other Chase rewards cards, enabling you to earn more Ultimate Rewards points through additional bonus categories. The Chase Ink Business Preferred carries a relatively low annual fee ($95) for a card with a large sign-up bonus.

Modest rewards rate

The card’s rewards rate is not our favorite feature on the Chase Ink Business Preferred card. The card offers one point per dollar on general purchases and three points per dollar on certain categories of purchases, including travel, shipping, internet advertising, and internet, cable and phone services.

A 3X rewards rate may seem like a dazzling figure until you consider that the card’s bonus categories may not be categories in which business owners are likely to allocate a large percentage of spending, such as, say,  gas or restaurant purchases. The Chase Ink Business Preferred card, in fact, seems targeted toward certain segments of businesses. For example, if you own an online business or a business with a large travel budget, you may find the Chase Ink Business Preferred card especially rewarding.

On the bright side, the cap on the bonus category is very high and could go a long way to helping you earn a generous amount of points if you max out the category.

Eye-popping sign-up bonus

For many cardholders, the card’s 90,000-point sign-up bonus (after spending $8,000 in the first three months) may be plenty of incentive to apply. That said, you’ll have to do a good amount of spending to reach the bonus: $8,000 in the first three months. The bonus may be enough to help you earn a free flight – or two – in the first year alone.

If you don’t mind redeeming rewards with one airline, you may also consider the United℠ Business Card*, which offers 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open.

High annual fee

The card’s $95 annual fee is on the high side for a business rewards card. The perks and rewards, however, more than make up for this fee. If you are eyeing the card’s monster-sized sign-up bonus, the annual fee is especially worth it. Other cards on the market with generous welcome bonuses – including the Chase Sapphire Reserve – come with much higher annual fees.

Flexible redemption options

The Chase Ultimate Rewards program is one of the most flexible with many ways to redeem your points. You can make travel purchases from outside travel sites – giving you the option to shop around for the best deal – and redeem your points for statement credits against these purchases. Redeeming your points this way means you never have to worry about blackout dates and seat restrictions.

You can also redeem your points through Chase’s Travel portal for a 25 percent bonus, boosting the value of your points to 1.25 cents per point. In addition, Chase has a substantial network of airline partners and allows you to transfer your points to these partners at a high 1:1 rate, enabling you to find even better values on your points.

On top of this, you have a plethora of other redemption options – including cash back, gift cards and merchandise. However, these options are not the best use of Ultimate Rewards points. We generally recommend sticking to travel redemptions, since the alternatives tend to be worth less than a penny per point.

Great perks

The Chase Ink Business Preferred card includes $600 worth of cellphone protection – a rare benefit. If you use the card to pay your phone bill, Chase will cover theft and damage to your phone, as well as employee phones listed on your phone bill, up to three times per year (with a $100 deductible).

You will also find many nice perks for business travelers on this card, including primary car rental insurance and no foreign transaction fees. Moreover, the card comes with the full array of purchase protections, including extended warranty, price protection and return protection.

Keep track of employee spending

The Chase Ink Business Preferred card, designed for business owners, has many great features to manage multiple cards on one account. You can add employees to your account for no additional fee and set individual limits for each employee. You also can use Chase’s mobile app to receive instant alerts on purchases made by your employees, to give you some extra peace of mind. The app even allows you to file your receipts on the go, making expense management a little easier.

How do businesses use the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card?

Thanks to the bonus you get by redeeming points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card could be a great option for businesses that want to accumulate a lot of points and redeem for travel. Here’s how one small business owner made the most of the card:

Small Business Credit Profiles How Local Food Adventures uses the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card
	“I use my credit card to pretty much pay for everything and rack up a lot of rewards points, but by doing so it makes it really easy to keep track of expenses.“
Lauren McCabe Herpich of Local Food Adventures, a walking tour company that highlights hidden culinary gems, uses the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card to rack up points and keep track of business expenses. Here’s her advice to other business owners considering the card: Use the card for all eligible bonus category spending, including web hosting, monthly phone bills, Gmail account fees and more. Take advantage of the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel program to get the most value out of your points. If it helps, charge everything to the card so that you can have all of your business financial activity easy to track in one place.
Read more of our Small Business Credit Profiles

Why get the Chase Ink Business Preferred card?

• You are looking for a card with a very large sign-up bonus.
• You spend a lot of money on business travel.
• You own a web-based business that spends a lot on online advertising.
• You want a travel rewards card with flexible redemption options.
• You want an additional option to accumulate Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
• You want to add employees to your account for no fee and to closely monitor their spending.

How to use the Chase Ink Business Preferred card:

• Use your card any time you purchase a cellphone to take advantage of the $600 cellphone protection.
• You can use your card freely when you are traveling abroad – there is no fee for foreign purchases.
• Combine this card with Chase’s other Ultimate Rewards cards to maximize your earnings and pool your Ultimate Rewards points.
• Look for deals through Chase’s travel partners to get a higher value on your Ultimate Rewards points.
• Redeem your points through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards portal to get a 25 percent boost on your point value.

See related: Make the most of the Chase Ink cards’ bonus categories

*All information about the United Business Card has been collected independently by CreditCards.com. The issuer did not provide the content, nor is it responsible for its accuracy.

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