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Link: Apply now for the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
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 wanted to take a detailed look at what’s one of the most compelling business cards out there, especially as this is the ideal time to apply. This is part of the excellent collection of Chase Ink Business credit cards.
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 sign-up bonus, reasonable annual fee, excellent bonus categories, and valuable perks. So, let’s look at the details of the card.
The Chase Ink Preferred Card is offering a welcome bonus of 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $8,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
This is an excellent bonus, and one of the best credit card welcome bonuses out there. I value Ultimate Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, so to me those 90,000 points are worth $1,530. Even if you don’t want to transfer the rewards to travel partners, the 90,000 points will get you at least $1,125 toward travel, or $1,350 toward travel in conjunction with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review).
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.
There are surprisingly few restrictions associated with earning the welcome bonus on the Chase Ink Business Preferred, and you can read my full guide to restrictions here, and read my experience getting approved here.
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.
The Chase Ink Business Preferred offers 3x Ultimate Rewards points in the following categories:
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.
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.
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.
The Chase Ink Business Preferred has no foreign transaction fees, so it’s an ideal card for purchases abroad.
The Chase Ink Preferred Card earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and there are two ways you can efficiently redeem those toward travel rewards:
The Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel partners include the following:
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).
With the Chase Ink Business Preferred, get 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 Chase Ink Business Preferred. You can have a maximum of three claims in a 12 month period with a $100 deductible per claim.
The Chase Ink Business Preferred offers an excellent primary auto rental CDW (collision damage waiver) benefit:
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.
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.
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 wanted to look at some comparable cards and share my thoughts on which makes the most sense.
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?
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.
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 have all three (I have all three, for example).
The other two cards offer similar welcome bonuses, have no annual fee, and offer excellent bonus categories:
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 (Rates & Fees) and offers 2% cash back on the first $50,000 spent every calendar year (after that 1%).
Alternatively, if you have a business with a lot of spending, consider the Capital One Spark Cash Plus (review) (Rates & Fees). 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.
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.
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.
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).
