Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card Review

This card is a good fit for business owners who spend a lot of money on travel, shipping, internet, cable and phone services, and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines, all of which earn rewards at 3 points per $1 spent (up to $150,000 of spending annually). It’s also a good card to carry if you prefer flexible points—and especially if you prefer to have several ways to redeem points for travel.

How much will you earn? Imagine your business spends $5,000 per month in bonus categories like travel and shipping. In that case, you would earn 15,000 points worth $150 in cash back or at least $187.50 in travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards every month you remain a cardholder. And that’s just for spending in the bonus categories—the rest of your business spending earns 1 point per $1.

Pros Explained

• Good bonus for new cardholders: You’ll have to spend a lot to get it, but the 100,000-point bonus for new cardholders is near the very top of our list of business card bonuses in terms of value. By our calculations, cardholders could wring $2,370 worth of travel (or more) out of those points if transferred to Hyatt.
• High rewards-earning potential: This card’s base rewards-earning rate (1 point per $1 spent) is ho-hum, especially for a business card with an annual fee. But the broad range of business-specific spending categories eligible for the bonus-earnings rate (3 points per $1) boosts this card above its peers. 
• Flexible rewards program: Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed in several different ways, including for statement credits, merchandise, gift cards, and—your best bet—travel. You can pay for travel with points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal or transfer points 1:1 to popular airline and hotel partner programs, where your points may have even more value.

Cons Explained

• Annual fee: There’s a $95 annual fee with this card, and it’s not waived the first year, which will trim the value of the rewards you earn. The fee will gobble up the value of rewards earned from $1,992 worth of bonus category spending, based on our average valuation of this card’s points.
• High APR: The card’s variable APR for purchases and balance transfers is high. As with most travel rewards cards, you won’t want to carry a balance on this credit card for any length of time.

Bonus for New Cardholders

You’ll get 100,000 points after you spend $15,000 on your card within three months of account opening. The bonus is worth $1,250 if redeemed for travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, and could be worth more than $2,000 if you transfer the points to an eligible airline or hotel rewards program, based on an analysis of point values by The Balance.

You’ll have to spend a lot to earn it, but this card’s new-cardholder bonus is near the top of the class of competing business cards.

Earning Points & Rewards

You’ll earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent annually on travel, shipping, internet, cable and phone services, and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines combined. You will also earn 1 point per $1 spent above the $150,000 cap, as well as on all your other purchases.

This card’s broad selection of bonus spending categories and high bonus-earnings rate make it a standout among business rewards cards. You can find higher earning rates, but you may have to pay a higher annual fee to get it—and restrict your spending to fewer categories.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points also never expire, provided you keep your account open.

Redeeming Rewards

One of the main benefits of the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card is the fact that the rewards you earn are so flexible. For starters, you have the option to redeem for statement credits at a value of 1 cent per point. Gift cards are normally offered for 1 cent per point as well, but there are occasionally “sales” that let you redeem for gift cards at an even better value. You can also redeem points for purchases made with Apple or on Amazon.com. 

This is primarily a travel card, though, and you’ll usually get your best value by using points for travel: an average of 1.59 cents per point, according to our research. You can redeem points by booking travel directly through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and receive 1.25 cents worth of travel per point (i.e., 100,000 points are worth $1,250 when redeemed for travel).

Or, you can transfer your Chase points at a 1:1 ratio to 13 popular airline and hotel loyalty programs. Our research found you’ll get some of your best value (2.28 to 2.37 cents per point, on average) by redeeming your points for flights on United Airlines or hotel stays at Hyatt properties, respectively.

How to Get the Most Out of This Card

Besides making sure you meet the requirements to get the bonus for new cardholders, use your card for all purchases in the bonus categories—particularly any purchases you make that earn 3 points per $1. Since employee cards are offered at no additional cost, you can also get cards for employees and earn rewards on their business purchases. 

Use your points for travel, either by booking through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal or by transferring to an airline or hotel partner. Before you transfer, however, make sure to check pricing for flights in the Chase portal as well.

Excellent Perks

The card has a few perks our editors consider more valuable than the typical benefits offered by many cards:

• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance: Get reimbursed for up to $5,000 in prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses if your trip is interrupted or canceled due to injury, illness, bad weather, and more. 
• Primary rental car collision insurance: When you rent a vehicle for business purposes on the card, you’ll get primary coverage for theft or collision damage to the vehicle, which means if you have an accident, you won’t have to go through your own car insurance company first. 
• Cellphone protection: You get up to $600 in cellphone protection minus a $100 deductible for each claim. You can only use this coverage up to three times in a 12-month period, and you have to pay your cell phone bill with your credit card to qualify. 

Other Features

• Insurance for stolen or damaged purchases
• Extended warranties
• Roadside assistance hotline

Customer Experience

Chase offers customer service you can reach 24/7 over the phone, through the Chase app, or via secure online messaging. You can also contact Chase customer support on Twitter using the handle @ChaseSupport if you prefer. 

The ease with which you can contact Chase may be part of the reason it earned the No. 4 spot (out of 11) on J.D. Power’s 2019 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study. The big bank earned a rating of “About average” in the survey.

Chase also gives you access to a free personal credit score updated weekly through its Credit Journey tool. Credit Journey includes a credit score simulator that can show you how different behaviors such as paying down debt will affect your credit score. 

Security Features

Besides the usual security features that most credit card issuers offer, the Credit Journey tool also alerts you of changes to your credit report that could signify fraud. 

Fees

The card’s fees are fairly standard for cards of this type. Travelers will like the fact that there are no foreign transaction fees.