Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card Review

This card is ideal 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. It may also be a must-have if you prefer to earn 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 bonus points worth $150 in cash back or $187.50 in travel every month you remain a cardholder. And note that those bonus points would be on top of the points you earn on regular purchases.

• Lucrative rewards-earning scheme: Not only does this card give you a bonus worth at least $1,000 when points are redeemed through the Ultimate Rewards portal, but you also are able to earn at a solid rate for spending in popular business expense categories. 
• 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. 

• Annual fee: The Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card comes with a $95 annual fee that is not waived the first year. This is a downside for anyone who doesn’t want to pay an annual fee on a business credit card.
• High APR: The card’s variable APR of 17.74% to 22.74% 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.

The Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card offers a great sign-up bonus that is competitive with the best business cards in its class. You’ll get 80,000 points after you spend $5,000 on your card within three months of account opening. The bonus is worth $1,000 if redeemed for travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. According to points-valuation analysis by The Balance, the bonus could be worth about $1,260 if you transfer the points to United Airlines MileagePlus.

You’ll earn 3 points per $1 on $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 earning proposition is generous. There are some cards that offer higher bonus rewards in popular business spending categories, but their annual fees are $250+. 

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

One of the main benefits of the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card is the fact that the rewards you earn are so ridiculously flexible. For starters, you have the option to redeem for statement credits at a rate of one cent per point. Gift cards are normally offered for one 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, or for “experiences” like private dinners, concerts, and sporting events. 

This is primarily a travel card, though, and you’ll usually get your best value by redeeming for travel. You can redeem points for travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and receive 25% more value (i.e. 80,000 points are worth $1,000 when redeemed for travel through the portal). That means the value of 1 point redeemed this way is 1.25 cents.

You can also transfer your Chase points at a 1:1 ratio to 13 popular airline and hotel loyalty programs, including United, Southwest, and Hyatt programs.

One other nice benefit about transferring points to airlines is that you can then redeem your miles on their partner airlines. For example, United has 28 partner airlines through Star Alliance that you could use your miles for.

Besides making sure you meet the requirements to get the sign-up bonus, use your card for all purchases in the bonus categories. Use your card for all your business spending as well, but 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.

The card has a few perks our editors consider as 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, which means if you have an accident, you won’t have to go through your own car insurance company first. 
• Cell phone protection: You get up to $600 in cell phone 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. 

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

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. 

Chase tied for the No. 3 spot on J.D. Power’s 2019 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study, getting a score of 807 out of 1,000 points in the survey, or "about average." 

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. 

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. 

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