The Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is consistently ranked as one of our top credit cards for small business owners due to its generous bonus points offer for new cardholders, reasonable annual fee, and the amazing value of the points it earns.

In fact, it’s the credit card that we use most for our own business expenses at 10xTravel. But don’t just take our word for it – here’s a deep dive into all of the benefits the Chase Ink Business Preferred offers.

As with all Chase cards, the Ink Preferred is restricted by the Chase 5/24 rule.

What Benefits Do You Get With the Ink Preferred?

3x Bonus Categories

What makes the Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card one of our favorite cards is that it offers a high earning rate on purchases in common business spending categories: travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone service, and advertising. You’ll earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent in each of these categories, up to $150,000 in combined purchases per year.

Cell Phone Protection

The Ink Business Preferred is one of the only credit cards that offers cell phone protection. Simply pay your phone bill with your Ink Preferred (and earn 3x points), and you and your employees will be covered against theft or damage to phones on that plan, up to $600 per claim with a $100 deductible. There is a limit of three claims per rolling 12-month period.

Purchase Protection and Extended Warranties

When you purchase an item with your Ink Preferred, you’ll automatically receive purchase protection of up to $10,000 in coverage against theft or damage for 120 days from purchase. Chase will also add an extra year of warranty coverage for items you purchase that have a manufacturer’s warranty of three years or less.

Primary Rental Car Insurance

If you rent a car and pay with your Chase Ink Preferred, you can decline the collision damage insurance offered by the rental car company – Chase will provide that coverage automatically, and you won’t have to file a claim with your personal auto insurance.

The card covers rentals for business purposes within the United States, and both business and personal rentals in other countries.

Travel Protection Benefits

When you use your Chase Ink Preferred to purchase travel, you’ll get automatic coverage for trip interruptions or cancellations, and reimbursement for expenses related to trip delays or delayed baggage. Using any of these benefits just once will likely more than make up for the card’s modest annual fee.

Transfer Partners – Airline and Hotel

Our favorite thing about Chase Ultimate Rewards points is that you can transfer them at a 1:1 ratio to your choice of ten airline partners and three hotel programs.

Participating programs include United MileagePlus and Southwest Rapid Rewards (both exclusive to Chase), British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus (both partners with American Airlines), Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and Air France-KLM Flying Blue (good for booking tickets on Delta), World of Hyatt, and more.

With such a wide variety of options, you have lots of ways to maximize the value of the points earned with this card.

Redeem Points via the Chase Travel Portal

In addition to transferring points to partners, you can also spend them directly on airfare, hotels, rental cars, cruises, and activities through the Chase Travel Portal. While all Ultimate Rewards credit cards allow you to redeem points this way, not all cards are created equal.

With the Chase Ink Business Preferred, your points are worth 1.25 cents each – 25% more than a no-annual fee card like the Chase Ink Business Unlimited. This offers a more flexible option for redeeming points, especially since airline tickets booked through the travel portal will also earn miles in airline frequent flier programs.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

While this is a standard perk for credit cards with an annual fee, it’s particularly important for frequent travelers, since foreign transaction fees (around 3% in most cases) can add up quickly if you use a card that charges them.

Alternative Business Card Options

American Express Business Gold Card

The American Express Business Gold Card is probably the most similar card to the Ink Preferred on the market. While it does have a higher $295 annual fee, compared to the Ink Preferred’s $95, it offers lucrative bonus categories that make it worth considering.

Firstly, you’ll earn 4X Membership Rewards points on two of the following categories where you spend the most each billing cycle:

• Airfare purchased directly from the airline
• U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
• U.S. purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions
• U.S. purchases at gas stations
• U.S. purchases at restaurants, including takeout and delivery
• U.S. purchases for shipping

Similar to the Ink Preferred, you are capped at earning 4X on $150,000 in purchases annually.  After that, you’ll earn 1X Amex points on all purchases.

Additionally, this card offers 25% of your points back when you redeem your points via Amex Travel to book flights on your preselected airline or on any premium cabin ticket. There is a rebate cap of 250,000 points per calendar year – you’d have to redeem one million points to hit that cap.

The Business Platinum Card® From American Express

There aren’t a lot of competitors in the premium business credit card market, and the clear frontrunner is the Business Platinum Card from American Express.

While it has a hefty annual fee, it’s loaded with perks that help offset that price, including an annual credit up to $200 to help with airline fees (applied automatically to qualifying incidental fees on one airline of your choice), up to $400 in annual credits for Dell purchases, complimentary access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection (including Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass lounges, and Delta Sky Clubs when flying on Delta), a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck enrollment credit (worth up to $100), and enhanced travel protections.

You’ll also earn 5x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on airfare and hotels booked through amextravel.com, and a 35% rebate when you use Pay with Points to book business or first class travel on any airline or economy tickets on your selected airline.

Co-Branded Airline Cards

In all honesty, the Ink Preferred is the best general-purpose business card with a mid-tier annual fee. However, if you find yourself frequently traveling for business, you might consider a co-branded airline card for a few extra perks. Some examples include:

• AAdvantage Aviator Business Mastercard
• Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards® Performance Business Credit Card
• Alaska Airlines Visa Business Credit Card
• JetBlue Business Card.

Each of these cards have a similar annual fee to the Ink Preferred and, while they typically earn you fewer miles per dollar spent in various categories, you’ll get perks when flying that airline like free checked baggage, priority boarding, and inflight discounts.

For maximum flexibility, many frequent travelers find it useful to have both a card that earns transferable points like the Ink Preferred as well a co-branded airline card.

Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card

If you don’t want to pay an annual fee, the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is a good business card alternative. You’ll earn 5% cash back per $1 spent at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services (up to $25,000 in combined purchases per account anniversary year) and 2% back at at gas stations and restaurants (up to $25,000 in combined purchases per account anniversary year). Note that your cash back earnings can be combined with other premium Chase cards to become Ultimate Rewards Points.

If those categories don’t align with your business’ expenses, also consider the Chase Ink Business Unlimited credit card. You’ll earn 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent (marketed as 1.5% cashback) on all purchases, with no limit on how many points you can earn.

With either of these cards, if you have another card that earns Ultimate Rewards points such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can combine your points earned with the Chase Ink Business Cash card and your premium card so that you can transfer points to airline and hotel partners.

Bottom Line

The Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is a great choice if you’re looking for a credit card for your business. It offers high earnings rates in useful categories, the points earned are extremely flexible, and the card offers additional benefits like cell phone protection and purchase protections. Overall, it’s tough to go wrong with this card.