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January 17, 2025: The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card offers generous rewards on travel purchases for small business owners, coupled with excellent travel and consumer insurance benefits.
Our review of the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Cards and Points Rating: 5.0/5.0
Read more about our star ratings.
When it comes to travel rewards cards, we look for both generous rewards on travel and a suite of travel benefits that will have your back if something goes wrong during your travels. The Ink Preferred offers both. If you’re a small business owner who travels, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card should be at the top of your list.
You’ll get a ton of value if your spending aligns with the card’s bonus categories. The Ink Preferred earns 3x points on up to $150,000 spent on its bonus categories (travel, shipping, advertising with social media and search engines, and internet/cable/phone services). And the card offers plenty of ways to use your points: You can get cash back, 25% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel℠, or you can transfer your points to one of Chase’s travel transfer partners.
While the card only offers one point per dollar spent on other purchases, you can pair the card with the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card to increase your “everywhere else” rewards by 50%.
The card also offers an uncommonly good suite of travel and consumer insurance benefits. With the Ink Preferred, you’ll be protected by suite of travel benefits when you book your travel with the card, including auto rental coverage, baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, trip delay protection, and more.
Overall, the card is one of the best cards available for small business owners who travel.
Likes
- Excellent suite of travel insurance benefits.
- 3x rewards on travel.
- Ultimate Rewards® points are very usable for cash, travel, or point transfers.
Dislikes
- Earns only 1x rewards on other purchases.
- No return protection benefits.
- 3x rewards are limited to $150,000 of spending each year.
Sign-up bonus: Tons of Ultimate Rewards® points
Annual fee: annual_fees
Best sign-up bonus: bonus_miles_full
Learn how to apply.
With the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, you can redeem your points for cash back or use them for travel booked through Chase Travel℠ at 1.25 cents per point.
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card at a glance
Annual fee: annual_fees
Foreign transaction fee: foreign_transaction_fee
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card offers more points for travel purchases and gives you the ability to redeem your rewards through Chase Travel℠ for 25% more value and transfer points to travel partners.
Sign-up bonus
Best sign-up bonus: bonus_miles_full
Learn how to apply.
With the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, you can redeem your points for cash back or use them for travel booked through Chase Travel℠ at 1.25 cents per point.
Rewards
- 3x points on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases in the following categories each account anniversary year:
- Shipping purchases.
- Advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines.
- Internet, cable, and phone services.
- Travel.
- 1x on other purchases.
Rewards are earned as Chase Ultimate Rewards® points and can be redeemed for a variety of travel and cash back awards. Rewards are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through Chase Travel℠.
Ultimate Rewards® can be combined across cards you hold. If you hold a premium Ultimate Rewards card, you can transfer your points to Chase’s transfer partners or use your points for increased value when you book travel through Chase Travel℠. For more about using Ultimate Rewards, check out our guide on the Ultimate Rewards program.
Benefits
Consumer insurance benefits
- Extended warranty protection.
- Purchase protection.
- Cell phone protection.
Travel insurance benefits
- Trip cancellation/interruption insurance.
- Auto rental collision damage waiver.
Our experiences: Why we love the Ink Preferred
Within the Ultimate Rewards® ecosystem, you’ll need a premium credit card—either the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card to access both increased-value redemptions through Chase Travel℠ and point transfers to partners. For me, the Ink Business Preferred makes the most sense.
Why? Well, for one, the card gets more points on general travel purchases (on up to $150,000 spent each year) than the Sapphire Preferred does. I don’t miss out on the Sapphire Preferred’s 3x on dining because I carry the Chase Freedom Flex® and the Sapphire Preferred’s other categories don’t align with my spending patterns.
I don’t need the lounge access from the Sapphire Reserve, since I get sufficient lounge access with my other credit cards. So there’s no reason for me to pay that card’s larger annual fee.
My advice to others: If you have any sort of small business (lots of things count) and are considering the Sapphire Preferred, take a long look at the Ink Preferred. You might find that the card is more valuable for you.
Who is the Ink Business Preferred® best for?
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is best for the small business owner who travels. Here’s who will benefit most from the Ink Preferred:
- Small business owners who travel (or have employees who do.) Not only will you earn 3x on your first $150,000 in travel purchases, but you and your employees will enjoy some of the best travel protections available at the card’s pricepoint.
- Small business owners who collect Ultimate Rewards® points. If you’re collecting Ultimate Rewards points, you can get an instant 25% boost to your points’ value when you hold the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card and redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel℠.
Cards that complement the Ink Business Preferred®
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card earns Ultimate Rewards® points. Picking up additional cards that earn increased points in other categories can increase the number of points you earn on your small business purchases. And since you can transfer points between cards that earn Ultimate Rewards, the points you earn on other cards can also be used for 25% more value through Chase Travel℠ or transferred to Chase’s travel partners.
Here are the cards we think would be useful if you hold the Ink Business Preferred:
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card: Earns unlimited 1.5% cash back (1.5x Ultimate Rewards), boosting your rewards on non-category purchases by 50%.
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card: Earns 5% cash back (5x Ultimate Rewards) on the first $25k spent in combined purchases at office supply stores, and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year.
Additionally, here are a few personal cards that you could consider:
- Chase Freedom Flex℠: Earns 5% cash back (5x Ultimate Rewards) on up to $1,500 spent in categories that rotate quarterly.
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®: Earn 1.5% cash back (1.5x Ultimate Rewards) on general purchases, plus increased rewards on dining and at drugstores.
Bottom line: A core card for small business owners collecting Ultimate® Rewards
If you’re a small business owner who travels, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is a great choice, since it offers excellent rewards and great travel insurance benefits. And if you’re trying to maximize the value you get from Ultimate Rewards® points, the card opens up the most valuable redemption option in the program: transfers to travel partners.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card worth it?
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card can be worth the annual fee if you travel for your small business. You’ll earn 3x rewards on your travel purchases and enjoy excellent travel insurance protections for you and your employees.
How much is the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card annual fee?
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card carries an annual fee of $95/year. The annual fee is not waived in the first year.
Do I need an LLC for Chase Ink?
You do not need an LLC for to get a Chase Ink card, but you do need to have a business. You probably have qualifying small business if you do most anything toward the end of making money outside of a W2 job. (And if you’re paid as a 1099 contractor, that counts!) See our article on what counts as a small business.
Does the Ink Business Preferred® count against 5/24?
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is a small business card. Historically, Chase has not reported Ink cards to personal credit reports, as long as they are current. And these cards have not counted toward 5/24. Learn more about Chase and the 5/24 rule.
Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.
