Get $1,125 in Travel Without Searching for Award Availability Get $1,125 in Travel Without Searching for Award Availability

Get $1,125 in Travel Without Searching for Award Availability

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You would need to search far and wide for a better “bang-for-your-buck” small business rewards card than the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card(Rates & Fees). This Ultimate Rewards-earning credit card consistently offers fantastic sign-up bonuses, an affordable minimum spend requirement, a modest $95 annual fee, and includes top-value benefits like cell phone insurance and primary collision and damage coverage for rental cars used for business rentals. It's a favorite among Chase Ink business credit cards.

One of the best benefits of holding this card is being able to easily book travel directly through

Ink Preferred Benefits

The Ink Preferred‘s current sign-up bonus is 90,000 after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. 90,000 Ultimate Rewards points are worth $900 in cash back or $1,125 towards travel booked through Chase Travel℠. You can redeem points for 1.25 cents each when redeeming in the portal. You can redeem them for even more value when transferring them out to Chase's 14 airline and hotel partners.

Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases-with no limit to the amount you can earn. Additionally, you'll earn 5X points per dollar on Lyft rides through September 2027.

You can redeem Ultimate Rewards in various ways with this card, including cash back and gift cards. But the most valuable way to use your points is to redeem them for travel. And the easiest way to do this is directly in the Chase portal.

Related: Chase Ink Preferred full review

a couple looks over rice fields at sunrise
Credit: Arty/Unsplash

Ways To Redeem Ultimate Rewards

Book award travel in the Chase Travel℠ Portal

One of the best features of the Ultimate Rewards program is its flexibility. Among the many ways to use your Ultimate Rewards, you can redeem your points through Chase Travel for a fixed value or transfer your points to high-value travel partners.

The value you receive through the portal changes based on the card you hold, with values ranging from a static 1¢ per point for Chase’s no-annual-fee cards to 1.5¢ per point for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®(Rates & Fees). You can use points at 1.25¢ each with both the Ink Preferred and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card(Rates & Fees).

Here are step-by-step instructions for redeeming Ultimate Rewards through the Chase Travel Portal.

Choose the card you want to redeem points from

When redeeming Ultimate Rewards for travel directly through the portal, you'll first need to log into your account. Find the rewards tab on your account summary page and click “Ultimate Rewards Points.” It will show your total points balance across all accounts.

Choose the card you wish to use points with (or transfer from) and continue.

A screenshot of Chase Ultimate Rewards Credit Cards summary
Credit: Chase

Navigate to “Book travel”

There will be three dots at the top of your Ultimate Rewards homepage that go to a drop-down menu. Choose “Travel” and then “Book travel.” The below screenshot shows exactly where to find this in the top menu.

A red box highlights the 3 dots to click on to find how to redeem your Ultimate Rewards points for travel.
Credit: Chase

The next page will allow you to change the card you want to use to book travel. Confirm the card that you want to use (choose the one offering the highest value per point in your wallet), and then you'll be taken to the next page where you can choose hotels, flights, rental cars, activities, or cruises. It will feel similar to other online travel booking sites like Expedia or Orbitz.

A screenshot of the Chase Travel Portal homepage.
Credit: Chase

Search for availability

For the example below, I chose a first-class ticket from San Francisco, California to San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. The ticket I want costs 49,581 points or $619.77. Once I get to the payment page, I'm given the option to pay with all of my available points; since my balance on this account is 37,704 points, I could use all of those plus pay $148.47. You can choose not to redeem any of your points; you also can spend as few or as many as you want when reserving your travel on the Chase Travel Portal.

A screenshot of the final step in booking your travel through Chase Travel Portal. Here you can choose how many, if any, points you'd like to use toward your trip.
Credit: Chase

Redemptions through the portal are treated, for availability purposes, the same as a paid booking. If there is a plane seat or hotel room available for cash, you can purchase it through Chase using your Ultimate Rewards points.

That means no searching for open award space or worrying about blackout dates. It also provides the ability to redeem your points with airlines or hotels that you can’t transfer points to, plus you can avoid dynamic award pricing and seasonal fluctuations commonly found in award charts. It also allows you to take advantage of the low-cost airfares now so prevalent on budget carriers — both domestically and abroad.

Redeeming directly in the travel portal is great. However, inarguably the best way to use Ultimate Rewards for maximum value is to transfer them out to Chase's travel partners. You also can combine your rewards with other Chase accounts, which we'll discuss below.

Transfer Ultimate Rewards to partners for top value

Chase has three hotel and 11 airline partners that you can transfer Ultimate Rewards to. Once you've transferred your rewards points, you can then redeem them for airline tickets or hotel stays within that loyalty program.

Some of the best transfer partners available from Chase include World of Hyatt and Southwest Airlines Rapids Rewards. With these two programs, you can redeem relatively fewer points than other programs charge. There also are several sweet spots on flights within North America that you can maximize when transferring Ultimate Rewards to select airline partners.

Related: How To Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points: A Step-By-Step Guide

Combine rewards with other Chase accounts

If you hold other Chase cards from the Ultimate Rewards family, you can maximize your rewards by combining points earned across all your cards and redeem through the highest-earning card you hold. For example:

When you combine the points from the Freedom Flex bonus categories with your Sapphire Reserve and redeem through the portal, you’re essentially getting up to 7.5% back on bonus spending, which is an incredible return.

If you hold both the Ink Preferred and the Sapphire Reserve, you could transfer your points to the Sapphire Reserve to redeem for 1.5 cents apiece. This would make your sign-up bonus earned from the Ink Preferred worth $1,125 in the travel portal.

Bonus tip: Close to 5/24 with Chase? While the Ink Preferred is subject to 5/24, it won’t count against your 5/24 total. So you can apply for the Ink Preferred without it impacting your chances of getting a personal Chase card due to this factor.

a family takes a selfie together in front of a giant arch
Credit: Mika Baumeister/Unsplash

Final Thoughts

We think the Ink Preferred is the most valuable small business credit card on the market right now. It offers an incredible 90,000-point welcome bonus with great perks and the ability to combine points from all your Ultimate Rewards-earning cards (for free) to redeem for life-changing travel experiences.

You can easily redeem the points from the sign-up bonus for $1,125 in value directly in the Chase Travel Portal without searching for award availability. Alternatively, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to partners. It doesn’t matter what level of experience you have, you can have fantastic award travel adventures paying just pennies on the dollar from this card's welcome bonus.

Unsure if you qualify for a business card? Read our guide to how (almost) anyone can qualify for a business rewards card; you may already be eligible without even realizing it!

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Annual Fee$95
Welcome Offer Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
The most valuable Ultimate Rewards signup bonus on offer and our top pick for small business rewards cards. Business owners earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Plus, earn up to 450,000 points per year on a wide range of 3X bonus categories.
  • Earn 90k bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 cash back or $1,125 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel℠
  • Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
  • Round-the-clock monitoring for unusual credit card purchases
  • With Zero Liability you won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.
  • Redeem points for cash back, gift cards, travel and more - your points don't expire as long as your account is open
  • Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Travel℠
  • Purchase Protection covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
  • Member FDIC
  • Rates & Fees
  • 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year
  • 1X point per $1 on all other purchases

For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), and Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (Rates & Fees)

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