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You would need to search far and wide for a better ‘bang-for-buck’ small business rewards card than the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. The card currently offers the highest available signup bonus of any Ultimate Rewards earning-card, an affordable minimum spend, a modest $95 annual fee, and includes top-value benefits such as cell phone insurance and primary CDW for rental cars used for business rentals.
As part of the Chase Ultimate Rewards family of credit cards, the Ink Preferred earns some of the most valuable rewards points you can collect. They transfer to travel partners at a 1:1 ratio, are redeemable through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal for $1,250 of flights or hotels, or, if you don’t travel, would net you $1000 cash back as a statement credit.
- New Offer! Earn 100k bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
- 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 - with no limit to the amount you can earn
- Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Redeem points for travel, cash back, gift cards and more - your points don't expire as long as your account is open
- No foreign transaction fees
- Employee cards at no additional cost
- $95 Annual Fee
- 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
With a massive signup offer of 100,000 bonus points, the Ink Preferred provides enough Ultimate Rewards points for round-trip, business class flights to Europe. It is currently the highest Ultimate Rewards signup bonus out there, and with an annual fee of just $95 per year, we think it’s the best Ultimate Rewards earning-card on the market.
Bonus tip: Close to 5/24? 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 for that particular reason.
Travel Worth $1,250+ with No Blackout Dates
One of the best features of the Ultimate Rewards program is its flexibility. You can redeem your points through the Chase Travel Portal for a fixed-value, or transfer your points to high-value travel partners and redeem them for premium travel experiences that are typically out of reach for most travelers.
The value you receive through the portal changes depending on the card you hold, with values ranging from a static 1¢ per point for Chase’s no-annual-fee cards, rising to 1.25¢ per point for the Ink Preferred and Sapphire Preferred and topping out at 1.5¢ per point for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
The Ink Preferred offers 100,000 bonus points after meeting the minimum spend, which is worth $1,250 when redeemed through the Chase Travel Portal, or potentially much more when transferred to partners for premium cabin redemptions.
So why would you redeem points through the portal when you could get higher value via transfer? Flexibility!
Redemptions through the portal are treated, for availability purposes, the same as a revenue booking. If there is a seat or room available for cash, you can purchase it through Chase using your Ultimate Rewards.
That means no searching for open award space, the ability to redeem your points with airlines or hotels that you can’t transfer points to, and you can avoid blackout dates, 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.
Maximize Your Rewards by Combining with Other Chase Cards
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:
- Earn up to 5x points on bonus categories with your Chase Freedom Flex℠
- Earn 3x points on bonus categories with your Ink Preferred
- Combine points to your Sapphire Reserve and redeem at 1.5¢ per point through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal
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 spend which is an incredible return.
If you hold both the Ink Preferred and the Sapphire Reserve you could redeem the 100K point signup bonus for $1,500 worth of travel through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal!
Transfer Ultimate Rewards to Partners for Top Value
If you want to get the highest return on your points, you need to go down the path of transferring those points to Chase travel partners, and redeeming them for high-value premium cabin flights or hotels. For example, what can you book via transfer partners if you have 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points? Here’s a small sample:
- 5 nights at a category 5 Hyatt property @ 20,000 points per night
- 22 flights under 650 miles in economy outside the US via British Airways Avios @ 4,500 miles each
These are just a small sample of the value you can get with Ultimate Rewards points by transferring to partners, something we delve deeper into in the linked posts and in our award chart sweet spots.
Final Thoughts
We think the Ink Preferred is the best value small business card currently on the market. It offers an 100,000 point signup bonus with great perks and the ability to combine points from all your UR earning cards for life-changing travel experiences.
You can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to partners or redeem them through the Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, so it doesn’t matter what level of experience you have, you can have fantastic award travel adventures paying just pennies on the dollar.
Unsure if you qualify for a business card? Read our guide to how (almost) anyone can qualify a business rewards card; you may already be eligible without even knowing!
Already have the Ink Preferred? Let us know your favorite feature in the comments.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
UR is a great program.
Love the UR points!!
Sounds great. I’m assuming that the amounts are for the bonus and not what you can do per year, correct?
I assume that you could do the Chase Pay with it also?
So for the 5/24, if you’re over then you cannot get the card but if you’re under and get the card it will not count in the 5? Interesting. I wonder why Chase has it that way.
Correct, just the bonus and yes you can use this with Chase Pay. As for the 5/24 question: Correct.
If I needed another credit card this would be the one; however even with the bonuses it’s still not enough to get my to take out a credit card unnecessarily. The fixed travel is, to me, the best reward offered with it- such a great idea!
I have an older Chase Ink. Is there an incentive to get this new card? Thanks!
The incentive is the signup bonus and other associated benefits that are going to be different than what you currently have on your ink.
Combining with CSR to get the higher point value seems the way to go.
I so badly want this card
Shut down by 5/24 again. Blast!
UR has been amazing! I’ve booked more than one award ticket and hotel room through it.
I do love my Chase UR points! I just wish the Ink Preferred offered 3-5x at office supply stores.
I am a huge fan of the UR program and of my Ink cc. To coin a phrase and twist it, never leave home w/o it.
Chase is easy to accumulate and good for using. One of my favourite currencies
I was in a Chase branch opening a business account last week and mentioned that I would like to open the Ink at some point. He said they can prob get me more than the 80K bonus if I open it in the branch.
100,000 points if you go into a Chase branch…scored yesterday!
Just out of curiosity, what was the highest sign-up bonus so far on the Ink Preferred card?
currently: Online 80k, possible 100k in branch (cannot confirm requirements as I don’t have a branch near me)
thanks for the info
I didn’t know about the cell phone insurance. That is great information-thank you!
There might be enough incentive here for me to consider a Chase business card, something I haven’t done yet.
I would sign up for Ink Preferred. But I never qualify for Chase business cards.
With so many cards in the same family (Ink), it gets quite confusing as to the advantages of one over another. Thanks for providing some clarification.
Wish it was that easy to get approved.
Best feature on my ink card: 5 points for each $ spent on
Internet, cable and phone services
That’d be the Ink Plus/Bold/Cash! I love mine for sure.
Also gives you free cellphone protection at no additional cost. That pays for my annual fee in savings right there!
It does indeed. We even cover that in the article!
Very good info. Can we get a business card without owning a business?
If you don’t have a business, how could you truthfully fill out an application for a business product? Keep in mind that not all business are brick and mortar storefronts: https://awardwallet.com/blog/how-almost-anyone-can-get-a-business-credit-card/
Diversity really is the name of the game and the CHASE cards have the largest range of transfer partners as well as the ability to use points at 1.5 x value [with Sapphire Reserve] to buy cheap flights.
I agree. These really are among the best rewards on the market right now.
It doesn’t count against 5/24, but is still impacted by it, correct? So if I’m currently over 5/24 it’s a no go but if I am under it won’t put me over.
Exactly!
ive been thinking of taking the plunge on this card. do you think it will be 80k for awhile longer?
Your guess is as good as ours. We have no information to share either way on it. We’re hoping it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Pretty incredible, between the value you can get out of the signup bonus and the flexibility offered. How much “business” do you have to conduct to qualify as a small business for this card?
You’ve gotta be a legitimate business. None of this “business” stuff. That said, a traditional brick and mortar store isn’t a requirement: https://awardwallet.com/blog/how-almost-anyone-can-get-a-business-credit-card/
I love these rewards!! UR is GREAT!!