Ink Business Preferred Card benefits guide

If you’re a small business owner who wants to earn travel rewards, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card may be worth considering. After all, the Ink Business Preferred card is one of the best small-business credit cards on the market, especially for frequent travelers.

With the Ink Business Preferred Card, you can earn rewards of 3 points per dollar on travel and select business spending — and your point value increases by 25 percent when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Add in a lucrative welcome bonus, the ability to transfer your rewards to top travel loyalty programs and trip cancellation or interruption insurance, and it’s easy to see why the Chase Ink Business Preferred is a favorite among business travelers.

The Ink Business Preferred card includes a $95 annual fee, though, so before you apply, make sure you’ll get that much value (and more) out of the card each year. This benefits guide may help you decide whether the Ink Business Preferred card is right for you.

Ink Business Preferred Card benefits

Earning rate

The Ink Business Preferred Card earns 3 points per dollar on the first $150,000 spent annually on combined purchases in the following categories:

• Travel
• Shipping purchases
• Advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines
• Internet, cable and phone services

These rewards categories make the Ink Business Preferred card not only a top business travel card, but also a good choice for any small business owner who runs a business that regularly advertises online or ships products to customers.

All other purchases earn 1 point per dollar, and points never expire as long as your account remains active.

Welcome bonus

In addition to the ongoing rewards categories, cardholders also have the opportunity to earn a welcome bonus worth as much as $1,250.

If you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first three months of card membership, you’ll receive 100,000 bonus points. These points are worth $1,000 if redeemed for cash back. But since your point value increases by 25 percent when you redeem your rewards for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, your welcome bonus could be worth as much as $1,250 in travel purchases — like airfare, hotels or car rentals.

Spending $8,000 in three months may be no problem for some small-business owners, but it could be a stretch for others. If you don’t regularly spend that much on your business, you might not be able to take advantage of this key benefit — so keep that in mind before you apply.

1:1 point transfer

Many Chase Ink Business Preferred cardholders will want to take advantage of the 25 percent point bonus they’ll receive by redeeming their points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards — but if you’d rather transfer your points to another travel loyalty program, Chase gives you the option to transfer points at a 1:1 ratio. That means that one Chase point equals one partner point.

Here’s a list of the participating Chase transfer partners:

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air Canada
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards®
• Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM
• Iberia Plus
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®
• United MileagePlus®
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• IHG® Rewards Club
• Marriott Bonvoy®
• World of Hyatt

Accounting tools

Small-business owners know the importance of keeping good financial records, and this card is ready to help. Not only will you have 24/7 access to quarterly reports and account statements, but you can also integrate your card with popular bookkeeping software to streamline your accounting process and prepare for the upcoming tax season.

Employee cards

Want to delegate business spending to employees? Chase makes it easy by offering free employee cards. Your employees will be considered authorized users on your credit account, so you’ll be responsible for all purchases made on employee cards, but you can set spending limits to ensure there aren’t any surprises. Plus, you’ll earn rewards with every employee purchase.

Fraud protection

Chase’s fraud protection services provide peace of mind—so don’t forget to take advantage of them. Start by setting up personalized account alerts to keep track of your credit card activity, including unusual or potentially fraudulent purchases. Use Chase’s purchase protection to file claims if eligible purchases arrive damaged or are stolen before your small business can receive them. If you suspect credit card fraud, contact Chase to lock your card—and use Chase’s zero liability protection to protect your business from unauthorized charges.

Cell phone protection

Worried that your business cell phones might get damaged or stolen? Your Ink Business Preferred benefits include up to $1,000 per claim in cell phone protection against covered theft or damage. You’ll need to pay your monthly cell phone bill with your Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card for the coverage to apply, and you can take out a maximum of three claims in a 12-month period with a $100 deductible per claim.

Trip cancellation or interruption insurance

If you use your Ink Business Preferred card to book travel, you’ll automatically benefit from trip cancellation and interruption insurance. If your trip is canceled or cut short by illness, or if severe weather or another covered situation prevents you from traveling as planned, you can request reimbursement for prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses, such as flight tickets and hotel rooms. Your insurance covers up to $5,000 per person and $10,000 per trip.

Auto rental insurance and roadside dispatch benefits

Want even more travel benefits? The Chase Ink Business Preferred car rental benefits include an auto rental collision damage waiver that gives you the ability to decline the rental company’s collision insurance when you charge the entire rental cost to your card. This could save you a lot of money if you rent cars on a regular basis.

You can also use Chase’s roadside dispatch service to help you deal with common roadside issues, such as flat tires or lockouts. Just be aware that Chase roadside dispatch charges a $59.95 fee per service call, so it might not always be the most cost-effective option.

Maximizing the Ink Business Preferred Card

If you want to maximize your business credit card rewards with the Ink Business Preferred, make sure you use it for as many 3X point opportunities as possible — whether you’re booking travel, paying your monthly internet bill or planning your next online advertising campaign.

When it comes time to redeem your points, you’ll maximize the value of each point — and thus each dollar you’ve spent — by using your points to book travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. You’ll still get fair value redeeming points for cash back — each point is worth one cent each that way — but the 25 percent point boost for Ultimate Rewards travel makes each point worth 1.25 cents.

The bottom line

Is the Ink Business Preferred Card right for your small business? Many small-business owners can benefit from this card’s benefits, from travel rewards to travel insurance, purchase protections to accounting resources. If you need more help before deciding which business credit card is best for you, we’ve got a guide to help you evaluate whether the Ink Business Preferred card is worth it.

Remember that no matter which small-business credit card you choose, the best way to benefit your business is to use that credit card responsibly. We recommend establishing good credit before applying for the Ink Business Preferred card. If you’re not quite there yet, start by using our resources to build your credit score. That way, you’ll be better prepared to access the best business credit cards—and watch your business grow.