Under-the-radar benefits of the Ink Business Preferred

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card gets a lot of attention for its rewards in particular, and especially the sign-up bonus new customers can earn within the first few months. This is not surprising since cardholders get the chance to earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $8,000 on purchases within six months of account opening.

Members also earn 3X points on up to $150,000 spent annually on shipping purchases, social media and search engine advertising, internet, cable and phone services and travel each year (then 1X points). Cardholders also earn 5X points on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025, and all other purchases earn a standard rate of 1X points per dollar spent.

This popular business credit card also has a reasonable $95 annual fee, which is pretty stellar when you consider the rewards you can earn — especially during year one. That said, few people realize just how dynamic and valuable this card can be, or how many under-the-radar perks it has. If you’re considering the Ink Business Preferred® and wondering about all the different ways it can benefit you, this list of unlikely benefits should be on your radar.

Better rewards value when booking travel through Chase

First off, you should know that this business credit card has some serious travel benefits when it comes to redeeming rewards. It all starts with the fact you get 25 percent more value when redeeming points for airfare, hotels, car rentals and other travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.

This benefit is the same feature you get with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® for consumers, and it can help you stretch your points further if you plan to redeem for travel.

Point transfers to airlines and hotels

A lot of people don’t know this, but the Ink Business Preferred® offers the same point transfer capabilities as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. In fact, rewards earned with this business credit card can be transferred to airline and hotel partners on a 1:1 basis, with options including British Airways, Marriott Bonvoy, Southwest Rapid Rewards, United MileagePlus and more.

Thanks to this flexibility, Chase transfer partners can help cardholders get 2 cents per point in value or better in some cases, so this option is definitely worth having if you can.

Cell phone protection

Pay your cell phone bill with your Ink Business Preferred card to get up to $1,000 in cell phone protection that covers both damage and theft. This coverage can apply to your own phone or phones carried by employees listed in your monthly cell phone bill.

A maximum of three claims applies within a 12-month period, and cardholders must pay a $100 deductible each time.

Protections for purchases

The Ink Business Preferred also comes with a few different protections that can help reimburse you or replace items you buy. These perks include:

• Purchase protection: Get purchase protection against damage or theft for 120 days after purchase. This coverage is worth up to $10,000 per claim and up to $50,000 per account.
• Extended warranties: Get an extra year of warranty protection on eligible purchases with manufacturer’s warranties of three years or less.

Travel-related benefits

The Ink Business Preferred also offers more benefits for travel than people realize, including some that are only listed in the fine print of the card’s benefits guide. Major travel perks you could benefit from include:

• Auto rental coverage: Cardholders get primary auto rental coverage when they rent a car for business purchases and pay with their card, their rewards points or a combination of the two. This coverage is good for up to the actual cash value of most rental vehicles, although plenty of exclusions apply.
• Baggage delay insurance: This insurance coverage kicks in when bags are delayed at your travel destination by at least six hours, and it is worth up to $100 per day for a maximum of five days for emergency purchases like clothing, toiletries and charging cables for cellular telephones.
• Lost luggage reimbursement: This coverage reimburses you when your luggage is lost or stolen while in the care of a common carrier like an airline or a cruise line. The maximum benefit is up to $3,000 for each covered person with a separate $500 per person benefit for jewelry, watches, cameras and other high-value items.
• Roadside dispatch: This pay-per-use program gives cardholders a place to call in when they need help with a flat tire, gas delivery, jump starting, lockout service and more.
• Travel accident insurance: Cardholders and their immediate family members get travel accident coverage for loss of life worth up to $500,000 and $100,000 in coverage for 24-hour loss of life. Travelers can also get all or part of this benefit for accidental dismemberment or loss of speech, hearing or sight.
• Travel and emergency assistance services: Cardholders can call into a 24-hour hotline for help with medical and legal referrals, lost passport assistance, emergency transportation assistance and more. Note that the hotline you call is free but the services you receive may have their own costs.
• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance: This coverage applies for trips that must be canceled or interrupted for a covered reason beyond the traveler’s control. The benefit of this policy is worth up to $5,000 per covered trip.
• Travel delay reimbursement: This card’s trip delay reimbursement coverage can reimburse you for up to $500 when a trip is delayed by 12 hours or longer or the trip delay causes you to have an overnight stay before departure.

Free employee cards

Ink Business Preferred customers can also get free employee cards, which can lead to several different benefits. For example, having employee cards means you can more easily track worker expenses for accounting purposes. Employees with credit cards can also help the business owner earn more rewards on all their business spending over time.

Business management benefits

Finally, the Ink Business Preferred comes with a range of business management benefits that can help business-owning cardholders manage their cash flow. For example, cardholders get 24/7 access to online accounts plus quarterly reports and access to up to 24 months of credit card statements at a time.

The Ink Business Preferred also helps build business credit, which can help cardholders qualify for other types of business financing, including small business loans, down the line.

The bottom line

The Ink Business Preferred has so much to offer in terms of rewards that it’s easy to forget about all the other benefits it comes with. In fact, this business credit card is packed with perks, particularly when it comes to the purchase protections and travel benefits it offers.

That said, you should still compare this card to other business credit cards before you choose it based on perks or rewards. The Ink Business Preferred can definitely be worth it, but there are other valuable business credit cards to pick from as well.