Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card: Transfer Points or Redeem for Travel [CNET]

This card offers business owners the opportunity to save money on their business trips through point transfers and a redemption bonus.

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card from Chase is a good choice for business owners who travel relatively frequently. This business credit card offers decent rewards rates and perks, but it truly shines thanks to the point bonus when redeeming rewards for travel through Chase Travel℠ — and its 1:1 transfer rate to Chase’s airline and hotel partners.

The point bonus makes it easy to earn above-average returns on your travel spending, while the transfer partners add considerable flexibility to the card. If Chase partners with your favorite airline or hotel, you can use your points to pay for a nights stay or airfare. Point transfers take a bit of extra work than simply redeeming points for statement credits, but you’ll be well rewarded for the effort.

The Ink Business Preferred is well worth the $95 annual fee if you find yourself taking regular business trips and looking for a credit card that can help cover some of the expense.

Rewards and redemption

You can earn 3x points per dollar for travel, shipping purchases, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines and internet, cable and phone services (on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year, then 1x). You’ll earn 1x point for everything else.

Once you’ve earned your rewards, you can redeem them for:

• Travel through Chase Travel℠ (25% point bonus)
• Statement credits
• Gift cards
• Pay with points (through Chase Ultimate Rewards or with third-party merchants)

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are usually worth 1 cent each, but can be increased to 1.25 cents by redeeming for travel through Chase Travel℠. 

Cardholders are also able to transfer their points to Chase’s travel partners at a 1:1 rate (1 Chase point = 1 partner mile/point). Transferring points could get you an even better per-point value than other forms of redemption.

Take a look at Chase’s airline and hotel partners that cardholders are able to transfer their points to:

Chase’s travel partners	Transfer ratio (Chase points:miles/points)
Aer Lingus AerClub	1:1
British Airways Executive Club	1:1
Emirates Skywards	1:1
Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM	1:1
Iberia Plus	1:1
JetBlue TrueBlue	1:1
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	1:1
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards	1:1
United MileagePlus	1:1
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club	1:1
IHG Rewards	1:1
Marriott Bonvoy	1:1
World of Hyatt	1:1

Chase has partnerships with a few of the biggest travel brands including United, Southwest, Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt. If you have any upcoming business trips, it would be a good idea to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to cover all of or some of your hotel or airfare costs.

Chase Travel

Chase’s Travel platform allows cardholders to book all aspects of their travel, including airfare, car rentals and hotel stays. The Chase Ultimate Rewards platform is where cardholders can transfer their points to Chase’s travel partners or redeem points for travel for a 25% bonus through Chase Travel. You can also use the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal to use your points to pay for Apple products.

If you have multiple Chase credit cards, you’re even able to transfer points between the cards in the Chase Ultimate Rewards family.

Cards include the:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Chase Freedom Flex®* 
• Chase Freedom Unlimited®
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card

It’s worth noting that you can still transfer points from a business card, like the Ink Business Preferred, to a consumer card, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, and vice versa.

Welcome offer

The Ink Business Preferred card offers new cardholders 120,000 bonus points for spending $8,000 in the first three months with the card. According to Chase, that would equate to a $1,200 value if redeemed for statement credits, or $1,500 if redeemed for travel through Chase Travel℠. However, you could potentially find an even higher value by transferring your points to Chase’s travel partners. 

The $8,000 spending requirement is higher than you would find on most consumer cards with a comparative annual fee, but lower than other annual-fee-charging business cards like the American Express® Business Gold Card or the Capital One Spark Cash Plus*. Still, you should cross-reference your monthly business expenses to see if your business would be likely to meet it.

Other card perks

In addition to its strong rewards program, the Ink Business Preferred offers business owners a handful of useful perks, including employee cards at no additional cost and a number of protections.

• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance: If your trip is canceled or interrupted due to a covered event, such as sickness, you could be reimbursed by up to $5,000 per person and $10,000 per trip. 
• Auto rental collision damage waiver: Get primary rental car coverage against damage and theft. Decline the rental car provider’s insurance offer and charge the full amount of the car rental to your Ink Business Preferred card. Because coverage is primary when renting for business purposes, you don’t have to have or buy a separate car insurance policy, and it pays out before any other coverage you might have.
• Roadside dispatch: If you run into car trouble while traveling, call 1-800-847-2869 for help. Roadside dispatch services may be able to help you with changing a tire, reviving a dead battery, or providing fuel delivery and lockout services.
• Cell phone protection: Pay your phone bill with the card and get up to $1,000 per claim in cell phone protection against covered damage and theft. You can have a maximum of three claims per year with a $100 deductible per claim.
• Purchase protection: Your new purchases are covered against damage and theft for 120 days. Coverage is up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
• Extended warranty: If you have a US manufacturer’s warranty of three years or less on a new purchase, you could get it extended by an additional year.

Comparable cards

While the Chase Ink Business Preferred is a strong contender for a business travel card, there are others worth considering. If you don’t travel enough to take advantage of the Ink Business Preferred’s rewards and redemption, consider a business travel credit card without an annual fee.

Ink Business Cash® Credit Card

Another member of the Chase Ultimate Rewards family, the Ink Business Cash card is an alternative to earn a return on your business spending without an annual fee. It earns 5% cash back at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone service (on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each anniversary year) , as well as 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants (on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each anniversary year). It earns 1% cash back for everything else.

The Ink Business Cash lacks the 25% bonus for redeeming points for travel through Chase Travel as well as the 1:1 transfer rate to Chase’s travel partners, so its rewards may be less appealing for a business owner who travels frequently. The $25,000 spending limit on rewards also makes it better suited to small businesses who don’t spend much annually.

Capital One Spark Miles for Business

You can earn 5x miles per dollar for hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel with the Capital One Spark Miles for Business*, plus 2x miles per dollar for everything else with the Capital One Spark Miles for Business. It has a $95 annual fee ($0 intro annual fee for the first year) and offers mile transfers to Capital One’s travel partners as well as a few useful travel perks including an application fee credit for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck.

While it does offer mile transfers, the ratios to each will vary more so than the Ink Business Preferred, and Capital One features more international airlines and hotels. The application fee credit for either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck will save you time by skipping security lines at the airport and the rewards are simple. It offers fewer travel protections, but the bottom line is that it’s an uncomplicated travel card that offers solid perks for business people who travel on occasion.

How Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card compares to other cards

CNET’S PICK

Intro Offer

Earn 120,000 bonus points Earn 120,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Annual fee

$95

APR

21.24% – 26.24% Variable

Intro Purchase APR

N/A

Recommended Credit A credit score is used to indicate an applicant’s credit worthiness and may provide guidance about account eligibility. It does not necessarily guarantee approval for any financial product.

Good – Excellent

Rewards rate

1x – 3x 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

Intro Offer

Earn up to $750 bonus cash back Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.

Annual fee

$0

APR

18.49% – 24.49% Variable

Intro Purchase APR

0% Intro APR on Purchases for 12 months

Recommended Credit A credit score is used to indicate an applicant’s credit worthiness and may provide guidance about account eligibility. It does not necessarily guarantee approval for any financial product.

Good – Excellent

Rewards rate

1% – 5% Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year; Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year; Earn 1% cash back on all other card purchases with no limit to the amount you can earn

Intro Offer

$250 statement credit Earn a $250 statement credit after you make $3,000 in purchases on your Card in your first 3 months.

Annual fee

No annual fee

APR

18.49% – 26.49% Variable

Intro Purchase APR

0% on purchases for 12 months from date of account opening

Recommended Credit A credit score is used to indicate an applicant’s credit worthiness and may provide guidance about account eligibility. It does not necessarily guarantee approval for any financial product.

Good – Excellent

Rewards rate

1% – 2% Earn 2% cash back on all eligible purchases on up to $50,000 per calendar year, then 1%. Cash back earned is automatically credited to your statement. ; 1% cash back on all eligible purchases after spending $50,000 per calendar year.

FAQs

*All information about the Capital One Spark Cash Plus, Capital One Spark Miles for Business and Chase Freedom Flex has been collected independently by CNET and has not been reviewed by the issuer.

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