Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card review: A top-notch business card with a 120,000-point welcome bonus

The Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is one of the most well-rounded and attractive small business cards on the market. Not only is it currently offering one of the most valuable welcome bonuses around, but its $95 annual fee is extremely reasonable considering the card's robust collection of benefits.

Perhaps most importantly, the card is known for letting its members earn flexible Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, which can be used to book travel through the card issuer's travel portal or transferred to any of Chase's 14 airline or hotel loyalty partners, allowing for even more savings.

You don't have to be a road warrior or constant business traveler to make the most from this travel-centric business card, though it's a great fit for those who want to use their rewards for future trips.

The Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card is currently offering the highest welcome bonus of any Ultimate Rewards® points-earning credit card — a whopping 120,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,200 cash back or $1,500 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel^SM. That's worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Travel^SM, and significantly more if you're familiar with the best ways to redeem Ultimate Rewards® points (we'll cover those in a moment).

While spending $8,000 within three months might sound intimidating, those with small businesses that tend to rack up significant expenses should have no problem achieving this minimum spending requirement. Even if your business has little to no overhead — if you're doing something like freelance writing or tutoring, for instance — you could prepay certain expenses such as taxes, insurance or your rent if you don't think your normal spending habits will suffice. Just be sure not to carry a balance month to month, as the interest you'll incur can end up costing you a lot in the long run.

High-quality travel insurance

The Ink Business Preferred offers a slew of elite travel insurance benefits typically not offered by similar cards. For starters, you'll receive primary auto rental collision damage waivers when renting a car for business purposes. That means if you damage the vehicle or fall victim to auto theft, Chase will cover you even if you didn't pay for the exorbitant in-house insurance offered by the rental agency. All you have to do is waive the collision damage waiver when picking up the car, and you'll automatically be covered.

The card also comes with trip delay insurance, which kicks in after a delay of 12 hours or more or can be used when an overnight stay is required due to a delay or cancellation. You — as well as your spouse or any dependent children traveling with you — will be covered for up to $500 in reasonable expenses, including hotels, food, transportation and toiletries.

Cardholders also benefit from baggage delay insurance. When a common carrier such as an airline or cruise line delays your bag for at least six hours, you'll be entitled to up to $100 per day until your luggage is returned to you — with a maximum of five days — for reasonable expenses including clothing, toiletries and charging cables for your phone. You're not the only one covered either, as any immediate family members or employees traveling with you will also benefit from this benefit.

Finally, the Ink Business Preferred offers trip cancellation and interruption insurance, which reimburses you up to $5,000 per person (and up to $10,000 per trip) for nonrefundable prepaid travel if your trip gets canceled or cut short for an eligible reason.

Cell phone protection

When you use this card to pay your monthly cell phone bill, you'll automatically receive comprehensive cell phone protection insurance for your line as well as any other lines on the same bill — up to $1,000 worth of coverage per claim, up to three times per year.

Note that there is a $100 deductible, which admittedly is less reasonable than that of some other cards, but it's still not bad considering the amount of insurance you'll receive. If you've been paying for cell phone insurance out-of-pocket, this perk alone will save you some cash every month — whether you use it or not.

Coverage for purchases

The Ink Business Preferred is a great credit card if you need to make large purchases. You'll receive quality purchase protection that insures your new purchases for 120 days in the event the item is damaged or stolen, with a limit of $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account. Cardholders also score extended warranty protection, which adds an additional year to eligible U.S. manufacturer's warranties of three years or less.

Earning

When you swipe the Ink Business Preferred, you'll earn 3X points per dollar spent on shipping-related purchases; advertising expenses through social media and search engines; internet, cable and phone services; and travel — for the first $150,000 in combined purchases per year — as well as 1X points per dollar for all other purchases.

Redeeming

There are plenty of ways to redeem Ultimate Rewards® points, and each option comes with very different values. If you value simplicity, here are the best ways to redeem them:

• Booking airfare, hotel stays, rental cars and cruises through Chase Travel^SM where they are worth 1.25 cents per point.

• Cashing out your rewards points via a statement credit, check or direct deposit, which values them at 1 cent per point.
• Redeeming your points for gift cards from department stores, restaurants or entertainment services, when they are worth 1 cent per point.

If you're okay with a bit of complication in your redemption process, you can score hugely outsized value for your Chase points by foregoing the above options and instead transferring them to any of the card issuer's travel partners at a 1:1 ratio.

Chase has 14 airline and hotel transfer partners to choose from:

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards
• Flying Blue (KLM and Air France)
• Iberia Plus
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Points (Virgin Atlantic)
• IHG One Rewards
• Marriott Bonvoy
• World of Hyatt

Transferring your points to Chase's travel partners allows you to get untold value and results in practically free airfares and hotel stays.

Here's an example: The Park Hyatt Chicago is a five-star hotel, which you can reserve with World of Hyatt points. On standard dates, this hotel runs 25,000 points per night and you could easily reserve four nights here with the 120,000-point welcome bonus you'll receive with the Ink Business Preferred card. Simply transfer 100,000 Chase points to World of Hyatt once they hit your account, and your stay will be completely free.

Looking at cash prices for that same room, you could end up paying roughly $2,700 for the same four-night stay. That means you'll be getting a value of about 2.7 cents per point by transferring them to World of Hyatt — and that's significantly better than any of the other redemption options.

Chase's airline partners are also well-varied, giving you the ability to travel just about anywhere for much less. To get the biggest value for your points, try booking international business and first-class seats. For instance, you can book a round-trip business flight from the East Coast to Japan on ANA for 120,000 Virgin Points — that same flight often costs around $8,000, giving you a value of 6.7 cents per point.

Check out our guide to the best ways to use Chase Ultimate Rewards® points to learn more about this valuable travel hack.

The Ink Business Preferred comes with a modest $95 annual fee. The card doesn't have foreign transaction fees, however, so it's a nice option to bring along when traveling internationally.

Note that this particular card does not offer a low intro APR — it's 21.24% - 26.24% (variable) based on your creditworthiness if you carry a balance month to month. You'll also incur a $40 fee if your payment is late. Balance transfers are $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater, while cash advances are $15 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card vs. Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is effectively the personal version of the Ink Business Preferred, and offers many of the same strengths and weaknesses. Both cards come with a $95 annual fee, offer similar trip delay and rental car coverage, allow you to "buy" travel through the Chase Travel℠ travel portal for 1.25 cents each and let you earn Ultimate Rewards® points, which can then be transferred to travel partners.

There are several differences you should be aware of before applying, however.

For one, the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a significantly lower welcome bonus than its small business counterpart — just 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 within the first three months of account opening. While that's a much easier minimum-spending requirement to meet than $8,000, the payoff isn't as great, though it's still excellent.

The card also has different bonus categories that are geared toward everyday spending rather than business purchases. Cardholders can earn:

• 5X points per dollar on Lyft rides, now through March 31, 2025
• 5X points per dollar when purchasing travel via Chase Travel℠
• 3X points per dollar on dining (including takeout and eligible delivery services)
• 3X points per dollar on qualifying streaming services
• 3X points per dollar on online groceries
• 2X points per dollar for all other travel-related expenses
• 1X points per dollar for any other purchases made with the card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred also offers some benefits you won't find with the Ink Business Preferred:

• A 10% point bonus on each cardmember anniversary according to how much you spent on the card during the past year (1 point per $10 spent)
• $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit
• A complimentary DashPass subscription to use with DoorDash and Caviar, valid through December 31, 2024

It's possible to open both the Ink Business Preferred and the Chase Sapphire Preferred, so if you're having trouble deciding which one best fits your lifestyle at the moment, you could always try them both out. That said, if you've got a small business with regular expenses that fall into the Ink Business Preferred's bonus categories, the choice here really is a no-brainer.

Ink Business Cash Credit Card vs. Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

Similar to the Ink Business Preferred, the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card is a small business credit card. A few key differences set these cards apart in a big way, though.

First, the Ink Business Cash card currently offers a welcome offer of $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. That's pretty incredible considering this is a no-annual-fee card, but what's even better is that you can turn that cash back into transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards® points if you've got at least one of the following cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

All you have to do is transfer your cashback onto one of those cards, and you'll instantly unlock the ability to convert them into airline miles and hotel points for potentially thousands of dollars in travel.

The Ink Business Cash card's earning structure is also much different. Here's what you'll get:

• 5% cash back (5X points per dollar) at office supply stores
• 5% cash back (5X points per dollar) with internet, cable and phone services
• 2% cash back (2X points per dollar) at gas stations and restaurants

Note that both the 5% and 2% bonus categories are each only valid for up to $25,000 in combined spending each account anniversary, after which point, you'll earn 1% cash back, or 1x points per dollar. You'll also earn 1% back (1x points per dollar) for all other purchases.

The Ink Business Cash card does not charge an annual fee so you won't have to dread your account anniversary each year — it's free to keep forever. In terms of additional benefits, you'll also receive:

• Auto rental collision damage waivers (again, you must be renting the vehicle for business purposes to be covered)
• Travel and emergency assistance services
• Extended warranty and purchase protection

It's possible to have both the Ink Business Preferred and the Ink Business Cash cards, so if you can't decide, you could always try out both over time. For more information, check out our guide to the best Chase business credit cards.

This card is geared more toward the small business owner crowd, so if you've got a for-profit venture, you'll likely qualify for this card. That doesn't mean you need to be the boss of a multinational enterprise — if you dog sit on Rover or have an Etsy store, you've got a small business.

The Ink Business Preferred is also best suited for anyone whose main objective is to use credit card rewards for travel. If you're interested in collecting Ultimate Rewards® points, you'll ideally be redeeming them for airfare, hotel stays or car rentals. If your aim is receiving cash back, however, other cash-back business credit cards might be worth opening instead.

This card is also subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, which means if you've opened five or more credit cards from any bank (excluding certain small business cards), you won't be eligible for this card.

With an excellent return rate and collection of ongoing benefits, the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card delivers considering its modest $95 annual fee. The card lets you earn arguably the most valuable credit card rewards currency on the market — Chase Ultimate Rewards® points — which can net you a value of more than 4 cents apiece if you know the best ways to use them. The card also offers great travel benefits and purchase protections, as well as complimentary cell phone coverage when you use it to pay your monthly bill.

If you'd prefer to pay no annual fee, you should consider applying for the Ink Business Cash Credit Card instead, which also has points-high earning potential and a welcome bonus of $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. Just keep in mind that to unlock the full potential of the rewards you'll earn with this card, you'll need to also hold an annual fee-incurring Ultimate Rewards® card such as the Ink Business Preferred or Chase Sapphire Preferred.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.

Catch up on CNBC Select's in-depth coverage of credit cards, banking and money, and follow us on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date.