If you run a business, or are a business (do you drive for Uber? Deliver for Postmates? Photograph the occasional wedding? Congrats, you are a business), then the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card just launched a rare chance to rack up 100,000 Ultimate Rewards Points.
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The Basics
The Ink Business Preferred card is a business card, meaning it's meant to be used for business purposes. But Business cards can be useful for every type of business ranging from Fortune 500 companies with billion dollar budgets to sole proprietors who just want to keep business purchases separate from personal ones.
The card carries a reasonable $95 annual fee, and just launched a new welcome offer of 100,000 Ultimate Rewards Points after spending $15,000 on purchases in the first three months. That's up from the usual 80,000 point bonus after spending $5,000. That's obviously a large bump in minimum spend in exchange for a relatively small bump in bonus points, but if you tend to accrue $15,000 in business expenses over the course of three months anyway, then those extra 20,000 points are worth an extra $400, according to The Points Guy's 2 cent valuation of Chase Ultimate Rewards Points.
Those bonus points are in addition to the points you'll earn through your everyday spending, including 3x points per dollar on your first $150,000 in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, and on advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year.
The Points
Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the most valuable rewards currencies in the industry, because the points can be transfered immediately to over a dozen other travel rewards programs, including Southwest Rapid Rewards, United MileagePlus Rewards, JetBlue True Blue, Marriott Bonvoy, and World of Hyatt. This is where you'll find the most lucrative redemptions, particularly on first and business class flights that charge outrageously high cash fares, but are available for a more reasonable number of points.
But if you don't want to figure out the ins and outs of transfering points, Chase Ink Cardholders can redeem their points for nearly any hotel room, flight, or rental car through the Chase travel portal at a rate of 1.25 cents per point. And if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you can even pool your points from various Ultimate Rewards-earning cards, and spend them in the travel portal at a rate of 1.5 cents per point.
The Perks
The main perk of the Ink Business Card is its generous 3x points earning categories, many of which are fairly unique in the credit card space, and are designed with small business owners in mind.
You'll also receive access to Chse's fraud protection, purchase protection, and personalized account alerts, and can request free cards on the same credit line to give to as many employees as you'd like.
That said, for a card that taps into Chase's extensive travel rewards ecosystem, there's nothing here that's particulary compelling to travelers like TSA Precheck credits or lounge access. For those sorts of benefits, you'll want to pair the Ink Business Preferred with other Chase cards, like the aforementioned Sapphire Reserve.
Why Apply?
Not since the hallowed early days of the Sapphire Reserve have we seen a card offering 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points as a welcome bonus. Yes, the minimum spending requirement is high. And yes, you have to have a business to get a business credit card. But if you're confident that you'll spend $15,000 in three months, the Ink Business Card can be a great addition to your business's toolbox.
Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
