GaudiLab/Shutterstock.com
The author is not pictured.
- The Ink Business Preferred Credit Card from Chase lets new cardholders earn 80,000 points - worth $1,000 in travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards - when they spend $5,000 within three months of account opening.
- You can also earn 3x points on up to $150,000 spent each year on travel, shipping, select online advertising, and internet, cable, or phone purchases.
- Like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Ink Business Preferred from Chase lets consumers transfer points to airline and hotel partners at a 1:1 ratio.
- Before you sign up for this card, consider how other Chase business credit cards might align with the categories where your business spends the most.
- Read more personal finance coverage.
When my husband and I started our online business in 2012, we were hoping to make some money to supplement income from our full-time jobs. Almost eight years later, however, we're fully self-employed and working entirely on our own terms.
There are some major positives to being your own boss, but there are some downsides, too. The worst part is paying self-employment taxes, but we also have plenty of expenses to pay for in order to keep our business afloat.
Like with our personal spending, we've chosen to use a rewards credit card to pay for business purchases in order to earn points for travel. While we've shuffled through several business credit cards over the years in order to maximize points, we're putting around 90% of our business purchases, which add up to over six figures per year, on a single card right now - the Ink Business Preferred from Chase.
Most of my business spending earns 3 points per $1
The main reason we focus our business spending on the Ink Business Preferred is the simple fact that this card rewards us where we spend the most. We earned the significant 80,000-point sign-up bonus on this card years ago, but we still benefit from the 3x points we earn on up to $150,000 spent on travel, shipping, online advertising, and internet, cable, and phone purchases each year.
Our business pays for our internet and phone coverage, so that part is easy to max out. My husband's online advertising expenses also add up fast throughout the year, so we're able to maximize your rewards in that category, too.
We also travel a lot for our business - sometimes as much as four months of the year. The fact I can charge our business travel purchases to this card and earn 3x points has kept it at the front of my wallet for years.
Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners are a dream
If you're familiar with other Chase travel credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you may already know that Chase has the best airline and hotel partners in the business. If not, you may be surprised to find out that the Chase Ultimate Rewards program lets you transfer points 1:1 to popular airline and hotel partners like Southwest Rapid Rewards, British Airways, United MileagePlus, World of Hyatt, and Marriott Bonvoy.
Having the ability to transfer points to airline partners can help you score considerably more travel for free, especially when it comes to earning free flights. My favorite Chase airline partners are Air France/Flying Blue for cheap flights to Europe and Southwest Airlines for inexpensive fares within the US and to the Caribbean, but plenty of other Chase airline partners present a solid value.
I pool points in my Chase Sapphire Reserve account for superior portal redemptions
In addition to transferring points to airlines and hotels, the Ink Business Preferred lets you book travel directly through the Chase portal, which partners with Expedia. You also get 25% more travel free when you book hotels, flights, activities, rental homes, rental cars and more through the portal with this card.
Since I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, however, I'm able to pool all my Chase points in my Reserve account to get 50% more travel for free - a much better redemption value. While I utilize airline and hotel partners quite a bit, I also book flights and boutique or off-brand hotels through the Chase portal all the time.
This card doesn't have foreign transaction fees
Another bonus of the Ink Business Preferred is the fact that it doesn't charge foreign transaction fees. This makes it a winner if you're someone who travels for business often and you don't want to pay any extra charges when you use your credit card outside the United States.
The bulk of my business travel is outside the US, so having a business credit card that doesn't charge foreign fees is crucial for me. In fact, based on my normal spending of around $20,000 per year outside the US, this perk alone saves me $600 annually.
I also have the Ink Business Unlimited from Chase
I mentioned I put around 90% of my business expenses on the Ink Business Preferred from Chase, but I don't pay the rest in cash! I also have the Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card from Chase, which I just picked up earlier this year.
While I loved earning a $500 cash bonus (50,000 points) after I spent $3,000 within three months of account opening, the real benefit of the card is that it offers 1.5% cash back (1.5 points for each dollar) - and that you can pool these points with other Chase cards for optimal travel redemptions.
I love earning 1.5 points per $1 spent on regular purchases with this card, and I mostly use it for expenses that won't earn 3 points per $1 on the Ink Business Preferred. The Ink Business Unlimited comes with no annual fee as well, which makes it an awesome card to keep for the long haul.
What to consider before you sign up
If you're considering a business credit card, there are a ton of options to consider - and you don't have to get a Chase credit card at all. I mostly focus my rewards strategy on the Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem because I love the cardholder perks and transfer partners, but you could always consider other programs like American Express Membership Rewards or Citi ThankYou Rewards.
If you do choose to focus on Chase Ultimate Rewards cards, however, keep in mind that not all Chase business credit cards offer transferable points on their own. You have to pair some Chase business credit cards with personal travel credit cards in order to transfer points to airlines or hotels.
Earning structures are also different among Chase's business credit cards - the third is the Ink Business Cash Credit Card - so make sure to consider all your options and how they might work for your needs. The chart below highlights the biggest differences you should know about before you sign up.
Alyssa Powell/Business Insider
Learn more about the Ink Business Preferred from our partner The Points Guy »
- More credit card coverage
- What's the best airline credit card?
- The best cash-back credit cards
- Southwest credit card review
- Best rewards credit cards
Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Personal Finance Insider team. We occasionally highlight financial products and services that can help you make smarter decisions with your money. We do not give investment advice or encourage you to adopt a certain investment strategy. If you take action based on one of our recommendations, we get a small share of the revenue from our commerce partners. This does not influence whether we feature a financial product or service. We operate independently from our advertising sales team.
Business Insider may receive a commission from The Points Guy Affiliate Network, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.
Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.