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The Ink cards are 3 of the best credit cards on the market, each offering valuable benefits and lucrative signup bonuses. This post will examine which card is best for you:
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Notably, the Ink Business Premier℠ Credit Card can be quite lucrative thanks to earning up to 2.5% cash back everywhere. However, it only earns cash back and can’t be transferred into points and miles, and isn’t included in this comparison. You can read more about that card here.
Table of Contents
Chase Ultimate Rewards cards:
Chase Ultimate Rewards points are among the most lucrative point currencies out there.
You can rack up points quickly thanks to a plethora of valuable cards with strong spending categories and a strong rewards program.
Chase split up their cards into 2 categories.
No-annual fee cards have points worth 1 cent each and they can earn up to 5 points per dollar. If you only have a no-annual fee card you won’t be able to transfer points into airline miles or use them at an increased value towards travel. Those cards include Ink Unlimited (1.5 points per dollar), Ink Cash (up to 5 points per dollar), Freedom Flex (up to 5 points per dollar), and Chase Freedom Unlimited® (1.5 points per dollar). These cards have their signup bonus and spending categories marketed as cash back, but they actually earn Ultimate Rewards points which can be cashed out at 1 cent per point.
You can do much better than 1 cent per point if you have a premium Chase card with an annual fee. Those include the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (up to 3.1 points per dollar), Chase Sapphire Reserve® (up to 3 points per dollar), and Ink Preferred (up to 3 points per dollar).
A premium card can transfer points to airlines from all of the major alliances, so you can book award travel on dozens of airlines. Chase points also transfer to Hyatt, which has the last remaining valuable hotel points. Plus, you can redeem your points directly for paid airfare, hotels, car rentals, or activities at an increased value as well. Having a premium card increases the value of points earned on non-premium cards as you can transfer points between all of your cards.
Chase transfer partners include:
- United (Star Alliance)
- Air Canada Aeroplan (Star Alliance)
- Singapore (Star Alliance)
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue (Skyteam)
- British Airways (OneWorld)
- Aer Lingus (OneWorld)
- Finnair (OneWorld, transfer via BA)
- Iberia (OneWorld)
- Qatar (OneWorld, transfer via BA)
- Emirates
- JetBlue
- Southwest
- Virgin Atlantic
- Hyatt
- IHG
- Marriott
- Hilton (1:1.5 via Virgin Atlantic)
I aim to receive a value of 2 cents or more per point when I transfer them into airline miles or hotel points. But sometimes the value of an airline miles or hotel point can be under 1 cent each. In these cases it’s great to have a card that allows you to redeem points for paid travel at a value that beats the 1 cent per point level where you can cash the points out.
Business card and 5/24 info:
These are business cards, but you may already have a business that needs a card to keep track of expenses. For example if your name is Joe Smith and you sell items online, or if you have any other side business and want a credit card to better keep track of business expenditures you can open a business credit card for “Joe Smith” as the business. You don’t need to file any messy government paperwork to be allowed to do that. Just be sure to select “Sole Proprietorship” as the business type and just use your social security number in the Tax Identification Number field.
If you have business paperwork you can apply under your business name. Otherwise, it’s critical to just write your own name as the business name if you are just applying for your own small business as a Sole Proprietorship that doesn’t have any business paperwork. You can then send in bills in your own name for verification.
If you’re like me and you run more than one business, you can signup for multiple of the same card for each business to manage each businesses expenses separately.
Some Chase cards are subject to 5/24 restrictions, meaning that you might not be approved if you have been approved for 5 or more consumer credit cards in the past 24 months. Enforcement of 5/24 has been patchy for the past year and the only way to know if you can get approved is by trying to apply.
Note that the Chase system automatically counts cards like authorized user cards and store cards as cards that count towards 5/24, but if you explain to Chase that those cards are merely authorized user cards or store cards they can manually approve you for a new card.
You can check your credit report for free at the federally authorized annualcreditreport.com to check how many accounts are shown as being open in the past 24 months.
It’s important to note that business cards from most banks, including Chase business cards, do not get added to your 5/24 count of recently opened cards. That’s because business cards from most banks don’t show up on your personal credit report, and the 5/24 count is based on your personal credit report. That means that applying for these cards won’t “hurt” your 5/24 count.
Another benefit of the card not reporting on your personal credit report is that when you spend money on personal cards your credit score will be hurt even if you pay your bill on time. A whopping 30% of your credit score is based on credit utilization. You can pay off your card bill before your statement is generated to avoid that, but that takes effort and laying out money well before you have to. Additionally, it’s good to have the statement close with a couple dollars to show the card is active and being paid every month. On a business card from banks like AMEX and Chase, it’s just not reported, so you can wait until the money is due without it having a negative effect on your score. That also means if you close the card, it won’t have an effect on your credit score.
Chase has 3 Ink business cards with Ultimate Rewards to choose from:
All of these are excellent cards, but they each have their own unique benefits and uses:
- Ink Preferred has the strongest signup bonus (90,000 points for spending $8K in 3 months) and offers triple points on travel, internet, cable, phone, shipping, and online advertising. You can read the full card review here.
- Ink Cash has a big signup bonus (35,000 points for spending $3K in 3 months plus 45,000 points for spending another $3K in 6 months) and offers a whopping 5 points per dollar on $25K of annual spending on internet, cable phone, and office supply stores, including hundreds of gift cards sold by office supply stores to other stores like Amazon. It also offers double points on gas and dining on $25K of annual spenidng. You can read the full card review here.
- Ink Unlimited has a big signup bonus (75,000 points for spending $6K in 3 months) and offers 1.5 points per dollar everywhere. You can read the full card review here.
You can get the bonus on all 3 of these cards. As long as you are approved for these cards you will get the signup bonus.
Chase also allows you to product change from any consumer Ultimate Rewards card to another consumer Ultimate Rewards card or from any business Ultimate Rewards card to another business Ultimate Rewards card as needed. You can have multiple of the same card if you have multiple businesses or if you product change from another card.
That means if you would rather get the larger Ink Preferred bonus and decide later on that you prefer the spending categories on the no annual fee Ink Cash or Ink Unlimited card, you can call to convert it. If you later decide you want to take advantage of the benefits of the Ink Preferred, you can convert it back to that again.
There is no hard credit pull needed to change cards. You will only get a signup bonus for opening a new card, not for a product change.
Chase allows you to transfer points to a spouse or business joint owner. Chase also allows premium cardholders to transfer points to their authorized user’s mileage accounts.
Let’s walk through the benefits to see which cards are best for you.
Signup bonus:
- Ink Preferred: 90,000 bonus points for spending $8,000 in 3 months.
- Ink Cash: 35,000 bonus points for spending $3,000 in 3 months plus 45K bonus points spending another $3,000 in 6 months.
- Ink Unlimited: 75,000 bonus points for spending $6,000 in 3 months.
The Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited signup bonus is marketed as $750, but it will actually come in the form of 75,000 points.
Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited have a lower spend threshold, but Ink Preferred’s 90K bonus is excellent if you can meet the spend threshold.
Winner: Ink Preferred
Annual fee:
- Ink Preferred: $95
- Ink Cash: $0
- Ink Unlimited: $0
Winner: Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited
Annual fee for additional cardholders:
- Ink Preferred: $0
- Ink Cash: $0
- Ink Unlimited: $0
Winner: Tie
Value of points towards paid airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and activities:
- Ink Preferred: 1.25 cents per point
- Ink Cash: 1 cent per point
- Ink Unlimited: 1 cent per point
You can combine all of your points and your spouse’s points from all of your Chase Ultimate Rewards cards onto your most valuable card, so that they are worth the most for travel! If you have a Sapphire Reserve card your points will be worth 1.5 cents each towards travel.
The increased value of points set a minimum value you can get from your points. You can get a higher value for your points by transferring them into airline miles and hotel points, but having the ability to use your points at an increased value for paid travel makes them into “hybrid points.” You can choose to redeem them for either paid travel or award travel, depending on which provides a better value.
Winner: Ink Preferred
Points per dollar on travel, including airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruises, subways, trains, taxis, tolls, parking, Airbnb, Lyft, and Uber:
- Ink Preferred: 3 per dollar, capped at $150K annual spending across all triple point categories.
- Ink Cash: 1 per dollar (5 per dollar on Delta and Southwest gift cards from office supply stores, capped at $25K annual spending across all 5 point categories.)
- Ink Unlimited: 1.5 per dollar
Winner: Ink Preferred
Points per dollar on dining:
- Ink Preferred: 1 per dollar.
- Ink Cash: 2 per dollar, capped at $25K annual spending across all 2 point categories.
- Ink Unlimited: 1.5 per dollar
Winner: Ink Cash.
Points per dollar on gas:
- Ink Preferred: 1 per dollar.
- Ink Cash: 2 per dollar, capped at $25K annual spending across all 2 point categories (5 per dollar on BP, Shell and more gift cards from office supply stores, capped at $25K annual spending across all 5 point categories.)
- Ink Unlimited: 1.5 per dollar
Winner: Ink Cash.
Points per dollar on shipping:
- Ink Preferred: 3 per dollar, capped at $150K annual spending across all triple point categories.
- Ink Cash: 1 per dollar.
- Ink Unlimited: 1.5 per dollar
Winner: Ink Preferred
Points per dollar on internet, cable, streaming services, and phone:
- Ink Preferred: 3 per dollar, capped at $150K annual spending across all triple point categories.
- Ink Cash: 5 per dollar, capped at $25K annual spending across all 5 point categories.
- Ink Unlimited: 1.5 per dollar
Winner: Ink Cash.
Points per dollar on social media advertising, and search engine advertising:
- Ink Preferred: 3 per dollar, capped at $150K annual spending across all triple point categories.
- Ink Cash: 1 per dollar.
- Ink Unlimited: 1.5 per dollar
Winner: Ink Preferred
Points per dollar on everyday spending:
- Ink Preferred: 1 per dollar.
- Ink Cash: 1 per dollar (5 per dollar on gift cards from office supply stores, capped at $25K annual spending across all 5 point categories.)
- Ink Unlimited: 1.5 per dollar
Winner: Ink Unlimited.
Foreign Transaction Fees:
- Ink Preferred: 0%
- Ink Cash: 3%
- Ink Unlimited: 3%
Winner: Ink Preferred
0% Intro Purchase APR:
- Ink Preferred: None
- Ink Cash: 12 months
- Ink Unlimited: 12 months
Winner: Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited.
Cell Phone Damage and Theft Protection:
- Ink Preferred: $1,000 of coverage with a $100 deductible when you pay your monthly bill on the card, plus earn 3 points per dollar.
- Ink Cash: None.
- Ink Unlimited: None.
Winner: Ink Preferred
US Car Rental CDW Coverage:
- Ink Preferred: Primary on rentals primarily for a business purpose, secondary on rentals for personal reasons
- Ink Cash: Primary on rentals primarily for a business purpose, secondary on rentals for personal reasons
- Ink Unlimited: Primary on rentals primarily for a business purpose, secondary on rentals for personal reasons
Winner: Tie
Worldwide Car Rental CDW Coverage:
- Ink Preferred: Primary, plus no foreign transaction fees.
- Ink Cash: Primary, plus 3% foreign transaction fees.
- Ink Unlimited: Primary, plus 3% foreign transaction fees.
Winner: Ink Preferred
Extended Warranty Coverage:
- Ink Preferred: 1 extra year on warranties 3 years or less, up to $10K per item.
- Ink Cash: 1 extra year on warranties 3 years or less, up to $10K per item.
- Ink Unlimited: 1 extra year on warranties 3 years or less, up to $10K per item.
Winner: Tie.
Purchase Protection for items damaged or stolen:
- Ink Preferred: 120 days of theft or damage coverage, up to $10K per item.
- Ink Cash: 120 days of theft or damage coverage, up to $10K per item.
- Ink Unlimited: 120 days of theft or damage coverage, up to $10K per item.
Winner: Tie.
Trip Delay Reimbursement:
- Ink Preferred: $500 per person for reasonable expenses (Hotel, food, toiletries, medicine, etc) required for 12+ hours or overnight delays.
- Ink Cash: None.
- Ink Unlimited: None.
Winner: Ink Preferred
Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance:
- Ink Preferred: $5,000 per trip or $10,000 per trip with multiple travelers.
- Ink Cash: None.
- Ink Unlimited: None.
Winner: Ink Preferred
Travel Accident Insurance:
- Ink Preferred: $500,000 per person
- Ink Cash: $500,000 per person
- Ink Unlimited: $500,000 per person
Winner: Tie.
Visa Savings Edge Rebates:
Winner: Tie.
Adds to 5/24 count of cards:
- Ink Preferred: No
- Ink Cash: No
- Ink Unlimited: No
Winner: Tie
Spending affects credit utilization ratio:
- Ink Preferred: No
- Ink Cash: No
- Ink Unlimited: No
Business card spending doesn’t get reported on your personal credit report, so having a bill close with an amount owed won’t hurt your score on a business card.
Winner: Tie
Lost Luggage Insurance:
- Ink Preferred: $3,000 per person per trip (limit of $500 per person for jewelry, watches, electronics)
- Ink Cash: $3,000 per person per trip (limit of $500 per person for jewelry, watches, electronics)
- Ink Unlimited: $3,000 per person per trip (limit of $500 per person for jewelry, watches, electronics)
Winner: Tie.
Baggage Delay Reimbursement:
- Ink Preferred: $100 per day per person (max of 5 days) for essential items needed (Clothing, toiletries, charger, etc) for delays more than 6 hours.
- Ink Cash: $100 per day per person (max of 3 days) for essential items needed (Clothing, toiletries, charger, etc) for delays more than 6 hours.
- Ink Unlimited: $100 per day per person (max of 3 days) for essential items needed (Clothing, toiletries, charger, etc) for delays more than 6 hours.
Winner: Ink Preferred
Comparison chart of the card benefits:
| Ink Preferred | Ink Cash | Ink Unlimited | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signup bonus | 90K points for spending $8,000 in 3 months. | (35,000 points for spending $3K in 3 months plus 40,000 points for spending another $3K in 6 months | 75,000 points for spending $6K in 3 months |
| Annual Fee | $95 | $0 | $0 |
| Additional Cardholder Fee | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Allows you to transfer Chase points from any card to airline miles | Yes | No | No |
| Value of points towards paid airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and activities | 1.25 cents | 1 cent | 1 cent |
| Points earned on everyday spending | 1 per dollar | 1 per dollar | 1.5 per dollar |
| Points earned on travel (Airfare, hotels, car rentals, Uber, etc) | 3 per dollar ($150K cap) | 1 per dollar | 1.5 per dollar |
| Points earned on advertising with social media sites and search engines | 3 per dollar ($150K cap) | 1 per dollar | 1.5 per dollar |
| Points earned on shipping | 3 per dollar ($150K cap) | 1 per dollar | 1.5 per dollar |
| Points earned on internet, cable and phone services | 3 per dollar ($150K cap) | 5 per dollar ($25K cap) | 1.5 per dollar |
| Points earned on office supply spending, including gift cards | 1 per dollar | 5 per dollar ($25K cap) | 1.5 per dollar |
| Points earned on dining | 1 per dollar | 2 per dollar ($25K cap) | 1.5 per dollar |
| Points earned on gas stations | 1 per dollar | 2 per dollar ($25K cap) | 1.5 per dollar |
| 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months | No | Yes | Yes |
| Foreign transaction fee | None | 3% | 3% |
| Cell Phone Damage and Theft Protection | $1,000 of coverage with a $100 deductible. | None | None |
| US Car Rental CDW Coverage | Primary on rentals primarily for a business purpose, secondary on rentals for personal reasons | Primary on rentals primarily for a business purpose, secondary on rentals for personal reasons | Primary on rentals primarily for a business purpose, secondary on rentals for personal reasons |
| Worldwide Car Rental CDW Coverage | Primary, plus no foreign transaction fee | Primary | Primary |
| Extended Warranty | 1 extra year/$10,000 per item | 1 extra year/$10,000 per item | 1 extra year/$10,000 per item |
| Purchase Protection for items damaged or stolen within 120 days | $10,000 per item | $10,000 per item | $10,000 per item |
| Extended Warranty Protection | 1 extra year for items up to $10,000 | 1 extra year for items up to $10,000 | 1 extra year for items up to $10,000 |
| Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance | $5,000 per trip or $10,000 per trip with multiple travelers | None | None |
| Trip Delay Reimbursement | $500 per person for reasonable expenses (Hotel, food, toiletries, medicine, etc) required for delays more than 12 hours. | None | None |
| Lost Luggage Insurance | $3,000 per person per trip (limit of $500 per person for jewelry, watches, and electronics) | $3,000 per person per trip (limit of $500 per person for jewelry, watches, and electronics) | $3,000 per person per trip (limit of $500 per person for jewelry, watches, and electronics) |
| Baggage Delay Reimbursement | $100 per day per person (max of 5 days) for essential items needed (Clothing, toiletries, cell phone charger, etc) required for delays more than 6 hours. | $100 per day per person (max of 3 days) for essential items needed (Clothing, toiletries, cell phone charger, etc) required for delays more than 6 hours. | $100 per day per person (max of 3 days) for essential items needed (Clothing, toiletries, cell phone charger, etc) required for delays more than 6 hours. |
| Travel Accident Insurance | $500,000 per person | $500,000 per person | $500,000 per person |
| Visa Savings Edge | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Subject to 5/24 rules | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Adds to 5/24 count | No | No | No |
| Download Guide of Benefits | Link | Link | Link |
Win count:
- Ink Preferred: 20
- Ink Cash: 14
- Ink Unlimited: 12
All 3 Ink cards provide great bonuses and unique benefits that make them worth having. Unsurprisingly, Ink Preferred is the winner. Of course, that comes at a cost of $95/year. The extra 15,000 point signup bonus over the no fee cards is easily worth more than that cost, and you can convert to a no-annual fee card down the road should you choose to do so.
The Ink Unlimited card does provide more points per dollar for everyday spending, making it a strong card to have in your wallet.
And the Ink Cash is a great card for its 2 and 5 point per dollar bonus categories.
Which Chase Ink cards do you have, and which benefits do you value the most?
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14 Comments On "Battle Of The Ink Cards: Which Chase Ink Business Cards Should You Have?"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
Do you pay the annual fee for preferred upfront. Can you get the sign up bonus and right away switch to the cash to not pay the fee?
Yes.
No, you need to keep it as Preferred for 12 months.
The last 2 business cards still show up on my Credit Report. Any update from Chase when they’ll be removed?
They said it should be fixed within 30 days. You can also try contacting Chase or the credit bureaus to have it corrected.
having 6 months to meet 6k spend is a huge plus of the cash over the unlimited
For a Shul/Chabad House spending for example, the Ink Cash is a no brainer. Coupled if you have an Ink Preferred with another business, or a personal Sapphire, you can ask Chase to link them up for combining points for spending.
Does closing a business card affect your credit like closing a consumer card?
No
Hey guys,
Thanks for always hooking us up!
Q: The only real reason I have the Sapphire Reserve is in order to transfer all my other chase points I collect over to it due to the higher value. But if I already have the Business Ink unlimited for example, is there a point in having the Reserve?
Ink Unlimited only gets a value of 1 cent per point.
Sapphire Reserve gets a value of 1.5 cents per point and allows for mileage transfers.
You wrote that with a Chase business credit card. You get free carry-on for you and your companion on the same reservation even with the United basic economy. Can you send me a link because I’m flying tomorrow and they’re charging me for it
Which Chase business credit card?
I just signed up for the United Business credit card and got the $100,000 sign up bonus. Can I call them and ask them for $125 with a new offer?
$100,000 sign up bonus. Hook me up