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There are a lot of great business credit cards out there that can help small business owners get the most out of their spending. Today we feature the Chase Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card, and for good reason: Currently, Chase is offering applicants a sign up bonus of 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 in the first three months of account opening. Those 80,000 points are estimated to be worth $1,600. There is a $95 annual fee that comes along with the card, but as we will see below, the card comes with a lot of additional value.
Earning points
The Ink Business Preferred offers a unique earning schedule that can be really valuable for business owners. For your first $150,000 in annual spend, you will earn 3x points in travel, which includes airfare, hotels, taxis, and more. You'll also earn 3x on connectivity services (internet / phone), shipping services, and advertising services (on social media / search engines). As you can see, business owners can easily make use of these bonus categories. Let's assume that you were able to spend all $150,000 in these categories. You'd score 450,000 Ultimate Rewards points, which is valued at $9,000. If you include the sign up bonus, you got over $10,000 in value in the first year. Not too shabby.
With so many ways to gain bonus points and its large sign up offer, the Chase Ink Business Preferred card has become one of the most popular business cards on the market. As a business owner, you can also provide cards to your employees for free.
How to redeem points
If you follow my writing on credit cards, you know by now that Ultimate Rewards (UR) is one of the most valuable rewards programs. One of the main reasons is that there are 9 partner airline programs and 4 hotel programs to which you can transfer your points. This means you gain a lot of option value by keeping your points on the UR portal and then transferring to the appropriate program when you spot a deal. You also have the option of redeeming your points at a fixed rate of 1.25 cents per point directly on the UR portal for flights, rental cars, and hotels.
Ongoing benefits
Finally, there are some additional protections and coverage that can come in handy. You can get up to $600 for damage or theft of your cellphone (up to three claims in a calendar year). You get trip cancellation insurance, so that if you have to bail on a trip last minute, you're eligible to get $5,000 of protection. Similarly, you get purchase protection within 120 days of purchase if an item is damaged or stolen. And finally, if you're renting a car for business, you won't have to worry about theft and damage.
