Guide: Which Chase Ink Card is Best for Your Situation
The Chase Ink Business card line up offers some of the best cards on the market, business or personal. Many people have the Chase Ink Plus, Cash, or Preferred already in their wallet. Some people even have a combination of them.
I have been thinking about Chase Ink cards a lot lately. The Chase Ink Plus/Cash cards have been in the news a lot lately with what seems like a constant stream of devaluations on the 5X earning structure. It has been happening so often that I even considered product changing to Ink Preferred version. Even after all of that the Chase Ink lineup still offers the best no annual fee and annual fee business card on the market.
I thought it would be beneficial to create a guide that should help people decide which flavor of Chase Ink card is best for each individual situation.
Details on the Cards
For people that are unaware of the Chase Ink line of cards I want to do a quick breakdown of what each card offers.
Chase Ink Business Preferred
Bonus: 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 within the first 3 months.
Earning Structure:
- Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases in the following categories each account anniversary year
- Travel
- Internet, cable and phone services
- Advertising purchases on social media and search engine optimization
- Shipping purchases
- Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchase — with no limits to the amount you can earn.
CLICK HERE to compare this card with other business cards
Chase Ink Business Cash
Bonus: 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $3,000 within the first 3 months.
Earning Structure:
- Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year
- Office Supply Stores
- Internet, phone, and cable services
- Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year
- Gas stations
- Restaurants
- Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases
CLICK HERE to compare this card with other business cards
Chase Ink Business Plus
Bonus: The card is no longer available to sign up for. You have to be a current cardmember to have the card. You can not product change to Ink Business Plus either.
Earning Structure:
- Earn 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on the first $50,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year
- Office Supply Stores
- Internet, phone, and cable services
- Earn 2 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on the first $50,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year
- Gas stations
- Hotels
- Earn 1 Ultimate Rewards point per dollar on all other purchases
Recommendations for Each Situation
Now that you have a run down on what each card can do let’s get into which card is best for each particular situation.
I will assume that you currently have an Ink Plus card during the recommendations for that card. If you don’t currently have one then you can skip over that card. I will also assume that you already have one of these cards for a portion of the recommendations.
Chase Ink Preferred
The Chase Ink Business Preferred is the best available card for the following people:
- If you don’t currently have a Chase Ink product and are under Chase’s 5/24 rule
- You own a business where shipping is one of your largest costs
- You own a business where social media advertising is one of your largest costs
- If you spend a lot on travel, are over Chase’s 5/24 rule, and don’t have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred card.
- If you have, or plan to get, the American Express Simply Cash to cover office store expenses. And you have a decent amount of spending in the shipping and/or advertising category.
Chase Ink Cash
The Chase Ink Business Cash card is the best available card for the following people:
- If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred card and don’t spend over $25,000 per year in the office store/utility category.
Chase Ink Plus
The Chase Ink Business Plus card is the best available card for the following people:
- If you do not have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred and are way over 5/24.
- You can easily spend over $25,000 per year in the office store/utility category.
- If your business doesn’t spend much in the shipping or social media category
- If you have another card that has a good earning structure for travel expenses or you do not spend much in the travel category.
Conclusion
Whichever card checks most or all of your boxes is the one that is the right fit for you. I hope this helps you make your decision a little easier the next time your annual fee comes due or if you are considering applying for one of the two currently available cards.
Let me know in the comments section if you think there is anything that should be added to any of the lists.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the old king of travel rewards cards. Right now
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Learn more about this card and its features!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
