Chase Ink Preferred vs American Express Business Platinum: Which Business Card Wins?

It’s about time we got to do a Card vs. Card post and let’s just say this article has been most anticipated for me. It was just 6 months ago that Chase released the Chase Ink Business Preferred, revered as one of the most captivating cards to have shook the Business credit card industry in the first quarter of 2017. However, at the same time, American Express has been steadily juicing their Business Platinum Card with new perks and redemptions that may very well make the Business Platinum an even more worthy adversary to the Ink Preferred! In this case, it was a must that we made a Chase Ink Business Preferred vs. American Express Business Platinum Card post!

Alternative Credit Card Bonuses:

• Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN
• SimplyCash® Plus Business Card from American Express
• CitiBusiness®/ AAdvantage® World MasterCard®

Chase Ink Preferred vs American Express Business Platinum:

Ink Preferred vs Business Platinum In-Depth Comparison:

The Ink Business Preferred Credit Card and Enhanced Business Platinum Card both show promising perks and benefits for the casual business traveler, however, before we get into this detailed analysis, it’s necessary for me to point out one key difference prior to that.

With the Enhanced Business Platinum, you will get a no-frills reward program attached to extensive travel perks for those of you who are heavy travelers, and you’re willing to pay the $450 annual fee for these conveniences, of course. As for the Ink Business Preferred, the generous rewards and consistent incentives for redemption on travel makes it more rewarding and practical for common business expenses.

Chase Ink Business Preferred:

• Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in select categories each account anniversary year
  • purchases made on travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone services and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines

Enhanced Business Platinum:

• Get 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com.
  • Get 50% more Membership Rewards® points. That’s 1.5 points per dollar, on each qualifying purchase of $5,000 or more. You can get up to 1 million additional points per year.
  • 50% Airline Bonus: Use Membership Rewards® Pay with Points for all or part of a flight with your selected qualifying airline, and you can get 50% of the points back.
  • You can also receive 50% points back on all First and Business class flights, with all airlines available through American Express Travel.

Sign-Up Bonuses:

In retrospect, Chase’s Ultimate Rewards paired with travel redemption can earn a pretty attractive 2.2 cent apiece compared to Amex’s Membership Reward 2.0 cent apiece point value. Keep in mind that Chase UR only has 11 travel partners compared to Amex’s 20 travel partners you can transfer to. The Ink Business Preferred currently has a 100,000 UR Point bonus as well if you’re a Business Managed Customer, there may be possible ways to get the offer if you’re not though as well.

Chase Ink Business Preferred:

• Earn 80,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $1,000 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®

Enhanced Business Platinum:

• Earn 50,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $10,000 and an extra 25,000 points after you spend an additional $10,000 all on qualifying purchases within your first 3 months of Card Membership.

Travel Perk-Copia: Enhanced Business Platinum

As if I couldn’t say this enough, but it’s evident that the Enhanced Business Platinum takes the win with regards to it’s abundance of travel perks that may very well make it easy to chug-down that $450 annual fee.

• $200 Airline Fee Credit
  • Cardholders can get up to $200 per year in credit for incidental fees charged by one airline chosen from a list of qualified partners. The credit covers charges like baggage fees, airport lounge guest passes and in-flight refreshments.
• Global Entry or TSA Pre-check fee Credit.
  • This means not having to wait in the general security line. Cardholders have the ability of getting statement credit every five years for the application fee. $100 in the amount of Global Entry or $85 in TSA Pre-Check.
• Airport Lounge Access
  • Grants customers access to more than 1,000 airport lounges including Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs, Airspace Lounges and Priority Pass lounges.

Rewards That Don’t Bore: Ink Business Preferred

Chase’s Ink Business Preferred doesn’t necessarily come with showy travel perks compared to the Business Platinum Card, however, this card does offer utmost practicality for small businesses everywhere on top of a much less annual fee of $95 compared to the Business Platinum’s $450 annual fee. If you’re ready to put some Business related expenses on, the clear winner in this category would be the Chase Ink Business Preferred.

• 3 points per dollar on the first $150,000 in combined purchases on telecommunications, including wireless phone, landline, internet and cable TV services; shipping, travel, and advertising on social media and search engines each account-anniversary year.
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases, with no limit.
• High Redemption Rate for Travel.

Other Benefits:

• Cell phone protection benefit:by paying your cell phone bill with this card, you’ll get up to $600 in protection against any covered damage or theft, up to three claims per year and subject to a $100 deductible per incident.
  • Employee lines listed on your cell phone bill will also have their phones covered.
• Trip delay, cancellation coverage, primary auto rental insurance benefits

Conclusion:

Now, both the Chase Ink Business Preferred and Enhanced Business Platinum ideally has it’s own purpose and at the end of the day, it’s geared towards whether you want practicality with your Business spending or you want utter convenience with an overdose of Travel Perks at the cost of a hefty annual fee.

Of course, I also recommend taking advantage of both these cards if you want the best of both privileges. One thing I absolutely love about the Business Platinum aside from it’s life-long prestige is the convenience of being able to put a 80k single-charge on the card without having to deal with customer service.

Again, this post is primarily reiterating ‘to each his/her own,’ in this case, it’s up to your moral conscience as to which card is more suitable for you. If you’re still looking for other deals, you can find our complete list of Credit Card Bonuses from our exclusive list!