The Chase Ink Business Unlimited card is unique among Chase’s Ultimate Rewards (UR) business cards in that it gives you 1.5x earning on all spending. However, unlike its consumer doppelgänger – the Chase Freedom Unlimited, the Business Unlimited doesn’t have any other spending category bonuses. Given that, is the card still worth carrying, even without an annual fee?
Chase Ink Business Unlimited Current Welcome Offer
| Card Offer |
|---|
75K points ⓘ Affiliate 75K after $6K spend in 3 monthsNo Annual Fee Alternate Offer: You may be able to get an offer of 120,000 points after $6,000 in purchases via a Business Relationship Manager. Recent better offer: 90K after $6K spend in 6 monthd (expired 1/17/24) |
Chase Ink Business Unlimited Review
Outside of its often enticing welcome offer, the Chase Ink Business Unlimited is less appealing than the Ink Cash or Freedom Unlimited, two other UR-earning cards with no annual fee. Still, if it’s paired with a premium card that unlocks the ability to transfer to partners (either the Ink Business Preferred, Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve), it can effectively be a 1.5x everywhere backstop that doesn’t add to your Chase 5/24 status.
- Annual Fee: None
- Authorized User Annual Fee: Free
- Foreign Transaction Fee: 3%
- What points are worth: The Ink Business Unlimited card is advertised as a cashback card, but it actually earns Chase Ultimate Rewards. Our current Reasonable Redemption Values pegs their value at 1.5 cents each. Note that this assumes the cardholder also has a premium card that unlocks the ability to transfer to partners (either the Ink Business Preferred, Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve). Without one of those cards, points are only worth 1 cent each towards cashback, which can be taken as a statement credit, via check or ACH transfer.
- Best Use for Points: When combined with a premium card, Chase Ultimate Rewards can be transferred to travel partners at a 1:1 ratio and this will usually yield the most value. Our favorite hotel transfer partner is undoubtedly Hyatt, where redemptions can often exceed 2-3 cents per point. Airline partners are good, if not great, and include Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM Flying Blue and British Airways Avios, as well as domestic programs like United Mileage Plus, Southwest Rapid Rewards and JetBlue. Business Unlimited cardholders can redeem Ultimate Rewards for travel through Chase Travel at a value of 1 cent each. Those who also have an Ink Business Preferred or Sapphire Preferred in the family can combine points with those cards and redeem them for travel through the Chase Portal at 1.25 cents each. Sapphire Reserve cardholders can do the same thing and redeem points at 1.5 cents each through the portal.
- Earning Categories:
- 5X on travel booked through Chase Travel (SM)
- 5x on Lyft rides (through March 2025)
- 1.5x everywhere else
- Travel Protections:
- Auto Rental Coverage: Primary auto rental CDW (collision damage waiver) (when renting for business purposes in the US). Provides reimbursement for theft and collision damage for rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.
- Travel Accident Insurance: Kicks in with delays of longer than 6 hours, good for up to $100 a day for 3 days.
- Baggage Delay Insurance: Accidental death or dismemberment coverage of up to $500,000.
- Purchase Protections:
- Extended Warranty: One additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less (US warranties only).
- Damage and Theft Protection: Covers new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim/$50,000 per account.
- Who’s this card for? Those who also carry a premium Ultimate Rewards card such as the Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred and want a business card backstop. Folks looking for a straight cashback card can do better.
- Is the Ink Business Unlimited a keeper? I can be, but not without a premium Ultimate Rewards card that makes the points that it earns transferable to partners.
Chase Ink Business Unlimited Pros and Cons
Pros
- Earns 1.5x Ultimate Rewards everywhere
- Often has among the best welcome offers of all the Ultimate Rewards-earning cards
- Good transfer partners, especially for folks looking for domestic airline and hotel programs
- Miles can be shared across cards and cardholders
- Unusually for a fee-free card, provides travel and purchase protections
Cons
- 3% foreign transaction fee
- No spending category multipliers
- Must be paired with a “premium” card in order to transfer to partners
- Not the most exciting group of airline partners
Chase Transfer Partners
| Rewards Program | Chase Transfer Ratio | Best Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | 1 to 1 | Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Aer Lingus rather than British Airways, Qatar, or Iberia. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1 to 1 | Redeem for Star Alliance flights and/or flights with Air Canada partners (such as Etihad). No fuel surcharges; $39 CAD award booking fee; 5,000 points to add stopover on one-way award. See: Air Canada Aeroplan: Everything you need to know. |
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | 1 to 1 | Monthly Air France Promo Awards often represent very good value. Air France miles can be used to book Sky Team awards, including Delta awards. Air France often offers very good business class award pricing between the US and Europe & Israel. |
| British Airways Avios | 1 to 1 | While flights on British Airways itself often incur outrageously high fuel surcharges, many BA partners charge low or no fuel surcharges. Excellent value can be had in redeeming BA points for short distance flights. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| Emirates Skywards | 1 to 1 | The best use of Emirates miles has been to fly Emirates itself. Unfortunately fuel surcharges can be steep. See: Emirates Sweet Spot Awards - First class from 30K miles round trip. |
| Hyatt | 1 to 1 | Use for Hyatt free nights, free suite nights, lounge upgrades, or suite upgrades. Hyatt points are often worth at least 2 cents each, but they’re sometimes worth far more. Bonus: award nights are not subject to resort fees. |
| Iberia Avios | 1 to 1 | On their own flights, Iberia offers low award prices and a very reasonable 25 Euro cancellation fee. Partner awards can offer good value under some circumstances as well, but these are usually nonrefundable. Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Iberia rather than British Airways, Aer Lingus, or Qatar. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| IHG | 1 to 1 | IHG dynamically prices their awards and sometimes offer very good value. IHG Premier and IHG Premier Business cards offer the fourth night free on award stays. |
| JetBlue | 1 to 1 | JetBlue points offer the most value when cheap ticket prices are available and when award taxes are high relative to the overall cost of the ticket (more details can be found here). The JetBlue Plus Card and the JetBlue Business Card offer a 10% rebate on awards, so you can get more value by holding one of these cards. |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1 to 1 | 5th Night Free awards. Opportunities to get outsized value exist but can be hard to find. |
| Qatar Privilege Club Avios | 1 to 1 via BA | Qatar has reasonable award prices for flying Qatar itself. Points are now transferable 1 to 1 to British Airways (and from there to Aer Lingus or Iberia). It is now also possible to book JetBlue flights with Qatar Avios. |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1 to 1 | Use to book Singapore Airlines First Class awards (generally reserved for their own members), Alaska Airlines economy awards, or for Star Alliance awards (including United Airlines). |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | 1 to 1 | Award flights are fully refundable. Point values vary due to certain taxes not being charged on awards, but tend to average around 1.5 cents per point. |
| United MileagePlus | 1 to 1 | United offers free award changes and free cancelations. Like Avianca and Aeroplan, United never charges fuel surcharges for awards. Unfortunately, United charges many more miles for international first class awards. Good uses of miles include United's Excursionist Perk awards and (sometimes) dynamically priced United economy awards. |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 | Virgin Atlantic offers a few great sweet spot awards including US to Europe on Delta One business class for 50K points one-way. See: Best uses for Virgin Atlantic points (Sweet Spot Spotlight). |
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