The Chase Ink Business Unlimited card is unique among Chase’s Ultimate Rewards (UR) business cards in that it gives you 1.5x earnings on all spending. However, unlike its consumer doppelgänger, the Chase Freedom Unlimited, the Business Unlimited doesn’t offer 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
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 partner transfers (either the Ink Business Preferred, Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve for Business® or Sapphire Reserve®), it can effectively serve as a 1.5x everywhere backstop without adding 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 Value for Ultimate Rewards is 1.5 cents each. Note that this assumes the cardholder also has a premium card that allows partner transfers (either the Ink Business Preferred, Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve for Business®, or Sapphire Reserve®). Without one of those cards, points are worth only 1 cent each toward cash back, which can be taken as a statement credit, by check, or via 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, which usually yields 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 such as United MileagePlus, 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, Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve for Business®, or Sapphire Reserve® in the family can combine points from those cards and redeem them for travel through Chase Travel℠, potentially benefiting from Points Boost.
- Earning Categories:
- 5x on Lyft rides (through September 2027)
- 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 for delays longer than 6 hours, covering up to $100 per 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, Sapphire Reserve for Business®, or Ink Business Preferred, and want a business card backstop. Folks looking for a straight cashback or “everywhere else” card can do better.
- Is the Ink Business Unlimited a keeper? It 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
- 1.5x earning rate is now exceeded by many other cards
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 often be had in redeeming BA points for short distance flights outside the US. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| Finnair Plus+ | 1 to 1 via BA | Finnair points are now "Avios" and points can be moved to/from other Avios programs. Finnair uses zone based award charts rather than distance based. As a result, Finnair sometimes has better (and sometimes worse) pricing than other Avios programs. |
| Hyatt | 1 to 1 | Use for Hyatt free nights, free suite nights, lounge upgrades, or suite upgrades. Hyatt points are often worth more than 2 cents each. 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. Lower demand flights and those with higher taxes tend to offer better value. |
| 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. |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 | Virgin Atlantic offers a few excellent sweet spot awards. See: Best uses for Virgin Atlantic points (Sweet Spot Spotlight). |
| Wyndham | 1 to 1 | Wyndham often allows booking multi-room suites for the same price as a standard room. It's sometimes possible to get great value from points in that way. Bonus: award nights are not subject to resort fees. Wyndham Earner cards offer automatic 10% discount on award stays. |
Related Cards
Ultimate Rewards Consumer Cards
Ultimate Rewards Business Cards
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The 90K sign up bonus makes this card very valuable. That’s a 70K more points (compared to the similar no fee personal one) that requires at least $50K spending (which is a lot to me).
Although it lacks other higher points categories, non-fee paying cards have to be pared with another fee paying card like Sapphire Preferred, which has all those higher multiplier categories anyway.
I value Chase UR a lot (I love you, Hyatt), and even 1.5% is very much appreciated.
bro. everybody knows this is just an INK train card. thats all. totally useless 1.5x. nobody needs that. standard is 2x is everywhere. and venture X biz is the king if u can get approved. but i guess u can get SUB then PC to CIC or CIP?
Is there 5X at office supply? Like Staples and office Depot?
Unfortunately, no. That’s the Chase Ink Cash.
just as i thought, no 5X. but still a good sign up bonus.
After the SUB, use the Citi Double Cash for ongoing otherwise un-bonused business spending. Uncapped 2X. When coupled with the Strata Premier, better transfer partners if one is not beholden to Hyatt.