by Daniel | Last Updated September 8th, 2021
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Having a good business credit card can really make a difference in how you manage your business, as it can make it easier to keep an eye on your expenses and allows you to provide extra cards to employees for business purchases.
Along with this you can also earn seem pretty decent rewards.
Today I am going to review 2 different business credit cards, The Amex Business Gold Card and the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit card
Both of these cards offer some really good points-earning potential and also have a variety of benefits and user perks that are worth looking into.
So let’s take a more detailed look at each card and see what differences there are and which one offers the most value.
Who Are These Cards Good For?
The Amex Business Gold Card is good for mid-sized businesses that have reasonable expenses.
As there are no statement credits available to offset the annual fee, the card usually works better for larger businesses that have the ability to write off the cost of the card.
The Chase Ink Preferred Card however is more targeted towards smaller businesses and it is actually possible to be approved for the card even if you don’t have an actual business.
So let’s continue on and look at the annual fee of each card.
Annual Fee
Starting with the Amex Business Gold Card you will have an annual fee of $295.
Whereas the Chase Ink Preferred Card is only $95 per year.
So that’s a saving of $200 on the annual fee for the Chase Ink Preferred Card, which is quite a lot.
Next up, let’s take a look at what each card offers in terms of a sign-up bonus.
Sign up Bonus
So starting with the Amex Business Gold Card you can earn up to 70,000 rewards points after you spend $10,000 within the first 3 months of opening an account, and according to the Amex Points Calculator, these points are worth up to $700 depending on what you redeem them for.
And this quite easily covers the cost of the annual fee for 2 years, which is pretty good.
Next up, The Chase Ink Preferred Card is currently offering 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 within the first 3 months of opening the account, and according to Chase, this is worth either $1,000 in cash-back or $1,250 towards travel rewards.
So this more than covers the annual fee which is only $95, and it is also quite a bit more than what the Amex Business Gold Card is currently offering.
But it is worth noting that you will need to spend substantial more within the first 3 months to actually receive the points, $5,000 more to be exact.
So this is something worth taking into account if you are considering either of these cards.
Another thing to be aware of is that both of these cards have limits on who can actually receive the sign-up bonus points.
For the Amex Business Gold Card, if you have ever held this actual card or the previous Business Gold Rewards Card, you will not be eligible to receive the sign-up bonus.
And for any Chase Card, there is the 5/24 rule, which basically means that if you have opened 5 or more credit cards across any banks within the last 2 years, you will most probably be denied the approval of receiving the card.
Earning Points
So now let’s take a look at how each card compares in terms of earning points.
Starting with the Amex Business Gold Card you will have the opportunity to earn 4x points on 2 different categories depending on where your business spends the most each billing cycle, and the categories you can choose from are:
*Airfare purchases that are made directly with the airline.
*Advertising that is either done online, through TV, or on radio.
*Purchases of business-related items such as computers hardware, software, and cloud systems.
*Gas Station, Restaurants, and Shipping.
And the 4x points earrings are valid up to a total spend of $150,000 per calendar year, all purchases made after this limit is reached will receive 1 point per dollar spent.
So next let’s take a look at what The Chase Ink Preferred Card offers in terms of earning points.
To begin with, you will receive 3x points on the following categories:
*Shipping purchases
*Advertising via Social media sites and search engines
*Internet, cable, and phone services
*Travel.
And the 3x points earnings are available up to a total of $150,000 per calendar year.
Once you have reached the $150,000 threshold limit all purchases will receive 1 point per dollar spent.
So the Amex Business Gold Card offers the ability to earn up to 600,000 points using its 4x points earnings, and these points would be worth up to $6,000 in benefits if redeemed correctly.
And the Chase Ink Preferred Card offers you the ability to earn a total of 450,000 points using its 3x points earnings, and this would be worth up to $5,625 if redeemed correctly.
So the Amex Business Gold Card does actually offer a bit more value in terms of earning more rewards than the Chase Ink Preferred Card, about $375 more to be precise.
Considering that the Chase Ink Preferred Card has an annual fee that is less than a third the cost of the Amex Business Gold Card, I think it stands up pretty well so far.
Benefits and User Perks
So from here let’s look at the benefits and user perks that are offered with each card.
Starting with the Amex Business Gold Card you will receive a 25% Airline bonus.
And with this, if you choose to pay with your points for a trip through Amex Travel, you will receive 25% of the points back, up to a maximum of 250,000 points per calendar year.
Just note that it must be one of their qualifying airlines to be eligible for the bonus.
Next up, if you book through American Express Travel at any participating hotels for a minimum of 2 nights you will receive room upgrades when available, and $100 credit for things such as the spa, dining, or resort activities.
For this section, the Chase Ink Preferred Card doesn’t actually have any perks, which makes sense as it is $200 less per year for the annual fee.
So let’s now move on to what each card offers in terms of insurance-related benefits.
Insurance-Related Benefits
Starting with the Amex Business Gold Card you will receive a baggage insurance plan that provides you with coverage of up to $1250 for carry-on luggage and $500 for check luggage if your luggage is lost, damaged, or stolen by the carrier whether it be a plane, train, ship or bus.
You will also receive car rental loss and damage insurance that will cover up to $50,000 if your rental car is damaged or stolen.
There is also trip delay insurance which will cover up to $300 per covered trip if it is delayed for more than 12 hours.
And this can be claimed 2 times per 12 consecutive month period, and for it to be valid you must have paid for a round trip with your card in full.
Next up you will get purchases protection that gives you 90 days of coverage from the date of purchase for up to $1,000 per occurrence and up to $50,000 per cardmember per calendar year, and this covers items that are accidentally damaged or stolen.
There is also an extended warranty that provides you with an additional year of warranty on purchases that are made within the United State and that have a warranty of 5 years or less.
And finally, there are no foreign transaction fees associate with this card.
So next let’s take a look at how the Chase Ink Preferred Card stacks up.
First up you will receive trip cancellation/trip interruption insurance, and this will cover up to $5,000 per person and $10,000 per trip if your trip is canceled and cut short due to sickness, severe weather, or other covered situations.
You will also receive auto rental collision damage waiver that provides coverage for theft or collision damage of most rental cars in the US and abroad.
This coverage is primary coverage if it’s for business purposes and provides reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the vehicle.
There is purchase protection that gives you 120 days of coverage against damage to theft and covers up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
You also get extended warranty protection that gives you an extra year on US manufacturers warranties that are 3 years or less.
Next up you will get cell phone protection, and this will cover up to $600 per claim with a maximum of 3 claims per 12 month period, and each claim comes with a $100 deductible.
This benefit is valid when you use your card to pay your monthly cell phone bill and will cover you and any employees who are listed on the cell phone bill.
And finally, there are no foreign transaction fees.
So as you can see, both cards have quite a lot of insurance-related benefits, and surprisingly the cheaper Chase Ink Preferred Card actually provides a little bit more than the Amex Business Gold Card in terms of the total value of coverage.
Final Thoughts
So what are my thoughts about these cards?
With most credit cards it quite often comes down to personal preference as to which card you want.
Both cards offer the ability to earn quite a lot of reward points if your business is able to spend enough.
With the Amex Business Gold Card, you will need to spend $10,000 within the first 3 months to receive the 70,000 points that are worth up to $700.
And with the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit card, you will need to spend a bit more, $15,000 in the first 3 months to receive the 100,000 bonus points that are worth up to $1250.
Both cards have a limit of $150,000 per calendar year for the increased points earning structure, with the Amex Business Gold Card offering up to $6,000 in benefits, and the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit card offering up to $5,625 in benefits.
So if you take all of this and add it up the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit card actually has the ability to provide you with slightly more in overall bonus reward earnings of approximately $175.
And don’t forget the sign-up bonus is $200 less on an annual basis.
So that is $375 more in your pocket, assuming you are able to take full advantage of the spend requirements to receive all of the bonus points.
The Amex Business Gold Card does offer more travel-related benefits such as the 25% Airline bonus when using your points to book flights through Amex travel and the $100 credit and hotel benefits if you book a hotel stay of 2 days or more through Amex travel.
So if you’re not too worried about the slightly higher cost of the Amex Business Gold Card, it does provide you with a bit more in terms of travel-related benefits and is a good choice.
But if you don’t travel much with your business and want to save a bit of money, the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit card is the way to go.