Earn 2X miles per dollar on eligible American Airlines purchases; otherwise earn 1X
Earn 15,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after making $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
For occasional travelers that fly American Airlines and are looking to earn miles with the airline, then the AAdvantage® MileUp card could be a solid option.
And while you might not think about this card if you are already an American Airlines elite traveler, you may find the bonus categories more beneficial than the $99 fee Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite MasterCard since you already have the additional benefits like free checked bags and priority boarding via your status.
This beginner-friendly card, with no annual fee, is ideal for those who don’t travel often enough to justify a more expensive, premium card.
The AAdvantage® MileUp also has a competitive 2X bonus category rate at grocery stores (including grocery delivery services) and eligible American Airlines purchases.
And remember, all base miles earned via spend on this card count as Loyalty Points towards AAdvantage® status.
In addition, you’ll get 25% off inflight food and beverage purchases and there’s no mileage cap on the card. American Airlines miles can be used on over 1,000 worldwide destinations, as you can use them for American Airlines, American Eagle and any Oneworld alliance or non-alliance partner airlines.
However, there are some significant downsides to consider as well. While this is an airline-specific card, the MileUp card doesn’t include many airline perks, such as a free checked bag perk or preferred boarding. In addition, there’s a relatively modest welcome bonus and the card charges a foreign transaction fee (so you won’t want to use this card abroad).
And if you do fly American Airlines (and Oneworld partner airlines or JetBlue) more than a couple of times per year, but are not elite already, there are some better options out there, including those from American Airlines. That includes the mid-tier Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard, offering the first checked bag free, and the premium Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard, offering Admirals Club lounge access.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
3X bonus points per dollar in combined purchases in the following select business categories: Travel (includes airfare, hotels, and car rentals but excludes local transit), internet, cable, and phone services, search engine/social media and shipping purchases, up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per account anniversary year.
Our ratings are determined by the authors and editors on our team. Each individual card feature is compared against all other cards we offer and the total score is an average of those 4 ratings.
The Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card is a staple credit card for any business owner than understands the power of Chase Ultimate Rewards, one of my favorite rewards currencies (See the feature entitled “Earns Transferable Points” above for more on why.)
The Ink Preferred has two distinctions among the Chase Ink business credit card lineup with also includes the Chase Ink Business Unlimited® and Chase Ink Business Cash®.
1) While those cards have no annual fee, they also do not have the power, on their own, to transfer points to Chase’s airline and hotel partners – and that is where you get the most value. The Chase Ink Preferred, with its small annual fee, gives it the distinction of being able to transfer the points to partners like World of Hyatt.
So, for instance, you can earn 5X on office supply stores with the Ink Cash and 1.5X on spend categories that don’t otherwise have a bonus multiplier and then combine them all to your Chase Ink Preferred. In addition to being able to transfer to air and hotel partner programs, you also have the option to simply book travel on the Chase Travel site with each point worth 1.25 cents. Comparatively, the Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited would have points worth just 1 cent there – unless you also had an Ink Preferred to combine the points to.
2) The Ink Business Preferred has the highest bonus offer of any card, with 100,000 bonus points on offer when you meet the minimum spend in the allotted time from account opening. (See current offer above in “Key Facts.”)
But beyond that, the Chase Ink Business Preferred is a super powerful credit card for small business owners that spend a lot on select business categories like travel, internet, cable, and phone services, search engines/social media and shipping purchases, where you will earn 3X Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent – up to a combined maximum of $150,000 per year. (You would earn 1 point per dollar over that limit.)
That’s some amazing earning power! If you max that out in a year, you are earning 600,000 points which we would value (at 1.75 cents a point) as worth over $10,000 in rewards value. Like I said – it’s a powerhouse of a card all on its own!
Even if you had no interest in travel and treated these points as cash back (which I certainly don’t think is the best way to use these points!), you are still earning 3% cash back on this spend.
And then there’s the benefits. This card absolutely rocks the benefits.
My favorite benefit is its included primary rental car insurance when you book for business purposes, put the entire rental cost on your Ink card and decline the rental company’s collision insurance. That means that you can decline the expensive collision insurance that your rental car company offers and, if there is damage or theft, Chase’s insurance will cover you on most rentals without involving your personal insurance. That could save you on future premiums.
Note: The list of credit cards that offer primary rental car insurance is extremely limited, so take advantage of this one.
But that’s far from the only benefit worth mentioning. Other notable card benefits include:
Note: You will only be approved for a Chase business credit card if you have applied for fewer than 5 personal credit cards within the last 24 months from any issuer. (Business credit cards do not count against the total, except for Capital One and Discover, but are subject to the policy).
Lastly, you will only be approved for (at most) one Chase business card every 30 days so please do not apply for two at once.
If you have applied for a Chase credit card and don’t get an instant approval, you may want to phone the Chase reconsideration line.
This card is also mentioned in the article Business Credit Cards That Don’t Report to Personal Credit Bureaus.