TL;DR. Two business cards from opposite ends of the price ladder. Ink Preferred ($95) is the high-floor, low-friction choice: 3x on travel, shipping, internet/phone, and advertising (combined $150k cap), 100k-point welcome bonus, and full Ultimate Rewards transfer access. Business Platinum ($895) is a credits-and-perks card: 5x on flights and prepaid hotels via Amex Travel, 1.5x on purchases over $5k, Centurion Lounge access, and roughly $1,200 in Dell, Indeed, Adobe, and Walmart+ credits. Ink Preferred wins on earn-per-dollar-of-fee. Biz Plat wins only if you genuinely spend at Dell, Indeed, and Adobe.
The three dimensions that actually decide it. First, fee. $800 difference. That is the hurdle Biz Plat must clear in marginal value. Second, credits-vs-categories. Ink Preferred has zero credits and rewards behavior directly through earn. Biz Plat has six-ish credits that require quarterly or monthly engagement with specific vendors. Third, transfer partner overlap. Both transfer to flexible airline programs but Chase has Hyatt and United while Amex has more international carriers (ANA, Avianca LifeMiles, Air Canada Aeroplan).
Real customer scenario for each. If you are a sole prop or small agency spending $3k a month on Facebook ads and $500 on shipping, the Ink Preferred earns 12,600 points a month at 3x in those categories alone, roughly $250 in transferable point value, for $95 a year. If instead you run an agency that already spends on Dell hardware refreshes, Indeed job postings, and Adobe Creative Cloud, the Biz Plat's credits genuinely net out and the Centurion Lounge access for the founder is a real perk.
The trap to avoid. Opening the Biz Plat "for the bonus" then discovering the Dell credit splits into halves you cannot stack and the Adobe credit only works on annual plans paid monthly. The Ink Preferred bonus is 100k points for $8k spend in three months, often a better effective return than 150k Membership Rewards for $20k spend in three months when measured against fee.