Reader Question: Which Chase Ink Card Should I Apply For?

91
DDMS IconNever Miss Another Deal - Follow DansDeals on Facebook

Update: DEAD! Don’t miss it if this becomes alive again. Sign up for deal notification alerts here!


Which Chase Ink card should you have?

The Chase Ink credit cards are some of the best business credit cards in the marketplace. There are currently 3 Ink cards offered and a common question over on the DansDeals Facebook Group is which Ink card is “the best” to signup for.

As I’ve said countless times, there is no such thing as a best card, just as there is no such thing as a best flavor of Ice Cream. Best will depend on where you spend money and how you redeem points.

  • The Chase Ink Business Unlimited Card is currently offering $500 in the form of 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $3,000 within 3 months.
    • This is an excellent card for anyone trying to maximize their everyday spending. It fulfills the same function as the Chase Freedom Unlimited card by earning 1.5% back everywhere in the form of 1.5 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar everywhere. As the Ink Unlimited is a business card, you won’t hurt your credit score with your spending and it offers a higher signup bonus than Freedom Unlimited.
    • Pair this card with a Chase Sapphire Reserve Card and you’ll be earning a minimum of 2.25% back everywhere as the Sapphire Reserve allows you to redeem your points at a minimum value of 1.5 cents each. Transfer your points into miles and redeem them at a value of 2 cents each to earn 3% back everywhere.
  • The Chase Ink Business Cash Card is currently offering $500 in the form of 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $3,000 within 3 months.
    • This is an excellent card for people willing to spend the time to make purchases in the bonus categories offered on this card. You’ll earn 5 points per dollar spent at office supply stores and on internet, cable, and cell phone bills on up to $25k/year. It also earn 2 points per dollar on at gas stations and restaurants on up to $25k/year. Office supply stores sell gift cards for hundreds of other stores, from Amazon to Uber to Visa gift cards that can be used anywhere, so you can rack up the points by shifting your spending to these gift cards.
    • Pair this card with a Chase Sapphire Reserve Card and you’ll be earning a minimum of 7.5% back via gift cards bought from office supply stores or on any other spending at office supply stores and on internet, cable, and cell phone bills as the Sapphire Reserve allows you to redeem your points at a minimum value of 1.5 cents each. Transfer your points into miles and redeem them at a value of 2 cents each to earn 10% back.
  • The Chase Ink Business Preferred Card is currently offering 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 within 3 months.
    • This is an excellent card for people willing to spend the time to make purchases in the bonus categories offered on this card. You’ll earn 3 points per dollar on up to $150,000 in annual spending on travel, internet, cable, phone, shipping, and advertising on social media and search engines.
    • Pair this card with a Chase Sapphire Reserve Card and you’ll be earning a minimum of 4.5% back on those bonus categories as the Sapphire Reserve allows you to redeem your points at a minimum value of 1.5 cents each. Transfer your points into miles and redeem them at a value of 2 cents each to earn 6% back.

Card conversion

The good news is that you can convert between all 3 of these card types as needed. That means if you would rather get the larger Ink Preferred bonus and decide later on that you prefer the spending categories on the no annual fee Ink Cash or Ink Unlimited card, you can call to convert it. If you later decide you want to take advantage of the benefits of the Ink Preferred card you can convert it back to that again.

Comparison chart of the Ink cards

 Ink PreferredInk CashInk Unlimited
Signup bonus80K points for spending $5,000 in 3 months.$500 or 50K points for spending $3,000 in 3 months.$500 or 50K points for spending $3,000 in 3 months.
Annual Fee$95$0$0
Additional Cardholder Fee$0$0$0
Allows you to transfer Chase points from any card to airline milesYes
NoNo
Value of points towards paid airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and activities1.25 cents1 cent1 cent
Points earned on everyday spending 1 per dollar1 per dollar1.5 per dollar
Points earned on travel (Airfare, hotels, car rentals, Uber, etc) 3 per dollar ($150K cap)1 per dollar1.5 per dollar
Points earned on advertising with social media sites and search engines 3 per dollar ($150K cap)1 per dollar1.5 per dollar
Points earned on shipping 3 per dollar ($150K cap)1 per dollar1.5 per dollar
Points earned on internet, cable and phone services 3 per dollar ($150K cap)5 per dollar ($25K cap)1.5 per dollar
Points earned on office supply spending, including gift cards 1 per dollar5 per dollar ($25K cap)1.5 per dollar
Points earned on dining 1 per dollar2 per dollar ($25K cap)1.5 per dollar
Points earned on gas stations 1 per dollar2 per dollar ($25K cap)1.5 per dollar
0% intro APR on purchases for 12 monthsNoYesYes
Foreign transaction fee None3%3%
Cell Phone Damage and Theft Protection $600 of coverage with a $100 deductible.
NoneNone
US Car Rental CDW CoveragePrimary on rentals primarily for a business purpose, secondary on rentals for personal reasonsPrimary on rentals primarily for a business purpose, secondary on rentals for personal reasonsPrimary on rentals primarily for a business purpose, secondary on rentals for personal reasons
Worldwide Car Rental CDW CoveragePrimary, plus no foreign transaction feePrimaryPrimary
Extended Warranty1 extra year/$10,000 per item1 extra year/$10,000 per item1 extra year/$10,000 per item
Purchase Protection for items damaged or stolen within 120 days$10,000 per item$10,000 per item$10,000 per item
Extended Warranty Protection1 extra year for items up to $10,0001 extra year for items up to $10,0001 extra year for items up to $10,000
Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance$5,000 per trip or $10,000 per trip with multiple travelers
NoneNone
Trip Delay Reimbursement$500 per person for reasonable expenses (Hotel, food, toiletries, medicine, etc) required for delays more than 12 hours.
NoneNone
Lost Luggage Insurance$3,000 per person per trip (limit of $500 per person for jewelry, watches, and electronics)$3,000 per person per trip (limit of $500 per person for jewelry, watches, and electronics)$3,000 per person per trip (limit of $500 per person for jewelry, watches, and electronics)
Baggage Delay Reimbursement$100 per day per person (max of 5 days) for essential items needed (Clothing, toiletries, cell phone charger, etc) required for delays more than 6 hours.
$100 per day per person (max of 3 days) for essential items needed (Clothing, toiletries, cell phone charger, etc) required for delays more than 6 hours.$100 per day per person (max of 3 days) for essential items needed (Clothing, toiletries, cell phone charger, etc) required for delays more than 6 hours.
Travel Accident Insurance$500,000 per person
$500,000 per person
$500,000 per person
Visa Savings EdgeYesYesYes
Subject to 5/24 rulesYesYesYes
Adds to 5/24 countNoNoNo
Download Guide of Benefits LinkLinkLink

Here are more details on these cards:

Signup bonus

-The Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited cards are marketed as cash back cards, which is why it says that they have a $500 signup bonus for spending $3,000 in 3 months. Don’t be fooled by that, those cards actually earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points that can be cashed out for 1 cent each and you will receive 50,000 points for signing up and spending $3,000 in 3 months. Previously the public signup bonus on the Ink Cash card has ranged from 20K-30K points. 50K Chase points is the best public signup bonus for these cards! In fact it’s one of the richest signup bonuses I’ve ever seen on a card that has no annual fee.

-The Ink Preferred card is marketed as a points card, so it has a 80,000 point bonus for spending $5,000 in 3 months.

You can apply for all 3 of these cards for the same business. You can combine points between all of the Chase Ultimate Rewards earning cards in your household.


Cell phone insurance

One unique benefit only found on the Ink Preferred card is cell phone protection.

If you paid your previous month’s cell phone bill with your Ink Preferred card and your phone is damaged or stolen, Chase will cover the cost of fixing or getting a replacement phone. The maximum Chase will pay is $600 and there is a $100 deductible. In other words if your phone is stolen and originally cost $800, Chase will pay you $600. If your phone originally cost $600, then Chase will pay you $500.

You can file up to 3 claims per 12 month period.

This covers all of the phones on your plan, so this card can save you a small fortune in insurance premiums.

You can read the full details of the benefit in the Ink Preferred’s benefit guide here.


Spending categories

-The Chase Ink Cash card is part of my Chase Quinfecta and is highly recommended for anyone trying to maximize their spending.

It earns a whopping 5 points per dollar at office supply stores and on internet, cable, and cell phone bills on up to $25k/year. It also earn 2 points per dollar on at gas stations and restaurants on up to $25k/year. You can earn the bonus points on up to $25K in annual spending on the 5 point categories and up to $25K in annual spending on the 2 point categories. Again, these categories are advertised as 5% cash back and 2% cash back, but you will actually get 5 or 2 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent in those categories.

You can even earn 5 points per dollar for cell phones that are charged on your bill or bought from sites like Samsung.

You can earn 5 points per dollar for hundreds of other stores by buying gift cards at office supply stores like Office Depot/Max and Staples. If you shop at Amazon, Airbnb, Bed Bath & Beyond, Bloomingdale’s, BP, Cabela’s, Delta, DisneyLand/DisneyWorld, eBay, Express, Gap, Google Play, Groupon, Home Depot, iTunes, JCrew, Kohl’s, Lands End, LLBean, Lowe’s, Macy’s, Marshalls, Nike, Nordstrom, Safeway, Sears, Shell, Southwest, Starbucks, StubHub, Target, TJMaxx, Uber, Whole Foods, and much more, you can be earning 5 points per dollar by buying their gift cards at office supply stores on an Ink Cash card. Some gift cards are available online and many more are available in store.

Your local school or charity will be more than happy to accept donations of Amazon gift cards for supplies or any other useful gift cards for chinese auctions, raffles, fundraisers, etc. They will give you a tax deductible receipt for the full face value-the price you paid for the gift cards. And at the same time you’ll earn 5 points per dollar. So while doing good you can still get a nice chunk of points and you’ll save on your taxes!

You can even buy $300 Visa gift cards from Staples from the comfort of your home, which will earn 5 points per dollar.

Office Depot/Max and Staples often run promotions to save even more on Visa gift cards.

 

-The Chase Ink Unlimited card is also a critical part of my Chase Quinfecta and is highly recommended for anyone trying to maximize their spending. It fulfills the same function as the Chase Freedom Unlimited card by earning 50% bonus points, or 1.5% cash back or 1.5 points per dollar everywhere.

However as the Ink Unlimited is a business card, it has several advantages over the Freedom Unlimited as described below.

 

-The Chase Ink Preferred card earns 3 points per dollar on up to $150,000 in annual spending on travel, internet, cable, phone, shipping, and advertising on social media and search engines.

A unique benefit of this card is that it earns 3 points per dollar on Bill Pay with Plastiq. People have gotten 3 points per dollar for rent payments, tax payments, or even buying a car! Plastiq will send out a check to the merchant of your choice. Read more here.


Cash back on top of points

All of these cards are also eligible for additional cash back via Visa Savings Edge.

That means you can earn points plus cash back at Chevron, Sheetz, AutoZone, Texaco, Boost Mobilem Alamo, National, MGM hotels, Lenovo, Wyndham hotels, and more.


0% APR

The Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited cards offer 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months.

While carrying balances on consumer cards can have a very harmful effect on your credit score, because the Ink cards are business cards, those balances won’t hurt your credit score!


Business card information, benefits, signup rules, and 5/24

These are business cards, but you may already have a business that needs a card to keep track of expenses. For example if your name is Joe Smith and you sell items online, or if you have any other side business and want a credit card to better keep track of business expenditures you can open a business credit card for “Joe Smith” as the business. You don’t need to file any messy government paperwork to be allowed to do that. Just be sure to select “Sole Proprietorship” as the business type and just use your social security number in the Tax Identification Number field.

It’s important to just write your own name as the business name if you are just applying for your own small business as a Sole Proprietorship that doesn’t have any business paperwork.

If you’re like me and you run more than one business, you can signup for multiple of the same card for each business to manage each businesses expenses separately.

You can receive a signup bonus on each type of Ink card once every 24 months for each business that you manage.

All Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards are subject to 5/24 restrictions. That means it will be hard to get approved if you have been approved for 5 or more consumer credit cards in the past 24 months. Read more about that here. 

However, it’s important to note that business cards from most banks, including Chase business cards, do not get added to your 5/24 count of recently opened cards. That’s because business cards from most banks don’t show up on your personal credit report and the 5/24 count is based off of your personal credit report. That means that applying for these cards won’t “hurt” your 5/24 count.

Another benefit of the card not reporting on your personal credit report is that when you spend money on personal cards your credit score will be hurt even if you pay your bill on time. A whopping 30% of your credit score is based on credit utilization. You can pay off your card bill before your statement is generated to avoid that, but that takes effort and laying out money well before you have to. Additionally it’s good to have the statement close with a couple dollars to show the card is active and being paid every month. On an business cards from banks like AMEX and Chase it’s just not reported, so you can wait until the money is due without it having a negative effect on your score. That also means if you close the card, it won’t have an effect on your credit score.


Cash back or miles?

You can cash out the points earned on these cards for 1% cash back. I hope that you won’t do that.

The Ink Preferred card allows you and anyone in your household to transfer Chase points into miles. It also allows you to use points at a value of 1.25 cents each towards travel.

However if you have a Sapphire Reserve card you’ll be better off transferring the points there for a value of 1.5 cents each towards travel.

The Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited cards can’t transfer points directly into miles, but Chase allows you to transfer points to cards where they can be transferred into miles or redeemed for a greater value. My goal is to receive a value of 2 cents per point via transfers to miles and that makes the 1.5 point categories worth 3% back, the 2 point categories worth 4% back, the point categories worth 6% back, and the 5 point categories worth 10% back. The minimum value you can receive for your points is 1.5 cents each thanks to Sapphire Reserve and that makes spending on this card worth a minimum of 2.25% back for the 1.5 point categories, 3% back for the 2 point categories, 4.5% back for the 3 point categories, and 7.5% back for the 5 point categories.

The Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited signup bonus is marketed as $500, but it will actually come in the form of 50,000 points which are worth $750-$1,000.

The Ink Preferred signup bonus is 80,000 points, worth $1,200-$1,600.


If you or anyone in your household has one of the following cards, you can transfer your points into miles

  • Chase Sapphire Reserve (Earn 50K points for spending $4K in 3 months. $450 annual fee, less $300 annual free travel spend=$150 net annual fee. Allows all points to be used at a value of 1.5 cents each towards travel).
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred (Earn 50K points for spending $4K in 3 months. $95 annual fee waived for first year).
  • Chase Ink Business Preferred (Earn 80K points for spending $5K in 3 months. $95 annual fee).

The great thing about Chase Ultimate Rewards is how versatile and valuable they are

The Ink Preferred or Sapphire Preferred cards allow you and anyone in your household to transfer Chase points into miles. They also allow you to use points at a value of 1.25 cents each towards travel.

The Sapphire Reserve also allows you and anyone in your household to transfer Chase points into miles. Plus it allows you to use points at a value of 1.5 cents each towards travel.

The fixed value is excellent and doesn’t require hunting down award space, but those points can be much more valuable by transferring them into airline miles or hotel points.

  • If I want to stay in a 5 star Park Hyatt in the Maldives, Melbourne, NYC, Paris, Sydney, or Tokyo that would cost over $1,000/night, I can instantly transfer 25-30K points to Hyatt to do that, a value of up to 6 cents per point.
  • If I need a one-way flight from Cleveland (or Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Montreal, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Toronto, etc) to NYC that can cost $500 each way, I can instantly transfer 7.5K points to British Airways to book a short-haul on American with no last minute booking fees. Or if American doesn’t have availability I can instantly transfer 10K points to United for their short-haul award. That’s a value of up to 7 cents per point.
  • If I want to stay in a non-chain hotel that costs $300/night and don’t want to pay cash, I can redeem 20K points for the room thanks to my Sapphire Reserve card’s minimum redemption value of 1.5 cents per point.
  • If I want to fly in a $25,000 ANA First Class Suite round-trip from the US to Tokyo, I can instantly transfer 110K or 120K points to Virgin Atlantic. That’s a value of up to 23 cents per point.
  • If I want to book a $2,285 business class ticket on Air Canada to Tel Aviv I can redeem 152K points for the flight thanks to my Sapphire Reserve card’s minimum redemption value of 1.5 cents per point. Plus I’ll earn 25K United miles as it’s considered a paid flight.
  • And thousands of other possibilities from Singapore couples suites to booking Southwest awards with 2 free bags and free cancellations, to stealing 2nd base in middle of an MLB game.

 

Chase 1:1 transfer partners include:

  • United (Star Alliance)
  • Singapore (Star Alliance)
  • Air France/KLM Flying Blue (Skyteam)
  • British Airways (OneWorld)
  • Aer Lingus (OneWorld)
  • Iberia (OneWorld)
  • JetBlue
  • Southwest
  • Virgin Atlantic
  • Hyatt
  • IHG
  • Marriott

You can read more about creating your own Chase killer card combo here.

Will you be signing up for an Ink Cash, Ink Unlimited, or Ink Preferred card?

Leave a Reply

91 Comments On "Reader Question: Which Chase Ink Card Should I Apply For?"

All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.

el

is it true that you need to keep the card for a year before being allowed to convert to a different one?

A.G.

In short, no need for Business preffered or Business Unlimited if u have Freedom Unlimited and if you don’t need phone insurance, or social media advertising points?

Wondering

When can you get the sign up bonus again?

613Ari

As usual Great post, very clear and easy to understand.

Davidthebest

I dont understand the question which one best… why not go for all of them…

Marvin J Pollack

Correct me if I am wrong- if i have the Sapphire reserve, wouldn’t the Ink Cash be best for me?

jeff

i have the ink preferred and the annual fee is coming up. i am thinking of downgrading it to the unlimited and then applying for the cash one. does this sound ok? tia…

Yehuda

I signed up for the Ink business Preferred and received a letter asking for proof of Business anyone can help me with this?

A.G.

“Next time be sure to read my posts before applying.” Dan 2018

el

what is the minimum credit limit to get approved? 10k?

mo2

Can I apply for all 3 Inks at the same time for the same business (as sole proprietor)?
Any truth to the rumors that you need to wait 30 days between Ink apps?
Will applying for more then 1 trigger A/A?
TIA

JV

I have gotten all 3 ink cards in the last 4 months with no issues. I did put 30 days between applications just to be safe and make sure i could meet minimum spend.

mo2

Thanks for the DP. Thinking of going that route.
Looking for DP of 2/3BM or ppl who didn’t wait 30 days between apps for Inks.

Davidthebest

YMMV
I did a 2bm for wife for 2 inks and got approved for both at the same time.
Then I did it again for my self and was only approved for 1.

CCNewbie

Do the business cards have the same restriction as the Sapphire only 1 signup bonus if you have any card in the family?

weiss

signed up for the preferred and the unlimited on the same time and was declined – i called reconsideration they told me that i made to many apps. need to pick up 1 app. for review – i picked the unlimited – any chance to get the preferred now ?

Chaim

Dan,

When are we getting the trip report?
Keep checking me Twitter feed for it.

mo2

+1

Joe

What’s the best card for hotels in Jerusalem

Dands deals fan

What credit score do I need for the ink unlimited

genius

Do you get the 0% apr on purchases on the ink cash that was downgraded from a ink bus preferred that was opened up a few months ago?

MM

I have an Ink plus, I applied for an ink Business Preferred assuming I will get the 80,000 points bonus. Is that correct

mo2

Yes. Ink Plus is a different card that is not offered anymore.
You can get all 3 current Ink card bonuses even for the same business but there are some rumored limitations like 30 days between apps. Dan said it’s YMMV

MM

Is there any benefits on my Ink plus that I wouldn’t have with the preferred, that it wont be worth to give up. trying to save on the $95 annual fee.

JV

Does the travel need to be business related to get the trip delay/cancellation and baggage credit on the ink preferred?

chaim

i have a business with a partner
he applied for 1 of the ink cards using the business ein but the card is in his name
can i get the sign up bonus now with the same ein if the second card is in my name or is it 1 bonus per ein ( at the time of application he said he only owns 50 percent of the business if that makes a difference)

Jy

How long should one wait between applying for each business card (I want all three) – is it 30 days from date of receipt of the card or 30 days from your application?

r.l

is there anything to do if chase shut down my business credit cards and bank account today? any way to get them to change their minds

chaim

care to share why they did that .It would help us avoid such a issue

Mo2

That’s terrible.
Here’s a thread on ddf where you can vent or look for help
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=11216.0

Rachel

Can I apply for the ink preferred, and after I get the bonus 80,000, switch it to the ink unlimited and still have 0% apr for a year?

weiss

0% apr is only for new applicants

Rachel

Regarding this card not counting toward 5/24, is this true even for Chase?
Or maybe since Chase can see the credit report AND the cards I have with them they will count the Ink as one of the 5?

Mo2

Are you doubting Dan? He did all the research for you!
Chase algorithms for both personal and business card applications (and most, if not all other banks too) looks only on cards that show up on your personal credit report. Therefore, even Chase business cards won’t count against 5/24 since they’re not reported on your personal credit report.
But you still need to be under 5/24 in order to be approved even for Chase business cards.

Jim

I still have the old Ink Business Preferred Plus. I use it primarily to get the 5X bonus categories – office supply, cell phones, cable bills with no limit. I transfer the points to the Sapphire Reserve to use at 1.5X for airfare. Since I typically go over $25,000 per year in these categories, I assume it makes sense to hang on to this one until they end it. Am I missing anything?

zeke

are you allowed(meaning if you would ask chase) to put personal expenses on the business card?

Barry

Can you please post a link to the right place on DDF where I could post all cards I currently have and all milage where someone will help me with advice how to consolidate my miles and how to make the best use from what I have

TIA

Herb

Whats ymmv stand for?

Jim

Your mileage may vary

A

If I have all 3 cards am I able to convert the ink preferred into another ink cash or ink unlimited?

Yitz

if u have the unlimited card can u change it to the preferred just to transfer out to airlines and then change back to the unlimited ?
that way i can earn 1.5 points per dollar just by having one card

Avrohom

Is there any way to for a business that has a few AU on a chase card to see the statement split like on an AMEX statement?

Zack

No, which is a big downside!

Avrohom

Any tips or tricks to help with this? I currently use AMEX and I want to change over to chase.

Jake

For the 150K categories, is it up to 150K in each category or total? ( example: we spend 150 in both advertising and shipping) please advise. Thx

Jake

Can three diff employees apply for the same card ( using same EIN, but obv diff socials)?

Yoel

What about the ink plus?

MR

I have close to 400K UR points (& I have Sapphire Reserve). I’d like to book 5 flights from NYC to TLV this summer. What’s the best way to go?

a

by air

MR

It’s so great when people take time out of their day to help someone out!

Akiva

If I have a chase ink preferred and my wife has a reserve (and I’m not an authorized user on her account) how would I add my points from my preferred account to her reserve?

MR

This is what found:
Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to Spouse
1. Log-In to Chase Ultimate Rewards Account. First, log-in to your Chase Ultimate Rewards account. …
2. Add Household Member. Next, instead of combining Chase Ultimate Rewards points with one of your existing cards, you’ll see an option to “Add Household Member“. …
3. Add Account Information. …
4. Link Accounts. …
5. Transfer Points

Sam

I had the Ink Preferred and I downgraded to the Ink Business Cash last year since I have the Sapphire Reserve. I would like to get the Ink Preferred for the Cell Phone Insurance now. Should I apply for the Ink Prerferred to get the bonus or just call them to switch back the cards?

AverageJoe

I started applying for the Ink Preferred card and then got to the bottom of the application:

“I certify, understand and agree that: 1) This is a business account which shall be used only for business purposes and not personal, family or household purposes;”

Sadly I don’t have nearly enough business expenses to spend $5K in 3 months. Buying gift cards doesn’t seem like it’s for “business purposes” unless you’re looking to resell them at a profit.

Sigh =(

fgg

How are you guys seeing add household member? I’m trying to transfer from my mom csp to my csr and i only see option to add acount#

Leon

how can i get the offer again after 24 months from first opening the card?
do i have to close the card first?
if yes, how long before reapplying do i have to close it?

wpDiscuz