As I’ve mentioned in the past, the Chase Ink cards have some of the best sign up bonuses out there. Well, to celebrate small business week, Chase has increased the sign up bonuses until June 22! The best offers in my opinion are either the Ink Bold or Ink Plus card which give you 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after $5000 of spending in three months. Those are 10,000 more points than the already lucrative standing offer of 50,000! The rest of this post will just address a few of the questions you might have.
Can I apply for the card if I don’t own a small business?
Yup. Many people qualify as a small business even if they don’t know it (buy/sell on Ebay, trade sports tickets on StubHub, etc.). Also, you can apply for the card even if you were just thinking of starting a business. For example, before I even started my Award Booking Service, I was able to apply for a business card by just explaining to them what I hoped to do with my business. In fact, applying for a business credit card actually spurred me on to getting serious about my business, and I’ve raked in TENS of dollars since then!
What am I going to do with 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points?
Transfer them to travel partners to maximize your value, of course! My favorite transfer partners for Ultimate Rewards are United and Hyatt. 60,000 points transferred to United miles can you get you a roundtrip flight in economy with stopover and two open jaws to Europe or South America. Of course, with a few more miles (20K per direction) you can upgrade that to business class. You can also use the miles at the highest value Hyatt properties, even the Park Hyatt Maldives which could cost almost $1000/night, for 22,000 points per night. In a worst case scenario, you can redeem the points for 1.25 cents of value each by booking a trip through the Ultimate Rewards travel section. However you slice it, you can get a ton of value from 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points.
What are some other cards I can apply for if I want to link this to an “app-o-rama”?
Here are some of my current favorites:
Barclays US Airways Mastercard – 35,000 miles after first purchase, $89 fee waived first year (at the top of the list because this card is going away soon)
Citi Hilton Reserve – 2 free weekend night certificates after $2500 spending in 3 months
Citi Platinum Select Visa – 40,000 AAdvantage miles after $3000 spending in 3 months
Chase British Airways Visa – 50,000 Avios after $1000 spending in 3 months (great if you know how to use Avios well)
Chase Sapphire Preferred – 40,000 Ultimate Rewards points after $3000 spending in 3 months
US Bank Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa – 85,000 Club Carlson points after $2500 spending in 3 months
Just remember, no more than one personal and one business application per bank per cycle.
If it’s been less than 91 days since my last application, should I still apply?
That’s up to you – if the deal is good enough for you, then I don’t think there’s harm in breaking the rule every once in awhile. But if you do it continuously, that’s where the danger lies. Generally, if an amazing deal comes along, I’ll bend the rules slightly for myself, but you have to go what you’re comfortable with.
I don’t know if I can spend $5000 in three months?
As long as you pay off your balance every month, here are some ideas.
Anyway, that’s it – enjoy the points!
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