1/17 – I’ve been told that the offer below is scheduled to be removed on Jan 18th at 9 a.m. – so if you had been considering signing up for this card, you may want to act soon
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I’ve often said that the best way to get a good number of points is through judicious credit card signups. If you find that you are putting all of your spending on your one airline or rewards credit card but not actually getting enough points for any trips, you might want to take a closer look at periodically signing up for new credit cards. As long as you have the financial ability and discipline to pay off your credit cards in full, each and every month, I think that most people could sign up for a new card every few months without having any real impact on your credit score.
(SEE ALSO: 5 myths about credit and your credit score)
Today I wanted to take a look at four of the Chase Ink credit cards. All of them have increased signup bonuses worth several hundred dollars and maybe even close to $1,000 or more. All of these cards are considered “small business” credit cards, but you may have a business even if you don’t think you do. And I would say that if you are ignoring the small business cards and only applying for personal credit cards, you are doing yourself a disservice by passing up on half of the available credit card bonus offers.
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The first card to look at is the Chase Ink Unlimited. The Ink Unlimited has a very simple earning structure. You’ll get 1.5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on the card (marketed as 1.5% cash back). If you don’t have a premium Chase card (like the Sapphire Reserve or Ink Preferred), then your points are worth just 1 cent per point. But if you do have a premium card, you can transfer your Chase points that you earn with the Ink Unlimited and get 25% or 50% extra value.
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- 1.5X Ultimate Rewards points on all purchases
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- Primary Car Rental Damage Insurance when traveling for business (so you can decline the car rental company’s insurance)
- No annual fee
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The Chase Ink Cash is another no-fee option. Rather than earning 1.5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar, you’ll get 5X at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services, and 2x at gas stations and restaurants. So depending on your spending patterns, you may find that you’ll come out ahead with the Ink Cash instead of the Ink Unlimited. You can also consider having both cards – that way you can use the Ink Cash where it gets a spending bonus and the Ink Unlimited everywhere else.
Just like with the Ink Unlimited, if you don’t have a premium Chase card (like the Sapphire Reserve or Ink Preferred), then your points are worth just 1 cent per point. But if you do have a premium card, you can transfer your Chase points that you earn with the Ink Unlimited and get 25% or 50% extra value.
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- 5X at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services (up to $25,000 per year combined)
- 2X at gas stations and restaurants (up to $25,000 per year combined)
- Primary Car Rental Damage Insurance when traveling for business (so you can decline the car rental company’s insurance)
- No annual fee
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The Chase Ink Preferred comes with a $95 annual fee and is considered one of Chase’s premium travel cards. It also comes with a higher initial welcome bonus (100,000 Ultimate Rewards points) but also has a higher spending requirement
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- 3X points on shipping and advertising purchases, Internet, cable and phone services and travel (on the first $150,000 of purchases, then 1X)
- Redeem points for 1.25 cents per point through the Chase travel portal (25% bonus)
- Ability to transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to Chase travel partners including United Airlines, Hyatt Hotels and Southwest Airlines
- Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Insurance
- Primary Car Rental Damage Insurance when traveling for business (so you can decline the car rental company’s insurance)
- Cell Phone protection (if you pay your bill with the card)
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The Chase Ink Premier is the newest of the four Chase Ink cards and comes with a $195 annual fee. It also comes with a higher initial welcome bonus ($1,000) but also has a higher spending requirement ($10,000 in the first 3 months of having the card). The Chase Ink Premier is a bit different than the other Ink cards as it’s meant as a true cashback card. The Chase Ink Cash and Chase Ink Unlimited are MARKETED as cashback cards, but really the rewards they offer are actually Ultimate Rewards points. So while the Ink Unlimited says it offers 1.5% cash back, it’s actually 1.5X Ultimate Rewards points per $1 spent.
The Chase Ink Premier is not like this. The rewards it earns are straight cashback and can’t be combined with Ultimate Rewards points that are earned by other Chase Ink cards.
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- 2.5% cash back on large purchases over $5,000
- 2% cash back on all other purchases with no limit
- 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Can only redeem your points for cash back and can’t combine
- Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Insurance
- Primary Car Rental Damage Insurance when traveling for business (so you can decline the car rental company’s insurance)
- Cell Phone protection (if you pay your bill with the card)
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Which Chase Ink Card is Best?
Deciding which of these four Chase Ink credit cards is best for you will depend on your particular spending patterns. Of course $8,000 or $10,000 spending in only 3 months is quite a bit, so if you don’t feel like you can make that, the Ink Preferred and Ink Premier may not be great options for you. Even $6,000 in 3 months could be challenging for some people. If you can make the spending targets, I would consider the Ink Preferred if you don’t have another premium Chase credit card. Other than that, I would probably get the Ink Cash first and then the Ink Unlimited. Personally, I have both the Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited (along with the Sapphire Preferred).
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What about you? Do you have any of the Chase Ink cards? Which one do you think is best?