You can get $1,000 worth of travel by redeeming the Chase Ink Business Preferred 80,000-point sign-up bonus through the Chase travel portal.
But the card’s sign-up bonus can be worth much more if you transfer my favorite flexible points to airline partners like Singapore Airlines or United Airlines to book award flights.
And transferring points to a partner doesn’t limit you to flying on that specific airline. Thanks to partnerships and alliances, you can use miles with one airline to book an award flight on a completely different partner airline.
Transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to Airline Partners Can Get You BIG Savings!
Link: Chase Ink Business Preferred
Link: My Review of the Ink Business Preferred
When you sign-up for the Chase Ink Business Preferred card, you’ll earn 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
The sign-up bonus is worth $800 in cash back. Or you can get $1,000 worth of travel by booking airfare, hotels, or car rentals through the Chase travel portal.
But miles & points enthusiasts know the secret to getting even more value from the sign-up bonus is to transfer points to airline partners to book award flights! That’s how many Million Mile Secrets team members said they’d use the sign-up bonus!
Here are 3 examples of how you can use the Ink Business Preferred sign-up bonus to get tremendous value with award flights!
1. 3 Round-Trip Coach Award Flights to Hawaii!
You can now transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Singapore Airlines and book Alaska Airlines award flights. For folks on the West Coast in Alaska Airlines departure cities, this is now the cheapest way to use miles for flights to Hawaii.
A round-trip Alaska Airlines award flight to Hawaii from California, Oregon, and Washington costs 24,000 Singapore Airlines miles per person. So the 80,000-point Ink Business Preferred sign-up bonus can get you 3 round-trip award tickets! This is an incredible deal!
Paying cash for 3 round-trip award flights can easily cost $1,500+. For example, I found 3 round-trip award seats available from Portland to Maui in February 2018. This reservation would cost ~$1,519 if you paid cash.
To see if there are available Alaska Airlines award seats available to book using Singapore Airlines miles, I recommend searching the American Airlines website. Look for “SAAver” (low-level) Alaska Airlines award seats because these are the only kind of award seats you can book with an airline partner’s miles.
Then, to book the award seats, you can call Singapore Airlines at 800-742-3333.
Note: Alaska Airlines award flights aren’t loaded into the Singapore Airlines system, yet. But they should be available to book soon!2. Book Last-Minute United Airlines Business Class Award Seats
The cash cost of a flight usually increases the closer you get to the departure date. But award flight prices for airlines with award charts don’t change. This means redeeming miles can get you incredible value if you’re booking a last minute flight.
For example, Million Mile Secrets team member Keith recently transferred 25,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United Airlines to book a one-way Business Class Saver award ticket from Los Angeles to Newark. At the time of booking, the same seat was selling for more than $1,600!
Booking similar award flights a few times could make the value of the Ink Business Preferred sign-up bonus worth several thousands of dollars!
For example, I found 2 last minute Business Class Saver award seats from Los Angeles to Newark. These seats cost 25,000 United Airlines miles per person (or 50,000 miles total). Paying cash for the same exact seats would cost $3,200!
Just remember if you book last minute United Airlines award flights to follow my guide to avoid paying the close-in ticketing fee!
3. Folks With the Southwest Companion Pass Can Use Points From the Ink Business Preferred and Get 2-for-1 Flights
Emily and I think the Southwest Companion Pass is the best deal in travel. Because a friend or loved one can fly with you on paid or award tickets for just the cost of taxes & fees.
You can’t transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Southwest to earn the Companion Pass. But you can transfer points to book award flights.
Southwest award flight prices are based on the cash cost of the flight. And there are no blackout dates! Generally, you’ll pay 70 to 80 points per $1 of the base fare (depending on your travel dates and destination). So a $100 base fare requires between 7,000 and 8,000 Southwest points for an award booking, which makes Southwest points worth 1.25 cents to ~1.43 cents each.
This means the 80,000-point Ink Business Preferred sign-up bonus can get you $1,000 to ~$1,144 (or more) worth of Southwest flights. But folks with the Companion Pass will essentially get double the value, or $2,000+ worth of Southwest flights!
Bottom Line
You can get much more than $1,000 worth of travel with the Chase Ink Business Preferred. Because you can transfer the flexible Chase Ultimate Rewards points you earn to terrific airline partners like Singapore Airlines and United Airlines. Then, book award flights instead of paying cash for otherwise expensive tickets.
These examples can get you $1,500+ worth of value from the 80,000-point Ink Business Preferred sign-up bonus:
- 3 round-trip flights to Hawaii by transferring points to Singapore Airlines and booking Alaska Airlines award flights
- Last minute United Airlines Business Class award tickets
- 2-for-1 Southwest award flights for folks with the Companion Pass
Here’s a post with my full review of the Ink Business Preferred. And don’t forget to check out how Million Mile Secrets team members would use the valuable sign-up bonus with this card.