Top 10 Chase Ink Card Benefits: More Than Just the Increased Bonus!

Are you thinking of applying for a Chase Ink card to take advantage of the limited time increased sign-up bonus?

Emily and I love the Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus cards, not just for the sign-up bonus, but for the travel opportunities and extra perks these cards offer.  But some folks don’t know about all the benefits you get!

Top 10 Chase Ink Card Benefits

Link:   Chase Ink Bold

Link:   Chase Ink Plus

Link:   How to Fill Out a Chase Business Card Application

1.   60,000 Ultimate Reward Point Sign-Up Bonus

The sign-up bonus on the Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus cards is usually 50,000 points after you spend $5,000 in the 1st 3 months.  But now, the bonus is 60,000 points with the same minimum spending!  I’m not sure how long this offer will last.

It lasted only 1 week the last time this offer was around.

60,000 points goes a long way towards Big Travel with Small Money!  For example, it’s worth $750 in travel when booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.   Or much more if you transfer the points to airline and hotel partners!

Plus, the annual fee of $95 is waived for the 1st year.

2.   Airline and Hotel Transfer Partners

Link:   What to Do With 65,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

One of the best ways to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points is to transfer them to partner airlines and hotels.  You can often get far better value from the points this way, instead of using them for cash back or even redeeming them through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.

And unlike American Express Membership Rewards, there are never any transfer fees!

Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer at a 1:1 ratio to:

• United Airlines
• Southwest
• British Airways
• Korean Air
• Virgin Atlantic
• Hyatt
• Marriott
• IHG Hotels (formerly Priority Club)
• Ritz-Carlton
• Flying Blue

Lots of folks like to transfer points to United Airlines because they have good award seat availability and don’t add fuel surcharges to tickets.  And you can use United Airlines miles to travel on United Airlines or any Star Alliance airline, like Lufthansa, Air Canada, or Singapore Airlines.

Or, if you’re interested in flying on British Airways or any oneworld alliance airlines, like American Airlines, US Airways, or Cathay Pacific, Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to British Airways at a 1:1 ratio.  You can also use their miles to fly on partner airlines like Aer Lingus.  Remember, you’ll usually pay large fuel surcharges when you use British Airways miles, with a few exceptions.

One of my favorite ways to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points is to transfer them to Hyatt.  You can really stretch your points by staying in some of their Hyatt House and Hyatt Place hotels (many of which are category 1 or 2).  You’d get 7 to 12 nights at a lower category hotel just with the Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus sign-up bonus!

3.   Bonus Spending Categories

You can earn more points when you use your Chase Ink in bonus spending categories.

You earn 2X points at:

• Gas stations
• Hotels

And you earn 5X points at:

• Office supply stores (like Staples and Office Depot)
• Wireless and landline phones
• Cable and satellite TV

You’ll earn the bonus points for up to $50,000 spending in each 5X and 2X category.

This is a great perk if your small business spends a lot in those categories.

4.   No Foreign Exchange Fees

The  Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus cards are great for using when you travel outside the US, because they do NOT charge foreign transaction fees.  Many other business cards charge fees of ~3% per transaction.  That can really add up when you’re traveling!

Note:  The Chase Ink Cash card DOES have a foreign transaction fee.

Combined with the 2X points bonus on hotels and restaurants, this is a good card to use when you’re traveling overseas!

5.   More Spending Power With the Chase Ink Bold

Each of the Ink cards are slightly different.  The Chase Ink Bold is a charge card, which means you have to pay your balance in full each month.  The Chase Ink Plus is a credit card, so you can carry a balance (but you shouldn’t!) from month to month.

The good thing about the Chase Ink Bold charge card is that there is no set spending limit, so you get more flexibility.  The Ink Plus has a fixed credit line.

So if you need to make large purchases (and you know you can pay it off in full), the Ink Bold might be a better card for you.

6.   Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall Bonus Points

Link:   Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall

Another great way to earn lots of Chase Ultimate Rewards points is by using the Ink cards when shopping online through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall.  You can earn up to 30 extra points per $1 you spend just by clicking through the mall before shopping at your favorite online stores, like JCPenney, Macy’s, or even Restaurant.com!

I like to use my Chase Ink card at office supply stores online (5X points per $1 you spend) but 1st go through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall.  You’ll get 2 to 3 extra points per $1 on top of the 5X points you get from the Ink card!

Be sure to check Evreward before deciding to shop through the Ultimate Rewards Mall.  Sometimes you can find better shopping portal deals elsewhere.

7.  Use Points for Cash Back or Travel = Flexibility

You can usually get the most out of Chase Ultimate Rewards points when you transfer them to hotel and airline partners.

But the good thing about these points is that you still have flexibility to redeem them for cash back (at 1 cent per point) or for booking paid travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal (at 1.25 cents per point).

Suppose you need cash right away.  You could redeem 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for $600 cash back (60,000 points x 1 cent per point = $600).

Or if you can’t find an award seat or night but still have to take a trip, booking through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal can save you money.  And in some cases, it makes more sense to book paid airline tickets instead of transferring points to an airline and looking for award seats.

For example, suppose you want to fly from Atlanta to Newark on United Airlines.  You could transfer 25,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United Airlines, then book a saver award ticket (if you can find it!).

Or, you could buy a paid ticket with points through the Chase Travel Portal.  In this example, a paid ticket costs $266 or only 21,280 points!  So it’s a better deal than transferring 25,000 points to United!

8. Visa Savings Edge Benefits

Link:   Visa Savings Edge

Link:   My Review of Visa Savings Edge

The Chase Ink cards are now Visa cards, so you can sign-up for the Visa Savings Edge discount program to save money at certain merchants.

Once you register your Ink card, the discount will be automatically applied to your statement.

And you can stack this discount with shopping portal bonuses, too!  For example, you can use your Ink card through the Ultimate Rewards Mall at Staples (office supplies) to earn a total of 7X points (5X points from card + 2X points Ultimate Rewards bonus) and get a 1% discount from Visa Savings Edge.  Not bad!

9.   Lounge Club Membership

Link:   Lounge Club

Link:   List of Lounge Club Airport Lounges

While they don’t have an extensive network of lounges (especially in the US!), it’s still a great deal to get free lounge visits!  And, any authorized users on your Ink cards can get their own free Lounge Club membership and 2 free visits!

10.  Jot for Expense Management

Link:   Jot Mobile App

If you have employees, you can set it up to alert you when they make a purchase on their Ink card (and change their spending limits if they go overboard!).  And if you don’t have a smartphone, you can still use Jot online through your Chase account to keep track of expenses.

Bottom Line

The Chase Ink Bold and Chase Ink Plus cards have a limited time increased sign-up bonus of 60,000 points after spending $5,000 in the 1st 3 months.

But there are lots of other benefits that come with having an Ink card!  Most importantly being able to get lots of Big Travel with Small Money.  My favorite Ink card perk is being able to earn lots of Chase Ultimate Rewards points and transfer them to airline and hotel partners.

What do you like best about the Ink cards?