How to maximize Chase Ink business card welcome bonuses

Before diving in, it’s important to understand that although the Ink Business Cash® credit card and Ink Business Unlimited® credit card are advertised as cash back cards, they really aren’t. In reality, the cards earn Hunt for Ultimate Rewards® pointswhich you can exchange for a value of one cent each.

In other words, these cards come with a sign-up bonus of 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $6,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening the account. That’s an important distinction, because with a little effort, you can redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for exponentially more than 1 cent each on airfare travel, hotel stays, and more.

The key to unlocking this potential is through the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card®, Haunt Sapphire Reserve® or the Ink Business Preferred® credit card.

Independent, Ultimate Rewards points are worth it one cent each. However, depending on the annual Ultimate Rewards card you own, you can get up to 50% more value for your points when redeeming for airline tickets, hotel stays, rental cars, or cruises through the Chase Travel Portal:

So if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card® or Ink Business Preferred® credit cardyou get up to $1,125 in travel with this 90,000 point ink bonuses. With the Haunt Sapphire Reserve®you get up to $1,350 in value.

The Chase Travel Portal works the same way to any other online travel agency, such as Expedia or Booking.com, and allows you to book almost any flight, hotel and/or car rental in the world. If you value simplicity and prefer an easy way to redeem your points, this is the way to go. Better yet, you can mix your payment method between points and cash for any amount. However, if you’re willing to strategize a bit, you can double or triple this value, as you’ll see below.

Chase has 14 airline and hotel partners you can transfer your points to. Among them is British Airways Executive Club.

This airline is a strategic Chase transfer partner for anyone with travel purposes, including short hops operated by Oneworld alliance partners such as American Airlines or Alaska Airlines. If you want to visit your family a few states away for the holidays, or if you are someone who likes to head south for the winter, British Airways Avios could be a good fit.

For non-stop domestic bus flights you pay:

• 7,500 points each way for flight durations of less than 650 miles (e.g. Atlanta to Miami)
• 9,000 points each way for flight duration between 651 and 1,151 miles (i.e. New York to Orlando)

An ink bonus of 90,000 points can get you between nine and twelve single short-haul domestic flights.

A word of caution with these redemptions: Some domestic short-haul fares are extremely cheap. Check the cash price of the ticket before transferring your points to British Airways. You can spend fewer points by simply booking the ticket through the Chase Travel Portal at a rate of 1.25 to 1.5 cents each.

For example, a three-night stay in early February 2023 will cost 90,000 points all-in, with no taxes or fees. This same stay would cost a whopping $3,752 in cash. That’s a value of 4.1 cents per point – much higher than the 1 to 1.5 cent value you receive when you book through the Chase travel portal.

That price is so low that it could be worth flying into one of these cities to take advantage of the deal. With the 90,000 points you earn this temporary Ink Business Cash® credit card or Ink Business Unlimited® credit card bonuses you book two return flights to Madrid and you still have 22,000 points left.

The taxes and fees on these awards can be around $200, but your extra leftover points can help reduce that fee.

Chase’s Pay Yourself back feature allows you to redeem your points and effectively “clear” eligible charges from your credit card account. You get a higher value for your points with this method than when you exchange them for instant cash back. Below are the cards, their respective Pay Yourself Back categories and the value of the points you get when you use this tool:

The Ink Business Cash and unlimited 90,000 point bonus would net you $990 in internet, cable, phone service, and shipping charges with those cards, while the bonus would be worth $1,350 if you had the Sapphire Reserve and redeemed your points for covers Airbnb or dinner fees.

If all this sounds too complicated, you can instead simply exchange your points for cash at a rate of 1 cent each – giving you a $900 bounty for literally zero effort. You can request a check or direct deposit to your bank account, or you can choose to receive a statement credit on your card. Then you can increase the value of your money by putting it in a high interest savings account or to invest the.