Aug 18, 2015, 8:20 am

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

Last edit by: BuBu4

Please read this Wiki before posting questions in the thread.

What's the difference between the Ink Bold & Ink Plus cards?

Ink Bold is no longer available. It was a charge card (pay balance in full each month), but it has been discontinued and many accounts were converted to Ink Plus cards with the same account numbers.

Ink Plus is a revolving credit card. It allows you to earn and redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points (including transfering UR points to air/hotel/rail partners).

What are the best current Ink Plus offers?

The Ink Plus card is no longer available for new applicants. There is a separate thread for The Ink Business Preferred card.

Links for non-targeted Ink Plus 60K offer ($5,000 spend/3 months; annual $95 fee not waived)
Landing page; original application page, current application page.

Landing page; application page.

Landing page; application page.

Landing page; current application page.

There is a report of a 70k offer for the Chase Ink Plus available only through your local Chase Bank office, extended to August 20, 2016. If you recently accepted the 60K offer, you may be able to get the extra 10K simply by asking for it.

There is a no-fee, UR-earning Ink Cash card: https://creditcards.chase.com/ink-bu.../ink-cash-card

Are there are any rules or restrictions to keep in mind when applying for an Ink card?
What is the "5/24" policy?
Are targeted offers exempt from the 5/24 policy?
If my application isn't approved instantly, should I call in?
How can I determine the deadline for meeting the spend requirement to earn the signup bonus?
Once I meet the card's spend requirement, how soon will I receive my signup bonus points?
After being denied, how long should I wait before applying again for the same card?
How long should I wait after closing my card before applying again for the same card?

See the wiki & current discussion at Applying for Chase Credit Cards, 2017 onward.

Are there special earning categories?

Yes. You earn 5 points per dollar on the first $50,000 spent annually at office supply stores, and on cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services. (Sirius XM Radio also qualifies.)

In addition, you earn 2 points per dollar on the first $50,000 spent annually at gas stations and for hotel accommodations when purchased directly from the hotel.

NOT ALL Ink cards earn the 5x and 2x bonus categories above. Not "Old Ink Bold" that earns 7,500 bonus points for $25,000 spend, 15,000 points for $50,000, and 25,000 points for $100,000 spend.

What merchants qualify for 5 points/dollar spent?

Merchants that qualify:

AnswerConnect (Ref)
AT&T monthly bills @ website (Direct entry) (Ref, Ref, Ref)
Boost Mobile (Ref)
Cablevision (Ref)
CallingMart.com (Direct entry)
CardCash.com (PayPal) (Ref, Ref)
CashStar/Staples @ staples.cashstar.com (Ref)
Charter Spectrum/Time Warner Cable monthly bills (Ref, Ref)
Comcast (Ref)
Cox Internet subscription (Ref)
Cricket Wireless (Ref)
Digital River MyCommerce/vorpX (PayPal) (Ref)
DirecTV (Ref, Ref)
Dish Network (Ref, Ref)
Dropbox (Ref)
eBay/PayPal Digital Gifts (PayPal) (Mastercards only) (Ref)
GiftCard Mart (PayPal) (Ref)
GoDaddy.com (Ref, Ref)
Google Fiber (Ref)
Gyft.com (PayPal) (Ref)
Half.com (PayPal) (Ref)
Hetzner.de (PayPal) (Ref)
HTC Vive @ store.us.HTCVive.com (Direct entry) (Ref, Ref)
Hulu (Ref, Ref, Ref)
INIZ (PayPal) (Ref)
LivingSocial.com (PayPal) (Ref)
MileagePlus X/OfficeMax @ app (YMMV ref, Ref)
MileagePlus X/Staples @ app (YMMV ref, Ref)
Netflix (Ref, Ref, Ref, Ref)
Nvidia GeForce Now (Ref)
Office Depot @ B&M, officedepot.com (Direct entry) (Ref)
OfficeMax @ B&M, officedepot.com (Direct entry) (Ref)
OneDrive (Ref)
Republic Wireless (Ref)
RingCentral (Ref)
Sirius XM (Ref, Ref, Ref)
Sling TV @ sling.com (Ref, Ref, Ref, Ref)
Spotify.com (Ref, Ref, Ref, Ref, Ref)
Sprint (Ref)
Staples @ B&M, staples.com (Direct entry) (Ref)
TiVo monthly bills (Ref, Ref)
T-Mobile monthly bills (Ref, Ref, Ref)
UPrinting.com (Ref)
Verizon (Ref)
Verizon Wireless (Ref)
Virgin Mobile (Ref)
VirginMobileUSA.com (Direct entry, PayPal) (Ref)
Vudu.com (Ref, Ref)

Merchants that DO NOT qualify:

Adobe Acrobat DC (Ref)
Amazon Prime music and video (Ref)
Apple iTunes/Apple Music subscription
AT&T phone and equipment orders (Ref, YMMV ref)
CardCash.com (Direct entry) (Ref)
CashStar/Office Depot @ officedepot.cashstar.com (Ref)
CashStar/Panera Bread @ panerabread.cashstar.com (Ref)
Charges at Cricket Wireless Store
eBay/GiftCardMall (PayPal)
eBay/SVM Gift Cards (PayPal)
eGifter.com (Ref)
Giftcard Zen (Direct entry) (Ref)
Google Cloud Platform @ cloud.google.com (Ref)
Google Drive (Ref)
Google Project Fi @ fi.google.com (Ref, Ref, Ref)
Gyft.com (Direct entry)
H2O Wireless (Ref)
Newegg.com (PayPal) (Ref)
Oculus.com (Ref)
OfficeMax in-store pickup @ officedepot.com (Ref)
eBay/PayPal Digital Gifts (PayPal) Visa Cards Only (Ref)
Plastiq telecom (Ref)
Playstation Vue (Ref)
RingPlus.net (Direct entry)
Seashells @ shopseashells.com (Ref)
SWYCH app (using INK and Paypal) (Ref)
T-Mobile.com phone and equipment orders (Ref, Ref, Ref)
Todoist.com (Ref)
Venmo (Direct entry) (Ref, Ref)
Walmart.com (PayPal) (Ref)

Where can I find the Ink Plus Guide to Benefits?

See https://www.chasebenefits.com/ink10311.

What are the rules for transferring UR points to other users or to my own air/hotel/rail accounts?

See the separate discussions in

Closing Ink Plus cards

It is possible to pay the annual fee for the Chase Ink Plus business card, then close the account and get a refund of the fee up to 6 months after it was charged. This provides a total of 18 months of earning up to 5X points for free. Make sure your points are transferred out (either to another UR account owned by you or a spouse, or to an air/hotel partner) before you close the account.

Previous Discussion Threads:

Chase Ink Business Card Questions

Chase Ink Bold, Plus & Cash cards

Chase Ink Plus is now available

Chase Ink Business Cards - July 2015- Present

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Aug 25, 2016, 2:29 pm

#1216

nuknuk

Join Date: Jun 2016

Posts: 13

Quote:

Originally Posted by misterno

If you buy mc or visa cards no extra 2 points

If you buy a store gc thru staples there is 2x points

Just to clarify: if I buy whole foods gift cards, delivered electronically, through staples.com via the chase ur portal, I will get the 2x in addition to the 5x I normally get, correct?

Thanks to everyone for their replies.

Aug 25, 2016, 3:02 pm

#1217

misterno

Join Date: May 2010

Posts: 437

Quote:

Originally Posted by nuknuk

Exactly right

Aug 25, 2016, 7:40 pm

#1218

roundtree

Join Date: Jul 2016

Location: Dallas, TX

Programs: WN A-List Pref, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat

Posts: 460

Quote:

Originally Posted by misterno

If you buy mc or visa cards no extra 2 points

If you buy a store gc thru staples there is 2x points

Is it safe to assume that the same applies to SWA gift cards?

Aug 25, 2016, 9:25 pm

#1219

misterno

Join Date: May 2010

Posts: 437

Quote:

Originally Posted by roundtree

Is it safe to assume that the same applies to SWA gift cards?

I dunno. I only purchased mc/vs safeway and wholefoods gcs. Nothing else yet.

Aug 25, 2016, 10:37 pm

#1220

spoodini

Join Date: Aug 2016

Posts: 7

Quote:

Originally Posted by misterno

Exactly right

Are there any other portals besides Chase that offer bonus points on merchant gift cards from Staples? This is the first I've heard of any ability to earn extra points on these recently.

Aug 26, 2016, 2:06 am

#1221

Saidoh

Join Date: Oct 2014

Location: ATL

Programs: MR/SPG Plat, HH Gold, DL PM

Posts: 413

For the 2x on gas, does this include gas at warehouse clubs? It is not excluded from the offer terms, nor is it mentioned specifically in the wiki, or anywhere else in the thread.

Aug 26, 2016, 1:04 pm

#1222

teenguy

Join Date: Feb 2016

Posts: 8

where can I get visa gift cards with cheapest fee and earn 5x or more points on it. it can be online or instore..

Aug 26, 2016, 6:41 pm

#1223

mia

Moderator

Join Date: Jun 2003

Location: Miami, Mpls & London

Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold

Posts: 48,954

Quote:

Originally Posted by teenguy

...visa gift cards...

You may wish to look at the Manufactured Spending forum:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...-spending-719/

Aug 28, 2016, 7:24 am

#1224

slowreactor

Join Date: Aug 2016

Posts: 34

I opened an Ink+ at the beginning of this month, and earlier today, I got an alert from Experian credit monitoring that I had a new account opened with Chase. I checked and it looks like the Ink+ was reported to my personal credit report. I called in and the CSR said that it's correct, and that the Ink+ should be reported to personal reports, but everything I read online indicates that it shouldn't be. What's going on here?

Aug 28, 2016, 7:16 pm

#1225

Java Cool Dude

Join Date: Sep 2015

Location: Los Angeles

Posts: 740

Has anybody maxed out their Ink+ 50k at office stores and if so over how many months?
I am trying to strike a balance between the number of VGCs I buy at OD/Staples and the risk of catching Chase's attention and having my CC shutdown.
JCD

Aug 28, 2016, 8:25 pm

#1226

RBM3

Join Date: Jun 2016

Location: LAX

Posts: 51

Quote:

Originally Posted by slowreactor

I opened mine in June, and it's never reported on any of the CRAs. Are you sure it isn't just the inquiry that's reporting? That will show up on your personal report when you apply for the Ink+.

Aug 28, 2016, 9:06 pm

#1227

slowreactor

Join Date: Aug 2016

Posts: 34

Quote:

Originally Posted by RBM3

I opened mine in June, and it's never reported on any of the CRAs. Are you sure it isn't just the inquiry that's reporting? That will show up on your personal report when you apply for the Ink+.

Definitely not. The inquiry came when I applied for the Ink+. This specifically said New Account.

Aug 28, 2016, 9:21 pm

#1228

RBM3

Join Date: Jun 2016

Location: LAX

Posts: 51

I just checked my report, was updated today. Still does not show the Ink+ on my personal account. I applied as a sole prop with my SSN. Maybe Chase is changing the way they report the Ink cards. I know CapOne shows the Spark cards on personal reports.

Aug 30, 2016, 9:39 am

#1229

AAdmiral

Join Date: Apr 2001

Location: MIA LAX GIG, AA CK

Posts: 211

I have six different Ink Plus accounts for my various businesses and none of them appear on my credit report. All of my businesses had EIN (Employee Identification Numbers) on the applications. I had credit pulls but no reporting. I believe that if you used your SSN it will report to your person credit bureau.

Aug 30, 2016, 11:46 am

#1230

roundtree

Join Date: Jul 2016

Location: Dallas, TX

Programs: WN A-List Pref, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat

Posts: 460

Quote:

Originally Posted by AAdmiral

That's my understanding as well. I have a Spark card like RBM3 and, even with applying using my EIN, they wanted my personal credit to approve the CL (because it was a new business at that time with no revenues demonstrated).

I would expect the appearance is completely tied to whether you applied based on the creditworthiness of the business or yourself.