Ben Slowen

Hi everyone,

I'm stepping back into credit cards after a fairly long absence, and I'd appreciate some advice/input.

Currently, I only have 1 points-earning card: Ink Business Cash. (I have two other cash-back cards). As you're all aware, I can't use those points to their full potential until I get another one of the premium Chase cards. I don't have any definitive travel plans yet, so I didn't want to pay an annual fee on a card that I couldn't really utilize. I'm happy to accumulate some points in the meantime.

To better optimize my everyday spend, I wanted to add either the Chase Ink Unlimited, or the Amex Blue Business Plus, but I can't decide which one I should be getting.

On the one hand, I'm already accumulating UR points, so I could keep all the points I have in the same ecosystem with the Ink Unlimited.
On the other hand, the Amex card provides a better return, diversifies my point portfolio (not sure how important that is....), and as I understand it, I could use those MR points directly with transfer partners without needing another card.

Given what I've said here, which card do you think is better for me to acquire? I appreciate the help.

flyhab136

Both are "default" cards where you'd use them only when the purchase doesn't fit a bonus category, and you're not trying to meet a minimum spend.

You only need one, but you should get both IMHO. The Amex BBP is only 2X for the first $50k of spend, then 1X. So every year, spend $50k of un-bonused spend on the Amex BBP, then switch to the Chase Ink Unlimited for the rest.

If you have less than $50k of un-bonused spend, then it's really up to you.

Because of 5/24, my advice is finish up Chase first, because you'll be locked out for two years if you don't. Get the Chase Ink Unlimited now, then get the Chase Ink Preferred in 3 months just for the bonus (80k points = at least $800, so who cares about a $95 annual fee). Or actually, get the Chase Ink Preferred now while it has the higher bonus, then the Unlimited in 3 months. If you're later denied for the Chase Ink Unlimited, you can always just product change the Chase Ink Preferred after the first year. Once you're done with Chase business cards then start on Chase personal cards. After you've hit 5/24, then get the Amex BBP, and continue on to other cards.

Ben Slowen

Thank you for the reply, Flyhab. I appreciate the information about Chase's 5/24. Is it the case that business credit cards don't affect 5/24? If so, then I would currently only have 2 credit cards right now that would go towards it.

At this point, I'm just trying to build a base of cards that I think will give me long-term value. Bonus-hunting hasn't even been a factor in the equation for me yet. Over the past two years, I've gone pretty slow, only getting 3 cards in that timespan.

Would there be a reason to grab both the Ink Unlimited and the BBP other than for the bonus, since they fill pretty much the same role?

flyhab136

Chase business cards require you to be under 5/24 to apply, but they don't add to 5/24. If you're at 3/24 before you apply, you'll be at 3/24 after you apply.. but you can't apply at 6/24.

Most business cards don't add to 5/24, because they don't report to your personal credit history but instead your business credit history. Capitol One and Discover are two big exceptions that DO report to 5/24. I can't link it because I'm new to the forums, but Google "All You Need to Know about Credit Reporting on Business Cards" and it has a list of which cars report to personal credit (and therefore add to 5/24).

Basically only if you want to squeeze every last drop of value out of the cards, and you have high spend. On the first $50k every year, you'd get 100,000 MR points instead of 75,000 UR points. Is that worth it? If it's your only MR card, then maybe not.

If you primarily want Amex MR points, you might pick up a Chase Ink Unlimited to use after the first $50k, so you'd get 1.5X for the rest of the year instead of 1X.

If you primarily want Chase UR points, then you might not bother with the Amex BBP. There's really no situation where you'd use a BBP that you couldn't use a CIU.

There's 4 major point systems: Chase UR, Amex MR, Citi TYP, and CapitalOne. Running multiple systems provides a hedge against any bank turning stupid (like Citi recently pulling all their benefits) or the bank shutting down all your cards, but splitting up your points is really bad unless your spend is really high. If you have 20k MR and 30k UR but need 50k of one or the other to go somewhere, then you're screwed. With high spend, if you have 200k MR and 300k UR, then you don't care that your points are split.

I'd still go with getting all your Chase cards first not only because of 5/24, but also because it makes sense to stick to one system, especially at first, and especially if you don't have ridiculously high spend. You really can't go wrong going with Chase first.

FYI signup bonuses can be thought of as temporary 10X - 30X multipliers. For example the Chase Ink Preferred is 80k UR for $5k spend, or 16X. You can actually make way more money/points churning cards than you can actually using your "keeper" cards.. at least for a few years. It's a totally valid strategy to get your "keeper" cards first though, especially while you're under 5/24.

mia

Not always. There is a substantial amount of overlap between the American Express, Chase and Citi transfer partners, which means you may be able to combine points from these programs at the airline program level. See the Wikipost at the top of this thread for a list organized by airline alliance:

Chase UR vs Amex MR vs Citi TY