Quick Links:

• Chase Ink Plus®
  
• Chase Ink Bold®
  
• Chase Ink Cash®

(Disclaimer: the links for this offer are affiliate links. I receive a commission if you chose to apply using the links. As always, I appreciate any support).

Oh man, I should have waited – I applied for the Chase Ink Plus® card earlier this year during my last round of applications when the highest public offer was 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points (still a fantastic offer). I even encouraged my brother to get the Ink Plus during his first app-o-rama last month with the same sign-up bonus.

Well the good news is, if you have not yet added any of the Chase Ink Business cards to your wallet yet, there’s a special promotion in honor of Small Business week where you can now receive 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 in 3 months (the same as the previous 50,000 point offer). This limited-time offer is valid from June 16, 2013 to June 22, 2013.

What I like about this offer is that you get more points without an increased minimum spend requirement. I’m totally kicking myself in the butt for not getting in on this.

My favorite perk about my Ink Plus is the fact that I can earn 5 points per dollar at office supply stores. I found that buying retailer giftcards through Staples.com (ahem Kohls giftcards), and earning 5x on those purchases, then shopping at said retailer through the Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping portal to earn an additional 10x per dollar spent (I’m referring to Kohls again), has been my secret to earning a boatload of points each month that I could transfer 1:1 to United miles. I’ll be sure to write a more elaborate post on that strategy in the near future for those who are interested in learning more.

Now a bit about the Ink cards for those who don’t know much about them already: earn 5 points per dollar at office supply stores, cable TV, landline, cell phone, and internet bills up to $50k per year, 1 point per dollar on everything else. No annual fee for the first year (then $95 thereafter). All Ink produces are business cards. The Ink Bold is a charge card, which means that there is no set spending limit, but the card needs to be paid up in full each month. The Ink Plus is a credit card.

Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partners (1:1)

United, British Airways, Southwest, Hyatt, Virgin Atlantic, Korean, Amtrak, Priority Club, Ritz-Carlton, and Marriott.

If You Applied for the Ink in the Last 90 Days…

YMMV, but consider sending Chase a secure message asking if they could match you to the new 60K offer. It’s a long shot, but worth a try. I personally have had success with this method by asking to match my Chase Freedom Visa to the higher 30,000 offer that was available at that time. Report back your experiences in the comments. I’ll try to get my brother to send a message because he applied not too long ago.

Recent Helpful Posts About Using Ultimate Rewards

• Summer Travel From New York to London: 13K Miles and $98
• Getting to the Caribbean and Mexico with Avios

I’m jealous of all that can take advantage of this awesome sign-up bonus. Let us know how it goes!

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This past weekend, my parents went down to Aiken, SC to help my brother move into his new apartment. While they were enjoying the beautiful 80 degree weather down south, I was given “feed-the-cat” and “pick-us-up-at-the-airport-at-11:56 PM-on-Saturday-night” duties, which I happily agreed to… of course.

Well, on Saturday afternoon, I received a call from Dad saying that US Airways went ahead and canceled their return flight later that evening due to bad weather conditions in Charlotte, and that they’d have to be rebooked for the following morning. I’ll admit, on one hand, I was happy that I received that news because I was able to enjoy a fun, uninterrupted evening in Atlantic City with friends, instead of rushing back to EWR late at night to get them.

On another hand, I also was curious to know which credit card Dad had used to buy his flight tickets in the first place, because right off the bat I always use my Chase Sapphire Preferred for airline ticket purchases… and it’s not just because of the 2 points per dollar spent on travel (for my tech-geek readers, it’s actually 2.14 points per dollar, if you factor in the 7% annual dividend on all points earned). Here’s why:

Many people, including Dad (since he booked the trip using his American Express® Gold Card), automatically assume that the go-to card for consumer protection is American Express. While AmEx is great for purchase protection, their Travel Delay Protection service is not a free benefit for cardholders; instead, the insurance must be purchased for $9.95 per person, per trip, when you purchase your airline ticket with an AmEx card already enrolled in the program. Surprisingly, Chase takes the throne for free travel insurance.

Of course, when there is a weather-related cancelation, the airline is not responsible for compensating you with a flight voucher, hotel room, or meal vouchers. However, many airlines will extend a “distressed traveler” hotel discount for a nearby airport hotel. In Dad’s case, he opted for a cash and points rate at a nearby Country Inn and Suites. Unfortunately, he will not be getting reimbursed for his lodging or meals because he did not book the flight using one of his qualifying Chase Cards. Oh well, you live and learn, right?

A not-so-talked about, but insanely-valuable perk of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa (along with several other Chase cards, see list below) is the free travel insurance available if your flight is canceled or delayed for 12 or more hours, allowing you to get reimbursed up to $300 per ticket for lodging and meals. To take advantage of this, first, you must have purchased your flight using a card offering this benefit, and second, all of your expenses as a result of your delayed or canceled flight must also be purchased using the same credit card you used for the airfare. Lastly, you also must provide receipts when making your claim with Chase.

These following Chase cards offer free travel protection insurance as a benefit of being a cardholder (thanks to Deals We Like for compiling this list):

• Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card
• Ritz Carlton Rewards
• Hyatt Credit Card
• Sapphire Preferred
• Sapphire
• Ink Bold Business Card
• Ink Plus Business Card
• Ink Cash Business Card
• Ink Classic Business Card
• United MileagePlus Visa

Luckily, I have not had any encounters lately with any major pesky weather-related delays or cancelations, so I can’t speak about any personal experiences using the Chase travel protection benefits, but I did sort-of “luck out” recently with a mechanical delay in Costa Rica (related post), earning me a $300 travel voucher with United.

Have you had any experience using the Chase travel protection insurance benefit? If so, please feel free to share!

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The Chase VIP mall lounges are back this holiday season in Houston, San Francisco, and Short Hills, NJ from now until December 24, 11:00 am – mall closing. Lounge access is granted to Chase United MileagePlus cardholders, and the following complimentary amenities are offered: snack and beverages, gift wrapping, bag and coat check, cafe seating, flat screen TVs, and wifi.

This is a cool way to take a break from shopping, and what’s even cooler is that you can receive 2 United Club passes when you bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate for Toys for Tots on Tuesdays.

I personally have not made it down to the Short Hills Mall (or any mall yet, honestly) to check out the lounge, but one of these days I’ll make it a point to stop in and peek around.

Has anyone checked out any of these lounges yet?

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This morning, MileCollector informed me of a Chase promotion that I was not previously aware of called Chase Picks Up the Tab. Granted this is not as lucrative as one of my favorite credit card promotions, American Express’ Small Business Saturday (registration is now live), it’s still worth mentioning if you have a Chase checking account and a Chase credit card or two (or 5).

The Scoop

If you’re a Chase banking customer with an eligible Chase credit card, you’ll have a chance to randomly have Chase “pick up the tab” on any charges through 12/31/2012, up to $150. There are a total of 10,944 prizes that will be given away, which breaks down to one winner approximately every five minutes. The only caveat is that there is no online or self-registration for this promotion. You must go into your local branch and ask a banker to enroll your accounts. You can find the full terms and conditions here.

My Experience/Chase Exclusives

While I have 5 Chase personal travel credit cards in my wallet at the moment, along with a Chase auto loan, ironically, I did not have a Chase checking account… until today. I’ve been putting off opening an account because… well, frankly I was just too lazy to do it… even though I always receive those tempting promotional coupons in the mail that give a $200 bonus for opening a new checking account.

Truthfully, it was never just the $200 bonus that attracted me to banking with Chase; instead, it was the Chase Exclusives package that caught my attention. For starters, Chase Exclusives allows Chase checking account customers to receive more rewards and benefits from other Chase products such as credit cards, loans, mortgages, etc. Naturally, one of the “benefits” that I’m attracted to is the ability to earn more points, of course.

Prior to November 11, 2012, if you were “grandfathered” in to Chase Exclusives by having a Chase Freedom and Chase checking account, you were able to earn an additional 10 Ultimate Rewards points per transaction in addition to the point(s) per dollar you’d normally earn. This was/is an extremely valuable benefit. To put it into perspective, a $1 water bottle would yield you 11 (1 for the $1 purchase + 10 for the bonus) Ultimate Rewards points. Not a bad gig for a small purchase.

Now if you’re like me, and you got bundled up in the Chase Exclusives program after November 11, 2012, the deal is not exactly as sweet… but it’s not bad either. No longer can you receive an additional 10 points per transaction using the Chase Freedom; instead, you’ll receive a 10% annual bonus on all points earned. In my eyes, 10% more points is better than 0% more points, so I’m happy. Also, if you’re a Chase Sapphire Preferred card holder as well, you’ll receive a 7% dividend on all Ultimate Rewards points earned using your Sapphire Preferred. Annual bonuses make this girl happy.

Now since the Chase Freedom is technically only a cash back card, in order for your Ultimate Rewards points to be transferred and redeemed for airline and hotel miles, you’ll have to use it in conjunction with the Sapphire Preferred. Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred and combined freely between those two accounts. Having a Chase Sapphire Preferred, a Chase Freedom, and a Chase checking account is a pretty lucrative power team points-wise, creating what they call the Chase “trifecta”. For those who are unfamiliar with what I’m talking about, I distinguish between the cards and go more into detail about the trifecta in this post here.

Now back to my experience… I decided that today was going to be the day killed two birds with one stone – open the account, enroll my cards in the promo, and walk out $200 richer. Ok, that’s three birds, but who’s counting. Sadly when I entered the Chase branch, the bankers were quite clueless about the promotion all together. At times I felt like I was the one doing the explaining, but in the end, I walked out with a paper confirming that I was enrolled, so my sweet talkin’ must have worked. Just kidding. Now, it’s fingers-crossed time for me.

Worth It?

Sure. If you’re already a Chase customer who happens to be at the bank and can spare a few minutes, then it’s definitely worth it. While I’m not necessarily counting on winning, the good old saying, “you can’t win it, if you’re not in it” is my flavor of the week.

Have you enrolled in this promotion yet? How has the Chase Exclusives program worked for you? I’d love to hear all kinds of feedback!

MegaDo post is next, I promise!

Until next time,

Angelina

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Here’s what’s going on in pointsland this week:

• Travel By Points highlights an awesome way to leverage 5 current Marriott deals in order get the most out of buying Marriott gift cards. I’ll say – this has me veryyy tempted (too bad I already knocked out $1100/$1500 of my 5x Q4 spend on the Chase Freedom).
• Status Match For Star Alliance Gold Status with Turkish Airlines: Gary @ View from the Wing provides an in-depth explanation about how to retain your Star Alliance Gold Status for lounge access via a status match with Turkish Airlines. This was an especially helpful finding, because Kevin is the only one in my household who currently has Star Alliance Gold Status (through United), and it looks like he will only requalify for Silver status for 2013. This is a great way for us to enjoy the perks of Star Alliance Gold Status/lounge access when traveling internationally and domestically for the next two years.
• 1,000 Free United Miles For Downloading a Toolbar: United MileagePlus members can receive 1,000 free miles for downloading the MileagePlus Shopping Assistant and completing one search or purchase before October 31.
• 500 Free US Airways Miles For Downloading a Toolbar: US Airways offers US Airways Dividend Miles members 500 free miles when you download and shop using its Dividend Miles StoreFront Shopping Assistant before October 31.
• 500 Free Hilton HHonors Points for linking your Facebook account to your Hilton Account: Easiest 500 points ever – head on over to doubletree.topguest.com and enter your membership number to claim your points.
• 500 Free Hilton HHonors Points for Watching a Video: Looks like the Hamptonaility offer has been extended until October 12 – get your points while you still can!
• 2,000 Free Aegean Miles (Halfway to Star Alliance Silver): The sign up bonus for new Aegean Miles accounts is 2,000 miles. Dan’s Deals explains in depth that having just 4,000 miles in that account grants you silver status and 20,000 miles gives Star Alliance Gold Status for nearly 4 years.
• Mommy Points lets us know of a targeted 5,000 bonus mile offer for existing MileagePlus Visa card holders after spending $1,000 or more on the card by October 31. I originally applied for the Continental OnePass MasterCard before the UA/CO merger, and my card has not been updated to a MileagePlus Explorer Visa, so I’m curious if this will work for me even though I was able to successfully register. Registration for this offer as well as the full T&C can be found here.
• Frequent Flyer University shares with us a way to potentially get up to 4,000 United miles for $8 with the current Netflix offer.
• New Girl in the Air shares an easy way to get 125 free Avios by subscribing to a newsletter. Iberia Avios can be combined with British Airways Avios.
• Don’t forget that there’s still a few more hours to enter to win the ultimate frequent flyer experience: a seat on the SMD4 next to the one and only Randy Peterson! The official entry post can be found here.

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Reader Ken writes in with a question I receive often:

Hi Angelina, I currently have the Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire (not preferred). I was wondering if you could tell me the difference between the three and if I can some how upgrade my Chase Sapphire to the Chase Sapphire Preferred and still get the sign-up bonus. Thanks, Ken

Quick Links:

• Chase Freedom
• Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Sapphire® Card

Hi Ken,

Thanks for reaching out. I understand where your question is coming from, and I do know that it’s quite easy to be confused about the Chase Sapphire vs Chase Sapphire Preferred, because not only are their names similar, but both cards also earn Ultimate Rewards points – and heck, they even look similar!

To start, both the Chase Freedom and the Chase Sapphire are no-annual fee cards, while the Chase Sapphire Preferred currently comes with the first year free, and then a $95 annual fee thereafter. Also, the Sapphire and the Freedom are both considered “intro” cards that might be easier to get approved for/can be used to build credit and a relationship with Chase, while the Sapphire Preferred Visa is considered a premium card (Visa Signature Card).

Before getting into the details of all of the cards you’ve mentioned, let’s take a look at a face-to-face comparison of the Sapphire vs Sapphire Preferred:

As you can see right off the bat, the Chase Sapphire Preferred definitely has a few advantages over the Sapphire card, making it a distinguished travel credit card. I personally have bypassed the no-fee Sapphire card and went directly with the Sapphire Preferred back in November of 2011, and let’s just say it has pretty much been my go-to Visa. I also travel abroad frequently, so having the zero-transaction fee benefit that comes along with the card is a major perk to me.

What’s even better in your current situation is that you already have the Chase Freedom card, which is what I would say the Sapphire Preferred’s best friend – since you have the “freedom” (cheesy, I know) to combine UR points from both cards and transfer 1:1 to the airline & hotel partners. The Chase Freedom and the Sapphire Preferred are the ultimate power couple, especially when you activate Chase Freedom’s 5% quarterly bonus categories, allowing you to earn up to an additional 7,500 UR points per quarter from just strategically maximizing the category spend with the Freedom and then combining the points.

If you want to even take it a step further, Chase checking customers can earn an additional 10% bonus on all purchases. Do know that you need a daily balance of at least $1,500 (or monthly direct deposit) in order for the Chase checking account to come without any fees. If you can maintain that easily, you’re in for a fun ride earning extremely generous amounts of UR points – some call it the Chase “trifecta” when one strategically uses their Chase Freedom, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and their Chase checking account in harmony with one another.

As far as upgrading your Sapphire card to the Sapphire Preferred card to still get the 40,000 UR point sign-up bonus, this is what I’d recommend:

Apply for the Sapphire Preferred under the current 40K offer. Once approved, call Chase and see if they can manually switch your current Sapphire account to the Sapphire Preferred account (or move credit lines around), then mention that you applied under the 40K offer so they could make note of that in your account.

I’d do it that way rather than calling Chase and directly asking for an “upgrade” because they might deny you the 40K sign-up bonus, arguing that it’s for “new customers only”. YMMV.

Readers, if you’ve had any personal experience “upgrading” the Sapphire to the Sapphire Preferred, please do share your outcomes.

My Final 2 Cents: Keep the Freedom, Go for the Sapphire Preferred, Bank with Chase & Have fun spending your Ultimate Rewards points on the trips you’ve always dreamed of!

Hope that helped!

Angelina

Related Posts:

• My Travel Credit Cards
• Chase Provides the Best Protection Against Flight Delays or Cancellations
• Chase Matched Me to the 30,000 Freedom
• More Chase Myth Debunking: 2 More Approved Today
• The Results of Today’s Travel Credit Card App-O-Rama
• Chase Customers: Register for The Chase Picks Up the Tab Promotion + Chase Exclusives Info

Hi guys! I was off the radar for a bit because I was cruising to the Bahamas with a girlfriend onboard the Norweigan Sky from Monday – Friday. As much as I love vacationing, this is one instance where I am happy to be home. I love to “disconnect”, don’t get me wrong, but it was extremely hard for me to enjoy myself knowing that I had zero access to my cellphone or internet. #firstworldproblems?

When we docked at the ports, I was that loser who ran off the boat with my MacBook searching for the nearest bar offering free wifi while the rest of the ship headed to their scheduled off-shore swimming-with-the-dolphins and snorkeling excursions and such (OK, I lied – I did snorkel for 2 hours in Freeport, but anyway…).

You would think that in this day and age there’d be a better wifi solution instead of a whopping 75 cents a minute on a cruise ship (hey, GoGo offers wifi at 30,000 feet above). Needless to say, I probably won’t be cruising again anytime soon (sorry Marshall Jackson! LOL). On that note – I am happy to getting back to some current events in the points and miles world!

So here’s the scoop from last week:

Free $5 from McDonald’s: Not to promote the obesity epidemic, but you can get $5 worth of food or gift cards from McDonald’s for free simply by syncing your AmEx to Twitter and loading the offer on to your card (by tweeting #AmexMcDs). If you don’t already know how to do so, Deals We Like covers it in full. When AmEx and McDonald’s did this promotion back in March, I took advantage of it by purchasing a $5 gift card with each of my synced cards. Those McDonald’s giftcards came in handy whenever I needed my unsweetened-iced tea fix while on the road!

Earn Up to 25,000 US Airways Miles Simply by Flying Star Alliance Partners: This might be US Airways discount version of the Grand Slam Promotion, but it’s definitely worth registering for if you plan to fly a variety of Star Alliance carriers between now and December 15. You must register for this promotion in order to qualify. Head on over to New Girl in the Air’s post for the complete promotion details.

My $14 round trip flight from EWR-BOS on JetBlue: Right when my cruise docked back in Miami on Friday morning, I had a swarm of emails to attend to. Amongst many messages was a delightful email from JetBlue featuring a code worth $20-$300 off a booking. Unfortunately my code was only worth $30, but I did find a generic $50-off code that was redeemable on one way travel. With that in mind, I decided to book a weekend in Boston for $7 each way just for the hell of it. Anyone want to meet in Boston during the 3rd weekend of October?

800 Virgin America Elevate Points for Joining Uber: If you haven’t joined Uber yet for the free credits I recently posted about, then new members can join for 800 Virgin America Elevate points instead. I personally have really enjoyed my first experience using Uber last weekend during my staycation at the Westin Times Square, and I’d value the credits more than the points, but if you just happen to love flying Virgin America or are just a few hundred points shy of an award, then it would make sense for you to choose the points.

Double Southwest Points on Any Flight: I have a confession to make – I have never flown Southwest before. Maybe I have as a child, but I just don’t remember it (Dad, can you confirm that statement?). Anyway, for those who love Southwest Airlines, Rapid Rewards members can receive double points on every flight when registering for the Nationwide Double Points Promotion. Deal ends November 15, and is only valid for new reservations booked after registering.

SPG Better by the Night Promotion: If you haven’t done so already, be sure to register for Starwood’s new “Better by the Night” promotion which runs from October 1 to December 20, 2012. Registration must be done by November 30 to qualify retroactively, so be sure to register now so you don’t forget!

• Double points on all stays of 1-2 nights
• Triple points on all stays of 3+ nights
• 250 bonus points on all stays booking online through spg.com
• 500 bonus points on all stays booking through the SPG iPhone app

The Hyatt Credit Card Just Got Cooler: I applied for the Hyatt Credit Card during my April 2012 app-o-rama, and I was instantly very attracted to the two-free night certificates that came with the card’s approval. Kevin and I wasted no time using those free nights, and we had an amazing, guiltless 2-night stay at the dreamy Grand Hyatt Kauai (related post). Well, I received a notice in my inbox stating that the Hyatt Credit Card just got cooler! Starting October 1, the card will include some enhancements:

While these enhancements are a nice addition to the already lovely Hyatt Credit Card that pays for itself each year with the free night certificate that comes with it, I would still use my Chase Sapphire Preferred over the Hyatt Credit Card for restaurants and airline purchases because I’ll essentially be earning 2.14 points per dollar on those purchases with the 7% dividend on all-earned points that comes with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, along with the freedom to transfer my points 1:1 to a variety of hotel and airline partners such as United and Hyatt. At the end of the day though, the enhancements to the Hyatt Credit Card are still a nice touch.

Sept. 30 is the Last Day for Chase Freedom 5x Q3 Bonus: This is just a friendly reminder that September 30 is the last day to earn 5x points on restaurant and gas station spend of up to $1,500 (aka 7,500 bonus valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points) with the Chase Freedom Visa. I briefly posted about Chase Freedom’s quarterly bonuses, including instructions explaining how to activate your bonus categories. I’m pretty confident that I’ve met my Q3 $1,500 spend already because dining out is something I do on a regular basis (such a waistline and wallet killer), and sadly, I fill-up the car way too much than my wallet would like me to, so meeting the $1500 spend over 3 months came pretty easily and naturally for me. If you’re still shy of your $1,500 category spend substantially, consider buying gift cards to your favorite restaurants that you know you’ll frequent in the future, and also consider purchasing gift cards to your preferred gas stations. Never let your points go unearned! $1,500 in spend converts to an additional 7,500 valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points per quarter. If you don’t have a Chase Freedom Visa yet, the current offer is $100 cash back (10,000 Ultimate Rewards) after $500 spend within 3 months; however, I was recently successful in asking Chase to match me to the 30,000 offer that was valid at the time. Chase is pretty fair at matching you to a better offer if one should become available within 3 months of applying.

Club Carlson 100 Points a Day: Don’t forget that you still have until September 24 to continue claiming your daily 100 Club Carlson points!

Contest Reminder: Also – don’t forget that you still have a few hours to enter to win a $499 prize pack sponsored by National Emerald Club and Just Another Points Traveler! Head on over to this post to submit your entry. The winner will be selected by tomorrow morning at 9 am eastern time.

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Quick Links:

• Ink Plus^SM Business Card
• Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express OPEN
• Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card
• US Airways Dividend Miles^® MasterCard^®

It’s that time of year again, and the results are in! About every 4 months, I like to replenish my points and miles balances by applying for a new round of travel credit cards because let’s just face it – credit card sign-up bonuses are usually the easiest and quickest way to rack up a nice portion of points and miles if you’re financially responsible and organized.

My last successful churn was 2 days before my birthday on April 17, 2012. With a bunch of attractive travel credit cards on my radar recently, I felt that today would be the day to dive in and finally give in to temptation.

The Preparation:

As always, I recommend checking your credit score before applying for new travel credit cards, so I went ahead and made sure I had the green light by checking my current score (which happened to be 779 this month) before applying. There are many sites you can use to monitor your credit score. Personally, I choose to monitor my credit score monthly for free using CreditSesame and CreditKarma. When I say they’re free, I mean they’re free; you don’t even need a credit card to secure your sign up.

My application strategy when applying for new cards is that I usually apply for 2-4 at a time from an array of issuers to lessen to “credit inquiry pull”. Multiple applications processed in the same day generally have a higher chance of approval because the 2-5 point hit per application does not usually show immediately, and card issuers can not usually tell that you’ve applied for different cards within that same time frame.

Of course, a healthy credit score is the key ingredient to maximize your chance of approval for travel credit cards, but don’t be afraid to apply for multiple cards if your credit is excellent since credit inquiries have a minimal effect on healthy credit reports. In fact, maintaining a good relationship with credit cards can actually increase your score all together. Even after having about a dozen or so cards, my current score still continues to fall in the “excellent” range because I responsible with my spending, and I pay off all of my balances in full and on time each month.

The Game Plan:

When I first starting planning this churn, I was originally considering to apply for a total of 4 cards back-to-back. I guess you can say I “chickened out” on one, but I’ll tell you why in moment. It’s no surprise that I was very attracted to the new Ink Plus^SM Business Card by Chase because of its generous 50,000 Ultimate Reward point sign-up bonus after completing the minimum spend ($10,000 within 3 months) and the ability to earn 5x points per $1 at office supply stores, cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services. You can also earn 2x per $1 at gas stations and hotels, and the card comes with no foreign transaction fees. The Ink Plus Business credit card is definitely an attractive card with a phenomenal potential to earn tons of UR points very quickly (hint: you should be reading the Frequent Miler blog on a daily basis if you’re not doing so already).

So, why exactly did I “chicken out”? 1.) I currently have 5 active credit cards with Chase at the moment, as well as an interest-free auto loan with them – I didn’t want to push the envelope too far. 2.) The $10,000 minimum spend just seemed like too much of a hassle for me in such a small amount of time. 3.) After considering those two factors, as great as the card is, I didn’t feel like it fit into my life as it is at the moment. It’s just gotta feel right, ya know? They’ll always be next time.

The Results:

Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express OPEN - APPROVED!

I applied for the Starwood American Express Business Card for the obvious reason – the limited time 30,000 point offer that’ll soon be leaving us after this weekend (offer returns back to the standard 25,000 point offer on Sept 5 at 9 am). I already have [and love] the Starwood American Express Personal card, and I certainly didn’t want to miss out on my favorite hotel points. Rather than bore you with redundant “wow-this-offer-rocks” talk, you can read all of my babbling about the greatness of this card here in my previous post.

Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card - PENDING

Uh oh… the dreaded “your application requires further review” status actually has me perplexed because the only active Citi card I have at the moment is the Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® Visa Signature® Card, and that’s in good standing. It could be because I recently canceled the Citi AAdvantage Business Platinum Select Card due to the fact that I did not want to renew with the annual fee and I wasn’t offered a retention bonus. Regardless of the pending/further review status, I still feel confident about my approval. I might even consider calling Citi at 866-606-2787 to check my application status later this evening.

So why did I choose this card? The Citi Hilton Reserve card is actually a new product that was introduced just recently in July of 2012. I realized I have not gotten around to sharing this great offer on the blog, so here are the bullet points:

• Earn 2 weekend night certificates good at select hotels and resorts within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio after $2,500 in eligible purchases within 4 months of account opening*
• Earn 10 HHonors Bonus Points per $1 spent on hotel stays within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio*
• Earn 5 HHonors Bonus Points per $1 spent on airline and car rental purchases*
• Earn 3 HHonors Bonus Points per $1 spent on all other eligible purchases*
• Enjoy the benefits of HHonors Gold status as long as you are a cardmember*
• No foreign transaction fees on purchases*
• Travel with ease and enjoy global acceptance with your Citi chip credit card
• Earn an anniversary bonus of 1 weekend night certificate at select hotels and resorts within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio each cardmembership year with qualifying purchases*

Similar to my Hyatt Credit Card that comes with 2 free night certificates (no day restrictions), what really caught my eye about this card was the two-free weekend night (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday) certificates at any Hilton property worldwide. That alone was a huge push factor for me to apply for this card because there are some fabulous top-tier properties to choose from world-wide. Hilton also owns Waldorf Astoria and Conrad Hotels, so there’s some pretty amazing properties in places like Tahiti & French Polynesia that normally go for several hundreds per night, so it’s totally worth the $95 annual fee in my opinion.

US Airways ^{Premier World} MasterCard^{®  - APPROVED!}

^{The 3rd and final component of today’s app-o-rama was the US Airways Mastercard. This card was a no-brainer because it is issued by Barclays, a bank that I do not have any credit cards with at the moment. Also, Barclays pulls from your TransUnion credit score, making it one of the easier cards to be approved for. US Airways miles can be used on Star Alliance partner airlines including United and Singapore Airlines. Here are some of the card highlights:}

In Summary:

In the end, I am really excited about my new additions to my wallet. The most fun part after applying/getting approved is actually seeing your daydreams about your next award trip come to life. I am thinking my new stash of points and miles will go towards a French Polynesia/Bora Bora/Tahiti first class trip in the spring of 2013.

My questions to you:

1. Do you think it was lame of me to chicken out on the Chase InkPlus Business card?
2. What cards have you recently added to your wallet and/or are considering for your next app-o-rama? I’d love to know what cards you guys have up your sleeve!

Related Posts/Past App-O-Ramas:

• My Travel Credit Cards
• More Chase Myth Debunking: 2 More Approved Today
• Chase Matched Me to the 30,000 Freedom
• I Added Two More Credit Cards to My Wallet – What’s in Yours?

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$2,000 minimum spend within 3 months offer expired 8/22/12 at 3:00 pm EST.

OMG: In case you missed the 500,000 prior posts about the new and improved lower minimum spend requirement for my favorite travel credit card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa, here’s the “breaking news”:

Inspired by my poet/actor friend who’s been living with us on my couch for a few weeks (Hi Patrick!), I now present to you my poor poetry skills…

Incase you haven’t heard the news,

about a new offer that you can’t refuse.

In 3 months, you’ll only need $2,000 spend,

For 40,000 Ultimate Rewards points to be your friend.

Oh wait, you’ve already applied within 90 days?

Just message Chase and ask for a raise.

So if you like double points on travel and dining,

That should be enough for me to stop rhyming.

Happy Travel Tuesday!

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Starting today, you can activate your Q3 Chase Freedom Bonus Categories. From July 1 – September 30, you’ll receive 5% back (5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar) spent at Gas Stations and Restaurants for up to $1,500 spent in those categories. I’m really excited about these Q3 bonus categories because dining out is something I do on a regular basis (such a waistline and wallet killer), and sadly, I fill-up the car way too much than my wallet would like me to, so meeting the $1500 spend over 3 months will come pretty easily and naturally for me.

The Chase Freedom Visa is the newest addition to my credit card family because it works beautifully in conjunction with my favorite card of all time, the Chase Sapphire Preferred, allowing me to transfer my Ultimate Rewards points between accounts, which I could then redeem freely on a 1:1 basis to Amtrak, British Airways, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Korean Airlines, Hyatt Hotels, Priority Club (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza), and Marriott.

If you ever find yourself having trouble meeting the $1,500 quarterly spend, I always recommend buying gift cards to the restaurants and/or gas stations that you know you’ll frequent in the future. I found myself doing that with the Q2 bonus categories that are activated from now until June 30 (movie theaters and grocery stores).

Since one of the perks of being an actor is not having to ever pay to see a movie, I found myself struggling to meet $1500 in spend, so I purchased gift cards to places I know I’ll frequent such as Starbucks, Cheesecake Factory, and Stop & Shop from my local supermarket. Never let your points go unearned! $1,500 in spend converts to an additional 7,500 valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points per quarter.

If you don’t have a Chase Freedom Visa yet, the current offer is $100 cash back (10,000 Ultimate Rewards) after $500 spend within 3 months; however, I was recently successful in asking Chase to match me to the 30,000 offer that was valid at the time. Chase is pretty fair at matching you to a better offer if one should become available within 3 months of applying.

The public offer for the Chase Sapphire Preferred is currently 40,000 Ultimate Rewards points after meeting $3,000 spend within 3 months. Do know that there is a thread on FlyerTalk stating that there is a very attractive 70,000 Ultimate Reward targeted offer floating around. Be sure to keep close tabs on any “junk mail” coming your way!

Related Posts:

• Chase Matched Me to the 30,000 Freedom
• More Chase Myth Debunking: 2 More Approved Today
• My Travel  Credit Cards

Let’s connect: Twitter | Facebook | Subscribe