Link: Chase Ink Bold Business Card

Earlier in the week I wrote a post about the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, which I consider to be the best all around new card to sign-up for. Not only does it have a great sign-up bonus of 40,000 Ultimate Rewards points which can be converted to Continental/United/Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio, but it has a slew of awesome benefits like no foreign transaction fees, a 7% annual points dividend, two points per dollar on travel and dining, and an awesome online shopping mall. I’ve been using the card for a while now, and it has quickly turned into one of my favorite cards.

Another card that accrues Ultimate Rewards points is the Chase Ink Bold Business card, which comes with a 50,000 point sign-up bonus after spending $10,000 on the card within three months, which is a really good sign-up bonus. I actually signed up for the card just yesterday for that exact reason. But beyond that it has a few features that potentially make the card a keeper.

How to Earn Points

You earn one point per dollar spent on the card, with the following additional bonuses:

• 5x points on the first $50,000 spent annually at office supply stores, and on cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services
• 2x points on the first $50,000 spent annually at gas stations and for hotel accommodations

How to Redeem Points

This is really what makes the program great. On September 30 American Express Membership Rewards ended their relationship with Continental OnePass, which was a huge loss for the program.

Ultimate Rewards not only partners with United Mileage Plus, but also with Hyatt Gold Passport, Marriott Rewards, Priority Club, British Airways, and Korean Air.

The two best options when it comes to transfers are Continental/United and Hyatt. They transfer 1:1 to both programs, so this is actually a way to earn more Continental and United miles than you’d earn directly with their co-branded card, given the threshold bonuses this card comes with.

Furthermore, the points transfers are instant, and points can be transferred to anyone’s account. This is hugely valuable, since you can use your Ultimate Rewards points to top off anyone’s account.

Alternatively you can apply points towards any “revenue” ticket at a rate of 1.25 cents per point. That means that a $625 flight will cost you 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points. This isn’t the most efficient way to use points, though it’s still a bit more lucrative than American Express’ “Pay with Points” option in most cases.

Other Cool Features:

The Annual Fee is Waived for the First Year

It’s $95 per year after that.

Free One-Year Priority Pass Membership

That gets you two free lounge visits and then $27 for every subsequent visit.

Verdict

This is a great sign-up bonus, especially in conjunction with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. If you sign up for both cards that’s over 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points, which can be instantly transferred to Continental/United/Hyatt. Even if the card doesn’t work best for your long term spending habits, the sign-up bonus makes the card worthwhile, in my opinion. And if you do have a business with a lot of expenses you charge to credit cards that don’t fit into the typical “bonus” categories, this might just be the best card for you long-term.

Also keep in mind that Chase is usually pretty strict about approving multiple personal applications at once, though they’ll typically approve one personal and one business application. Even if you don’t actually have a business, you can still get approved for the card by listing your business as a sole proprietorship and giving your Social Security Number as the tax ID for the business.

Here’s the link for the Chase Ink Bold Business Card

Full disclosure: I receive a referral bonus for anyone that signs up through the above link. As always I will only provide a referral link if it offers the best available sign-up bonus.