As I mentioned last week, Chase has adjusted the terms of the sign-up bonus for the Chase Ink Bold card on their website, whereby the minimum spend requirement to earn the 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points went from $5,000 in three months to $10,000 in three months, as seen below:
Affiliate links, like mine, continued to show the lower minimum spend requirement of $5,000. Unfortunately, though, I’ve just received word that our links will be deactivated at 10AM ET tomorrow.
If you’ve been thinking about getting the card, this would be a great time to do so. I doubt we’ll see the sign-up bonus go any higher than 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points in the near future, and Ultimate Rewards points are arguably the most valuable points currency out there. They can be transferred to United and Hyatt, as well as several other airline and hotel partners.
Just keep in mind this is a business card, which can actually work to your advantage, since Chase has no problem approving a personal and business card on the same day or in close succession (sometimes they don’t have a problem approving multiple personal applications either, but it seems to vary).
The card offers 5x points on business expenses (office supply stores, and on cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services) and 2x points on gas and hotels. Furthermore, the card comes with no foreign transaction fees. So the card actually complements the Chase Sapphire Preferred card very nicely, which offers double points on dining and travel. Between the two cards you have bonus points covered for dining, travel, gas, and businesses expenses.
Lastly, it’s worth keeping in mind that Chase rebranded the Ink Bold card last November, changing up some of the benefits. As a result, if you applied before then you can actually apply for the card again and once again earn the bonus. I’ve actually been lazy and haven’t applied for the new Chase Ink Bold card yet (since I assume they might make me cancel my old card), as I still have the old one from before they switched it over. So I’m applying today as well.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I do earn a referral bonus for anyone that signs up through the above links. It’s the best available offer, and of course I’m very appreciative of your support, regardless of whether or not you use my links)
Loading ...
April 17th, 2012 at 11:24 am
vroomvroom said,
Let’s also not forget this great benefit for having the Bold card:
“Complimentary airport lounge access to over 350 VIP lounges worldwide. Lounge amenities include internet access, complimentary snacks and beverages, phone, fax, conference rooms and more. ($150 annual value)*”
April 17th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Tiffany said,
Thanks for the heads up! My husband just applied (using your link) and was approved after the easiest reconsideration phone call ever – less than 90 seconds.
April 17th, 2012 at 3:20 pm
lucky said,
@ Tiffany — Congrats, and thanks! Just applied for my second card as well and only had a ~2 minute conversation as well. Gotta love Chase’s reconsideration line.
April 17th, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Bill said,
Hey Lucky,
I just applied using your link. Having to call the reconsideration line wont affect your refferal fee for the 50k bonus will it?
April 17th, 2012 at 3:56 pm
lucky said,
@ Bill — Thanks so much! It absolutely won’t. If anything, it’ll expedite it since you get approved faster. Thanks again!
April 17th, 2012 at 4:54 pm
Rodney said,
Lucky, I applied through your link, called the reconsideration line, and was approved. It was really easy.
Thanks for running a great blog
April 17th, 2012 at 5:58 pm
lucky said,
@ Rodney — Thanks so much, I appreciate it! And congrats!
April 17th, 2012 at 7:08 pm
Sam said,
I applied for the United Explorer card iat the end of Feb and was approve. Will this hinder my Bold application if I apply now? Thanks for the great insights!
April 17th, 2012 at 7:09 pm
lucky said,
@ Sam — Absolutely not! The Ink Bold is a business credit card, so you shouldn’t have a problem getting approved even if it were the same day as the United Explorer card. Chase is very flexible with multiple applications when one is a business and one a personal.
Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions!
April 17th, 2012 at 7:15 pm
moneyedup said,
Thanks for the heads up Lucky. I was just approved after calling the reconsideration line. I was approved for the Chase Saphire just 20 days ago and I was still approved despite being within the 30 day window.
April 17th, 2012 at 7:17 pm
lucky said,
@ moneyedup — Excellent data point, and congrats!
April 18th, 2012 at 8:28 am
vroomvroom said,
Just got approved for the card. Yay! Now I need to figure out how to maximize spending $5,000…
April 18th, 2012 at 8:29 am
lucky said,
@ vroomvroom — Congrats! Amazon Payments will cover $3,000 worth of it, so that just leaves $2,000 to figure out.
April 18th, 2012 at 8:40 am
vroomvroom said,
Really? What’s this about? Will it maximize my earnings on UR points? Do you have a good resource where I can learn more about it?
April 18th, 2012 at 8:57 am
lucky said,
@ vroomvroom — Amazon Payments will let you send up to $1,000 a month to someone funded by a credit card with no fees. So it basically lets you generate $1,000 per month of credit card spend for free.
April 18th, 2012 at 9:33 am
Sam said,
Lucky, thanks for the advice! I used your link and was approved after calling reconsideration. Thanks!
April 18th, 2012 at 9:37 am
Pegagus said,
Lucky – applied through your link and called reconsideration and got approved. Thanks!
April 18th, 2012 at 10:00 am
lucky said,
@ Pegasus — Thanks very much, and congrats!
Add A Comment