Find Out If You Qualify for a Business Credit Card!

 

Chase just dropped the minimum spend for the Ink Business Preferred credit card to $8,000 in the first three months. This sounds high, but it is half of what it was at $15,000. So for business owners, this could be an easy 100,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points. You can read here about why I love these flexible points and how I use them for FREE travel. 

Do I Qualify For A Business Credit Card?

So the question is what qualifies as a business? You might be surprised. 

Obviously a business with lots of employees qualifies, but what about small businesses? 

Actually, most small side businesses can qualify. If you freelance, sell things on Etsy or Ebay, tutor, babysit, consult, blog, those all qualify for businesses. 

Plus Chase does not care if you use the credit card for personal or business expenses.

Do I Qualify For A Business Credit Card?

You can apply for a business credit card with an EIN number OR if you are a sole proprietor, then you can enter your social security number as your tax ID number. You do not need to become an LLC or Corporation. 

But you will need a credit score between 670-850. 

A few tips when filling out the application:

1. if you are a sole proprietor, your business name is your name. 

2. your business address can be your home address

3. type of business - Corporation, LLC or sole proprietorship

4. tax ID number - an EIN number if you have it, otherwise, use your social security number

5. annual business revenue - how much does your company make in a year

6. age of business - how long have you been in business

7. number of employees - you count as one employee

Do I Qualify For A Business Credit Card?

You can hold more than one Chase Ink credit card at a time so even if you already have one, you can still apply. 

This offer is for the Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card with an annual fee of $95. It comes with a few perks including 3x points on shipping, travel, advertising on social media and search engines and internet, cable and phone. CUR points are worth 25% more in the Chase travel portal so it's still better to combine points to your Chase Sapphire Reserve. 

What are 100,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points worth? Approximately $1,250 in the Chase Travel Portal and possibly much more if you transfer the points to an airline or hotel. You can learn more about the value of Chase Ultimate Reward points here. 

If you decide to apply for the Chase Ink Business Preferred, consider applying through my referral link here. You get the same great offer and I get a small bonus for referring you. 

90,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Bonus on No Fee Ink Cards - Wow!

Small Business Saturday just passed and in honor of that, let's talk about one of the best offers I've ever seen for the Chase Ink Business credit cards. The two FREE cards are offering 90,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points as a bonus and the $95 annual fee card is offering a whopping 100,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points as a bonus. Wowza! 

I'll run down the difference between the cards in a minute, but first, I have to share with you why I love Chase Ultimate Reward points and what you can do with all those bonus points. 

This past summer, I took my family to Ireland, you can check out my blog to read all about this amazing country and people. 

But I used Chase Ultimate Reward points to erase the cost of all of our Airbnb stays during the trip, much of our dining and one plane ticket. I love these points because of how flexible they are. You can transfer them to dozens of airlines, Hyatt, Marriott and IHG. You can erase purchases just like a Capital One card. You can buy travel with them in the Chase Travel Portal. Plus if you have a Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card, you can combine your Ink CUR points and get even more value. 

So what's this new offer all about? and which card should you choose? 

The Chase Ink Business Unlimited  - No annual fee! 1.5% cash back or 1.5x points on every purchase. 

The Chase Ink Business Cash  - No annual fee! 5% cash back or 5x points at office supply stores, phone, internet, and cable. This is the card I have had for years! 2% or 2x points at gas stations and restaurants and 1% or 1x points at everything else. 

The Chase Ink Business Preferred  - $95 annual fee. 3% cash back or 3x points on shipping, advertising on social media sites, internet, cable and phone services and travel. 1% or 1x points on everything else. 

Look at the types of purchases your business makes to determine which credit card makes sense for you to leverage your spending for maximum points. And remember, your "business" doesn't have to be a Fortune 500 company. A business can easily be selling items on Etsy or Ebay, freelance services, property management, vacation rentals and more. 

You can hold all of these INK cards at the same time, but you can't get the bonus on any of these cards more than once every 24 months. 

And you can transfer your the CUR points from your INK account to your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card and bam, almostFREEfamilytravel. 

Amazing! 

Please consider using our referral ink if you apply for any of these credit cards. Thank you for your support. 

Last Chance To Get The 90,000 Chase Ink Business Bonus

Chase appears to be ending the 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards bonus offer on the Ink Business Cash and Unlimited credit cards. We are hearing that both offers will end on January 18th. 

These annual fee business cash cards were offering 90,000 bonus Chase Ultimate Reward points when you spend $6,000 in the first three months. 90,000 points are worth approximately $900, but can be worth much more if you combine them onto another card. 

This is a great offer IF you already have or can also apply for a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card. Why? Because the Ink Cash card does not allow you to take advantage of all the ways to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards on travel. 

But you can transfer your 90,000 points to another card that does offer the travel opportunities like the travel portal and transferring points to airlines and hotels. 

Make sense?

The Ink Business cash card also earns 5x points at office supply stores, streaming services, internet, cable and phone. 

So you may be asking what qualifies as a business? Lots of small businesses count like selling items on Ebay, Etsy and rental income. 

You are also allowed to hold each of the Ink Business cards so you may want to apply for one of the no annual fee cards with the bonus offer ending soon and then turn around an apply for the Ink Business Preferred credit card with its new 100,000 bonus point offer. This card does carry a $95 annual fee and a $8,000 minimum spend, but 100,000 points are at least $1,000 in travel and maybe more if you transfer the points to your Sapphire Preferred or Reserve credit card. 

You can read about how I use Chase Ultimate Rewards points for almost FREE family travel here. 

If you apply for any of the INK credit cards, please use my referral link so I can continue to help you travel for almost FREE. 

If you want help walking through this process, register for my Travel Coaching Program or book me for a 1:1 coaching session. 

 Ends Jan. 18th 

New Chase Sapphire Offers Are Announced And They Are Big!

 

Wow! Chase just announced three whopper deals on its Sapphire line of credit cards. We will detail these for you and help you decide if you should jump on any of these offers. We knew the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card was undergoing a refresh and you can check the details here to see how you will be affected if you already hold the card. It's good! 

 

Now if you don't have a Chase Sapphire Credit Card yet or if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, there are some awesome new benefits on this card too plus a 75,000 bonus offer. Not as good as the 100,000 bonus offer that ended in May, but better than the regular 60,000 point offer. 

The new Reserve business credit card has a crazy high minimum spend of $30,000, but if you can swing it, the 200,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points bonus is outstanding. 

You can read here about why we love Chase Ultimate Reward points and their flexibility. 

Let's break down the offer on each card:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred - Bonus offer 75,000 points (valued at $750) with a $5,000 minimum spend in three months. This is our all time favorite travel credit card. Annual fee of $95 and it comes with a $50 hotel credit when you book through the travel portal. You earn 3x points on dining, 3x on online grocery, 2x on travel, 5x on travel booked in the Chase Travel Portal and 1x on everything else. It also comes with a $120 DoorDash credit and points boost when you book in the Chase Travel Portal. 
• Chase Sapphire Reserve - Bonus offer 100,000 points (valued at $1,000) with a $5,000 minimum spend in three months. This was our all time favorite premium travel credit card, but it now has an increased annual fee of $795. We still think it's a great deal, but you need to make certain that you will use the credits to make the high annual fee worth it. We detailed the credits and benefits of the new refreshed card here. 
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Business - Bonus offer 200,000 points with a $30,000 minimum spend in six months. This is a brand new card and if your business can swing the spend, it's a great deal for you. You can squeeze as much as $4,000 value out of those 200,000 points. Plus annual credits on the Chase Travel Portal, DoorDash, Zip Recruiter, Edit Hotels, Google Workspace, Lyft and more. 

Another big change is the 48 month rule. You now are only eligible for a bonus on a Chase Sapphire card once in a lifetime. Chase will alert you when you apply if you are eligible or not. Even though you can technically hold two Sapphire cards at the same time now, you will not be eligible for a bonus if you already hold one.

And if you have had a Sapphire credit card before, but no longer hold the card, you can only apply for one you have never held before and get the bonus. It's similar to the Southwest credit card strategy with personal cards. Another option is to downgrade your Sapphire card to a non Sapphire and then apply for a Sapphire card you have never had before. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Or book a 1:1 consulting call.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

How To Squeeze More Value Out Of Your CUR Points

 

My favorite flexible travel points are the Chase Ultimate Reward points. I used them to fly our family of five to Europe a few years ago. 

You can transfer them to dozens of airlines and a few hotel chains plus use them in the travel portal or just pay yourself back. 

Right now, the Chase Ink Business Preferred is offering 100,000 bonus points with a $8,000 minimum spend. Wow! That's $1,250 worth of travel. 

The secret here is to have the right mix of Chase cards to max the value out of the points. 

The Chase Ink Business Preferred and the Sapphire Preferred gives you 25% more for your points in the pay yourself back and Chase Travel Portal, but the Chase Sapphire Reserve gives you 50% more. 

How To Squeeze More Value Out Of Your CUR Points 

So here's the secret. Chase allows you to combine your points from one credit card to another. So you can easily move your points from your FREEDOM FLEX or Unlimited card to your Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve to get more value. 

 

• Just log into your Chase.com account

• Click on the earn/use points and you'll see this dashboard. It's expanded a lot since the pandemic started. One of the things I love about Chase is how user friendly the site is. You can see exactly how many points you have, how to use them, and how to earn them. 

• Click on combine points and you will see the option to move points from one card to another. You can also move points from one family member to another if your family member only has a no fee card or even a Preferred card. 

Chase will ask you how many points you want to move, review your order and bam, instant transfer. 

How To Squeeze More Value Out Of Your CUR Points 

Now you can use those points for travel or to pay yourself back for any qualified purchases you made in the past 90 days. 

If you decide to apply for the Chase FREEDOM Flex, Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve or Business Ink please consider using my referral link. You get the same bonus and I also get a small bonus for referring you. That's how we do it at almostFREEfamilytravel.com 

Is The New Southwest Companion Pass Offer Right For You?

 

If you are dreaming about visiting someplace like Yosemite National Park this summer, you might be tempted to jump on Chase's new Southwest Companion Pass offer. But let's talk for a minute about whether this offer is the right one for you.

The Southwest Companion pass is a BOGO on any Southwest flight anytime for up to two years. You earn it by accumulating 135,000 Southwest points in a calendar year. 

We recommend applying for two Chase Southwest credit cards, one personal and one business, to earn the pass. I have had this pass for 6 years and have saved thousands of dollars. Last year, I didn't have the pass and I regretted it greatly. 

The new offer is to apply for the Chase Southwest Plus personal credit card, spend the $4,000 minimum and then earn a bonus of 30,000 points and the companion pass for one year. 

Is The New Southwest Companion Pass Offer Right For You? 

So let's compare the new offer with the regular companion pass method we recommend and see how it stacks up so you can decide if it is right for you. 

There are three Chase Southwest personal credit cards, the Plus, Priority and Premier. The bonus offers on these cards range from 40,000 points up to 75,000 points. The minimum spend ranges from $1,000 to $3,000. The cards range in annual fees from $69 to $149. There are varied benefits on each card. 

You can only hold one personal card at a time and you can only get the bonus offer once every 24 months. Chase will also only approve you for 5 cards every 24 months.  

There are also two Chase Southwest business credit cards, the Performance and the Premier Business. The bonus offers range from 60,000 points to 80,000 points and the minimum spend ranges from $3,000 to $5,000. The annual fees range from $99 to $199. 

Is The New Southwest Companion Pass Offer Right For You? 

Usually I recommend applying for one personal card and one business card to earn the companion pass. The minimum spend for the two cards can be as low as $4,000 and as high as $8,000 depending on the offers. You can earn as many as 155,000 Southwest points and as few as 110,000 points. The annual fee for two cards can be as low as $168 or as high as $348. The companion pass is valid for up to two years. 

This new offer is only for the Chase Southwest Plus credit card with an annual fee of $69 and a minimum spend of $4,000. The bonus offer is 30,000 points plus the companion pass. The pass is valid through February 28, 2024. 

So is this new offer right for you? Like everything we talk about, it really depends on you and your travel plans. The pros of this offer are that it is simple, one card, one minimum, one bonus. The cons are that the pass is only good for one year instead of two years. You only earn 30,000 points instead of lots more. 

Let us know what you decide to do. And if you decide to jump on this offer, please consider using my referral link.  

Chase Launches Biggest Bonus Offer Ever On IHG

 

Last summer, we went to Ireland and hiked the Cliffs of Moher. Incredible! We also spent 5 nights in Dublin at the Holiday Inn Express City Centre for FREE on IHG points. Now Chase is offering the largest bonus ever on its IHG Premier and Business cards. 

I'm going to go over the offer, the perks of the cards and how to use IHG points so you can decide if this offer is one you want to jump on. Just note, I don't usually recommend hotel brand credit cards, I prefer more flexible cards, but that being said when there is a great offer and if you can see how those points will be useful in your future travel plans, then go for it. 

Chase Launches Biggest Bonus Offer Ever On IHG

First, let's talk about IHG. The 16 brands included in the IHG brand are:

• Holiday Inn 
• Holiday Inn Express
• Crowne Plaza 
• Kimpton 
• Regent 
• Intercontinental
• Even 
• Voco
• Hotel Indigo
• Avid
• Staybridge Suites 
• Candlewood Suites 
• Atwell Suites 
• Holiday Inn Vacation Club 
• Hualuxe
• Vignette Collection 
• Six Senses

If you are like me, you have probably only even heard of a few of these brands, but just leveraging Holiday Inn Express can be a very good value. 

The Holiday Inn Express City Centre in Dublin Ireland costs approximately $250 per night or 42,000 points and includes breakfast. IHG allows credit card holders to book 3 nights and get a fourth night FREE. 

IHG also has some luxury resorts like this Intercontinental in the Maldives. Picture over the water bungalows, yes! 

Chase announced the largest bonus ever on its Rewards Premier card. Here's the offer: 

• $3,000 minimum spend in three months
• 175,000 IHG bonus points 
• $99 annual fee
• $100 Global Entry credit 
• Complimentary Platinum Elite status  
• FREE night on your anniversary up to 40,000 points 
• $50 United Travel Bank credit 

You can only hold one IHG personal card at a time and you are only allowed to earn the bonus every 24 months. Plus this card falls under the Chase 5/24 rule. You will only get approved for 5 cards over a 24 month period. 

Chase Launches Biggest Bonus Offer Ever On IHG

There is also a no fee card, the Traveler card, that is offering a bonus of 120,000 points for a minimum spend of $2,000. It also includes the fourth night FREE, but no FREE anniversary night. 

And there is a business card that is offering 140,000 points for a minimum spend of $3,000. It has a $99 annual fee. This card includes the fourth night FREE, the FREE anniversary night up to 40,000 points, $100 Global Entry credit,  

You may hold a business card and personal card at the same time. 

Chase IHG is not allowing me to refer you to this great offer, so just go straight to Chase to apply. 

How To Pay Yourself Back With Chase

An exciting new perk offered by Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred credit cards is the option to pay yourself back with your points. 

So what does this mean and why is it so exciting? Here is your step to step guide. The Chase Sapphire Reserve, Preferred, Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, and Ink credit cards all earn Chase Ultimate Reward Points. Personally, these are my favorite points right now just for their flexibility and for the travel portal. They are flexible because you can transfer the points to dozens of airlines, hotels and you can use them to book travel through the Chase travel portal. 

And if you are a Preferred or Reserve credit card holder, you get a bonus. Chase will actually offer you extra value on the points so instead of 1:1, you get 1:25:1 for Preferred credit card holders and 1:50:1 for Reserve credit cardholders. Check out my post about why I'm hanging onto the Reserve card. 

How To Pay Yourself Back With Chase

And now through September 30, 2020, you also get the extra value when you pay yourself back with points and essentially erase any grocery, home improvement, or dining purchase. 

The beauty here is that you still earn the Ultimate Reward points on your grocery, home improvement, or dining purchase and then you erase it with the extra value. When you book travel through the Chase portal, you also get the extra value, but you don't earn Chase points and you don't earn airline miles or hotel points. That's because Chase uses Expedia as its portal so you are making your reservation through a third party. 

You have 90 days after your purchase to essentially erase it with points and you can pick and choose from the list. 

1. Log in to your Chase account
2. Click on redeem points 
3. Click on earn/use points at the top left of the screen 
4. Click on pay yourself back 

You will see the list above of all your activity that you can erase, just check off whichever ones you want to erase and click on continue. Chase will ask you if you want to erase the entire purchase or just partial and tell you the bonus. Hit confirm and submit. Your statement credit will post within 3 business days. This is very similar to the process used by the Capital One credit card. 

As a comparison, you can see on this grocery purchase, I earned 6.68 points because at that point, you just earned 1x points. But when I redeemed points to erase it, it didn't cost me 668 points due to the bonus. 

At this point, since you might not be traveling, it might make more sense to erase grocery, home improvement, and dining purchases and then buy your travel. You get the bonus when you erase those purchases and then you double dip by getting points again when you pay for your travel. If you decide to apply for the Chase Preferred credit card, please consider using my referral link and supporting my blog. Right now, you can get 50,000 points when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months. That's about $625 in travel, groceries, home improvement or dining. Awesome! 

What Is A Transfer Bonus And How Can It Mean Big Savings For You

 

One of the top reasons, we love Chase Ultimate Rewards points is because they are so flexible. You can use them in the travel portal to buy flights, hotels, car rentals and even cruises. You can also transfer them to dozens of different airlines and several hotel chains. 

And sometimes, Chase offers bonus points when you transfer your Chase Ultimate Reward points to specific partners. You can get as many as 100% bonus points. When the bonus offer coincides with a fare sale, then wow! 

Like right now, Virgin Atlantic and FlyingBlue are doing a fare sale and Chase is offering a 40% bonus to Virgin. 

What does this mean? Take a look at some of these fares being offered by Virgin. 

• Heathrow to LAX for just 9,000 Virgin points. 

If you were to take advantage of the transfer bonus, just 7,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points would equal approximately 9,000- 10,000 Virgin Atlantic points. Wow! You could transfer a few more points and fly Premium or Upper Class.

To transfer Chase points:

• Login to your Chase.com account
• Click on redeem points 
• Hover over travel and click on transfer to travel partners
• Click on the partner you want to transfer points TO
• Enter your membership information
• Your name must match exactly! 
• Enter the number of points you want to transfer (must be in increments of 1,000)
• Confirm
• The transfer should happen almost immediately

Word of advice, do NOT transfer points until you know how you are going to use the points. You CANNOT get them back. 

Chase transfer partners are a great way to make that bucket list trip affordable.

One of our favorite Chase Ink Business cards, the Business Unlimited, has a points promotion ending on November 7th. The minimum spend is $6,000, there is no annual fee and the bonus is 90,000 points which equals $900, but if you hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred card, you can squeeze more value out of this one. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is also offering a bonus $300 travel credit right now which is an amazing offer. 

If you would like help planning your bucket list trip, reach out to me. I'll help you use points and miles to make your memorable trip affordable. 

Chase Ink No Annual Fee Card Offers Big Bonus

 

Woohoo! Chase just upped the offer on its no annual fee business cash card to 90,000 bonus Chase Ultimate Reward points when you spend $6,000 in the first three months. 90,000 points are worth approximately $900, but can be worth much more if you combine them onto another card. 

This is a great offer IF you already have or can also apply for a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card. Why? Because the Ink Cash card does not allow you to take advantage of all the ways to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards on travel. 

But you can transfer your 90,000 points to another card that does offer the travel opportunities like the travel portal and transferring points to airlines and hotels. Make sense?

The Ink Business cash card also earns 5x points at office supply stores, streaming services, internet, cable and phone. 

Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards

 

I've used Chase Ultimate Rewards to travel all over the world for FREE. The points came in very handy to erase Airbnb reservations (this promotion ended) and for flights when we visited the Perito Moreno glacier in Patagonia, Argentina. 

I love CUR rewards because they are so flexible. If you don't know where you want to stay or where you will be traveling, then these points are for you. That's because you can transfer them to dozens of different airlines and three hotel chains, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott. 

Sometimes the deal is even better transferring CUR than using the points in the travel portal and sometimes the portal is a better value. 

Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards 

Here is an example that happened just last week. 

I had my eye on the Hyatt in Evanston, Illinois, just outside of Chicago for an upcoming trip. 

The cash price was showing $350 per night, ouch! 

In the Chase Travel Portal, it was showing $320 per night or 48,005 points. I get 50% more value for my points in the portal because I have a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. The Chase Sapphire Preferred gets 25% more value in the portal.  

But when I checked the Hyatt website, standard rooms are just 12,000 points per night. 

Woohoo! That means by transferring CUR to Hyatt at 1:1 cuts the number of points needed in half and has a value of $740. Nice. 

It's simple to transfer CUR points to dozens of airlines and hotel chains. When you log into your Chase.com account and click on redeem points

Then click on the menu in the top left hand corner and choose transfer to travel partners. 

CUR points transfer immediately to Hyatt and you must transfer in 1,000 point increments. Sometimes Chase will offer a bonus when you transfer. 

You will need to create an account with the EXACT name on your Chase account BEFORE you attempt to transfer the CUR points. 

Once you submit, you cannot get the CUR points back so be certain this is what you want to do. 

When I transferred to Hyatt, the points showed up immediately in my new Hyatt account and I could book the hotel in Evanston. Amazing! 

Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards 

Right now, the Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card is offering a 100,000 CUR bonus with a $8,000 minimum spend. It's a hefty minimum spend, but usually it is set at $15,000 so you might say this minimum spend is a bargain. If you have a big expense coming up or can handle the minimum spend, this bonus can be worth thousands of dollars. 

We are hearing this bonus may end September 23rd.