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. 

How To Earn Bonus Southwest Points Fast At Hotels

As you head off on your summer travels, you might want to be very intentional about where you stay and how you book those stays so you can max out on Southwest points. And ultimately collect enough points to earn the companion pass! 

The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best travel perks out there. It's a BOGO pass for any flight on Southwest Airlines for two years! That's right. Depending on when you earn it, you could fly a companion FREE for up to two years. 

To earn the pass, you have to collect 125,000 points in a single calendar year. 

Now if you fly, that's a lot of flights. But there are some easier and faster ways to collect those points. 

How To Earn Bonus Southwest Points At Hotels

The easiest way is to open a personal Southwest credit card and a Southwest business card. You are allowed to hold one of each at the same time. Right now, all the personal cards are offering a 75,000 point bonus when you spend $5,000 on the card. We break down the different cards and our recommendation here. 

This is a spectacular offer and one of the highest we have ever seen! If you don't have this card yet, now is the time! 

And if you have a business even a very small business like selling things on Ebay or Etsy or a vacation rental, you can qualify for a business credit card. There are two business cards offered:

• Performance - 80,000 bonus offer right now with a $5,000 minimum spend
• Premier - 60,000 bonus offer with a $3,000 minimum spend 

The quickest way to earn the companion pass is to open a personal credit card and a business credit card and bam, you are done. But if you have earned a bonus in the past 24 months or you don't have a business, one of my favorite ways to earn extra Southwest points is by using Rocketmiles.com and Southwesthotels.com for hotels stays.

Both give you Southwest bonus points for booking through their platform and sometimes those bonuses can be huge! 

How To Earn Bonus Southwest Points At Hotels

I just stayed overnight near the Baltimore Washington International Airport, that's a whole different story I will share with you in another post. So I decided to check Southwesthotels.com and bam, bonus 2,000 points for staying at the Microtel near the airport. 

Within days of my stay, the 2,000 bonus points posted to my Southwest account. Nice! I just checked Rocketmiles.com and the bonus is just 1,000 points for the same hotel. So it's worth checking both sites! By the way, Rocketmiles.com works with lots of different loyalty programs so if you are trying to collect American, Alaska, United or more, check it out!  

Be sure to designate which loyalty program you want to collect points on BEFORE you make any reservations! 

To get the bonus, you must book your reservation through the Rocketmiles.com app or website or Southwesthotels.com app or website. It is considered a third party booking so keep that in mind. 

If you decide to open a personal or business Southwest credit card, please use my referral link to apply for your card so I can earn the companion pass and bring you amazing travel tips! 

And If you want your entire trip to be FREE and/or you want to earn the companion pass, let us help you. We have teamed up with my friend and national travel blogger Lyn at Families Fly FREE. She has created a simple system to help families fly free forever. 

If you would like to check it out, click here and let Lyn know I sent 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 

How You Can Score 80,000 Southwest Points!

Chase and Southwest Airlines just announced a new business credit card with an 80,000 point bonus! That's crazy and the highest bonus we have ever seen. Plus if you get this bonus, it puts you very close to earning a companion pass. The Southwest companion pass is one of the best travel perks around. Once you collect 110,000 points in a calendar year, you earn the companion pass or buy one get one FREE for the rest of that year and the following year. 
Plus 80,000 points on Southwest can get you and your family a long way. Point values vary for flights depending on the price of the flight. But my flight from Fort Lauderdale to Havana last year only cost 2,956 points each way. 

Let's break it down:

New Performance Business Credit Card

• $199 annual fee 
• $5,000 minimum spend 
• $100 Global Entry credit
• 9,000 points on your anniversary 
• 3x points for purchases on Southwest
• 2x points for purchases on search engine, internet, cable and phone
• 1x points for purchases everywhere else
• 4 upgraded boardings 
• Inflight WIFI

The fine print

You can apply even if you already have the Southwest Premier business credit card 

Chase and Southwest reps will hold a series of business events for business owners to talk about how to grow their businesses. 

Bottom line, if you are under 5/24 and have a small business (I'll write a follow up post with what qualifies as a small business), apply for this card, it's a no brainer. 

Last Few Days To Apply for the 75,000 Southwest Bonus

If you haven't applied for the Southwest Airlines credit cards yet, you are running out of time. The 75,000 point bonus offer expires December 5th. If you have been following my posts, you saw that I applied for the Southwest Performance Business credit card AND the Southwest Priority personal credit card. 

The Southwest Performance Business credit card comes with an 80,000 bonus when you spend $5,000 and the Southwest Priority personal credit card comes with a 75,000 bonus when you spend $3,000. I break down the difference between the cards here.

Hefty minimums for sure, but with property taxes, college tuition, holiday shopping and more coming up at the end of the year, it's doable. Plus we don't want to reach the minimum spend until after the December statement closes or January 1st so there's plenty of time. 

We are timing it so that we earn 135,000 Southwest points in the 2023 calendar year and earn the valuable Southwest Companion Pass for 2023 AND 2024. 

The Southwest Companion Pass is a BOGO on ANY Southwest flight as many times as you want for up to two years. And you can change your companion up to 3x per year. 

I applied for the Performance business card because I already have the Premier business card and got the bonus earlier this year. You can hold two business cards at the same time though before the annual fee comes up again, I will cancel the Premier business card. I also need to renew our Global Entry next year and this card comes with a $100 Global Entry credit. If you don't have the Premier yet, I recommend that one because the minimum spend is just $3,000 instead of $5,000. 

I applied for the Priority personal card because it's the best deal. The annual fee is $149, but you get a $75 Southwest credit so that brings the fee down to just $74 and you get 4 upgraded boardings. I will keep this card for two years so it's worth it for all those Southwest flights I plan to take. But all of the personal cards have the same bonus right now so it's really up to you which one you choose. 

Once I reach the minimum spends on these cards, I will earn 80,000+5,000 on the Performance card, 75,000+3,000 on the Priority card plus 10,000 bonus points for having a Southwest credit card. The total will be 173,000 Southwest points which puts me well over the 135,000 points needed for the companion pass. 

Woohoo! That's how we do it here at almostFREEfamilytravel.com. 

Now I just need to figure out where I'm going on my next trip! LOL

If you are playing along and earning your companion pass along with me, please let me know by emailing me at almostfreefamilytravel@gmail.com or posting a comment below. I would love to help you through the process. 

And please consider using my referral link when you apply for your new Southwest cards. 

Starwood Personal or Business Card?

Starwood increased credit card offer to 35,000 points ends April 5th 2017. The increase is good for both the personal and business card so which one should you apply for? Both cards award you 25,000 points for meeting minimum spend and an additional 10,000 points for meeting the second minimum spend. 

Here are some of the differences:

1. Personal card only has a $3,000 spend compared with the business card which has a $5,000 spend. 

2. Both cards waive the $95 fee for the first year

3. To get the additional spend on the personal card, you need to spend $2,000 and on the business card, you need to spend $3,000.

4. The business card has the added perk of FREE club access at Starwood hotels worldwide. This is huge for me because you get breakfast. And if you follow my blog, you know I love hotels that include breakfast. 

5. The business card has protection for luggage and car rental loss. 

So the bottom line is if you can swing the minimum spend, get both cards. Since Starwood merged with Marriott, we do not know how long Starwood will be offering deals. Plus 70,000 Starwood points can go a long way, but it's a big minimum spend too. 

Did You Get Approved For The Southwest Credit Cards Yet?

 

Best news this week! Woohoo! Yesterday, I applied for the Southwest Performance Business credit card AND the Southwest Priority personal credit card. Hopefully, you did too! If not, you still have plenty of time. 

The Southwest Performance Business credit card comes with an 80,000 bonus when you spend $5,000 and the Southwest Priority personal credit card comes with a 75,000 bonus when you spend $3,000. I break down the difference between the cards here.

Hefty minimums for sure, but with property taxes, college tuition, holiday shopping and more coming up at the end of the year, it's doable. Plus we don't want to reach the minimum spend until after the December statement closes or January 1st so there's plenty of time. 

We are timing it so that we earn 135,000 Southwest points in the 2023 calendar year and earn the valuable Southwest Companion Pass for 2023 AND 2024. 

The Southwest Companion Pass is a BOGO on ANY Southwest flight as many times as you want for up to two years. And you can change your companion up to 3x per year. 

I applied for the Performance business card because I already have the Premier business card and got the bonus earlier this year. You can hold two business cards at the same time though before the annual fee comes up again, I will cancel the Premier business card. I also need to renew our Global Entry next year and this card comes with a $100 Global Entry credit. If you don't have the Premier yet, I recommend that one because the minimum spend is just $3,000. 

I applied for the Priority personal card because it's the best deal. The annual fee is $149, but you get a $75 Southwest credit so that brings the fee down to just $74 and you get 4 upgraded boardings. I will keep this card for two years so it's worth it for all those Southwest flights I plan to take. But all of the personal cards have the same bonus right now so it's really up to you which one you choose. 

Once I reach the minimum spends on these cards, I will earn 80,000+5,000 on the Performance card, 75,000+3,000 on the Priority card plus 10,000 bonus points for having A Southwest credit card. The total will be 173,000 Southwest points which puts me well over the 135,000 points needed for the companion pass. 

Woohoo! That's how we do it here at almostFREEfamilytravel.com. 

Now I just need to figure out where I'm going on my next trip! LOL

If you are playing along and earning your companion pass along with me, please let me know by emailing me at almostfreefamilytravel@gmail.com or posting a comment below. I would love to help you through the process. 

And please consider using my referral link when you apply for your new Southwest cards. 

How You Can Earn The Southwest Companion Pass Fast

The Southwest companion pass is one of the best perks in the miles and points game. And now, Southwest has made it pretty easy for you to earn it quickly with a new 75,000 point offer on their family of credit cards Southwest Plus, Southwest Premier and Southwest Priority. 

Southwest Companion Pass

This could put you very close to earning one of the best perks in the business, the Southwest companion pass. The companion pass is a buy one, get one FREE on any flight for almost two years. You need to collect 125,000 Southwest points in a single calendar year to earn it. So if you apply for the credit card, you are more than halfway there.  You can earn the rest by flying, shopping in the portal, using the hotel and rental car partnerships, dining program and more. Wow! I have had the companion pass for years and I would value it at thousands of dollars. 

Southwest credit card 75,000 point offer

Here are the details of the new limited-time offer available across all three personal cards:

• Spend $1,000 for 40,000 points in the first 3 months 
• Spend an additional $4,000 in six months for an additional 35,000 points

You have three choices on personal cards. The differences between the Plus, Premier and Priority are: 

Plus

• $69 annual fee
• 3,000 anniversary bonus 

Premier

• $99 annual fee
• 6,000 anniversary bonus

Priority

• $149 annual fee
• $75 Southwest credit 
• 4 upgraded boardings 
• 7,500 anniversary bonus

I believe the Priority card is the best value because though the annual fee is higher, you also get a credit on Southwest. If you apply for one of these personal cards, you will earn 75,000 bonus points plus 5,000 points for your purchases. So you are looking at 80,000 points with one card. 

You need 125,000 points to earn the companion pass. You are only allowed to hold one personal card at a time. But you can hold a personal card and a business card at the same time. 

Southwest offers two business cards and here are the current offers:

Premier Business 

• 60,000 bonus 
• $3,000 spend 
• $99 annual fee 

Performance Business 

• 70,000 bonus 
• $5,000 spend 
• $199 annual fee
• $100 Global Entry credit 
• 4 upgraded boarding passes 

With all limited time offers, we do not know how long the offers will stick around, but we are hearing that this one will end February 10th. The companion pass is good for the year you earn it and the following year so the sooner you earn it, the better. Good luck and please use our referral links if you decide to apply for any Southwest credit cards. 

How The Southwest Bonus Offer Increase Plays Into Our Plan

 

Chase just announced an increased offer on the Southwest personal credit cards....all of them. The offer is 75,000 points for a $3,000 minimum spend. The offer is valid on the plus, the premier and the priority cards. We will talk about the difference a bit later when we are ready to apply.  

So how does this increased offer play into our strategy to earn the Southwest Companion Pass? The Companion Pass is the best travel perk in the industry. It allows you BOGO on any Southwest flight for up to two years. You can change your companion three times per year. 

How The Southwest Bonus Offer Increase Plays Into Our Plan

If you are following along with me, you have not applied for your cards yet. We cancelled our old Southwest Personal Card in October and are waiting 30 days before we apply for a new one. Since we do not want to reach our minimum spend until after our December closing date or January 1st, we have time. However, we will apply soon so we can put all of that holiday shopping on the cards. 

Remember, you can only hold one personal credit card at a time and you need to wait 30 days between cancelling and applying for the new one. You also have to wait at least 24 months between bonuses. 

So how does this increased offer affect our strategy? It doesn't. 

After the 30 day waiting period, we will apply for one personal credit card and one business credit card. 

I usually apply for both at the same time. 

How The Southwest Bonus Offer Increase Plays Into Our Plan

Under the old offer, we would get 50,000 points for a $1,000 minimum spend for the personal credit card and either 60,000 points for a $3,000 minimum spend OR 80,000 points for a $5,000 minimum spend. So we would be looking at 110,000 bonus points or 130,000 bonus points and a $4,000 minimum spend or $6,000 minimum spend respectively. 

Under this new offer, we will get 75,000 bonus points for a $3,000 minimum spend for the personal credit card and the same for the business cards. So that means if you go for a personal credit card with a $3,000 minimum spend and the 60,000 bonus point business card, you are looking at a $6,000 minimum spend. If you go for the 80,000 bonus point business card, you are looking at $8,000 minimum spend. 

So yes, you may be in for a bit more spend, but you will get 25,000 more bonus points which means FREE travel. And with the increased offer, any personal card and any business card earn the companion pass. 

If the increased minimum spend is overwhelming or out of your reach, Southwest has posted an end date for the new offer of December 5th. You can just wait until that date passes and jump on the new decreased offer which will most likely carry a lower minimum spend. My referral link also seems to still be pointing to the old offer so you may be able to get in on that one for a few more days.  If your 30 day waiting period has passed and you prefer the old offer, go ahead and apply. Just DON'T reach the minimum spend before January 1st or before your December statement closes. 

So the increased offer really doesn't affect our strategy at all. Stay the course and be patient. And hold off making any big purchases! 

It's Time To Apply To Earn The Southwest Companion Pass

 

If you are planning to earn your Southwest Companion Pass along with me this year, now is the time to apply for your Southwest credit cards.

The Southwest Companion Pass is the best perk in travel. It is BOGO for up to two years on any Southwest flight. You need 135,000 points in a single calendar year to earn the pass. 

Hopefully, you cancelled your old personal card at least 30 days ago. I find it takes about 30 days for the system to process the cancellation. 

But if it hasn't been 30 days, you may still get approved or you can wait a bit longer. The deadline for the increased bonus offer ends December 5th so you have time. However, it would be nice to have your new card for those Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. :) 

Remember you can start charging your new card, but DO NOT reach the minimum spend until after your December statement closes or January 1st. 

Now the question is which card to apply for. All three personal cards have the same bonus offer right now: 75,000 bonus points for a $3,000 minimum spend. Each card has different benefits and a different annual fee which could make a difference for you. So let's take a look:

Plus card - this is the basic card with an annual fee of $69. It includes 2 early bird check ins, 2x points on streaming, rideshare, Southwest, hotels and cars and 1x points on everything else plus 3,000 anniversary points. 

Premier card - annual fee of $99. It includes 2 Early Bird check ins, 3x points on Southwest, 2x points on streaming, rideshare, hotels and cars and 1x points on everything else plus 6,000 anniversary points. 

Priority card - annual fee of $149. It includes 4 upgraded boardings, $75 Southwest credit, 3x points on Southwest, 2x points on streaming, rideshare, hotels and cars and 1x points on everything else plus 7,500 anniversary points. 

My favorite is the Priority card because once you deduct the Southwest credit from the annual fee, the card really only costs $74. So for $5 more than the Plus card, you get four upgraded boardings per year and 3x points on Southwest. 

Once you are approved for the personal card, then go ahead and apply for a Southwest business card. You have two choices here:

Premier Business - the offer is 60,000 bonus points for a $3,000 minimum spend. It's a $99 annual fee and the card comes with 2 Early Bird check ins. 

Performance Business - the offer is 80,000 bonus points for a $5,000 minimum spend. It's a $199 annual fee and the card comes with 4 upgraded boardings plus $100 Global Entry credit. 

Since the personal card has an increased bonus offer of 75,000 points, either business card will earn you the companion pass. So it just depends on whether you want to reach a $6,000 minimum spend or $8,000 minimum spend, want the Global Entry credit or upgraded boardings. And you can hold both of these business cards at the same time! 

For all of these cards, please consider using my referral link to apply and keep me posted! 

Southwest Credit Card Announces 75,000 Bonus Offer

New year and new limited-time offer from Southwest on their family of credit cards: Southwest Plus, Southwest Premier and Southwest Priority. This could put you very close to earning one of the best perks in the business, the Southwest companion pass. The companion pass is a buy one, get one FREE on any flight for almost two years. You need to collect 125,000 Southwest points in a single calendar year to earn it. You can do this by flying, shopping in the portal, using the hotel and rental car partnerships, dining program and more. Wow! I have had the companion pass for years and I would value it at thousands of dollars. 

Southwest credit card 75,000 point offer

Here are the details of the new limited-time offer available across all three personal cards:

• Spend $1,000 for 40,000 points in the first 3 months 
• Spend an additional $4,000 in six months for an additional 35,000 points

You have three choices on personal cards. The differences between the Plus, Premier and Priority are: 

Plus

• $69 annual fee
• 3,000 anniversary bonus 

Premier

• $99 annual fee
• 6,000 anniversary bonus

Priority

• $149 annual fee
• $75 Southwest credit 
• 4 upgraded boardings 
• 7,500 anniversary bonus

I believe the Priority card is the best value because though the annual fee is higher, you also get a credit on Southwest. If you apply for one of these personal cards, you will earn 75,000 bonus points plus 5,000 points for your purchases. So you are looking at 80,000 points with one card. 

You need 125,000 points to earn the companion pass. You are only allowed to hold one personal card at a time. But you can hold a personal card and a business card at the same time. 

Southwest offers two business cards and here are the current offers:

Premier Business 

• 60,000 bonus 
• $3,000 spend 
• $99 annual fee 

Performance Business 

• 70,000 bonus 
• $5,000 spend 
• $199 annual fee
• $100 Global Entry credit 
• 4 upgraded boarding passes 

With all limited time offers, we do not know how long the offers will stick around. The companion pass is good for the year you earn it and the following year so the sooner you earn it, the better. Good luck and please use our referral links if you decide to apply for any Southwest credit cards.