The 120,000 signup bonus on the Chase INK Preferred card is slated to end on September 5th at either 7am or 9am, according to websites with a Chase affiliate relationship. Typically there are still links lying around for another few hours or days, and that might happen this time as well.
Personally I tried and got declined for the card a couple of months back. I’ll lob in another application now and hope for the best.
Important note: Chase business applications typically go through a review process before approval which can take a week or two. Since the best current practice for most people is to signup via referral link and then request a match, I’d recommend signing up today so that the public links are still available when you are approved. This will make it possible to get the match. Otherwise YMMV, and likely you won’t be able to get matched.
Question for someone new to credit card churning: I earned the 120k bonus. I don’t really travel too much, and when I do, I take budget airlines, which don’t accept points. Is the best thing to do with my points to just cash them in for a statement credit?
Also, is there a card I should “downgrade” to once I redeem my points (so I don’t pay the annual fee every year)? If I downgrade cards, do I keep my points?
You can downgrade to the Ink Cash, that is the 5% office supply/cell phone card. Or the Ink Unlimited, which is 1.5% on all purchases. Both are no annual fee and yes, you can transfer your points to that card so you don’t lose them.
Hi Celia, do you find the Chase Portal with the 1.25 Ink Card less than booking directly with the airline? I mostly transfer URs to airline point programs and redeem flights.
I compare the prices for each and factor in using miles instead. I haven’t found the airline any different than Chase portal, sometimes the portal is a buck or two cheaper. Once I found miles the better choice. I usually use CSR so 1.5 redemption value.
I’m sure there are other routes that may provide different results, this is just my experience.
So even with with CSR 1.5 redemption for cash prices on the Chase portal, it comes out about the same total cost as direct cash reservations with the airlines?
No. I compare before any redemption. If I find a flight on UAL for $500 on the portal, it’s pretty much $500 on united site. I then compare that to using miles. 99/100, I end up using like 35000 UR points.
Bottom line, I find the cash prices for flights between the portal and airline prices similar. For hotels and cars, it’s more likely cheaper via other avenues than the Chase portal. Sorry if that wasn’t clear.
Sorry if I’m still a little confused
Celia 🔗. Does that mean that you find a United Airlines flight for $500 on Google Flights. You can check the Chase Portal and there it typically costs either $500 cash or $350 (35000) UR points? So it is cheaper to pay with points than cash? Maybe I’m misunderstanding things and don’t know all the acronyms because I’m new to credit card churning.
And then for hotels/cars, it’s cheaper to pay with cash than points?
Also, if I downgrade from the Chase Ink Preferred to the Ink Cash or Ink Unlimited, will that make it harder/impossible for me to get an Ink Cash or Ink Unlimited for their SUB when it makes sense for me to get a new card?
Thanks again!
I have found the prices are the same on airline sites as on Chase travel portal so by paying with UR points, it is cheaper. That example of $500 cash or around 35000 points is similar to my experience.
For hotels and cars, it’s a crapshoot. I’ve rarely found a better price on the Chase Travel portal than directly with the hotels or Costco for car rentals. I’m sure there can be a better deal mixing points but hasn’t worked for me.
Chase Inks were pretty much easy to get. They seemed to have cracked down a little more but I don’t think it will make it harder to get a new one when you want to. I would wait to downgrade the Preferred at the year mark.
Thanks for the clarification!
Some DPs complain about higher pricing on the Chase portal vs. other options. Personally, I have not done detailed research on cash prices on the Chase portal vs other websites.
For me, I’ve not seen a difference for flights. Like anything though, compare for yourself. Entirely possible that some routes or airlines are different. I’ve just not experienced that.
Never mind
Is it known with certainty whether you need to apply for the match while the current 120k offer is still active, or will they match you if you applied while the 120k was active but has since expired?
there is no guarantee especially since they didnt add the offer to referrals, however I have a link if you need it
If you are approved 7 days after application and the offer is no longer available, I would think it to be very unlikely they will match an expired offer. It’s all a calculated risk in what you do. The goal is an instant approval but often times that doesn’t work with Chase.
I just signed up for this card using a referral and want to match to the current 120k offer before it ends. However, I don’t have a Chase Business login (I only have Chase personal cards) so it seems I have to wait for the card to arrive in the mail before I can sign up for a new Chase login that I can add this card to and send the secure message since it’s asking for the full card number to sign up for an online account. I don’t know how long it will take to receive the card but I’m concerned about not being able to send the secure message in time in order to get the match. Anyone have any suggestions what I can do at this point?
You can try and call to have it expedited. Otherwise, it could take 7 or so days (and Monday is a holiday).
Found this in Google: Expedited Delivery: 1-2 business days. This service is available upon request by calling (800) 945-2000. You may be charged a fee for expedited shipping.
I called 877-242-7372 and asked them to expedite the card, no charge.
It helps to have the last four digits of your new card.
I signed up 3 days ago, think I still have a chance to get it expedited?
No, i I wouldn’t bother.
You can call them and they’ll set up an online account for you with a temp password. Did this yesterday for P2, and it took ~5 minutes.
Is there a way to speed up the review process? Applied last night and didn’t expect it to go to review. This card would be 3/24. If I miss the cut off for matching will the referral still go through at 40k since I applied when it was still 40k?
Yes
I just approved after closing the Chase Ink Unlimited last week and lowering my credit limit on my Chase Bold Cash and Chase Freedom Unlimited. 3/5 and I did open a Chase business checking account 1 month ago.
If anyone is looking for a referral please let me know. Happy to share. Email at rvnotone (at) hotmail dot com
Happy to split the referral bonus.
I applied about a week ago and was denied with my sole proprietorship “business”. I previously had an Ink Preferred card opened in July 2023 and closed in January 2024, and I have one active Ink Cash card opened in November 2023.
The reasons cited were:
I tried reconsideration and it seemed like it might have been a close call, but the first bullet point was an issue. The representative was considering my total available credit on my credit report. I had over $200K total on ~$160K personal income and ~$2K business income. I have only $40K with Chase spread over 8 cards at $5K each, including the Ink Cash card (not included in the $200K). I am reducing my limits on a bunch of non-Chase accounts, but it won’t help with this application.
How many active accounts total? If they say you have too many, maybe you should close some and reallocate those lines to other cards? I had a player with higher total CL and lower stated income who had no problem getting a CIC and CIU last month. Only Chase card at the time was a CFF with 50k.
I have 24 active personal cards and almost all of them have some long-term benefits making them worth keeping open vs the possibility that closing some would be the tipping point for a future approval. The cards that would normally have an annual fee are free to me because I’m in the military.
I got approved for my second Ink Preferred (the first one was back in 01/2024) via referral. SM’d to get a bonus match to 120k points – customer rep confirmed they can match but added the following phrase to the response:
“ You’ll be eligible as long as: – You have not received a new Cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.”
Has anyone seen this as part of the SM reply? Is it worth pushing back?
This is the standard language but it is not enforced for Chase business cards–it is enforced for Chase personal cards. I would just stay low and wait for the response. Best not to churn any waters in this case.
Got it, thank you!
Did you end up getting the matched bonus?
I applied via referral and was instantly approved for 5k limit without actual business
I have a Chase personal checking account
I don’t see the new card in app or on their website
I want to send a SM for them to match a welcome bonus, but I guess I need a card to show up on my acc first?
I did some research and figured I need to sign up for the business account using the card number and SSN and then link personal and business. So I need to wait for the card to arrive in mail.
Do I need to do all this to send them SM to match a welcome bonus or do I just send a SM via my existing personal checking account?