I love Chase. I love most of their cards. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is our #1 card for beginners because of the overall value of Chase points, the transfer partner options, and the easy boost in the travel portal (which gets the bonus value up to a minimum $750). The Ultimate Rewards portal is so easy-to-use for beginners.
However, there’s a new card from Chase that is a big swing and miss for travel rewards enthusiasts.
You might have heard about the launch of Chase’s newest Ink business card last week as it became available to the public: the Chase Ink Business Premier
As you can see from the image below, this was a long anticipated card that was supposed to be available in early 2022. It’s publicly available now in “later 2022,” but it’s not going to be a big hit.
In terms of travel rewards cards, this new business card is like Tiger Woods missing a 3 foot putt by 100 yards.
Here’s another metaphor that hit me this morning…
Imagine you were just born into an amazing, royal family that everyone loves. People can’t stop talking about your family and how great they are. You are about to inherit all the family’s best traits and royal lineage! So exciting.
However, you are told that you will never get to live in the royal palace. You will have to live on the other side of the river. There’s no bridge to get to the palace. You cannot come out to play. You will never hang out with your brothers or sisters. You can’t go to the royal events or parties either. Basically, you have the same last name and that’s it.
Why the weird metaphor? This card looks amazing on the surface when you look at the bonus offer and the earning potential, but it’s not what it seems.
Here are the details:
This is a great card to use for large purchases as you'll earn 2.5% cash on purchases of $5,000 or more (you'll then earn 2% cash on all other purchases). However, you cannot combine points earned from this card with another Ultimate Rewards account or transfer your points to partner airlines or hotels. This means all points earned are worth 1 cent per point when you cash out or redeem in the travel portal.
Earning:
Apparently you earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, but the marketing bullets are stated in terms of cash back…
- 2.5% cash back on purchases of $5,000 or more
- 2% cash back on all expenses under $5,000
- 5% cash back on travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards portal
What could be a really great addition to the lineup of our favorite business cards – Ink Preferred, Ink Unlimited, Ink Cash – seems to be less exciting.
Here’s where it goes sideways. It earns Chase Ultimate Rewards, and it’s clearly a premium card with a $195 annual fee, but…
Here’s what seems to be true:
- You cannot transfer your points to airlines or hotel partners
- You cannot combine your points with other cards that earn Ultimate Rewards Points
- This is not official, but it does not appear that you will get a points boost in the travel portal
It is so weird that you can’t combine points with other Chase points you already have. This makes some kind of new category of points called “Ink Premier Ultimate Rewards” because they can’t be combined with other Ultimate Rewards earning cards.
Bottom Line
If you love to travel, this new “exciting” card is not exciting. The other three Ink cards are where it’s at. Any of them are far more advantageous since they can be combined with your personal Sapphire points. Plus, application rules allow to get approved for all of them over time. (If you’re new, read our article on Chase Ultimate Rewards to see how to earn, move and redeem these points).
This Chase Ink Premier card is a cash back card. Even though it earns 2% on everything (2.5% on purchases over $5k), you can get a welcome offer AND 2% back with a $0 annual fee card like the American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card (this card earns 2% cash back up to $50k per year, then 1% cash back).
Overall, it’s really hard to be in a bad mood for too long because there are so many other epics offers right now. Plus, it’s about to be Southwest Companion Pass season, which gets everyone excited. =)
