Ink Bold Business Card Review – 50,000 Sign-Up Points

For the last year I have been using the Citi American Airlines business credit card. I have always been a frequent flyer with American Airlines and last year when I had the opportunity to collect 50,000 bonus miles it was extremely attractive. Now that my year is up, I have decided to move on to a new business travel rewards credit card, the Ink Bold Business card from Chase.

It’s a Charge Card Not Credit Card

The Ink Bold card is a charge card. This means that it needs to be paid in full at the end of each month. Of course you should be doing this anyways, so it shouldn’t matter. Because of this you will not have to worry about any interest.

I Don’t Have a Business

Some of you might be thinking to yourself that you don’t run a business. Luckily, you don’t need to run a fortune 500 company to get this card. If you sell items on ebay, run a garage sale or sell crafts at a farmers market then you are running a business. All you need to do is sign up for the Ink Bold card stating you are a self proprietor.

Sign up for Ink Bold® Business Card

Earning Points

One of the things I love about the Ink Bold card is that the perks don’t end with the sign up bonus. You have the ability to scale your Ultimate Reward points just for making your normal business purchases.

You can earn five points per dollar spent at office supply stores, such as Office Depot or Staples. You will also receive five points per dollar spent on your landline or cell phone bills and your cable/Internet bill for all hotel and gas purchases you will receive two points per dollar spent.

For me this is such an easy way to rapidly earn points. My wife and I pay $180 for both of our cellphones with data. $180 x 5 points x 12 months = 10,800 points. Our cable and Internet is roundly the same amount so we will be earning over 20,000 points just for paying those two bills each year.

What really attracted me to the Ink Bold Charge card was the 50,000 bonus points offer when you spend $5,000 in the first three months. You can cash those points out for $625 in travel through Ultimate Rewards. You can also transfer your points at a 1:1 value to any of the following rewards programs.

United
British Airways
Southwest Airlines
Hyatt
Amtrak
Priority Club
Marriott
Korean Air

To put this 50,000 point bonus into perspective it only takes 60,000 United miles to fly for free to Europe. If a hotel is what you are looking for, you could stay two nights free in a category six Hyatt hotel such as the Grand Hyatt New York or the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome.

I currently have enough American Airlines miles that my wife and I will be able to fly for free anywhere worldwide. Because of this, I will most likely be using them for Hyatt Hotel stay.

The biggest downside to the Ink Bold card is that after the first year you will have a $95 fee. As with all cards, calculate the points you earn to see if it’s worth the $95 fee to keep the card after the first year. If you decide it’s not, Chase will probably try and keep you by offering you free points.

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