Chase Ink Bonus Categories: How They Work

OMAAT offers a referral bonus to anyone who has been approved by using the links below. This is in the interests of full disclosure. These are the best public offers we found (terms apply). These opinions are solely the author's and not the views of any bank, credit card issuer or airline. They have not been approved or endorsed by any entity. For more information about our partners, please see our advertiser policy. Thank you for your support!Chase offers what I consider the best business credit card portfolio. They offer all I want in cards: great welcome bonuses, large spending categories bonuses, and useful perks.These cards are my favorite because they can increase your ability to earn Ultimate Reward points. In this post, I will be examining how the bonus categories work on these cards.Chase Ink Business Cards Offer Great BonusesYou can get up to 250,000 Ultimate Reward points by signing up for the Chase Ink business card.The Ink Preferred bonus is my favorite. I value 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points at $1700. I also consider the 75,000-point welcome bonuses on Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited the best bonuses currently available.The best part is that you could be eligible for all three cards. I currently have all three cards, which helps me maximize my points for business spending.Understanding Chase Ink Card Bonus CategoriesThe generous bonus categories offered by Chase Ink cards will provide you with the best long-term value. You can combine the bonus categories if you have each of these cards to maximize your spending.What are the bonus categories for the three Ink cards?Ink Business Preferred Bonus CategoriesThe Ink Business Preferred gives you up to 3x points for travel, shipping, internet, telephone services, and advertising purchased through social media and search engines.The 3x points bonus can be used on up to $150,000 in combined purchases per cardmember's year. This means you can earn 3x points for purchases up to $150,000 in these categories, regardless how they are split.This means that you could earn 3x points on $75,000 worth of travel and 75,000 worth of internet spending. You could also earn it based only $150,000 of social media advertising.Ink Business Preferred does not charge foreign transaction fees. This card is ideal for earning bonus points abroad.Let's take a look at Chase's definition of each bonus category, which will allow you to earn 3x points. This is how the travel bonus category was defined.Travel merchants include hotels, motels and timeshares as well as car rental agencies, cruise lines and travel agencies. They also include campgrounds, operators of passenger trains, buses and taxis. Some merchants who provide travel-related services and transportation are not included in this category. For example, educational merchants, real estate agents, travel brokers, travel planners, travel agencies, travel companies, travel agency operators, travel merchants, travel merchants, travel merchants, travel merchants, travel merchants, travel merchants, taxi drivers, limousine operators, travel service providers, travel agent, travel broker, travel agents, travel booking agents, travel specialists, travel merchants, travel merchants, travel merchants, travel merchants, travel and airports and rent vehicles to hauling The purchase of gift cards, miles, or points is not allowed unless the merchant has made arrangements for such purchases to be included in the travel category.Here's how you can define the shipping bonus category:Shipping merchants specialize in shipping packages, transporting goods, or document transportation. The shipping merchants are couriers, freight shipping companies, express shipping service providers, mailbox stores, and postal and freight shipping firms. Some merchants may not be eligible for the discount. Merchants that sell general goods and ship items include office supply shops, which also mail packages. You will also not be eligible for any purchases or parts of purchases that aren't processed by the merchant. These costs include shipping the item you purchase, and third-party logistics (such as Amazon) to handle bulk warehousing. This does not apply to merchants who primarily sell packing tape, bubble wrap, or other shipping supplies.Here's how the bonus categories for internet, phone, and cable services are defined:Only internet, cable, satellite TV, radio, cellular, data and landline service purchases will be eligible. Equipment purchases are not eligible. You cannot purchase equipment or pay for internet, cable, satellite TV, or phone services from a merchants shop that is not in the relevant services category.Here's how the bonus category for social media and search engines is defined.Social media sites (such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google AdWords) and online search engines (such like Microsoft Bing Ads and Microsoft Bing Ads), are all considered merchants in the search engine and social media advertising category. These websites advertise businesses, brands, products, or services. Note that advertising purchases not directly made from a social media site or online search engine merchant might not be eligible. This includes advertising purchases made through third parties such as an agency or web designer providing related services. Purchases made from social media sites or online search engines for purposes other than advertising are not eligible. This includes subscriptions or apps.Chase Ink Preferred: Earn 3x points for travel purchasesInk Business Cash RewardsInk Business Cash gives you up to 5x points for office supplies, internet and phone services, and 2x points for restaurants and gas stationsThe 5x points bonus category is limited to $25,000 combined purchases per cardmember year. The 2x points bonus category is limited to $25,000 combined purchases per cardmember year.The terms and conditions associated with the 5x points for internet, cable, phone services are the same as those on Ink Business Preferred. Here's how the office supply shop bonus category is defined.The office supply store category sells a wide range of office supplies. These include stationary stores as well as larger office supply shops. This category does not include larger merchants who sell general goods, such as office supplies. Wholesale distributors and merchants who specialize in a small number of large office supplies such as office furniture, computer software, hardware, photocopiers, or office equipment are excluded from this category.Here's how the bonus category for gas stations is defined:Gas stations merchants sell gasoline for cars that can be purchased at the station or at the pump. They may also sell other goods and services. Some merchants are not specialized in selling automotive gasoline. These include truck stops, boat marinas and oil and propane distributors.Here's how the restaurant bonus category works:Merchants who sell food and drinks in restaurants are those whose main business is sit-down dining or eat-in. You should note that merchants selling food and drink located in larger merchants like hotels, casinos, theme parks, grocery stores, and department shops will not be included in this group unless they have set up such purchases in a restaurant category. This category does not include gift card and delivery merchants unless they have set up such purchases in the restaurant category.Chase Ink Cash offers 2x points for diningThe Ink Business Unlimited Bonus categoryInk Business Unlimited offers flat 1.5x points for all purchases. There are no caps. This card is the best for spending money in any category, and it also qualifies for bonuses. It is also one of the best cards for everyday purchases.How valuable are the Ink Bonus categoriesYou can earn points if you use the Ink Business Preferred and Ink Business Cash optimally.5x points for office supplies, internet, cable and phones services3x points for travel, shipping, and advertising purchases with social media and search engines2x points at gas stations and restaurants1.5x Points on all other itemsAs I mentioned above, these bonus categories come with caps. Based on the possibility to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to hotel and airline partners, I value them at 1.7 cents per point. This can make it disproportionately valuable to premium redemptions. My math shows that you are earning:A 8.5% return on office supplies, internet, cable and phones servicesReturns on shipping, travel and advertising purchases via social media and search engines are 5.1%Restaurants and gas stations receive a 3.4% returnEverything else gets a 2.55% returnTransfer Chase points to Air France - KLMYou might want to forgo 5x points in one category.Both Ink Business Preferred (and Ink Business Cash) offer bonus points for internet, phone and cable services (5x, 3x, and 5x, respectively). Although spending your Ink Cash may seem obvious, there is a good reason to use the Ink Preferred.The Ink Preferred cell phone protection plan is available only if you use the card to pay your monthly cell phone bill. This benefit allows you to receive up to $600 per claim for cell phone protection against theft or damage that is covered for you and the employees on your monthly cell-phone bill. You can only make three claims within a 12-month period and there is a $100 deductible.To get this coverage, it might be worth giving up 2x points per $1The Chase Ink Preferred provides great protection for your cell phoneAre Chase Ink Cards eligible for cash back or points?The currency earned on these cards is referred to as points. However, if you look at the Ink Business Cash and Ink Business Unlimited applications, you might notice that the bonus categories or welcome bonuses are cash back. The 75,000 point welcome bonus, which I refer as, is $750 cash back. The 5x points, which I am referring to, is marketed at 5% cash back.Because if they are used separately, these cards earn cash back instead of travel rewards.Here's where you can find a trick to increase your Ink Cash or Ink Unlimited points. These cards can be combined with another card that earns Ultimate Reward points to make it even more valuable. These cards include:Your points will be much more valuable if you use the Ink Cash and Ink Unlimited cards together. Minimum:Chase Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred members can redeem points for 1.25 cents each toward a travel purchaseChase Sapphire Reserve members can redeem points for 1.5 cents per point towards travel purchasesThis will increase the value of your points between 25-50% and can be done by transfering them to Ultimate Rewards partners airline or hotel partners. I prefer this redemption because it gives me a valuation of 1.7 cents per points. These partners are included:Airline Partners Hotel Partner Aer Lingus AerClub IHG Reward Air Canada Aeroplan Marriott Bonvoy Air France–KLM Flying Blue World of Hyatt British Airways Executive Club Emirates Skywards Iberia Plus JetBlue TrueBlue Singapore KrisFlyer Southwest Swift Rewards United MileagePlus Virgin Atlantic FlyingClub Chur Ultimate Rewards Transfer PartnersIt is simple to transfer points between cards online.Transfer Chase points to World of Hyatt and enjoy great hotel staysBottom lineThe Ink Business Preferred and Ink Business Cash are unbeatable business credit cards. These cards offer great rewards for everyday spending and great bonuses.We hope you find the information above helpful and that it answers any questions about bonus categories or the transferability points for Chases Ink products.