Update: DEAD! Don’t miss it if this becomes alive again. Sign up for deal notification alerts here!
You can view credit card offers by clicking on the “Credit Card Offers” tab on top of the DansDeals banner to view links for card offers from all banks.
Update: Chase has confirmed that the Ink Plus card will be discontinued with the launch of the Ink Business Preferred card later this year. The exact date for that is unknown. The status of the Ink Cash card is unknown as well, but odds are that it will drop the 5x categories for new applicants even if it does stick around.
I’ve been able to rack up (and redeem) a few Chase points over the years. They add up quickly thanks to 5x categories:
Apply now for an Ink Plus or Ink Cash card if you want to be grandfathered and lock in the ability
You can open a Ink Plus and Ink Cash card and earn the signup bonus for each of your businesses.
Originally posted on 10/19:
Banks offer cards that earn 5 points per dollar in select categories as a loss leader.
Their days may be numbered at Chase.
Chase currently offers 3 Ultimate Rewards cards with 5 point categories, Freedom, Ink Plus, and Ink Cash. The Ink Bold and Ink Classic also offer 5 points per dollar but they are no longer available for new applications. Chase has been generous with grandfathered cards though, I have an Ink Bold that still earns 1.675 points per dollar everywhere and a $100/year Presidential Plus card earning United elite qualifying miles that haven’t been available to new customers for years.
The Freedom card offers 5 points per dollar in rotating categories. Chase launched the Freedom Unlimited card earlier this year with a very generous 1.5 points per dollar everywhere. When it did so the rumor was that the Freedom card would be discontinued. That hasn’t happened, but rumors of its demise for new customers continue to persist.
Bloomberg broke the news today that Chase will soon launch the Ink Business Preferred card. It will offer 80K points for signing up and carry a $95 annual fee. The bigger news is its reward structure: 3 points per dollar on travel, telecom, shipping, and advertising on social media and search engines on up to $150K in annual spending.
Currently Ink Plus has a $95 annual fee and offers 5 points per dollar on $50,000 of annual spending on telecom, TV, internet, and office supply stores. It offers 2 points per dollar on $50,000 of annual spending on gas and hotels.
Ink Cash has no annual fee and offers 5 points per dollar on $25,000 of annual spending on telecom, TV, internet, and office supply stores. It offers 2 points per dollar on $25,000 of annual spending on gas and dining.
The 5x office supply bonus is quite lucrative when used to purchase gift cards for stores like Amazon or generic Visa gift cards, so I’m not surprised that Chase isn’t going to offer that on the new card.
Will the Ink Cash and Ink Plus cards be phased out with the Ink Business Preferred launch? Will their rewards structures be changed to match that of the Ink Business Preferred card?
There are strong rumors that the 5 point categories will no longer be offered to new customers. Let’s just say if you want to take advantage of 5 point per dollar cards that you may want to apply for those cards sooner rather than later. Just remember that 5/24 guidelines apply.
Leave a Reply
40 Comments On "Are Chase’s 5x Cards Going To Be Killed Off?"
All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.
whoa
click bait
@frank:
I asked a question and I think there is basis for the question and for action before it’s too late.
How is that clickbait?
I have the ink plus. Have had it for about a year. I do several thousand dollars of 5x spend on it. No where near the max. Is now the time to downgrade? Can I downgrade?
@Bob you can downgrade to the regular ink but you run the risk of them getting rid of the 5x and then not being able to upgrade back to the ink plus with 5x.
@frank seriously? Dan isn’t the first to report rumors about chase getting rid of 5x on ink. Dan is trying to inform his readers ahead of time about possible negative changes to a very popular card, it was a post that should have been made and there was nothing “clickbait” about it.
@mmgfarb: if I understand you correctly, you anticipate them removing the 5x from the ink and leaving it with the ink plus?
@Bob: No, what he said is that maybe you’ll hit the max on the ink cash in the future, and won’t be able to upgrade to the ink plus which has a higher max.
@Abe: Thank you for clarifying. I guess a downgrade is in order. I don’t see myself reaching that threshold.
@Abe is correct, it is very likely that they will get rid of 5x across the board for new cards but keep it (at least for some period of time) for existing cardmembers. If you downgrade and then want a higher limit in the future, you’ll probably be out of luck.
I max out my x5 Ink category within 4-5 months. Just so I understand, this will remain for existing accounts, correct?
Hopefully current cardholders will be grandfathered in on the 5X categories. I still have an old INK that gets 3% on home improvement spend. Still works.
I haven’t seen Amazon gift cards in Staples or Office Max in many months. Do they still sell them?
@mmgfarb: Good reason to get more than one card.
hey dan your 1.675 earnings are only after a 100k spend threshold and a little respect to the indians who are in the world series,you can sneak in a small mention.any way gut moed and dont overwork its chol hamoed.(ps writing this from the air, taking the kids on a chol hamoed trip to venice.)
Hey Dan, what happens if I already have a 5point card? Can I get another type of card with the same point system after this is in effect? Will I be grandfathered in on the new card because of my old card?
Ex: if I have a freedoms and apply for a ink card, will the ink card get 5x on purchases?
Always need to see the positive in everything. Maybe if they get rid of 5x for office supplies on new cards it will be easier to find VGC at Staples when promos come up.
Dan – you wrote that Ink Cash gets 5 point per dollar – do you mean 5% back on those purchases? Or is the 5% in the form of points?
hi dan
got the chase reserve card
what do you suggest i do with the sapphire card
hi dan if i have an old ink card can i apply for the new one business preferred and still get the bonus? thanks also i wanted to close some personal cards and transfer out the credit line and chase and amex both told me that you have to leave at least 500 dollars in there before you do that can you confirm thanks again
I have the ink plus but hardly use it since bluebird died
I just by gas and amazon gift cards at staples and pay my cell phone
And time warner bill. Any reason I shouldn’t switch to ink cash to avoid the annual fee?
Why are you assuming the card will be grandfathered in? Chase took the freedom which used to have 15 categories and changed it on all cards to quarterly bonuses… got rid of every purchase 10 point bonus on the freedom card for chase bank customers they don’t seem to grandfather in anything
Way to show off your points Dan! In all seriousness though, what point do you have showing the number of points you have? Very strange.
@Sam:
Yes.
@Scotchy88:
The old card is grandfathered.
@Ben P:
It’s 5% in the form of 5 points.
@shaul:
Change it to Freedom or Freedom Unlimited.
@paul:
Yes.
@Sfuz:
You can.
@Huds:
All of my old business cards are still grandfathered.
@peter:
The point is that these 5x categories can be quite lucrative and are worth getting grandfathered for.
They declined me 2 years ago (Low profit and not long in business) what should I put to get approved?
3 mil UR בלי עין הרע
3 million? Wow.
@peter: I for 1 love seeing those points!!
I currently have the chase ink plus (and bold). I now also have the CSR. Thinking of downgrading chase ink plus to the chase ink cash. Would that be grandfathered and maintain 5x categories?
Ever consider selling those points?
last time i purchased gift cards from ebay thru paypal on my ink card, i did NOT get 5x points. is that the new reality or did i miss s/t?
where can i buy a amazon GC online with 5X?
@5x paypal?: yes
@anonymous yes to which possibility?
@Anonymous: Discover card has Amazon as a 5% category this quarter.
Dan,
I already have ink plus card (applied as a self proprietor)
Is it possible to get another ink plus using same SSN but with a diff business name?
@peter: Honestly, for a guy like Dan I expect way more then 3 mil…
@Steve: @Steve: what exactly do u mean to say???? this is a UR post….
@Anonymous:
×ž×¢× ×™×Ÿ ×œ×¢× ×™×Ÿ ב×ותו ×¢× ×™×Ÿ
@Dan
My staples visa giftcards are no longer working at stores for money orders. Have you heard anything like this?
Dan, do you have a link for Ink Plus/Bold that gives you the first year without the fee? I can only find the ones with the $95 fee for the first year as well.
thanks