Possibly the best cards in the game are the Chase Business Ink family of cards with a sign up bonus of 75k-90k points worth $900-$1,800 in travel.

Overview

The Ink Cash and Ink Freedom cards are particularly good because they have a $0 annual fee and can be used to earn 460k+ Ultimate Rewards points per year worth a minimum of $5,750 in travel with the Chase Sapphire preferred, $6,900 with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and $9,200+ with certain transfer partners. 

Where does 460k per year come from?

Since Ink cards are business cards they aren’t subject to the Chase 5/24 rule (customers that have signed up for 5 or more personal cards in the last 24 months will not be approved for a Chase card). Furthermore, you are able to collect multiple of the same or different Ink cards. However, it’s recommended to only get 1 every 3 months in order to keep your chances of approval high. The sign up bonus is usually between 75k-90k Ultimate Reward points and the referral is 40k Ultimate Reward points. It does require spending $6,000 within 3 months which can be a challenge to hit, but this post has tips on how to hit this without actually spending more. Once you hit the sign up bonus, you can transfer these points to a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred to use the points for travel. The optimal strategy is to find a P2 (Player 2) and refer each other every 3 months netting 4*(75k + 40k) = 460k points per person per year. If you’re interested in the card and would like to support the blog here is my referral.

Am I eligible for a business card? Probably yes!

You need a business to apply for this card, but a legitimate business can be anything from selling on eBay, pet sitting, etc! In addition, your business does not even need to be generating revenue yet to qualify for the card. If your business is just you then this is known as a Sole Proprietorship.

How to apply 

• Tax ID type: If you have an Individual Tax ID number then use that, but if you are applying as a Sole Proprietorship then you can use your SSN here (don’t worry there aren’t any tax implications)
• Address: Use the address of your business. Can be your home address.
• Total gross annual income: This is your personal + business income. In general higher is better.
• Legal business structure: The legal structure of your business. Sole proprietorship if it is just you.
• Business legal name: If a sole proprietorship then the name is just your name.
• Does your business use another name?: If a sole proprietorship, then no.
• Tax ID type: SSN again if Sole Proprietorship.
• Number of employees: 0 if Sole Proprietorship.
• Business established date: When your business was established. Generally, older is better. Does not have to be super precise.
• Annual business revenue: An estimate of your expected business revenue. Can be a rough forward looking estimate. Also possible to be approved with a value of $0.
• Business category/type/sub-type: Pick a category, type, and sub-type that best fit your business.
• Estimated monthly spend: Average monthly spend you expect to put on the card. Higher will typically result in a higher credit limit.

Recommendations for auto approval 

I highly recommend having an existing relationship with Chase either through a personal checking account, personal credit card like the Chase Sapphire preferred, or a business checking account before applying for Ink cards. Doing so will increase the chances of being auto approved which greatly decreases the hassle of applying. If you aren’t auto approved you may have to talk to a representative from Chase which definitely drags out the process.

Pro tips

• If the sign up bonus increases shortly after you signed up for the card you can secure message Chase and ask them to match the higher offer. Typically they are more than happy to match you to the higher offer.