How to Get Maximum Value From the Chase Ink Unlimited’s Elevated Cash Back Welcome Bonus How to Get Maximum Value From the Chase Ink Unlimited’s Elevated Cash Back Welcome Bonus

How to Get Maximum Value From the Chase Ink Unlimited’s Elevated Cash Back Welcome Bonus

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Chase is currently offering an elevated $900 bonus cash back on the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (Rates & Fees). This card provides business owners with the opportunity to earn valuable cash back or Ultimate Rewards points on everyday business purchases.

While the bonus is marketed as $900 bonus cash back, it's delivered to your account as 90,000 Ultimate Rewards points. If you also hold an Ultimate Rewards card that charges an annual fee, you can transfer these points to Chase's suite of travel partners. And that's precisely how you get far more than face value out of your Ink Unlimited welcome bonus.

Here are some tips to get the most out of your new Ultimate Rewards balance.

Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Annual Fee$0
Welcome Bonus Earn $900 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
The best business card to earn Ultimate Rewards on non-bonus purchases, you receive a $900 cash back bonus after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Earn 1.5% back on all business expenses.
  • Earn $900 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
  • Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business
  • No Annual Fee
  • Redeem rewards for cash back, gift cards, travel and more through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
  • Earn rewards faster with employee cards at no additional cost. Set individual spending limits for greater control.
  • Round-the-clock monitoring for unusual credit card purchases
  • With Zero Liability you won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.
  • 0% introductory APR for 12 months on purchases
  • Member FDIC
  • Rates & Fees
  • Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business

An Overview of the Best Ways to Redeem Ultimate Rewards Points

There are several ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards — from redeeming Chase points towards Apple purchases to redeeming for gift cards. But plenty of more valuable ways do exist. Familiarizing yourself with these options is an easy way to ensure you get the most out of your welcome bonus.

Here are the three primary ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards for max value:

  1. If you hold an Ultimate Rewards earning card that allows you to transfer points to partners, you can take advantage of 10 airline and three hotel partners.
  2. Pay with points via the Chase Travel℠ portal.
  3. Get cash back.
a woman holds a credit card while typing on a laptop
Credit: Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels

Grow your balance by combining rewards earned from multiple Chase cards

Before we trek on, we'd be remiss not to explain that you can combine points earned across Chase cards — including those that are framed as cashback-earning cards, like the Ink Unlimited.

Taking advantage of this perk is an easy way to grow your Ultimate Rewards balance quickly and collect more points to fund your redemption. So, that's why it makes a lot of sense to pair the Ink Unlimited with a card like the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, the Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (Rates & Fees), or even the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees).

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Welcome Offer Earn 90,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee$95
Credit ScoreExcellent, Good
  • 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year
  • 1X point per $1 on all other purchases
Sapphire Reserve for Business℠
Sapphire Reserve for Business℠
Welcome Bonus Earn 200,000 bonus points after you spend $30,000 on purchases in your first 6 months from account opening and with more than $2,500 in annual value, there's no competition.
Annual Fee$795Rates & Fees
Credit ScoreExcellent, Good
  • 8X points on all Chase Travel℠ purchases
  • 5X total points on eligible Lyft rides through 9/30/2027
  • 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
  • 3x points on advertising purchases made with social media platforms and search engines
  • 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Bonus Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee$95Rates & Fees
Credit ScoreExcellent, Good
  • 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
  • 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
  • 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
  • 3X points on eligible streaming services
  • 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
  • 2X points on all other travel
  • 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases

Transfer Ultimate Rewards Points to Partners

There's an incredible list of Chase transfer partners; 13, to be exact! Transferring Ultimate Rewards points to partners is the best way to stretch your rewards the farthest.

On average, AwardWallet users redeem Chase points for 1.98¢ apiece. And a big reason for that is the value on offer through partner programs.

At the 1.98¢ per point rate, the 90,000-point sign-up bonus is worth nearly $1,800 toward award travel when leveraging Chase travel partners. So, how do you get this kind of value through transfers? Let's take a look.

Book Star Alliance flights through Air Canada Aeroplan

Air Canada is one of our favorite Chase transfer partners — mainly because of the dozens of airlines bookable with Aeroplan points. You can exploit several Aeroplan sweet spots, making this a top choice if you're looking to stretch your Ink Unlimited sign-up bonus.

For example, you can convert Chase points to Aeroplan points at a 1:1 ratio and book an award on ANA. Some of ANA's shorter routes between Japan and the U.S., such as Tokyo to Seattle, are available for an all-too-reasonable price. Think 35,000 Aeroplan points for a one-way economy ticket or 55,000 points for a business class ticket.

Aeroplan award -- ANA from HND to SEA.
Credit: Air Canada Aeroplan

Take advantage of United's best sweet spots and low fees

United no longer publishes an award chart (here's AwardWallet's unofficial United award chart), which makes it harder to know if you are achieving good value for your miles. However, you can still extract plenty of value from United’s frequent flyer program through its top sweet spots.

MileagePlus charges some of the lowest fees and taxes of any airline rewards program. So, while you sometimes pay more miles than other programs for an equivalent flight, you typically have much lower out-of-pocket expenses.

Like with Air Canada Aeroplan, transferring Ultimate Rewards points 1:1 to United MileagePlus means you can redeem miles on Star Alliance carriers like Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, Asiana, Turkish, Lufthansa, and more. That gives you access to almost any destination and some of the best premium cabin products in the world. Or, you can keep it simple and redeem them for flights on United itself.

United awards from IAD to FRA.
Credit: United

Stay in luxury with World of Hyatt points

Hyatt may not have the global footprint of Hilton or Marriott. However, it still has a fantastic portfolio of luxury hotels, all-inclusive resorts, plus several budget-friendly brands. The World of Hyatt loyalty program offers some fantastic redemption rates, and the list of hotels where you can redeem points just increased with the addition of Mr. and Mrs. Smith properties.

Base room Hyatt redemptions start at 3,500 points per night for a Category 1 off-peak property and top out at 72,000 points per night for double occupancy in an all-inclusive Miraval property. Even the most expensive hotels in Hyatt’s portfolio cost less than half the points required by the top hotels in the Marriott Bonvoy or Hilton Honors programs. And your Ink Unlimited sign-up bonus can help you fund your next free night.

You could stretch your points at lower-tier Category 1 hotels, which charge 3,500 points per off-peak night. Alternatively, you could use 12,000 points per night for a stay at the Tommie Hollywood. Or, go all out and splurge for a night or two at the Park Hyatt New York for the ultimate luxury experience. The cost for this centrally located luxury hotel in New York City? Only 35,000 points per night.

Park Hyatt New York availability.
Credit: Hyatt

Fly to Europe for cheap with Air France/KLM Flying Blue

Air France-KLM's Flying Blue program is one of my personal favorites for crossing the Atlantic. One big reason is the monthly Promo Rewards. These limited-time discounts on award flights can really drop the price of your trip.

Outside of Promo Awards, Flying Blue offers fantastic sweet spots, including business-class redemptions from 60,000 miles. For those keeping score, your Ink Unlimited sign-up bonus could almost cover a round-trip business class ticket between the U.S. and Europe.

Or, if you're fine with economy flying, Flying Blue offers some incredible deals on long-haul economy. For example, a Promo Reward ticket can take you from participating gateways in the U.S. to anywhere in Europe (including North Africa) from 18,750 miles plus taxes and fees.

Flying Blue award from LAX to ARN.
Credit: Flying Blue

Fly to Japan or hop across the U.S. with Virgin Atlantic Points

Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club often flies under the radar of points and miles fans. However, members can get massive value from Flying Club points when redeemed with partner airlines, which is one of the reasons you shouldn't overlook the program.

For example, for just 145,000 Flying Club points, you can fly ANA First class round-trip from the West Coast to Japan or 170,000 points from the central or eastern states. Following the same region rules, you can get round-trip business class flights for 105,000 and 120,000 points, respectively.

Another option for great value comes courtesy of Delta. You can book Delta flights under 500 miles for only 7,500 Virgin Atlantic points. And there are hundreds of routes that you can find this pricing on. Think about how many flights you could book with 90,000 Ultimate Rewards points!

Delta A320 jet taking off.
Credit: Izyan Sultanali/Unsplash

Make Travel Reservations Through the Chase Travel℠ Portal

If you're not keen on transferring points to partner programs and finding award availability, that's okay. Chase has an in-house travel portal where you can book flights, hotels, and other attractions and pay for your purchase with Ultimate Rewards points, called Chase Travel.

Your Ink Unlimited Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1¢ apiece on portal redemptions. At that rate, your $900-point sign-up bonus could cover $900 of travel booked through the portal.

The 1¢ apiece value jumps to up to 2¢ apiece if you also carry the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees) or Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (Rates & Fees) and combine your rewards, or up to 1.75¢ each if you hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees) or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. To get these better redemption rates, though, you'll want to become familiar with Points Boost, which is a new benefit in the Chase Travel portal.

Couple sitting next to a lake with mountains in the background.
Credit: Flo Maderebner/Pexels

That aside, there's a lot of travel you can book with $900. You could pay with points to offset the cost of an expensive trip or even fly domestically for next-to-nothing on-budget carriers. There's no need to check award availability with these tickets since you're offsetting the cost of a revenue ticket. And sbecause it's a revenue ticket, you'll also earn airline miles on these bookings!

That aside, $900 can cover quite a bit of travel. You could use your points to offset the cost of a pricey trip or even book domestic flights for next to nothing on budget carriers. There’s no need to worry about award availability, since you’re using points toward a cash fare. And because it’s a revenue ticket, you’ll still earn airline miles on the booking.

Final Thoughts

The offer on the Ink Unlimited makes it one of the best rewards card offers available for business owners! And there are several ways to maximize the sign-up bonus. Whether you want to fund an incredible trip or walk away with a hefty sum of cash back, there are some excellent options on the table.

Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Annual Fee$0
Welcome Bonus Earn $900 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
The best business card to earn Ultimate Rewards on non-bonus purchases, you receive a $900 cash back bonus after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Earn 1.5% back on all business expenses.
  • Earn $900 bonus cash back after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
  • Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business
  • No Annual Fee
  • Redeem rewards for cash back, gift cards, travel and more through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
  • Earn rewards faster with employee cards at no additional cost. Set individual spending limits for greater control.
  • Round-the-clock monitoring for unusual credit card purchases
  • With Zero Liability you won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.
  • 0% introductory APR for 12 months on purchases
  • Member FDIC
  • Rates & Fees
  • Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase made for your business

For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (Rates & Fees), Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), and Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)

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