11.8.22
Are you dreaming about a tropical beach vacation? Or a family trip to Disney? Or just need a flight to go see family, but your point balances are running low? As award flights and hotels continue to be devalued over time, your points don't go as far as they may have previously.
That's why maximizing your points earning is critical. This is done by strategically earning points through everyday credit card spend and periodically getting new credit cards to earn valuable sign up bonuses (SUB). One element that has great earning potential is business credit cards. I know, you don't own a small business or have an LLC, but believe it or not, you may be eligible for business credit cards and you don't even know it. Chase bank has three Ink Business credit cards that earn Ultimate Rewards, and they all currently have high sign up bonuses. This can be a huge boost to your point balances, so you should consider if one of these cards is right for you.
Chase 5/24 Rule
One of the reasons business credit cards are so advantageous is due to how they skirt Chase's 5/24 rule. This rule simply states that Chase will not approve you for a new credit card if you have been approved for 5 cards from ANY bank in the last 24 months. So for those that play the points game and open up several cards to gain sign up bonuses, this rule puts a ceiling on the number of cards one can get. Luckily, business cards do not apply to this rule. So while you must be under 5/24 to get a Chase business card (meaning you cannot have opened 5 or more cards in the last 24 months) actually being approved for a business card does not count, or take up a "slot" in your 5/24 status. So theoretically, if you are 4/24 (4 cards opened last 24 months), you could apply for and be approved for as many business cards as you want and you would not hit 5/24. This makes business cards a popular choice for those who want to maximize SUB's across cards from any bank family (Chase, AMEX, Capital One, etc).
What is considered a business
Now, if you do own a small business, whether an S Corp, C Corp, LLC, or partnership, applying for and earning the sign up bonus is a pretty straight forward application process. Below is Chase's application, which requires basic ownership information and income, company category, EIN, revenue, estimated monthly spend, and more.
However, Chase is not strict about what is considered a business, and really any side hustle that you have which generates income, however small, makes you eligible for business credit cards. There is no written law about what qualifies as a business, but in general any activity done with the intent to make a profit is sufficient. Do you have any day job that you get a 1099 for? Do you walk dogs, sell items on Facebook marketplace or Ebay, have an Etsy shop, babysit, consult on the side, do photography, have rental properties. You "own" a business. Obviously, it's Chase's discretion whether or not to approve you, but you can be confident applying for a business card even if your income is very small. Note that I am not giving tax advice in any way, and your obligations to the IRS are per the tax code.
When applying for a business credit card with Chase you do so as a sole proprietor. Here's how you can fill out Chase's business credit card application correctly. The "personal" section of the application is the same as a personal credit card and should be filled out with your info accordingly. Under the business section, fill out honestly as below:
Chase Ink credit cards
Chase has three Ink credit cards with varying earning structures and currently, all have high sign up bonuses, between 90-100k points. This chart compares all 3 cards.
As you can see, the Ink Unlimited and Ink Cash have high sign up bonuses, varying earning categories and no annual fees. The Ink Preferred has a higher bonus, but requires a large spend in 3 months ($15,000). It has more protections and earning categories, but has an annual fee. The Ink Cash can be especially fruitful when buying various third party gift cards at Office supply stores (Staples/Office Max/Office Depot) for 5x points. Staples even often times has sales on $200 Visa gift cards where they waive the activation fee. Any individual or business can apply for and hold all three of these ink cards, so you don't necessarily have to choose one or another. Also note you cannot earn a SUB on an Ink card if you have earned a SUB on that card in the last 24 months.
Now remember, these cards all earn Chase Ultimate Rewards. Although they are points, these points can only be used as cash back at 1 cent/point on the Ink Unlimited and Ink Cash unless you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or Chase Ink Business Preferred card. If you have one of these cards, you can super size your point redemption options by transferring the points to one of those cards and then to Chase's travel partners.
Chase also allows you to transfer points between your personal cards and business cards, and even between you and your spouse or family member who lives in the same household. So say a husband has a Chase Sapphire card and wife who does photography opens an Ink Business Unlimited card (whose points can only be used as cash back), she can transfer any points earned to her husband, who can then, because he has a Sapphire card, transfer those points to Hyatt for a 5 night stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai for 125K points! This flexibility, especially with a 2 player household team, can really jump start your points earning.
Referral Bonuses
On top of being able to operate as two separate people in a household in terms of applying for credit cards, you can also refer each other for cards to earn additional points. Chase considers each person separate, yet allows you to use household income when applying for cards under the applicant while still using only your business revenue under that portion of the application. So if you had a Chase Sapphire card and your wife wanted to apply for the same card, that is possible. In fact, even if your wife is an authorized user (AU) on your card, that doesn't preclude her from applying for that card on her own. You can go to Chase's refer a friend page, choose the card that you currently have, create a referral link to send to your spouse (or anyone) and they can apply through that link. Once approved, you will receive a referral bonus just for referring that person. Currently, you can earn the following referral bonuses based on the cards you have.
Chase Sapphire Preferred- 15K points/referral up to 5 times
Chase Sapphire Reserve- 10K points/referral up to 5 times
Chase Freedom Flex/Unlimited- $100 (10K points)/referral up to 5 times
Any Southwest personal/business card- 20K Rapid Rewards points/referral up to 5 times.
Any Chase Ink card- 20K points/referral up to 5 times
And More
As referral bonuses apply to our discussion here about business cards, if two people in a household (or any friends or family members you have) want to open Chase Ink business card(s), one person can apply for a card, and once approved can refer the second person for a card and snag a referral bonus in the process. Now you have received two sign up bonuses and a referral bonus. These are valuable points that you may not know exist, and I hope I have helped you see how you can take advantage of this nuance. As always, if you intend to open up a personal or business credit card, but don't know someone that currently has the card and can refer you, please reach out to me through my social channels or whatsthepoints@yahoo.com and I can provide a referral link; the support is always appreciated.
Conclusion
Being eligible for Business credit cards is a lot less restrictive than many people think. If you earn money on the side in any fashion, you can apply as a sole proprietor. Eluding Chase's 5/24 rule, taking advantage of the high sign up bonuses on Chase's Ink Business cards, and earning referrals all make these cards worth considering as part of your points strategy. Business cards can really build your points balance quickly.
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