The Best Card To Apply For In 2019
Spoiler Alert: It’s the Chase Ink Preferred
Chase Ink Preferred (CIP) is easily Chase’s most versatile card. It has a gigantic 80,000 UR signup bonus (worth $1000 on travel — $1200 if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve), earns points on travel expenses, you can redeem UR at 1.25x, and it allows you to transfer points from your other Chase cards.
Things to know about the Chase Ink Preferred:
CIP falls under 5/24 but doesn’t add to it.
Chase has a strict application rule referred to as 5/24. Your credit card application will be denied if you have opened 5 or more credit cards in the last 24 month. (This was recently expanded to 5/48 for Sapphire cards). While you need to be under 5/24 to get a CIP, because it is a business card, it doesn’t add to your 5/25 count. A great way to stay below 5/24 is to focus on business cards.
CIP is a business card.
It doesn’t show on your personal credit report. This has some advantages and disadvantages. Using the card doesn’t add to your utilization but getting approved for a high credit limit also will not increase your available credit. This should leave you with a net positive affect on your credit score. Yes, you can apply for business cards.
You can meet your Minimum Spend Requirement (MSR) with credit card funding.
Chase cards allow credit card funding to meet your minimum spend. Basically, you open a new bank account and fund it with a credit card. Often you can get a bonus for opening that bank account as well. Complete guide with a $50 referral bonus here.
Referrals earn you 20k UR, 5 max per year.
A single referral covers 2 years of annual fees for CIP, making this the most profitable Chase referral bonus program. You can earn up to 100k UR this way and you don’t need to convince anyone to get your first referral…
You can refer yourself to a 2nd CIP.
If you applied for your first CIP as a sole proprietor with your SSN, you can refer yourself to a second CIP using a business EIN, netting 100k UR. Full guide here.
If it sounds like this card is right for you, check out my step-by-step guide to applying for this business card. It will walk you through qualification and application requirements.
