After having my Ink Bold for a single month, I was able to rack up 94,615 points.
How?
Remember, a few months ago I wrote on the blog that the Ink Bold minimum spend was jumping from $5,000 to $10,000? I knew that $10,000 was way more than I wanted to spend (if it was even possible) to reach my minimum spend. The current minimum spend is once again $5,000.
So, like I suggested you should do, I applied for the Ink Bold with a 50,000 Ultimate Reward sign up bonus.
Sign Up Bonus = 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points
I was begrudging the fact that there was also a 60,000 Ink Bold sign up bonus offer a few weeks before I decided to pull the trigger on my application. That was until I remembered Chase’s bump the bonus policy. With Chase, if there is a better offer within 90 days, you can send them a secure message and ask them to match the offer.
Here’s what I sent:
Hi,
I recently signed up for a new business credit card that I got to start using as my primary business card to replace my current American Express Business Gold.
However, I saw that within weeks of getting the card, there was a 60,000 bonus sign up offer, but I only received 50,000.I was wondering if there is anything you could do to match the offer to the best sign up bonus. I am attaching an image of the offer I saw.
Thank you for your assistance,
Craig Ford
Within a day or two I got a message back:
I understand your concern regarding the rewards bonus points on Chase account.
I would like to inform you that, as per the offer on the account you would receive the credit of 50,000 bonus points on the account. Hence, I would request you to please reply to this e-mail once you have met the threshold of spending $5,000.00 in the first 93 days of the account open date, and we will be happy to add the remaining 10,000 points to your account.
All I did was set a reminder email when I met the minimum spend and the points posted immediately.
Bump the Bonus Secure Message = 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points
In the first month, I spent $5,157 on the card. That was enough to reach the minimum spend and also to get me some spending awards.
Spending on the Card = 5,157 Ultimate Rewards points
However, in addition to spending on the card, I also did as much as possible to maximize the points. One of the nice things about the Ink Bold is that they offer 5x points for the following categories – office supply stores, cell phones, internet, cable, and landline.
Our family was being reimbursed for a stay at a Marriott hotel while we were in Houston.
Staples was having a 5x bonus for every dollar spent at staples.com when you make your purchase via the Ultimate Rewards Mall. At the time, the terms and conditions didn’t exclude gift cards from the bonus, so I bought $2,500 worth of Marriott gift cards.
Marriott Gift Cards via Staples.com and Ultimate Rewards Mall = 12,500 Ultimate Rewards points
Because the Ink Bold card gives 5x on items purchased at office stores, I decided to buy some debit cards from Office Depot. Their One Vanilla cards cost $5.95 for a $500 card, but that $500 yields 2,500 Ultimate Rewards points. I think I used that One Vanilla card for other business expenses. Also, I had office supplies that I needed to purchase, which I did at an office supply store. During the month, we also got new cell phones.
Debit Cards, Office Supply Purchases at Office Stores = 16,862 Ultimate Rewards points
During the month, I purchased $48 worth of gas.
Gas purchases = 96 Ultimate Rewards points
As you read this post, I’m sure you can discover a lot of creative ways to maximize your earning if you have the Ink Bold. Between 5x office stores, 2x gas purchases, and the Ultimate Rewards Mall, there are a lot of ways to get up to 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent.
Ink Bold application click here.
Do any of you have the Ink Bold card? How do you use it to supercharge your Ultimate Rewards balance?
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About Craig Ford
I went to a local Office Depot in the Metro Boston area recently and discovered that their large-denomination AmEx and Visa gift cards are gone. I got a $500 Visa gift card there in October; now their largest is $100. I asked the cashier, who of course had no idea. She asked the manager who said simply “We don’t sell those anymore.” With the activation fee per card, buying the $100 denominations isn’t worthwhile to get the points, so that seems to kill the deal entirely. Have others found the same thing where they live? Any workarounds?
I wouldn’t buy $100 cards if there is a $4.95 fee. That offsets the value. If your’re wanting to buy these types of cards I’d suggest checking at an Office Max or another Office Depot in town. I’m assuming you have a Chase Ink Bold or Plus type card. If not, you might want to check Walgreens for Vanilla Reload cards to use witha Bluebird account.
Yes, I do have the Bold card, and yes, as I said, I agree about not buying the $100 cards as it offsets the point gain. I’m just wondering if my experience at my Office Depot (not carrying large-denomination gift cards anymore) is isolated, or if others have experienced it at their local Office Depots or other office supply stores, which would indicate it’s a company-wide decision, possibly related to perceived abuse and/or complaints from credit card issuers. Could others chime in?
My local Office Depot and Office Max both are still selling cards up to $500.