Small Business credit cards are a bit of a special animal in the credit card world.  Unlike what we call “personal” cards, some cards like the Chase Ink Business Unlimited that are tagged as “business” cards do require you to have a business to apply.  You’ll be asked for business identifier (SSN or EIN), business income, years in business and other things about your business on your Chase Ink Business Unlimited application.  I’m lucky to have a couple of businesses, but you might have a business too, even if you don’t think you do. You can often apply just as a sole proprietorship with your own SSN if you don’t have a separate business EIN.

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Chase Ultimate Rewards are one of the best types of miles and points currencies out there – because it’s a transferrable currency, it’s able to be transferred to a variety of miles and points partners, which helps insulate it from devaluations.

Plus it’s easier than others to get a lot of – including the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, Ink Preferred, Ink Unlimited, Ink Cash, Freedom Flex, Freedom Unlimited.

The Chase Ink Business Unlimited has 3 main things going for it

• First, a welcome offer that allows you to bonus_miles_full (it’s advertised as a cash bonus, but see the section below)
• 1.5 Ultimate Rewards per dollar spent
• No annual fee

And that’s…. pretty much it.  No frills, no category bonuses.  Just a solid welcome offer, a solid earn for your everyday spend, and no annual fee. This is very similar to the Chase Freedom Unlimited card, but with a much bigger welcome offer. This card does fall under the Chase 5/24 rule, so you’ll likely not be approved if you’ve applied for 5 or more cards in the past 24 months.

Combining Chase Ultimate Rewards from your Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card

Since the Chase Ink Business Unlimited card is not considered a “premium” card, its points are only worth 1 cent when considered by themselves.  However, if you already HAVE a premium card (like the Sapphire Reserve or Ink Preferred for example), then you are able to (at least for now!) combine all your Chase Ultimate Rewards into one account.

So your 1.5x for every dollar spent, if transferred to an account with the Sapphire Reserve (where you can REDEEM for 1.5 times), would give you 2.25% back on purchases through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.  And of course if you transfer them to travel partners, you can often get even MORE value.

To me, this makes the Chase Ink Business Unlimited possibly the best business credit card to put everyday spending on, if you’re not meeting a minimum spending requirement or getting a category bonus.

Primary Rental Car Coverage and Travel Protections

One of the best Chase Ink Business Unlimited benefits is that it offers primary car rental coverage in most countries around the world, as long as you are renting the car for business purposes. Renting a car using a credit card that has primary car rental coverage can be a big time and money saver if you happen to get into an accident or cause damage while renting.

(SEE ALSO: How a Chase car insurance claim saved my mom nearly $900)

(SEE ALSO: Why you’re foolish to rent a “standard” car)

The Chase Ink Unlimited card also offers travel and emergency assistance services.

Is the Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card the best business card out there?

I think the Chase Ink Business Unlimited card has a case for the best business card out there.  Here’s a quick look at some of the other contenders

• card_name – welcome offer lets you bonus_miles_full. You’ll earn 3x category bonuses but only 1x on every day spend and a $95 fee
• card_name – welcome offer lets you bonus_miles_full. You’ll earn only 1x on everyday spend and 5x on certain categories and no annual fee. Comparing the Ink Cash to the Ink Business Unlimited will depend on how much of your regular spend is in these bonus categories
• American Express Blue Business Card – no annual fee, 2x Membership Rewards on every purchase and a 15,000 Membership Rewards bonus (though I’ve seen the bonus vary over time)
• American Express Business Platinum card – this card has a $695 annual fee but comes with a variety of premium benefits (but only 1x on everyday spend, though there are bonuses in some categories and for large purchases). Currently it has a bonus of 120,000 Membership Rewards bonus but there are often targeted offers for more.

KEY LINK: card_name – bonus_miles_full annual_fees

If you’re looking for links to apply to the American Express business credit cards instead, you can find it on our top credit card offers page, under small business cards. If you’re interested in signing up, we may receive a commission if you sign up through our link – we appreciate the support!

What do you think? Where does the Chase Ink Business Unlimited card fall in the list of best business cards out there?  Leave your thoughts in the comments

Alaska Airlines miles are regularly considered some of the highest value in the travel industry due to their unique partnerships and award chart sweet spots. Recently Alaska announced their highest bonus of the year, a tiered promotion offering up to 60% bonus miles when purchasing. Depending on your needs, this can be an awesome deal.

(SEE ALSO: 5 ways to fly to Australia with at least one amazing stopover)

(SEE ALSO: 10 sweet spots for using miles to fly economy)

The Details

This promo is going on now through May 21st. Click here to navigate to the purchase page. If you have no status, you can acquire up to 150,000 bonus miles per year, though this limit is waived if you have MVP, MVP Gold, or MVP Gold 75k status. I have seen reports that the bonus shows up differently for different people – for me, it was a tiered bonus with a maximum of up to 60% miles. Your mileage may vary depending on the promotion that is targeted to you.

• Buy 3,000-19,000 miles, get a 40% bonus
• Buy 20,000-39,000 miles, get a 50% bonus
• Buy 40,000-100,000 miles, get a 60% bonus

Purchases are processed through Points.com, which means that you’ll want to buy these with a card that maximizes everyday spend, like the Citi Double Cash.

Normally, each 1,000 Alaska miles would cost $29.56 with tax included; that is 2.9 cents per mile! Nobody values Alaska miles at more than 2 cents per mile, so at the normal rate, it doesn’t make sense to buy. Buying at least 40,000 miles with this promotion nets you an additional 60% in bonus points, which with tax brings the cost of a point down to 1.85 cents per mile. It’s not hard to find more value than that out of Alaska miles.

You can use your miles on Alaska Airlines flights itself, or on any of their partners. And now that Alaska Airlines is part of the oneworld airline alliance, you can use Alaska miles for travel on most (if not all) oneworld partners.

(SEE ALSO: [QUIZ] – Can you name the oneworld alliance members?)

Terms and Conditions

• Transactions must be completed between 6:00 AM PT April 10, 2023 and 11:59 PM PT May 21, 2023 to be eligible for bonus miles.
• Miles are purchased from Points.com Inc. for a cost of $27.50 per 1,000 miles, plus GST/HST for Canadian residents and QST for Quebec residents.
• Miles are non-refundable and do not count toward MVP and MVP/Gold status.
• You may purchase and gift Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles in increments of 1,000 miles up to 60,000 miles, and in increments of 5,000 miles up to a maximum of 100,000 miles per transaction.
• MVP, MVP Gold, MVP Gold 75K and MVP Gold 100K Mileage Plan member (Elite Member) accounts have no annual limit on the number of miles which may be purchased or gifted through Points.com. If you are not an Elite Member, your account may only be credited up to a maximum total of 150,000 miles acquired through Points.com in a calendar year, whether purchased by you or gifted to you. Bonus miles do not count toward the maximum total of 150,000 miles.
• Offer is subject to change and all terms and conditions of the Mileage Plan Program apply.
• *Points.com Inc. is collecting Federal Excise Tax on behalf of Alaska Airlines Inc.
• Alaska Airlines Inc. has the obligation to collect Federal Excise Tax and remit the tax to the appropriate government agency.

Again, here is the link to buy Alaska miles with up to a 60% bonus.

Even though we never recommend speculatively purchasing miles, I’m sorely tempted by this. Are any of you going to take advantage?

Southwest is offering up to a 50% discount on buying, gifting or transferring points through May 19th. This is a high bonus, close to the best bonus Southwest has ever offered. Let’s examine the math and see if this makes sense. All buying points do pay a commission so thanks in advance if you use them to help support the site.

The Promotion

Below are details of the promotion:

• Offer is valid between April 18, 2023, 12:00:01 a.m. CT and May 19, 2023, 11:59:59 p.m. CT.
• Rapid Rewards® Member will save 50% when the Member purchases 3,000 or more Rapid Rewards points within a single purchase
• A valid credit card is required to buy points.
• A minimum 3,000 points purchase threshold must be met on a per transaction basis in order to qualify for the discount.
• Points can be purchased in blocks of 1,000 and a daily maximum of 60,000 points can be purchased by a Member with no annual maximum

What about with the current promotion? This time the bonus is tiered –

• Buy fewer than 3,000 points – no discount
• Buy 3,000 or more points – 50% discount

If you purchase the maximum allowed, you will receive 60,000 points for $900.00, about 1.5 cents per point.

Remember that you can only redeem Southwest points for a fixed amount – usually though not always for about 1.33 cents per point.

(SEE ALSO: Yes, you CAN get 2.55 cents per Southwest point!)

So obviously buying points at 1.5 cents per point and redeeming them at 1.33 cents per point is not a winning strategy!  I’d say the only real opportunities where this might make sense is if you have multiple accounts with points in them and don’t have enough to book your flights and need to consolidate. One option would be to have the individual accounts buy flights for individual people, but that doesn’t always work out for flying. Another possibility is if you can find a redemption for more than 1.5 cents per point

Also it’s important to note that purchased points do NOT count towards earning the points you need for the Southwest Companion Pass

If you have questions about whether or not this makes sense for you, send me an email or post over in our free Points With a Crew miles and points Facebook group

Conclusion

Purchased points can represent great value sometimes. But as always, you need to crunch the numbers to ensure it makes sense.  (SEE ALSO: When does buying airline miles make sense?  ONLY in these 3 instances)

During the past two years, Southwest has offered bonus on purchase points about four times a year, and the maximum bonus ranged from 30% to 50%. A 50% discount is equivalent to more than a 50% bonus, so the current promotion is about the highest it’s ever been. As I always say, if you don’t have an urgent need for Southwest points, I would recommend waiting for the next promotion with higher bonus.  I generally would only buy Southwest or any other type of miles or points if you have a specific short-term need for them.

When you need to change a flight, it’s super easy.  Login to your Rapid Rewards account online, and modify the trip.  If your new flight selection needs more points, you’ll have to pay the difference.  If the new flight is less points than your original flight, you’ll get the difference refunded back to your account instantly!

There are no change or cancellation fees for Southwest flights, even with their cheapest fares!  This is a fantastic feature, and I took full advantage back when I had my Companion Pass for 2016 and 2017.

Buy, gift or transfer Southwest points here with up to a 50% discount through May 19th

So we turned to Airbnb, and after a paralyzing search, we settled on a couple of different places for our stay in Lisbon and Barcelona. I booked them recently, and for the one in Barcelona, we paid about USD$480 for a week’s stay. The price was a little bit lower than surrounding units but I didn’t feel it was WAY lower than other comparable units. But then I got a disturbing message from one of the hosts:

Message from our Airbnb host

Here’s the message I got (roughly translated from the original Spanish via Google Translate)

Thank you for choosing our home for your vacation. However, I wanted to tell you that there is a problem with the rate, because we do not make such low prices, at least they should be € 500, they are equivalent to the price of our weekend rate (€ 400) plus cleaning (€ 100). I have to check the prices of your reservation. Can you tell me if you have received a discount?

then

Hello again Dan. As I mentioned before I do not understand why you get a price so low for my house.
My base price is € 59 / day in winter. The minimum weekly price is € 800, but in summer it increases depending on the week. Specifically, my June rates are € 1000 per week, in total. We apply a 10% discount for stays of 7 days or more. YOUR DISCOUNT IS APPLIED TO YOUR RESERVATION. I have not been able to verify in any way where the price of your stay comes from, what I do know is that it does not fit into our rates. All previous and subsequent reservations are for a price higher than yours, even if they are shorter and midweek. Regretting it a lot I have to reject your reservation for this amount. We could make you a 25% discount due to the possible error of the rates but not 75%.
For me it is a very embarrassing situation, I think that as a host you will understand, and I would not like to lose your reservation, you have good ratings and I would like to stay at our house. I propose to pay € 100 per day, cleaning included, in total € 700. For now, regretting it a lot I have to cancel your reservation.
I hope you get in touch with me to clarify this matter. I apologize for any inconvenience you may have caused.

What to do now?

I’m not naming or linking to the host because I don’t want to publicly shame him yet, but I’m not sure what to do. I don’t really want to pay an extra $400, but at this point I don’t feel like I can “force” him to take my reservation, since at that point there is so much the host can do to make things miserable for our stay (including just not letting us in). I guess he can take the black mark on his profile and cancel it. I will probably call Airbnb but I doubt their customer service will be much help.

Ever had anything like this happen to you? What would you do? Leave your thoughts in the comments

up to a 80% bonus on purchased points

Normally, IHG points cost between $11.50 and $13.50 to purchase 1,000 points depending on how many points you buy (tax included), for a purchase price of 1.15-1.35 cent per point. That might seem cheap, but remember, IHG points are only worth about half a penny each, so at the normal rate, you’re paying almost triple the value. At the normal rate, it doesn’t make sense to buy IHG points.

What about with the 80% bonus? You’ll need to purchase at least 5,000 points to get the bonus, so as one example, for $1000, you’re getting 180,000 points. That brings the purchase price to 0.56 cents per point, which is closer to the normal redemption value, but still slightly higher.

One other thing is that IHG has bumped up the maximum amount of points you can buy to 250,000 points at once.

While I’m generally against buying points speculatively, if you need some points for your next redemption, it could be worth topping up your account.

(SEE ALSO: When is buying miles worth it? Only in these 3 instances)

If you do that, I recommend buying enough to get the maximum bonus amount. Here are the full terms and conditions:

• This Offer is available for qualifying purchases of IHG One Rewards points made between 12:00 AM ET on April 24, 2023 and 11:59 PM ET June 7, 2023 inclusive.
• Members will receive a bonus of 80% of the points purchased when they meet a minimum points purchase threshold on a per transaction basis.(Please click through to access the landing page for the Offer.)
• The number of points a member may purchase, gift, or receive as a gift during the Offer Period is subject to promotional period limits.
• Members may purchase a maximum of up to 250,000 points during the promotional period, depending on how many points the member had already purchased during the same calendar year

You can find the link to this promotion here

Other Ways to Get IHG Points

Remember too if you have the card_name , card_name, or card_name, you also get the 4th night free on award stays, which can help stretch your IHG points balance even further.

Here are a few of the IHG credit cards with their current welcome offers and more information about them.

• card_name – bonus_miles_full. annual_fees
• card_name – bonus_miles_full. annual_fees
• card_name – bonus_miles_full. annual_fees

Depending on where and when you’re staying, buying IHG points and using them for an award stay can be cheaper than paying the prevailing cash rates.

Are you planning on buying IHG points with an 80% bonus? Leave your thoughts in the comments

Note: the affiliate links in this post support the blog and our bloggers. If you do use one of our links, thank you!

But apparently that can mean the difference between getting to fly and being left at the airport, at least with Air New Zealand.

Be safe…or get off my plane!

A few years ago, a man and a woman were traveling on Air New Zealand from Wellington to Auckland when the plane returned to the gate to deposit them both once again in New Zealand’s second-largest city. Their offense was refusing to watch the safety video and view the safety card. The crew instructed them to do so multiple times, but the pair made it clear they weren’t interested.

The two were seated in an exit row, which does give you a bit more responsibility than the average passenger, so I can understand why the crew would take this far more seriously. In my experience sitting in an exit row, at least on U.S. carriers, you must provide a verbal “yes” that you are willing and able to help in an emergency, and you are always referred to the safety card to review the procedures. My son never fails to look it over thoroughly (except he can’t sit in the exit row at 8 years old).

In this case, the two passengers made it clear they were not interested in viewing the video, occupying themselves instead with their cell phones. The woman went as far as to put her fingers in her ears to make it crystal clear she wasn’t listening to the crew. The plane eventually returned to the gate to deposit the pair.

Receiving an infringement notice from the Civil Aviation Authority, the woman stood her ground, asserting that maybe Air New Zealand should stop making “Rachel Hunter ice cream ad” safety videos.

Even if Air New Zealand has a history of making awful safety videos, you still need to listen to them and to the crew. I’m not sure if the airline’s reaction would have been justified had the pair been seated in non-exit row seats. But given the responsibility the two had taken on for a few extra inches of legroom, I understand why the airline reacted the way it did.

Normally, Choice points cost $11.00 to purchase 1,000 points (tax included), for a purchase price of 1.10 cent per point. That might seem cheap, but remember, Choice points are only worth about 0.6 cents each, so at the normal rate, you’re paying a premium on the value. At the normal rate, it doesn’t make sense to buy Choice points.

What about with the 40% bonus offer? This offer is tiered.

• 0 – 7,000 points – no bonus
• 8,000 points or more – 40% bonus

If you buy 50,000 points, it will cost you $515 but with the 40% bonus offer you will get a total of 70,000 points, which brings the purchase price to 0.74 cents per point, which is closer to the normal redemption value, but still slightly higher.

While I’m generally against buying points speculatively, if you need some points for your next redemption, it could be worth topping up your account.

(SEE ALSO: When is buying miles worth it?  Only in these 3 instances)

(SEE ALSO: 4 best uses of Choice points)

You can find the link to this promotion here. I actually bought Choice points for the first time before my trip to Sweden a few years ago. We were looking at staying at the Clarion Hotel Sign in Stockholm. Choice was running a 10% off promotion then, so I paid $99 for the 10,000 points.That let me book the hotel for 10,000 points / night instead of paying USD$249 / night! It’s only for situations like these when I recommend buying points.

Will you buy Choice points with a 40% bonus offer? Or will you wait for a better offer to come back?

Note: the affiliate links in this post support the blog and our bloggers. If you do use one of our links, thank you!

Hilton Honors Points 100% Bonus

I currently value Hilton Honors Points at 6/10 of a cent per point (.006). You are able to purchase up to 160,000 points, which will earn you an extra 160,000 on top, for $1600 USD. This leaves you a value of 1/2 a cent per point (.005), which is a bit under my value. It is up to you to decide how much they are worth. But the real value is how you use them!

My family recently stayed 5 nights at the Homewood Suites Orlando International Drive for only 140,000 Hilton points, and got a free upgrade to a 2 bedroom suite. Those rooms were going for nearly $250 / night, which means that we got nearly 1 cent per point value!

While I’m generally against buying points speculatively, if you need some points for your next redemption, it could be worth topping up your account or if you have a specific redemption in mind

(SEE ALSO: When is buying miles worth it?  Only in these 3 instances)

However, I recommend applying for a Hilton Honors American Express Card to complement your points purchase (see below). With this, you will be well on your way to a beautiful award stay!

Getting more Hilton points

Generally I am more of a fan of using credit card welcome offers to get points instead of buying points. Right now several of the Hilton American Express cards have increased welcome offers and you can find those on our top credit card offers page

KEY LINK: Hilton 100% bonus on purchasing points until May 9th

Will you buy Hilton points with a 100% bonus?

Note: the affiliate links in this post support the blog and our bloggers. If you do use one of our links, thank you!

The Promotion

Below are details of the Hyatt 25% bonus points promotion:

• Offer available with purchases made between 12:01 am ET February 9, 2023 and ends 11:59 pm March 25, 2023
• Purchase 5,000 or more min Bonus Points in a single transaction and get 25% Bonus.
• In order to participate in a purchase transaction, you must be a member for at least 60 days to purchase or receive Bonus Points
• Bonus Points will be awarded upon completion of individual transactions.
• Bonus Points can be purchased in increments of 1,000, up to 55,000 points per calendar year
• I may receive a commission if you purchase points through my link

If you purchase the maximum allowed, you will receive 55,000 points plus 13,750 bonus points for a total of 68,750 points. The total cost is $1,320, about 1.92 cents per point.  Last time they ran this promotion the bonus was 40% so it’s not quite as high as it has ever been.

Redeeming Hyatt points for free nights

Below is the current award chart for Hyatt hotels, starting at as little as 5,000 points in a standard room, and goes up to 60,000 points in a suite at Hyatt’s most aspirational hotels.

As I have written before, one option to use your points is to stay at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar.  You can still save money even if you use points purchased to redeem a night. As an example, for the President’s Day weekend in February 2018, the average nightly rate for the 3-day weekend is $445 per night. With taxes and fees, 3 nights will cost you $1,737 in total (there are lots of taxes!)  Alternatively, you can use 20,000 points per night, or 60,000 points total for the entire weekend.

When I stayed at the Hyatt Zilara Montego Bay Jamaica, the cash cost was $620 / night plus tax! So if you were planning on staying there, buying points would be a cheaper option as well. I generally do not recommend buying points speculatively, but if you have a specific redemption like this, it could make sense

Should you buy Hyatt points with a 25% bonus?

Purchased points or airline miles can represent great value sometimes. But as always, you need to crunch the numbers to ensure it makes sense.

(SEE ALSO: When is buying airline miles worth it? In ONLY these 3 instances)

During the past two years, Hyatt has offered bonus on purchase points about four times a year, and the maximum bonus ranged from 25% to 40%. So the current promotion is on the low side. As I always say, if you don’t have an urgent need for Hyatt points, I would recommend waiting for the next promotion with higher bonus.  I generally would only buy Hyatt or any other type of miles or points if you have a specific short-term need for them

Buy Hyatt points here through March 25th

Since then, here are just a FEW of the times where I’ve had to do that

• Filing an EU261 compensation claim against Aer Lingus (they eventually paid me $1306)
• Getting British Airways to refund me 25,000 Avios after I paid for a business class award and was bumped to economy (they did, nearly a year later)
• Finally getting all of my IHG points after their Priceless Experiences (aka filling out 104 envelopes) promotion (family assembly line pic below)

Choice Hotels Fall 2017 promotion

Back in 2017, Choice Hotels had a promotion where you got a “free night” (actually 8000 points) after 2 stays.  I had a few paid stays coming up, so in October 2017 I decided to hotel hop in Colorado Springs between the Econo Lodge ($56 / night) and the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center ($84).

Fast forward a month or so, and I noticed that I hadn’t received any points for the stay.  I emailed the Choice Privileges Service center, which I have generally found to be a giant waste of time, and eventually (after WEEKS delay) I finally got a response that somehow my account had been set to earn “miles” instead of points.  I’m not sure what had happened as there was an account number listed under “miles” but no actual airline listed.  So not only did I not get any Choice points, I didn’t get any airline miles either!

Then it was time to call in to the Choice Privileges service center.  The first person I got was not helpful, but after HUCA, I got a friendlier agent who credited me my points (560 for the Econo Lodge stay and 840 for the Clarion stay).

But here we are nearly at the end of February 2018, and I haven’t received the bonus points from the promotion.  So given the waste of time that is emailing Choice Privileges, I called back in. The first lady I spoke to was nice, and sympathetic, but said there was nothing she could do.  I asked to speak to a supervisor, who, after about 15 minutes of hold, granted me my promotion points!

Sweet success!

Have you had to “fight” to get a company to honor a promotion?  Leave your stories in the comments