Chase Website Now Tracks Credit Card Bonus Spend
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
From the rotating quarterly 5x points/5% cash back categories with the Chase Freedom card (No longer open to new applicants) to the incredibly lucrative (for small businesses in particular) 3x categories with the Amex Business Gold Rewards card, consumers and business owners alike have some pretty fantastic opportunities to earn tens or even hundreds of thousands of bonus points with their regular spend.
But while some bonuses are uncapped, such as 5x on airfare with The Platinum Card from American Express and 3x on all travel and dining with Chase Sapphire Reserve, other cards limit how many extra points you can earn per bonus period — be it three months, a calendar year or an account anniversary year. One such card is the Chase Ink Plus card, and its no-fee counterpart, Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card.
These two business cards offer 5x Ultimate Rewards points or 5% cash back on certain bonus spend, respectively. With Plus, cardholders can earn 5 points per dollar on the first $50,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on cellular phone, landline, internet and cable TV services each account anniversary year, and 2 points per dollar on the first $50,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and hotels each account anniversary year. Cash cardholders earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent with the same merchants that Ink offers 5x, plus 5% back on the first $25,000 spent with gas stations and restaurants within the same period. Given that we value Ultimate Rewards points at 2.1 cents apiece, these bonus points offer incredible value, so it's worth investing some time to take advantage.
While most consumers likely won't be able to max out all of these categories, many business owners can spend $50,000 on eligible purchases in a single month. It's these customers that'll benefit most from Chase's latest website addition.
When you log into your Ultimate Rewards dashboard for a given card, you'll now see the below page, which outlines your available points (or cash back, in the case of Chase Ink Business Cash) and your spend toward each bonus category. (As you can see below, I'm a long ways from maxing out my $25,000 limit with Ink Cash, but perhaps you've already met your spending goals.)
The same page (below) is also available for the Chase Freedom card, and I imagine it'll populate with similar data for the 3x categories (on the first $150,000 spent) with the Ink Business Preferred Card, once that becomes available.
While it has been possible to gather some of this data in the past, these new pages certainly simplify that process. If you've been tallying up statement expenses or tracking your eligible spend with a spreadsheet, this new method will definitely make your life a bit easier.
It's not clear how quickly these pages are updated, though — that might not be an issue for the 5x categories with Chase Ink Plus or Chase Ink Business Cash, since you have a full year to meet those goals, but a delay could pose some challenges with the Chase Freedom card, especially if you're saving eligible purchases until the last minute.
Have you noticed Chase's new bonus spend tacker?
H/T: Doctor of Credit
