There's been a rumor for a while that Chase was going to decrease the minimum spend requirement on its line of Ink products from $10,000 to $5,000 and the main links at Chase.com have been updated to reflect the lower requirement. However, some people in forums and in the comments of other blogs (like MMS) have reported application errors this past weekend. I know Chase is officially changing the offer within their affiliate network sites (like mine) on Tuesday, so my guess is that the offer will be officially aligned in all networks (in branches, through chase.com and in affiliate networks) this week and the errors should go away. It takes a lot of time and effort for Chase to align a new offer through all networks, so if you are trying to plan your next round of credit card applications, my guess is this offer should be around for a while, but I'll update once I get official clarification.
New Offer:
Ink Bold 50,000 points after $5,000 spent within 3 months
Ink Plus 50,000 points after $5,000 spent within 3 months
Expiring offer:
Ink Bold 25,000 points after first purchase and an additional 25,000 points after $10,000 spent within 3 months
Ink Plus 25,000 points after first purchase and an additional 25,000 points after $10,000 spent within 3 months
Off the bat, clearly $5,000 minimum spend is better than having to spend $10,000 for the same amount of points, but the only consideration I could see is that the current offer that expires tomorrow gives 25,000 points after the first purchase and then the second set of 25,000 after $10,000 spent within 3 months. This offer is better for people who a) can't spend $5,000 within 3 months or b) those who will easily spend $10,000 (which isn't hard to do with purchasing Vanilla reload cards at stores like CVS) and would rather have the initial 25,000 points before having to hit $5,000 in spend. Chase is very good about posting sign-up bonuses, so with the current $10k spend offer, you should get your first batch of 25,000 points once your first statement closes when you first use your card.
If you've gotten the cards recently with the $10,000 spend requirement and would rather have the $5,000 spend offer, you can call Chase or send them a secure message (Chase.com -> Secure Message Center) and ask to be given the $5,000 spend requirement offer. Chase is generally very good at honoring better promotions if you've signed up within the past 90 days or so.
I think the Ink Bold and Plus cards are among the very best business cards on the market and the 50,000 point sign-up bonus is worth about $1,000 on it's own - making it a no brainer especially since the $95 annual fee on both cards is waived the first year. I actually have three Ink products: the Old Bold, New Bold and Ink Plus, and they are an integral part of my Ultimate Rewards points earning strategy since they allow me to earn 5x points on office supplies/cell phone/internet/landline/TV spend and 2 points per dollar on gas stations and hotels (though I put hotel spend on my Sapphire Preferred to get 2.14 points per dollar). While it's lucrative to buy Vanilla Reload cards and then load your Bluebird account to pay your everyday bills (even your Chase credit card!) the Ink products are good for the other bonus categories and no foreign transaction fees as well. All in all, the Ink cards can be powerful tools in your points-earning arsenal, and the lower minimum spending requirement only makes them that much more attractive.
