One of the common questions I get is, “What should I do with my Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink card after a year?” I usually tell people they have several options. One of the options for the Chase Ink credit card is to try to get a Chase Ink retention offer, which is either points or statement credit for you to keep the card. .
My general strategy for the credit cards with Chase Ultimate Rewards has been simply:
- Downgrading the Chase Sapphire Preferred to a no fee version
- Keeping the Chase Ink credit card after accepting a retention offer
This strategy works well for me and others because as I explained in a previous post titled “Why Downgrade Chase Sapphire Preferred and Keep Chase Ink Bold or Plus” because Chase Sapphire Preferred rarely offers a retention offer. However, Chase Ink Bold and Plus will offer a retention offer. Some say it’s dependent on your spending, but some say it’s random. For my Chase Ink Bold card, I’ve been only spending $200-300 per month. As soon as my annual fee hit, I called Chase to see what my options were.
“Hello, I’m thinking about cancelling my card”
“Let me see what we can do for you… We can currently give you 10,000 points for spending $5,000 in 3 months.”
“Is that the only offer available?”
“Yes, it’s the best we can do.”
“Okay, I’ll go ahead and do that, thank you.”
I decided to take the retention offer because 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points outweighs the $95 annual fee. I value Ultimate Rewards at 1.4 cents each so paying $95 for $140 worth of points is not a bad deal.This is my third year holding this credit card. The first time around I received 5,000 points, so this offer is better if you don’t find spending $5,000 in 3 months a problem with manufactured spending. I like having both the Chase Ink Bold and Plus to spread out some of my costs and manufactured spending. Also, officially they are for different businesses I have.
It’s important to keep one credit card with Chase Ultimate Rewards and it’s wise to choose the Chase Ink Bold or Plus (or both) to be able to transfer to airline miles/hotel programs. Because of retention offers, the Chase Ink credit card is ultimately (pun) one card to keep long-term.
