Are we about to lose our beloved Ink Cash 5X categories? Via Twitter, a reader asked what’s up with Ink Cash:
@FrequentMiler what’s up with Ink Cash 3x categories rather than the 5x/2x? https://t.co/shNlcMbbaJ
— Jay P (@JayP76828046) June 24, 2018
He was referring to the fact that this Chase’s cardholder information page for the card shows 3% cash back categories rather than 5% and 2%.
| Verdict: No, we’re not losing 5X categories. As PointsYak points out in the comments, the landing page found by Jay P is for an old, no longer available, version of the Ink Cash card. Cardholders with that card still earn points under the old 3X bonus categories, but all new cardholders earn 5X under the current structure. |
Here’s a comparison of the current 5X version of the card, and the old 3X version:
| Spend Category | Current 5X Ink Cash | Old 3X Ink Cash |
|---|---|---|
| Office supply stores | 5X | 3X |
| Internet, cable and phone services | 5X | 1X |
| Gas stations | 2X | 3X |
| Restaurants | 2X | 3X |
| Home improvement stores | 1X | 3X |
| Everywhere else | 1X | 1X |
| Bonus Category Limits: | $25K spend per membership year | $2K spend per billing cycle |
Note that the bonus information for the 3X version comes from a details page link at the bottom of Chase’s page. The relevant text is as follows:
3% Cash Back: You’ll earn 3% Cash Back rewards total for each $1 of the first $2,000 spent each billing cycle on combined purchases in the following rewards categories: office supply stores; home improvement stores; gas stations; restaurants (2% additional Cash Back rewards on top of the 1% Cash Back rewards earned on each purchase). This equates to $0.03 in Cash Back rewards, which is equal to 3 points, for each $1 spent. After $2,000 is spent on combined purchases in these categories each billing cycle, you go back to earning 1% Cash Back rewards for every dollar spent, with no maximum. We may offer you ways to earn bonus points through the program or special promotions.
Recommendation
If you have the old 3X version of the Ink Cash card, you’ll likely do much better with the current 5X version. Your best bet is to apply new so that you can take advantage of the Ink Cash welcome bonus (currently 50K points!). If you don’t want to do that, you can call and ask to product change to the current Ink Cash.
You can read our analysis of the current 5X Ink Cash card, and find an application link, here.
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At what point does it make sense to downgrade to the fee free version assuming you have one of the Saphire cards in order to transfer points and get the better value when available?
Are you talking about downgrading the Ink Plus or the Ink Business Preferred?
If you mean the ink plus — the time to downgrade is at precisely the point when you realize you don’t spend much more than than $25K/yr cap on the 5x categories. If you know you’ll spend a lot more, the extra rewards could be worth paying the annual fee — but if you’re not spending much more than $25K/yr in those categories, it’s probably not worth it.
Of course, once you PC off of the Ink Plus, you can’t get it back – so you’ll want to be sure you want to downgrade.
If you’re talking about downgrading the Ink Business Preferred, it just depends where and how you spend, though I think most people would be better off downgrading to the Ink Cash if they have a CSR anyway.
Currently I have the Ink Business Plus. Have just been waiting for a good offer from one of the Sapphire cards. Thanks for the advice!
I probably shouldn’t write blog posts after spending most of the day drinking (was visiting “Beer City” Grand Rapids). I’ve updated this post so that it is now accurate (I believe). Thanks PointsYak for being on top of it.
An error was made the bloggers made lite of it I need my 5x
Thanks .
CHEERs
Worst click bait I’ve seen in awhile. Losing integrity!
Seriously Greg? That’s the old legacy Ink Cash card.
Oh cr…., I think you’re right. This might just be a huge screw up on Chase’s part to somehow bring back the old info into this new format.
This old card still exists. The link in your post points to its description page. All normal Ink Cash links correctly show the current card. Fortunately, there’s no real concern here.
Blegh, then edit the post, put an UPDATE in bold at the top, strikethrough old text etc. I shouldn’t have to dig through comments to learn this isn’t relevant
I had done so before your comment, but maybe the changes hadn’t propagated yet