Update 6/22/26: Chase has now sent a correction email to Chase Ink Business Plus customers, indicating that this was indeed a mistake and that 5X on shipping purchases will be temporarily honored (until 6/26/26). Here is the text of the email I received:
Dear Ink Business Plus Customer:
You may have received an email on June 15th incorrectly listing “shipping” as an eligible 5x points category on your Ink Business Plus® card. The email should have stated:
“5x points at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services, on the first $50,000 combined spend each account anniversary year.”
Here’s what this means for you:
• From 6/15/26 through 6/27/26: Eligible shipping purchases will earn 5x points. • After 6/27/26: Eligible shipping purchases will earn 1x points. • No change to your other 5x categories: Purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services will continue to earn 5x points on the first $50,000 in combined spend each account anniversary year. • Please note that points adjustments may take up to 6-8 weeks. No action is required on your part.
We are sorry for the confusion and thank you for being our customer.
That’s great news for those who were concerned about these changes, and a nice bonus for those who have shipping charges to pay in the next few days. The original post follows.
Update 6/16/26: Gary Leff at View from the Wing reports that Chase has confirmed that this email sent to cardholders contained inaccurate information, that the office supply bonus category is not being eliminated. Apparently, cardholders can expect a correction email as soon as possible. The original post follows.
On the heels of a number of other painful devaluations comes perhaps the worst bit of news yet in 2026: some cardholders have received an email notification indicating that the Chase Ink Business Plus card will no longer offer 5X on office supply stores beginning on October 1, 2026. On the surface, that might not seem like as much of a blow as it is because this is an old card that is no longer available to new applicants and hasn’t been available for years. However, the fact that they are changing bonus categories on such an old card, which is very similar to today’s Ink Business Cash card, certainly seems to foreshadow the fact that we may see a similar change coming to the Ink Cash card. That would be a devastating blow for many folks who are heavily invested in the Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem.
It is worth noting that we haven’t seen any public confirmation of this news, but rather have seen screenshots of emails from a number of cardholders. We expect that this is a real change coming rather than a typo, though there is some chance that this will turn out to have been a mistake.
The news today is coming from Chase cardholders who have the old and no longer available Chase Ink Business Plus card. The Ink Plus card was very similar to today’s Ink Cash card, with the key differences being that the Ink Plus card has a $95 annual fee and allows for up to $50,000 per cardmember year in purchases in its 5X bonus categories (whereas the Ink Cash has a $25,000 limit on 5X categories). The cards were otherwise very similar.
I’ve been a Chase Ink Plus cardholder for over a decade. When they discontinued the card, I kept my Ink Plus because I sometimes spent very heavily at office supply stores. However, this news is a huge blow.
The email being cited by cardholders indicates a switch-up in bonus categories, with office supply stores being replaced by shipping.
That might be a welcome change for a small business owner who does a lot of shipping, but it would come as a painful change for those accustomed to having a lot of bandwidth to earn 5X at office supply stores.
If this news is limited to the Ink Plus card, the damage will be far less devastating; however, if this email proves true, it seems reasonable to guess that this news is merely foreshadowing a change to come on the Chase Ink Business Cash Card. While we certainly have our fingers crossed that the Ink Cash card will maintain its current bonus categories in its current form, I think it’s pretty reasonable to guess that we may see a similar change coming on the Ink Cash. Again, I certainly hope that’s not the case as it will have a major impact on the reward strategy for those with an Ink Cash card.
This has been a rough couple of months for the old guard in terms of miles and points enthusiasts who’ve been around the hobby for many years. There are a lot of factors in that, but certainly a couple of key recent factors have been:
- the launch of a brand new, highly complexified World of Hyatt Award chart
- The reduction of the transfer ratio from Ultimate Rewards to World of Hyatt for Chase Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred, as well as this old and no longer available Ink Plus card
- Losing the ability to earn points for referring a new Chase Ink cardholder if they have other Chase business cards
- The reduction of the transfer ratio from Citi to Choice Privileges and Preferred Hotels
- The loss of the ability to transfer Citi points to other cardholders
That’s certainly not all, but losing office supply stores as a 5X category is one more blow that really stings for Ultimate Rewards aficionados. Fingers crossed that this is either a mistake or a change limited to the Ink Plus.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
“Chase Ink Plus not going to lose 5x Office Supply on October 1, 2026″(whispered: “ask us again on October 2nd, hee hee…”)
Seems very unprofessional.
I would love to see the original poster of this trash stand up before the readers and explain why this garbage was sent out in the first place?
It would be nice if journalists knew how to check their sources before frothing from the mouth……………
Nobody is committing any journalism around here.
It would be even nicer if people understood the difference between blogging and journalism.
Other than Visa and Mastercard gift cards, what other products do people purchase that to maximize the MS 5x at Staples and office Depot?
I will buy AMZN GC and sell at 95% from time to time but not as profitable as V/MC GCs but there is only 1 store in my area and they are quick to sell out and slow to restock. RIP PP cash load.
Thank you KMO. What’s the best method to liquidate them? I have 2 Staples & 2 Office Depots in my area.
Getting money orders from WM or a grocery store is best but that’s been getting harder and harder. Buying Costco shop cards works if you buy shiny stuff there but Costco has some limits on how often you can use different payment methods so its hard to scale too big.
as veterans of this hobby know, there are 2 kinds of “errors”:
1) a true mistake. no basis in reality. just an error
2) only an error in that it was sent early. a preview of whats to come. its an error now, but will be true later
this smells like 2) (as are most errors in this hobby)
How unprofessional of Chase. To listen to one author, big banks NEVER made such errors . . . because they are professional. Unlike unprofessional Bilt.
Chase has been a train wreck lately but nobody can compete with Bilt for incompetence lol
I’ll take Bilt’s 4X everyday spending > Hyatt incompetence over Chase’s professionalism every single time. I’ll take Bilt’s 200% transfer bonus incompetence over Chase’s professionalism every single time. You keep laughing. I’ll keep laughing all the way to the bank.
There are plenty of reasons to use Bilt, but competence isn’t one of them. Honestly if they spent as much time working on their customer service as they do trolling bloggers they don’t like they would do wonders for their reputation.
I believe this was once called the Ink Bold Card. I still have it called Business Plus now and got the email. There is another bad issue which I don’t see mentioned here – this card allows for transfers to partners (hence the $95 fee) and I believe the Business Ink Plus does not. That’s why I cancelled all my Business Ink cards. I spend a lot at Staples every month but it looks like that will go away now and I no longer have the many Business Ink Cash cards (with P2 we had 6 at one time).
So, if you don’t have another Chase premium card you cannot transfer points. P2 has only the very expensive Business Reserve card which offers very little (to us) besides the initial bonus and P2 happens to be the Hyatt Globalist every year. Yes, we can transfer from my Hyatt to hers but with restrictions.
I am guessing the solution is to downgrade the Business Reserve for the Business Sapphire Preferred, but Chase has been more than difficult lately – despite my being a Chase Private Client for over 10 years with investments there. There used to be benefits for that status: free entry to museums, free everything (fees for checks, wire transfers, bank safe deposit boxes, etc. All gone.
B of A / Merrill Lynch still offers a lot of perks for their premium customers though they are requiring larger account balances now to get paid 2.625% for using a credit card to pay taxes.
It does feel like the Biq Squeeze.
Ink Bold was a separate product and a charge card not a credit card. I held both at one time. Also you are wrong on Ink Plus it absolutely does allow transfers.
Sorry, I meant Ink Cash.
Chase tells me this email was sent in error and there are no changes to Ink Plus earn categories https://viewfromthewing.com/chase-confirms-ink-plus-5x-office-supply-bonus-category-not-ending-after-mistaken-email/
I’ve shaken off all the other negative Chase and Hyatt news, but this might be the one that breaks the camels back. Well, Chase, Staples and I are about to get a whole lot less close.
Ok, I will focus a whole lot more on earning the other transfer currencies. I really need Chase to throw some good news our way as they are just slaughtering too many sacred cows right now.
I have the grandfather’d chase ink card and received “the email” today. It’s a strange email, because it leads with “what’s changing,” and discusses that now-well-known devaluation of the Hyatt transfer ratio. The email then goes on to describe what they claim is NOT changing (“Same Great Benefits”), but that includes the omission of the 5x at office supply stores and the inclusion of 5x on shipping. There’s no mention in this section of an October change. So this could very well be a mistake. However, I’ve long suspected that the 5x at office supplies is a massive money loser, so I could certainly see why Chase would change this. I think we’ll have to wait for a clarification.
Wow, that took 20 years!
Absolutely brutal several weeks. I have two plus cards.
Not worth keeping hereafter.
So Chase doesn’t want swipe fees on office supply stores? lol.On old established customers not looking for a sign up bonus?
Let’s say that Chase loses 2.5% on every office supply store transaction at 5x.
That’s essentially $625 for someone maxing or a CIC, or 2/3 of an Ink SUB every year. Double that for these Ink Plus cards.
I really hope that this is not true. If it is, I’ll product change my CIP to CIC. If they stop it for CIC, then Chase becomes much less relevant once the Paze 10X ends after 2026.
I feel like Chase and AmEx are really on the decline while Rove and Bilt are just killing it, and I think that there are two reasons behind this:
I also think Chase knows that 5X at office supply is just about the biggest MS opportunity in this game.