Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
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Update 11/2/23: We’ve been informed that this increased United Business card offer will be removed by 6 PM EST on 11/8/2023. If you’re on the fence, now’s the time.
The Chase United Business card is out with a new, increased offer this week. We saw offers for more miles last year, but this new offer waives the annual fee in the first year and has a reasonable $5k minimum spend, which might make it more appealing depending on how you felt about the higher spend offers.
The Offer
Click the card name below to go to our dedicated Frequent Miler page for more information about this card and a link to apply.
| Card Offer |
|---|
75K Miles ⓘ Affiliate 75K miles after $5K spend in first 3 months.$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99 After clicking through, be sure to click the link at the top that says, "Are you a small business owner?" to see the business card offers that include this card. You are not eligible for the bonus if you have received the bonus on this card within the past 24 months. Please note that the United EXPLORER Business card (no longer available) is a different product and does not affect your ability to get the bonus on this card. |
Key Card Details
| Card Name w Details No Review (no offer) |
|---|
$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99 Earning rate: 2X at restaurants including eligible delivery services , gas stations, and office supply stores ✦ 2X United ✦ 2X on local transit and commuting, including taxicabs, mass transit, tolls, and ride share services Card Info: Visa Signature issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Big spend bonus: $100 annual United travel credit after 7 United flight purchases greater than $100 ✦ Earn up to 1,000 PQPs per year: 25 PQPs per $500 spend Noteworthy perks: ✦ Improved economy saver award availability ✦ Unlocks complimentary elite upgrades on award tickets ✦ Free first checked bag ✦ Priority boarding ✦ No foreign exchange fees ✦ 2 United Club passes per year at anniversary ✦ Free DashPass for one year (must activate by 12/31/27) ✦ Primary auto rental collision damage waiver ✦ 5,000 bonus miles at anniversary when you have this card and also a personal Chase United credit card. ✦ 25% back as a statement credit on United in-flight and Club Premium drink purchases |
Quick Thoughts
Chase added some new perks on this card when it replaced the United Mileage Plus Business Explorer card. Those perks include:
- 2X on local transit and commuting, including taxicabs, mass transit, tolls, and ride share services
- $100 annual United travel credit after 7 United flight purchases greater than $100
- 25% back on United in-flight purchases
- 5,000 bonus miles at anniversary when you have this card and also a personal Chase United credit card
Having any personal Chase United card, including the annual-fee-free Chase United Gateway card should be enough to trigger the 5,000 bonus miles at anniversary, which helps toward mitigating the annual fee on this card.
United’s dynamic pricing model could actually help you stretch this offer pretty far if you’ve got cheap one-ways from your local airport. On the other hand, if you’re eligible for a Chase business card, I’d prioritize a fee-free Chase Ink Cash or Ink Unlimited card, both of which are currently offering 90K Ultimate Rewards points (which could be transferred to United or a more advantageous transfer partner if you have a premium Chase card). Unfortunately, United got rid of its award chart in November 2019, so it is harder to count on consistent value out of United miles than it once was.
Keep in mind that this card is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule, so you will not be eligible if you have opened 5 or more personal cards in the past 24 months. However, this card will not add to your 5/24 count.
| Chase's 5/24 Rule: With most Chase credit cards, Chase will not approve your application if you have opened 5 or more cards with any bank in the past 24 months. To determine your 5/24 status, see: 3 Easy Ways to Count Your 5/24 Status. The easiest option is to track all of your cards for free with Travel Freely. |
| Chase 5/24 semantics ("Subject to" vs. "Count towards"): Most Chase cards are subject to the 5/24 rule. That means the rule is enforced in making approval decisions. In other words, you probably won't get approved if your credit report shows that you opened 5 or more cards in the past 24 months. Meanwhile, most business cards (such as those from Chase, Amex, Barclaycard, BOA, Citi, US Bank, and Wells Fargo) are not reported on your personal credit report. These cards do not count towards 5/24. Example: Chase Ink Business Preferred is subject to 5/24, so you likely won't get approved if over 5/24. If you do get approved, it won't count towards 5/24 since it won't appear as an account on your credit report. |
Furthermore, this is a business card. The good news is that many people have a business without realizing it.
| Applying for Business Credit Cards Yes, you have a business: In order to sign up for a business credit card, you must have a business. That said, it's common for people to have businesses without realizing it. If you sell items at a yard sale, or on eBay, for example, then you have a business. Similar examples include: consulting, writing (e.g. blog authorship, planning your first novel, etc.), handyman services, owning rental property, renting on airbnb, driving for Uber or Lyft, etc. In any of these cases, your business is considered a Sole Proprietorship unless you form a corporation of some sort. When you apply for a business credit card as a sole proprietor, you can use your own name as your business name, use your own address and phone as the business' address and phone, and your social security number as the business' Tax ID / EIN. Alternatively, you can get a proper Tax ID / EIN from the IRS for free, in about a minute, through this website. Is it OK to use business cards for personal expenses? Anecdotally, almost everyone I know uses business cards for personal expenses. That said, the terms in most business card applications state that you should use the card only for business use. Also, some consumer credit card protections do not apply to business cards. My advice: don't use the card for personal expenses if you're not comfortable doing so. |
Overall, this is a decent offer if you need United miles and the card makes for a good pair with a no-fee United personal card since the annual bonus miles reduce your effective cost per year while giving you the full benefits like a free checked bag. I don’t know whether we’ll see the 150K offer return, so it may be worth holding off if you feel bullish on that coming back and you can meet the larger spending requirement.
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Still available via referrals generated prior to today.
Is there a downgrade path for this card after year one?
Hey Nick, I have a hypothetical question: if the personal UA Explorer CC had the same sign up bonus, would you go for the biz card (won’t add to 5/24 score, but no downgrade option to no AF CC) or personal (will count toward 5/24 but can downgrade to no AF Gateway CC)?
Thank you.
I have done both these over 2 year span. I now keep my United Business open since it gives me 5000 “better together” bonus miles each anniversary when paired with my no AF personal united card, and chase is allowing me to redeem 6600 united miles toward business annual fee of $99. So I am effectively paying 1600 miles to get 2 united club passes and free checked bags on united flights for a year. I fly United at least once per year with the family, so those are useful benefits
That is a great 1-2 combo there, plus you get access to more saver UA award space, which you can probably get more than 1,600 miles in value.
I also keep the UA Biz open (along with the personal Gateway). In addition to what DMoney says, I also get $700 in UA Travelbank for net $600 per year. Since I book my own corporate travel and then get reimbursed, it is easy to burn down my Travelbank.
Has anyone else noticed a huge devaluation lately for United domestic flights? I am seeing 50k for $300-$400 flights lately. If it stays this way, I will never transfer points to United again.
Can I have an Ink Cash tied to my SSN (before I got the EIN) and a different one tied to my EIN? When I got an Ink Unlimited in Nov to get the 75K bonus, I had to create a different login; my guess is that is because my prior biz cards were only SSN and the newest one use EIN. They said I could combine them into one login with a call, but I have not cared enough to do anything about it.
If the limit is 1 Ink Cash, I may go for this UA card. Unless something changed during COVID, UA Basic Econ does not allow a free carry-on bag unless you have one of the paid CCs, so between the 5K points, 2 free lounge passes, and that free carry-on, it could definitely be a keeper for me if business travel returns to anything similar to what it was.
I have a legitimate business. When I used my SSN in the past, I got instant approval. Now that I have a official EIN, I am now being asked for all of this documentation. Maybe they are just tightening up… but I kind of regret getting the EIN. BOA is asking for even more than Chase.