How to Get The Chase Ink Preferred 100K Offer (In-Branch, Matches) [2019]

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The Chase Ink Preferred 100k offer is one of the hottest credit card offers up there with the elusive Sapphire Reserve 100K offer.

But where can you find this offer? 

There are a couple of ways you might be able to get your hands on the 100K offer. These usually involve applying in-branch and establishing relationships with Chase Business Relationship Managers.

In this article I’l show you a couple of different routes you could take, and I’ll also touch on other things like matches and referrals. 

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How to get the Chase Ink Preferred 100k offer

The Chase Ink Preferred comes with a special offer from time to time where you can earn 100K Ultimate Rewards after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months after account opening.

But this is not the standard public offer.

Instead, this is an offer that only goes out on a limited basis and has only been available for select customers. In addition, the 100,000 Ink Preferred offer is not available online and you’ll need to head to a Chase branch to get it (when available).

There have also been targeted mailers out there for 120,000 points that others have received as well.

I’ll show you a couple of ways to get the 100K offer below but first a quick refresher on the Ink Preferred.

The Chase Ink Preferred

The Ink Preferred comes with one of the most valuable sign-up bonuses at 80,000 Ultimate Rewards after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months! At a valuation of 2 cents per point, that’s $1,600 worth of rewards. Even if you only redeemed these for a statement credit, that’s still an $800 rebate! 

The Ink Preferred earns 3X on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on:

  • Travel
  • Shipping purchases
  • Internet, cable and phone services
  • Advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines

Earning 3X on all of those categories has potential for tons of value, especially with such a high bonus spending cap. It also comes with great perks like primary rental car coverage when traveling on business and a unique cell phone protection benefit.

The Chase Ink Preferred also allows you to transfer your points out to several transfer partners including:

Chase Ultimate Rewards Airlines

  • Aer Lingus
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
  • Iberia Airways
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
  • United MileagePlus
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Chase Ultimate Rewards Hotels

  • World of Hyatt
  • IHG Rewards Club
  • Marriott Rewards
  • The Ritz-Carlton Rewards

While the 80K offer is very high, many people get their sights set on the 100K offer so this is how you might be able to get it.

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The BRM route

One of the only ways to find the 100K offer for the Chase Ink Business Preferred card is to try out the BRM route.

Chase Business Relationship Manager (BRM)

At certain times in the year (usually March to August), it’s possible to submit a paper application through a Chase Business Relationship Manager (BRM) and get access to increased offers for business credit cards.

One of these increased offers in the past has been the 100K offer for the Ink Preferred and another offer has been the 50K offer for the Chase Ink Cash.

(This is similar to how Chase Private Client members are given access to increased offers like the 60,000 point offer for the Chase Sapphire Reserve.)

So how do you submit an application with a BRM?

You’ll need to walk into a Chase branch and establish a relationship with a Chase Business Relationship Manager.

This means that you’ll probably need to set up a business bank account with Chase if you don’t already have one.

Setting up a Chase business account

Chase business bank accounts are pretty easy to set up but you’ll need to bring in your documents needed to show the existence of your business such as LLC filings, DBA filings, etc. It’s also a good idea to have a breakdown of the figures for your business when you walk in to open up an account.

I’ve seen data points here and there where people did not even open up a business bank account but still were able to get their apps processed through a Chase Business Relationship Manager, so you won’t always have to open up a business account.

If I were trying to get this offer though, I’d count on opening up a business account to increase my chances.

Finding a Chase Business Relationship Manager

Not every branch has a Chase Business Relationship Manager so you might need to call around to different branches to see where you can find one.

But note, if you’re already a Business Managed Client, you should be able to walk into about any branch and apply as a Business Managed Client.

Revenue requirement

The biggest hurdle for establishing a relationship with a Chase Business Relationship Manager is that you might to need to show a substantial amount of revenue, such as $500,000 or even more than that. (Some state that the revenue range is $1 million to $20 million.)

This seems to be backed up by the job description of a BRM:

At JP Morgan Chase, we have an obsession for helping our clients, taking care of our employees, a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, building relationships, and delivering extraordinary customer service. Our Business Banking segment serves the banking needs of businesses with $1 million to $20 million in revenue.

Getting around the revenue requirement

The good news is that you don’t always have to make this showing of massive business revenue.

Some people have been able to process their application via a Business Relationship Manager even though they were not an official Business Managed Client. As long as a Business Relationship Manager launches the application, then you should be in the clear. 

Moreover, you might even be able to persuade a BRM to process your application over the phone.

Unfortunately, there are not a lot of data points on getting around this exception so it’s a bit difficult to predict what type of success you might have if you were to go this route.

Small business week

The Chase Ink Preferred 100K offer has gone out during small business week which is usually at the end of April and beginning of May.

The small business week offer has only been available to BRM clients though it never hurts to give it a shot even if you’re not BRM.

Will Chase match to the Chase Ink 100K offer?

Chase is generally pretty good about matching offers within 90 days of higher offers going out.

But there’s an exception when the higher offer is limited to certain people and not publicly available.

So if you were approved for the 80K offer after applying online and then requested to be matched to the 100K offer, I would not expect that match to be honored. 

But if you applied in-branch or better yet with a BRM for the lower 80K offer, then I think you’d have a shot at getting the 100K offer.

Still, it never hurts to request a match and some have had luck with getting matched, so you might as well give it a try.

Waived annual fee in-branch?

Chase will sometimes waive the first year annual fee when you apply for the Chase Ink Preferred in-branch. I don’t think they usually waive the fee for the 100K offer, however.

If I had the choice between an 80K bonus with no annual fee and a 100K offer with an annual fee I would take the 100K offer since I value 20,000 Ultimate Rewards way more than $95.  

Chase Refer a Friend (link)

If you already have been approved for the Chase Ink Preferred you’ll be happy to know that you can earn up to 100,000 points per year via your referral links.

You’ll need to generate referral links and then send them out to friends and family. For every person that is approved, you’ll receive 20,000 points up to 100,000 points per year.

You can try to generate a business referral link here. 

You can read more about how this referral program works here. 

Note: There was a glitch with Business Ink referrals that allowed people to earn 100K bonuses but as far as I know that glitch was resolved.

Chase 5/24 rule

The Chase Ink Preferred is subject to the Chase 5/24 Rule, which means that if you’ve opened five or more accounts over the past two years, you will not be approved.

A known exception to this is if you apply for the card through a BRM.

You might want to read up on many of the other Chase application rules before you apply, too — you can read more on these here

When will the Chase Ink 100K Offer return?

In 2017, this offer for BRM clients stayed around for over five months from March through August. In 2018, the offer for BRM clients stayed around from March through August again.

So if you’re trying to go with the BRM route then I think that you should think about trying this in March. But keep in mind that both years the offer was extended out to August, so it might not always be extended out that far.

Final word

The Ink Business Preferred 100K point offer is not an easy offer to get unless you’re an official Business Managed Client. In that case, you can probably wait around for small business week or just wait until the offers roll back around for BRM clients.

Otherwise, you might have to visit some Chase branches and call around until you can find a BRM who is willing to process your application and give you a shot.