@Oscar Madison asked a good question today over the DISchurners CIP discussion thread, however I felt it was better addressed here out in the open since it does not necessarily pertain to any advanced strategy...
A @SouthFayetteFan Fireside Chat:
How long will the Chase Ink Preferred (CIP) 80,000 Ultimate Rewards Points (URs) Sign-up Bonus via DISchurners Support Links Last?
So as you might be aware by now, Chase has replaced the 80,000 UR offer (for $5k MSR) on the CIP with a 100,000 UR offer (for $15k MSR).
- Many are of course concerned about this as the 15k spend is beyond what many of us fine comfortable
- Additionally, the % return on the bonus is far less (7% vs 15% by my calculation methods)
- This is especially meaningful to our community as the CIP is often recommended as one of the first cards a new churner should grab and that $15k MSR will scare most new folks off
Of course we've also found out since then that the support links
HERE still show the 80,000 UR / $5k MSR offer that is preferable to almost everybody! AND that also means that the cross-support strategy between P1 and P2 is alive and well meaning that P2's CIP (using P1's support link) is actually worth 105k URs all-in vs. 85k URs all-in (on P1's card) and still for that tasty $5k MSR. This doesn't even get into the details contained in our advanced strategies thread on the CIP which you can find
HERE that makes this topic of even more interest to virtually all DISchurners under 5/24.
So the question on everybody's lips again is...How long will the Chase Ink Preferred (CIP) 80,000 Ultimate Rewards Points (URs) Sign-up Bonus Last. Let's go through some thoughts there:
- First off - nobody truly knows. We have nobody here who works for Chase or has any insider knowledge of what Chase is doing with this bonus.
- What we do know right now is that all of the links on DISchurners show the 80k/$5k MSR offer and all of the public links I can find right now show the 100k/$15k MSR offer.
- Additionally, we know that you can still generate a NEW support link offer on the appropriate Chase page (which I just tested right now). Be aware that the landing page when you generate the link mentions 100,000 URs BUT this is referring to YOUR cap, not what the person will earn - if you scroll down you'll see the 80k/$5k mentioned clearly OR you can test the link.
So if nobody truly knows...now what?? Well perhaps it's time for a bit of a history lesson:
- The CIP was launched in Oct of 2016 and has consistently offered 80k URs for $5k MSR at all times since then.
- Other higher offers have been seen, usually via targeted mailers or applying in branch but the 80k offer has been standard through normal public links and support links.
- Just one year ago we saw a very similar thing happen with a change to the CSP sign-up bonus.
- On 3/17/19 the CSP public offer was announced to change the next day by DoC here.
- It had consistently been at 50k URs for $4k MSR with AF waived to 60k URs for $4k MSR with $95 AF not waived.
- This change was largely accepted as an improvement (and it clearly was since at a minimum it was worth $5 more in cash value.
- This change took place on 3/18/19 as expected AND then on 3/31/19 the CSP support links switched to the new offer.
- In one more good twist, the CSP support bonus (for the person you "supported") increased to 15k from 10k then on 4/3/19.
- All of this has remained constant since then.
- This timing almost feels eerie ... considering that DoC shared this about CIP on 3/17/20...one year ago later to the day... So could the CIP offer be changing on 3/31/20??? It's certainly quite possible
- However, before we claim that the sky is falling... we also should note that over the years, Chase has also had periods where public offers and support offers did not match. This has occurred on numerous cards for long durations of time: Marriott, IHG, Hyatt, Southwest, and others I believe. Now, one pattern there though is that these examples are on co-brands. I don't remember any examples off the top of my head on Chase branded cards where the bonuses were different, but it's possible it occurred as my churning historian brain doesn't remember every single event, haha!
So I will again reiterate that nobody truly knows what will happen here...
So what should I do now @SouthFayetteFan??? Good Question!
- If you are ready to grab a CIP now and your pacing suggests that the timing is right... DO NOT DELAY...go for it!!
- If you are VERY close to being within the pacing recommendations...you might consider accelerating that next card before the end of the month. Be cautious here though, one bonus is NOT worth risking a Chase shutdown.
- If you are not close to getting your next card then you sit tight and hope things work out in your favor. Again...one card is not worth a shutdown!! (Ask the people who got a 4th card from a particular airline if it was worth it in retrospect...)
Hopefully this helps somebody here figure out what to do about this
potential upcoming change. For now...it's business as usual (and don't we all need that in some aspect of our life right now!) Good luck to all my DISchurners friends on any upcoming applications!!! Pay it Forward with DISchurners if you have no other link available to you and don't forget to PM your lucky benefactor if you use a link.