Thanks again, for both your advice and your patience. I have my P2 here with me, reading it all. It's been hard to get P2 ready to deal with it all, and I don't have a P2 who just does whatever I tell him to do so having it all written out really helps. It sounds like (not today, but soonish before the AMEX get reported) he'll look into a CIP or a CIC. I'm guessing we will go for the larger bonus than the extra points earning since now with all these cards it's getting a bit complicated. And then it will be a few months for a card to drop off, which is fine really. We don't want to move too quickly here.
Oh, and he said that thanks to your input on the Apple wallet if I keep adding cards he will "need" to get a new iPhone (which, I added, will then help with the MSR of some new card). We decided not to upgrade at this point and now this!
Among Chase’s business cards, people go for the Ink cards primarily for their signup bonuses of 50k-80k UR; the SW Biz because it’s now an essential part of getting the CP; the Marriott Biz primarily for the Marriott points; the United Biz primarily for the miles, and all because these cards don’t show up on your personal credit reports and don’t add to your */24 count.
I don’t think you folks fly SW much. Between Chase Marriott cards and Amex SPG cards, I’ve previously written about how I think anyone starting out with the Starriott cards should focus on the Amex cards first (after passing 5/24). I’m not as familiar with the United Biz, but I think the highest offers on this card may be targeted.
Between the Chase Ink cards, the CIP has the highest signup bonus of 80k UR and the ability to refer (P2, especially) for another 20k UR, but it’s 3x UR earning category was severely neutered two months ago when Chase killed Plastiq from earning 3x UR on the CIP. The CIP does still earn 3x UR on a number of useful niche things like Venmo, Gyft and Swych eGift card apps with PayPal checkout, giftcardmall, eBay seller’s fees, eBay Shipping through PayPal, USPS/UPS/FedEx/Stamps .com, cable/internet/cell phone bills (including Netflix and Hulu), and if you pay your cell phone bill with the CIP then the phone qualifies for the CIP’s cell phone insurance. The CIP is just not as useful or a UR earning machine like it used to be. The AF is $95.
The CIC has a lower 50k UR signup bonus, no ability to refer, but probably has the most useful ongoing earning categories with 5x UR earned at office supply stores, where you can buy gift cards to dozens of third-party merchants and there are frequently deals for VGC and MCGC prepaid cards that you can use to shift that 5x UR earning rate to other categories of merchants. The CIC also earns 5x UR on Gyft and Swych through PayPal checkout. The CIC also earns 5x UR in the cable/internet/cellphone category (including Netflix and Hulu) but doesn’t have cell phone insurance. The 5x UR categories are capped at $25k in purchases a year (then just 1x), but that’s still 125k UR in potential earning power. And there’s no AF!
So most people like the CIP for the big signup bonus and will find a way to make the bonus categories work for them. A lot of people like the CIC primarily for the bonus categories, and the 50k UR signup bonus is a steal on a $0 AF card.
Chase introduced the CIU recently, which is the business version of the CFU: 1.5x UR on everything, which makes it a good “everything else” card. It’s another $0 AF card, but comes with a 50k UR signup bonus!
If DH goes for the CIP first, do it for the 80k UR bonus and ability to refer you later. And if you don’t find yourself putting much spend on the CIP over the next year, you can (1) downgrade the CIP to the CIC or CIU after a year to avoid the second year AF, but this won’t get you the CIC or CIU’s 50k UR bonuses, so (2) sign up for the CIC or CIU separately if/when DH is under 5/24 again (in a few months?) so you can pocket the 50k UR signup bonus when getting a more useful card, and simply sockdrawer the CIP and close it when a year is up.