The Ink Business Cash earns 5% back at office supply stores. That is
cash back — not points. It only becomes transferable Ultimate Rewards, the kind
you can move to airlines and hotels, if you also hold one of four Chase cards. This page
explains which four, what they unlock, and what it is actually worth.
Deadline: 1 October 2026. Hyatt transfers drop from 1:1 to
4:3 on the Sapphire Preferred and the Ink Business Preferred — for existing
cardholders, not just new ones. Only the two Reserve cards keep 1:1. If World of Hyatt
is your main use for these points, that difference is the whole decision.
The four cards that unlock transfers
Cash-back cards — Ink Cash, Ink Unlimited, Freedom — earn Ultimate Rewards
that are stuck as cash back on their own. Hold any one of the cards below in the same login
and you can move those points across, then out to partners.
Card
Annual fee
Hyatt after 1 Oct 2026
Type
Sapphire Reserve
$795
1:1
Personal
Sapphire Reserve for Business
$795
1:1
Business
Ink Business Preferred
$95
4:3
Business
Sapphire Preferred
$95
4:3
Personal
Heads up on the two personal Sapphire cards: Chase serves them from a
single referral page, with Preferred (75,000 points) shown first and Reserve
(100,000 points) below it, each with its own Apply button. Either Apply link above lands on
that same page — pick the card you want once you are there.
The cheapest way in is the Ink Business Preferred at $95. It unlocks every partner
below at 1:1 except Hyatt, where it will move to 4:3. For most people that is the right
answer — $95 against $795 buys the same access to ten airlines. You only need a
Reserve if Hyatt specifically is where your points go, or if the Reserve's own credits
genuinely cover its fee for how you travel.
Where the points can go
Fourteen partners. Every airline is 1:1, and transfers are one-way and
irreversible — once points leave Chase they cannot come back, so transfer only when
you have found the award seat, never speculatively.
Airline programme
Ratio
Aer Lingus AerClub
1:1
Air Canada Aeroplan
1:1
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
1:1
British Airways Club
1:1
Iberia Club
1:1
JetBlue TrueBlue
1:1
Singapore KrisFlyer
1:1
Southwest Rapid Rewards
1:1
United MileagePlus
1:1
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
1:1
Hotel programme
Ratio
Note
World of Hyatt
1:1 or 4:3
Depends on your card — see the deadline above. Generally the most valuable
of the four.
Marriott Bonvoy
1:1
—
Wyndham Rewards
1:1
—
IHG One Rewards
1:1
Rarely worth it — IHG points are worth well under a cent each, so this
transfer usually destroys value.
So what is 5% actually worth?
Nine $200 gift cards on a fee-free Staples week is $1,800 of spend, which earns
9,000 Ultimate Rewards. As cash back that is $90. Moved to a partner and redeemed
well it is commonly worth more — but only if you actually redeem it well. Points
sitting unredeemed are worth nothing, and a bad transfer is worth less than the $90 you
started with. We are not going to publish a fantasy valuation here; the honest version is
that transferability gives you the option of beating cash back, and the option is
worth having for $95.
The Apply links on this page are personal referral links. If you are
approved through one, we may earn points at no cost to you. They do not change what this page
recommends — which is the $95 card over the $795 one for most readers.