How To Earn 5x Points on Regular Purchases (Strategy)

Let's be real for a second: how are so many people still missing out on the Chase Ink Business Cash 5x hack? If you're only earning 1x points on your groceries, your car insurance, or your morning coffee, you are essentially leaving free vacations on the table. Today, I'm pulling back the curtain on the Gift Card Strategy.

The Secret Sauce: The 5x Category

The Chase Ink Business Cash earns 5% cash back (which is actually 5x points — more on that in a second) at office supply stores on the first $25,000 spent each year. I know what you're thinking: "I don't buy $25,000 worth of staplers." Neither do I. But you know what Staples and Office Depot sell? Gift cards. Thousands of them.

Step-by-Step: The Gift Card Hack

Head to a Staples or Office Depot/OfficeMax. Find the gift card rack. The "Holy Grail" is the Visa or Mastercard Gift Cards. When you buy a $200 Visa Gift Card at Staples with your Ink Business Cash, Chase sees an "Office Supply Store" purchase. You just earned 1,000 Chase points on a single $200 card. Do that for your monthly groceries or gas and the points pile up fast.

Pro-Tip: Watch for Fee-Free Weeks

Usually these cards have a $7.95 activation fee. But Staples and Office Depot run "Fee-Free" promotions roughly every month. During these weeks, they waive the activation fee entirely — meaning you are quite literally buying money and getting 5x points for free.

The Magic Trick: Turning Cash Back into Travel Points

Chase labels the rewards on the Ink Business Cash as "Cash Back." But if you also hold a premium Chase card — like the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred — you can combine points in the Chase portal. That cash back becomes transferable Ultimate Rewards points. Instead of $100 in cash, you now have 10,000 points you can transfer to British Airways, Southwest, or Hyatt — where they can be worth $200 or more.

Why You Need This Card Now

If you aren't using this strategy, you're capped at 1x or 2x on most of your life. By routing spending through gift cards at office supply stores, you effectively 5x your entire lifestyle. Catch you in the skies — Julia