As a follow up to my earlier suggestion about the Chase Ink Preferred card, if you don't have a Chase branch nearby, it may make sense to put off applying for the CIP until a few months down the line.
The reason being Amex is currently offering the SPG Business credit card at an all-time high of 35,000 Starpoints right now until 3/28/18, so it might make more sense for you to apply for this SPG Biz card first. The current offer from Amex is 35,000 Starpoints after spending $7,000 in 3 months, with the first year annual fee waived. Don't be distracted by the point difference because different points are valued differently. So whereas the CIP would get you 80,000 UR points, and you can transfer UR points to Marriott Rewards points at 1:1, so 80k UR = 80k Marriott points, 35k Starpoints = 105k Marriott points because they transfer at 3:1. It gets a bit more complicated from there. But with Starpoints, you can transfer them to airline partners, transfer them to Marriott for stays or vacation packages, or if you have enough of them use them for free nights at Starwood hotels and resorts.
And because the Amex SPG Biz is a business card, it will not report to your personal credit report, and will not count towards how many credit cards you've opened in the past 24 months (*/24), which won't affect any plans you have to apply for Chase's credit cards (like the CIP) down the line. We expect the CIP will still have its 80,000 UR signup bonus in a few months time.
