Chase Sapphire Preferred and Ultimate Rewards

 

If there was ever a travel card to begin your point collection with, it is the Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP). This card has a $95 a year fee, a generous welcome offer, and some awesome travel perks. 

**If you would be willing to use my, link, I would appreciate it. Go here to get a great bonus. 

How to earn rewards with the CSP:

1. Only put spend on this card that you can pay off. Do not ever have a balance on your card. High interest rates will completely devalue your bonus points. We are in this for free travel!

2. Earn 5X points when you book car rentals, flights, hotels or even experiences through the Chase Travel Portal. 

3. Earn 2X points for every dollar spent on airfare and hotels. 

4. 3X points per dollar spent on dining and online groceries.  

5. 1X point on all other spend. 

Points Collector Tip: Go to dinner with a friend. You get the check which is $100. You earn 300 MRs and have your friend Venmo you their share. 

Maximize those rewards!

1. Use this card to rent your car. It will offer primary insurance coverage. 

2. $50 hotel credit each year. Book a hotel with the CSP in the travel portal and get a $50 statement credit. 

 ( The Chase travel portal is awesome. Check out my post about the deals to be had there)

3. Look out for offers like a $5 statement credit at restaurants. There are lots of offers each month. 

4. Free 6 month Insta Cart membership

5. Complimentary Dash Pass membership

6. Transfer to partners:

This card is the key to travel partner transfer. When you earn URs through the bonus and regular spend, you can really maximize your points by transferring to a partner. Reward transfer partners include United, Southwest, Flying Blue, Jet Blue, as well as Hotel brands like Hyatt. 

Let's say you earned your 60.000 point bonus, plus another 6,000 through spend on your card. You now have 66,000 points. You have a few choices. You can use $660 as cash back on you statement. But then your points are gone, and you have none left for free travel. Resist the urge to do this. You were going to use cash for all that spend anyhow, remember. 

66,000 points is worth much more than $660 if you utilize transfer partners. 

Lets say for fun that you have earned 80,000 Ultimate Rewards.

Example1: 

Park Hyatt NYC in April is $1000 a night. 

Park Hyatt NYC is 40,000 points per night. 

I have 80,000 UR points. If I transfer 80,00 points to Hyatt and book this room for 2 nights, my points are now worth $2000. 

Example 2: First Class ticket on Iberia Air from LAX to Lisbon is 5,000. 

I transferred 50,000 URs to Iberia Air and purchased the same ticket. So, $500 is worth $5,000. I will get a lay down seat, access to 2 airport lounges and free checked bags. 

If you are like me, you would never, ever pay $1000 a night for a hotel or $5000 for a flight. Collecting and redeeming points is the key to adventure you would never have otherwise. Head to the bank and get yourself a Chase Sapphire! 

I have transferred to Hyatt, Iberia and KLM. All transfers were instant. Go here for a complete list of transfer partners. 

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