Throughout the past year or so, we’ve been able to take multiple trips to Costa Rica, New York & Philadelphia, and The Bahamas.  We have an upcoming trip to Lisbon, Portugal in early June.  What do all these trips have in common?  The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.  

We have either used points earned from this card, and/or combined points into this card from other Chase business cards or no-fee cards to book travel.  I transferred points to our favorite travel partners, Southwest and Hyatt, to book flights and hotel stays, respectively.  I also earned points directly with these travel partners through my husband’s Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card, and The World of Hyatt Credit Card.  Each of the trips mentioned above were a mix of cash and points/miles, but the common denominator was our favorite flexible rewards currency – Chase Ultimate Rewards, in some capacity. 

(So to clarify, one card DID NOT allow us multiple trips on points.  Rather, points earned from this card – or transferred into/combined with this card – helped book various aspects of each of the above-mentioned trips.)

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card ($95 annual fee) is an all-around great starter card, as well as a staple to have in your wallet.  It’s no secret that some of the best card offers are from Chase.  If you get other business or no-fee cards from Chase, you’ll need to hold a Sapphire product in order to transfer points to travel partners, and book travel.

This card is great for any type of traveler, but here are 5 reasons why it’s my all-around favorite:

1 – 14 airline/hotel travel partners – Transferring your points to a bank’s travel partners is where you will generally always find the maximum value.  Transfers are fairly instant and beginner-friendly – if Southwest & Hyatt aren’t for you, you have multiple other travel partners to choose from.

2 – Built-in travel insurances – This card includes trip cancellation/interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement, and baggage delay reimbursement.  Travel has only gotten crazier, and if I don’t have to spend additional on certain types of insurance (you may need to of course, in certain situations), then that’s a win!

3 – 5x points on travel booked through Chase’s travel portal – There are those times where we find the need to book flights using cash (Yes, it happens ;)).  Knowing we’ll be earning 5x back on those purchases, lessens the blow a bit.

4 – 3x points on dining & online grocery purchases – We are big foodies, so this is great.  Add in the perk of no foreign transaction fees, and this is valuable whether at home or traveling!

You can check out the full list of benefits here. 

 

Picture: Paris, France – Fall of 2018