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If you’re looking to apply for an overall outstanding card for traveling, this is your calling. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you’ll benefit from its plentiful features AND you will have the opportunity to earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account. That’s $750 toward travel when you redeem through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal!
On top of just the few benefits listed, this card has NO foreign transaction fee AND if you redeem your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you’ll get 25% more value. If you want to find out more about what unique features this card has to offer, continue reading below.
Chase Bank offers great bonuses with their Checking/Savings accounts also!
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Summary
 The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®! You'll earn 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide; 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases. And when you redeem your points for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you'll get 25% more value! |
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – Earn Up to 60k Points
After hitting the $4,000 threshold in the first 3 months of opening your account, you can earn 60,000 bonus points. There are many ways to go about this. Down below are several options to acquiring these points.
This bonus is presented in the form of Ultimate Reward Points that can be redeemed for cash back or travel expenses. If you redeem your travel expenses through the Ultimate Rewards Portal, it will be the same value.
• Plastiq - Using Plastiq allows you to pay for your personal expenses such as rent, tuition, mortgage, auto lease etc. Although they charge a 2.5% processing fee for using your credit card, this will contribute to the card bonus that you will receive. There is also a referral program that allows you to earn "Free-Free Dollars" that goes towards processing fees as well. • Funding Checking Accounts - When it comes to funding a checking account, opening your initial deposit with a credit card is the usual way to go about it. However, if you want to have more opportunities, you should open a checking account that offers a sign-up bonus. This allows you to work towards bonuses from not one but two different sources instead. Banks like Chase, Huntington Bank, TD Bank and BBVA offers credit card funding, and for your opening deposit, you can often fund anywhere from $50-$1000 with a credit card, depending on what bank offers it. • Gift Card Purchases With Using a Credit Card - Another way to acquire the bonus is using your credit card to purchase gift cards. Buying a a gift card or an individual merchant card typically do not require a purchase fee and are used towards leisure, so gift cards are ideal. However, gift cards such as a Visa or American Express do incur purchase fees because they can be spent anywhere, but gift cards that are specifically for a certain online shopping site such as Amazon or eBay don't. As for a Citi Credit Card, you should call customer service and ask them to lower your Cash Advance limit to $0 before making any purchases because Citi tends to read gift card purchases as a Cash Advance. Ideally, you should do this with any card just to be safe. Lastly, there is such thing as a discounted gift card which can be purchased on Raise or eBay. If you use a credit card often for everyday purchases, it can build your credit score that will contribute towards paying for things such as bills and taxes. |
Earning Points
The Chase Sapphire Preferred comes with two basic but popular bonus categories. You’ll earn 2 points per $1 spent on both travel and dining. All other purchases earn 1 point per $1 spent.
The travel category on the Sapphire Preferred is broad, offering flexibility on those categories you may not think of as “travel” expenses.
For example, you’ll get 2x points for airlines, hotels, motels, car rentals, cruise lines and travel agencies. In addition, you’ll also get 2x points when paying for passenger trains (including most commuter trains), buses, taxis, limos, ferries, toll bridges and highways, parking lots and garages. Even Uber and Lyft count.
With dining, you earn 2x points on essentially all restaurants, like fancy sit down places and fast food joints. You can also get 2x points at many bars and even some delivery services, such as Seamless.
If you don’t spend a lot on travel and dining, then you might consider the Barclaycard Arrival Plus®World Elite Mastercard® that has 2% earnings rate on all purchases made.
Ultimate Rewards Airline/Hotel 1:1 Point Transfer Partners
| Airline Transfer Partners | Hotel Transfer Partners |
| Aer Lingus AerClub | IHG Rewards Club |
| British Airways Executive Club | Marriott Bonvoy (Previously Marriott Rewards) |
| Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM | The Ritz-Carlton Rewards |
| Iberia Plus | World of Hyatt |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | |
| Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards | |
| United MileagePlus | |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club |
Redeeming Points
When you redeem your points earned with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can use your points to purchase airfare, reserve hotel rooms and rent a car at a fixed rate of 1.25 cents per point through the Chase travel portal. Don’t worry about blackout dates or finding award space. As long as there’s a seat for sale on the flight you want, or a hotel room available to reserve with cash, you’ll be able to pay for it with your points.
Get the most value out of your points by transferring them to any of Chase’s airline and hotel partners. If you do this, you’ll need to know which partners are the best for specific trips and award availability. Generally, your points will transfer at a 1 to 1 ratio. However, there are opportunities to earn much more than 1.25 cents per point in value from your points.
Tip: Additional UR Bonus Points With Sapphire℠ Checking
The Chase Sapphire℠ Checking account lets you combine Ultimate Rewards points from all Chase products and you can also earn an additional 60,000 bonus points.
 The United ClubSM Infinite Card offers 100,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. With this card, you'll earn: • 4X miles per $1 spent on United purchases including tickets, Economy Plus, inflight food, beverages and Wi-Fi, and other United charges. • 2X miles per $1 spent on all other travel • 2X miles per $1 spent on dining • 1X mile per $1 spent on all other purchases Plus, you'll get 25% back as a statement credit on purchases of food, beverages and Wi-Fi onboard United-operated flight when you pay with your Club Card. This card does carry an annual fee of $525. However, you can get up to $100 Global Entry or TSA PrecheckTM Fee Credit. In addition, you'll get a savings of up to $320 per roundtrip by getting your first and second checked bags for free! |
Chase Sapphire Preferred Cardholder Benefits
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers the common few travel and purchase coverage benefits to cardholders.
However, with primary coverage, you can submit the claim directly to your card right off the bat and avoid involving your own insurance policy entirely. Other perks you earn with your card include:
- Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection: Get benefits at over 900 hotels and resorts around the world, provided by Chase. Many lodges and spas are also available in the collection. You’ll get five perks when booking rooms through this service, when available:
- Daily breakfast for two
- Complimentary WiFi
- Room upgrades
- Early check-in and late check-out
- A unique gift, like lunch or dinner for two, a spa treatment, or a golf green fee waiver
- To access these benefits, you must book your stay through the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection with your Sapphire Preferred Card, either online or by phone. You’ll then be able to see the specific perks available at each property.
- Shop Through Chase: Get more points at select retailers with the Shop Through Chase marketplace. The points you get will be in addition to the 1x point you would normally earn on those purchases. Deals change often, so be sure to check back frequently.
- Trip Delay Reimbursement: Receive up to $500 in reimbursement if your trip is delayed for an eligible reason. It must be a “Covered Trip” delayed by a “Covered Hazard.” A Covered Trip is a period of round-trip travel to a destination other than your home. Covered Hazards include equipment failure, inclement weather, labor strikes, and hijacking or skyjacking.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees: Continue earning your points outside of the U.S. without paying a foreign transaction fee.
Author’s Verdict
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers a phenomenal bonus on top of extraordinary value from a travel card.
You can also receive up to 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. When compared to it’s competitors, this card’s annual fee can be offset by its hefty offer and appealing benefits. The features of this card definitely get you the most out of every dollar you spend on purchases!
Overall, I personally think this card would be a great fit if you’re a loyal Chase consumer, especially if you like being able to rack up points quickly on a daily basis. This card is definitely one of my top picks to use for travels. It’s truly an epitome of one of the best travel cards.
Provide feedback in the comment section below by telling us your thoughts and experience with this card. Make sure to visit BankDealGuy to explore more of the Best Chase Credit Card Promotions or the latest credit card bonuses.
Alternative Credit Card Options
These are the some of the credit cards that offer sign-up bonuses that can be compared to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
Non-Category Rewards & Bonus Offer
 The Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card offers a one-time bonus of 50,000 miles once you spend $3,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening (equal to $500 in travel). Named ‘The Best Travel Card' by CNBC, 2018. You're able to earn 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Plus earn 10X miles on thousands of hotels, through January 2020; learn more at hotels.com/venture. This card does come with a $95 annual fee, however, there is a $0 intro annual fee for the first year. Enjoy no foreign transaction fees and receive up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔®. |
 The Chase Freedom® Card offers a $150 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. You'll earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate and an unlimited 1% cash back on all other purchases. You cash back rewards do not expire as long as your account is open and there is no minimum to redeem for cash back. This card has no annual fee and you'll get a free credit score that's updated weekly with Credit JourneySM. |
• Chase Bank Bonuses. Chase usually offers the most sign-up bonuses out of all the big banks. Read up and enjoy several promotions for their Checking, Savings and Business accounts. • HSBC Bank Bonuses. HSBC has some big value offers available for their Checking accounts. Some require hefty deposits to qualify. They also have an online Savings account offering a very competitive rate. • Huntington Bank Bonuses. Huntington has Consumer Checking and Business Checking accounts available throughout the year. • Discover Bank Bonuses. As an online bank, Discover offers high and competitive rates on their Savings, CD, and Money Market accounts. Enjoy excellent customer service nationwide. • TD Bank Bonuses. TD Bank consistently offers great Checking account bonuses all year long. Savings account offers are less frequently available. |
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