A Beginner’s Guide to Chase Sapphire Cards

Turning Groceries into First Class Travel

Points, sign-up bonuses, miles, loyalty…MATH. GAH! Make it stop! It can feel like a firehose to the face, as they say. You keep hearing about how your friends travel for free to neat destinations in business class but don’t know how to get into the game.

I’m here to help break it down. And the first thing I’m gonna do is tell you to get yourself a Chase Sapphire card. It’s the big daddy, easy entry level, one of the best travel cards you can arm yourself with. And the even better part? There’s an incredible sign up bonus now that’ll have toasting to this post when you sit with your glass of champagne (or Diet Coke) on your way to wherever you want!

Chase Sapphire Preferred is offering 100,000 bonus miles after you spend $5000 in the first three months. If that’s part of your natural spending or you have a big purchase coming up, get on that! Like…now! Here’s the link!

Why Chase Sapphire?

The Chase Sapphire cards, both Preferred ($95 fee) and Reserve ($550 fee), are valuable for two reasons:

💳 It’s easy to rack up Ultimate Rewards points

✈️ Ultimate Rewards points transfer to a ton of great travel partners to help you get the best deals

Don’t get freaked out by the fees. If you definitely plan on traveling, think of it as buying a plane ticket for you and a travel buddy for a deep discount. Plus there are other perks that, if you take advantage of them, will help pay for the fee.

Using one of these two cards for every day spending will not only help you reach your sign up bonus in a flash, but they’ll also help you continue to earn with bonus earning categories in restaurants and travel.

🚨Important point: Treat the spending like cash. Pay off your cards monthly, or even weekly, to make sure your credit stays manageable and in good standing. Don’t go crazy just to reach that signup bonus amount. Make sure it’s all natural spend.

That concludes my warning. I just want you to be ok, you know?

Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Reserve (A Quick n Handy Guide)

Currently, the signup bonus for the Preferred is at 100,000 points while the Reserve is clocking in at only 60,000. I recommend you go with the Preferred at this time. You can always upgrade after a year to the Reserve to boost your points earnings.

Now For the Best Part: Turn Points into Travel!

There are two simple ways to turn Chase points into amazing trips:

1 – Transfer to partners

2 – Chase Travel Portal

Your best deals, generally, are going to come from transferring Chase points to partners and booking flights and hotels directly on the sites. For instance, I’ve been able to use Chase points to fly business class to Europe for 100k points each (with a couple hundred bucks for taxes). Now…that’s a rare deal, but not so rare that I haven’t done it multiple times! 

Chase points transfer to 14+ airline and hotel partners like United, Hyatt, and Air France.

You can also book directly on the Chase travel portal on the website. I can’t recommend this for business class, you just won’t get as good of a deal. But! You can still get a good economy flight and/or hotels by going through the portal, if economy seats are too high booking directly with the airline.

As a rule, you’ll get the most value using your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for flights vs hotels.There are deals to be had, however. Sometimes, it’s also just nice to not have to pay for a hotel, if you don’t have to. The best redemption is the one that works for you.

Ready to do this?

If you’re new to travel point hacking and overwhelmed with all the info, I get it. I’m a seasoned vet and still learning new tricks all the time! But the Chase Sapphire cards are an easy entry point in and gets you well on your way. And at the risk of sounding like a commercial, there really hasn’t been a better time.

Apply for either card using this link! Make sure to compare current offers before you apply. And if you have any questions? I’m just a message away!