Chase Sapphire Preferred or other Airline Card?

[nelle]

We are hopefully going on a Mediterranean cruise next summer for DD's grad from high school. We will have to buy 9 tickets from the Chicago area to Europe.
I was wondering if anyone on here can recommend a card that I can use to earn miles to hopefully pay for some of our flights. We will put everything on it and then pay it off each month.
I've read some about the chase sapphire preferred card and was wondering how easy is it to redeem miles? We don't travel much so earning miles by flying or staying in hotels is out as we'd never be able to earn enough miles.
Anyone have any info on the sapphire card? Or would like to recommend a card?
Thanks,

 

[graceesmom]

We have the Chase Sapphire card and have no complaints about it. I don't know that it has the best rewards, but I like that when I call a real human answers the phone that I can speak to.

We just cash in our points every few months for a statement credit so I can't say how they are on airlines, but with Chase, even if the airline doesn't show availability for award flights, you can just purchase the tickets and then apply your rewards as a statement credit for the amount of the tickets.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

One advantage of the Chase Sapphire Preferred is that you can transfer the points to anyone of the 3 big international airline networks: One World (through British Airways), Star Alliance ( through United) and Sky Team (through Korean Air). With so many tickets needed, that flexibility could be very helpful.

You should also think about getting multiple cards, such as both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Ink. And getting one for each adult in your party. The sign up bonuses can really help you reach your goal quickly.

For the best advice on CC sign ups, I usually read Gary Leff at View from a Wing. Best of luck. -- Suzanne

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Are you traveling this summer (2013)? If so, it's doubtful you'll earn enough miles for even one ticket and even if you do, FF ticket availability for summer travel to Europe can be very limited. Then you have the problem of getting paid seats to match the FF ticket/s. Often the FF availability is on a flight which is more expensive than other flights. I have dealt with combining FF tickets with paid tickets and I can't imagine doing it for 9 tickets.

Be warned summer airfare to Europe from the US is quite high. Be repaired to pay $11,000+ for 9 economy tickets.

I usually fly UA, so I have a UA Chase card, which gave me 50,000 FF miles, free checked baggage (although not needed for international travel), priority boarding, etc. I'd probably chose an airline branded card giving similar benefits.

 

[nelle]

We aren't going til 2014 and will hopefully be traveling in June. I've heard that June would be better than July and August because schools in Europe do not get out until late June/early July.

If my DH and I both get a chase Sapphire card can we combine the signup bonus points? I'm gonna guess not but thought I'd ask

Thanks,

 

[SuzanneSLO]

We aren't going til 2014 and will hopefully be traveling in June. I've heard that June would be better than July and August because schools in Europe do not get out until late June/early July.

If my DH and I both get a chase Sapphire card can we combine the signup bonus points? I'm gonna guess not but thought I'd ask

Thanks,

You probably can't combine points from different Ulimate Rewards accounts, but you may not need to if you are looking for coach tickets to Europe for 35,000 miles.

If you get a Chase Sapphire Preferred (40,000 UR points after $3K spend) and a Chase Ink (50,000 points after $5K spend), you will have 98,000 points. You would need to spend another $7K to get enough points for 3 coach tickets.

If your husband gets the same cards, you will have 6 free tickets after spending $30K on your credit cards.

-- Suzanne

 

[Marionnette]

I have the Chase Sapphire and I got it back when they offered 50K points with sign up. It may not have the best rewards in the sense that it's only 1% back on most purchases and 2% on travel.

BUT:

• There are no foreign transaction fees and that can save you a bundle if you use the card abroad. That in itself makes it worth the annual fee for us.
• You can "pay yourself back" in the form of a statement credit for anything you've bought.
• You can request a check.
• You can transfer points into any number of airline miles programs or frequent guest programs.
• You can order from a number of GCs available.
• Or you can get a 20% discount on travel booked through their portal and apply your available points to the cost. And if you don't have quite enough points to pay for it completely, you can pay the difference in cash. Most rewards programs would make you earn all of the points needed in order to get your award travel.

 

[nelle]

Thank you for the advice! I like the no foreign transaction fee's we got nailed with those when we traveled to Denmark a couple of years ago.

We will hopefully be building a house in the next yr so we should have no problem earning points.

Thanks again!