Chase Sapphire preferred credit card

[RigatoniFeline]

how quickly do u need to fly and from where?

you can...
1) transfer to a partner. U would need to make the 4k spending(to get the 50K) + a month to be able to transfer. UA has some nice redemption, usually 15-25k per one way in continental america...
2) go through chase rewards, i think its 20% off if you use points...

you can browse them, see how much miles you need... but you cant book anything. You can use your miles for others, but to transfer to their point program, they will need to be your AU.

I am flying from NJ to Orlando in August.

Where can I browse them? I don't see anything for flights when I go to the ultimate rewards page.

 

[calypso726]

I'm sorry, but I feel like a lot of this is Greek to me. I signed up for a Sapphire card tonight because I would really like to get free (or cheaper) flights. Can you explain to me the best way to do this? I don't have any other travel CC.

ETA: can I browse for flights now, or do I have to wait for the card? And am I able to use the miles/points for all of my family's flights? Or just me?

It was Greek for us too. Reading the blogs has helped a lot though. I would suggest reading the beginner sections of any of these blogs: The Points Guy, Million Mile Secrets, Frequent Miler, View from the Wing, One Mile at a Time, Mommy Points.

You have to wait for the card and wait until you get the points. You won't get the points until you make the spending requirement which is $4,000 in 3 months from the day you applied for the card. Once the 50,000 points are in your Ultimate Rewards Points account you can either use them to pay for flights or transfer them to one of the airline partners frequent flyer programs and book the flights. The points are valued at $625 when you use them to pay for the flights so that isn't often a good value.

Transferring to British Airways Avios points can often be a good use of the Ultimate Reward points, especially for short haul flights. Their awards are distance based and start at 7,500 miles one way. You would check for award flights on American Airlines which is a BA partner. If they have award flights at the saver level then you will be able to book the flight through British airways using BA Avios points. We usually transfer to BA unless the distance is longer then we will transfer to United.

You can book your flights and your family's flights with your points assuming the point requirements for tickets or dollars stretches that far.

 

[hsmamato2]

It was Greek for us too. Reading the blogs has helped a lot though. I would suggest reading the beginner sections of any of these blogs: The Points Guy, Million Mile Secrets, Frequent Miler, View from the Wing, One Mile at a Time, Mommy Points.

You have to wait for the card and wait until you get the points. You won't get the points until you make the spending requirement which is $4,000 in 3 months from the day you applied for the card. Once the 50,000 points are in your Ultimate Rewards Points account you can either use them to pay for flights or transfer them to one of the airline partners frequent flyer programs and book the flights.

Yes- this. It takes some reading to understand how to use the cards well, but it's not too hard- if you want to just use the points as is through the UR site- you can do that- or you can look at the transfer partners on the site,and transfer UR points into an airline acct for use, depending on if you find flights etc that you like. I have in the past transferred UR points into SWA and a couple of hotel programs for use- you can also book straight thru them- but I have only booked hotels that way so far. (I like that it allows you to use your points plus cash if needed for booking)

 

[hsmamato2]

I am flying from NJ to Orlando in August.

Where can I browse them? I don't see anything for flights when I go to the ultimate rewards page.

At the top of your page(after you log into your acct) there is a 'travel' button-click that to see options. You can only do this after you have set up your online acct for your credit card though. It's the same page with the shopping portal(use for extra points) as a pp noted, you must first spend 4000 and the next statement after you do that should show your points- the quicker you hit that spend the quicker you can book anything. You have a tight window.

 

[RigatoniFeline]

Thank you for the info. I guess I am most confused about how to maximize points. I am going to try to get the $4000 ASAP but I think it will probably take me close to the 3 months. @hsmamato2 you say I have a tight window, do you think that could work if I try and book flights then? Does it take long to get this through? Should I be signing up for anything else right now through airlines or anything? Thanks so much for all of the help.

 

[Ava]

Transferring to British Airways Avios points can often be a good use of the Ultimate Reward points, especially for short haul flights. Their awards are distance based and start at 7,500 miles one way. You would check for award flights on American Airlines which is a BA partner. If they have award flights at the saver level then you will be able to book the flight through British airways using BA Avios points. We usually transfer to BA unless the distance is longer then we will transfer to United.

This is the kind of information I need to dig deeper into. I recently got the CSP because I read it's a good card for travel rewards and I was one away from my limit of applications in the last 2 years to be eligible for Chase cards, so I figured I'd prioritize the Chase product over others. But our best airlines for flights to Orlando (which is where I'd like to get free flights to for next year) are JetBlue & Delta, which are not transfer partners of UR. I believe AA flies direct from our home airports, so that could be an option, but I'll have to look into it. I'm sure the card will be useful anyway, since we WILL go places other than DisneyWorld someday, but it may not have been the best choice for my immediate goal. At least we aren't planning to go until April 2017 so I have time!

 

[Albort]

This is the kind of information I need to dig deeper into. I recently got the CSP because I read it's a good card for travel rewards and I was one away from my limit of applications in the last 2 years to be eligible for Chase cards, so I figured I'd prioritize the Chase product over others. But our best airlines for flights to Orlando (which is where I'd like to get free flights to for next year) are JetBlue & Delta, which are not transfer partners of UR. I believe AA flies direct from our home airports, so that could be an option, but I'll have to look into it. I'm sure the card will be useful anyway, since we WILL go places other than DisneyWorld someday, but it may not have been the best choice for my immediate goal. At least we aren't planning to go until April 2017 so I have time!

jetblue has a new card with an okay bonus... AA citi card has been a huge hit though this year, 50k +50k if you open a citigold and have a AA citi card. You should look into that as it can net u 100k within 4-5months...

 

[Ava]

jetblue has a new card with an okay bonus... AA citi card has been a huge hit though this year, 50k +50k if you open a citigold and have a AA citi card. You should look into that as it can net u 100k within 4-5months...

I'm 99% sure one of the new JetBlue cards is going to be my next card. JetBlue is probably my favorite domestic airline, and being near their hub at JFK we have a lot of options for direct flights with them. I wish the $99 fee was waived for the first year, but 30K bonus points plus the free checked bags & other benefits of the fee card will make it worth it. Plus the minimum spend for the bonus is only $1K. We're not big spenders so I may have to get creative to meet the $4K requirement on the Sapphire Preferred.

 

[calypso726]

Thank you for the info. I guess I am most confused about how to maximize points. I am going to try to get the $4000 ASAP but I think it will probably take me close to the 3 months. @hsmamato2 you say I have a tight window, do you think that could work if I try and book flights then? Does it take long to get this through? Should I be signing up for anything else right now through airlines or anything? Thanks so much for all of the help.

It will all depend on availability. There are times I have been able to book award flights close to my travel date. If you are transferring UR points to your frequent flyer account in order to book an award flight the transfer usually happens the same day. Sometimes within minutes.

As for signgin up for anything else. Your frequent flyer accounts if you have not already done so. As for other things to sign up for, well, it depends on the airline you intend to fly most with. We live in south Florida and American Airlines has a hub in Miami so we focus on trying get accumulate AA miles. Therefore, we created an account on the AA dining rewards network and will often do our online shopping by going through the AA shopping portal to earn extra miles. If the airline you will use the most has a dining rewards program I would join it, add whatever credit cards you may use for dining in the meantime until you get your CSP card and then begin exploring restaurants on the list. We have earned tons of miles this way. You also want to do any only shopping through the Ultimate Rewards shopping portal or a specific airline shopping portal in order to get extra miles on purchases you were going to make anyhow.

In terms of credit cards, if you want to maximize your Ultimate rewards earning potential you will want to apply for a Chase Freedom (no fee) card. Spend $500 in 3 months and get $150 bonus. This card has quarterly bonus categories that earn 5 UR points per dollar for up to $1500 in purchases. These points cannot be used to transfer to airline programs on their own. However, you can transfer your Freedom UR points into your CSP UR account and then use those points to transfer to airlines, hotels etc. If you want to go all out and do the Chase trifecta then you'd get a Chase Ink Plus business card too.

Yes- this. It takes some reading to understand how to use the cards well, but it's not too hard- if you want to just use the points as is through the UR site- you can do that- or you can look at the transfer partners on the site,and transfer UR points into an airline acct for use, depending on if you find flights etc that you like. I have in the past transferred UR points into SWA and a couple of hotel programs for use- you can also book straight thru them- but I have only booked hotels that way so far. (I like that it allows you to use your points plus cash if needed for booking)

It does seem intimidating and overwhelming but it really isn't that hard. Just a bit of reading and it starts to become less overwhelming. I can't stress enough that anyone can do this. DH and I have managed to create a points and miles balance of about 2 million. We have flown round trip in first class to Europe 3 times and once in first to Vancouver in the last 3 years and have first class RT flights booked this summer to Europe again, plus a handful of domestic first class flights all paid with miles. We've enjoyed plenty of international hotel stays that would have cost thousands without this little hobby that we paid for using points. Understand that I barely know what I am doing and yet have managed to make this hobby work for us just fine. I'm sure if someone with a clue were to look at the award flights I've booked they would have been able to stretch my mileage usage much better. Once I make the time to read and understand how stopovers and open jaws can work I may be able to get more flights for my miles.

This is the kind of information I need to dig deeper into. I recently got the CSP because I read it's a good card for travel rewards and I was one away from my limit of applications in the last 2 years to be eligible for Chase cards, so I figured I'd prioritize the Chase product over others. But our best airlines for flights to Orlando (which is where I'd like to get free flights to for next year) are JetBlue & Delta, which are not transfer partners of UR. I believe AA flies direct from our home airports, so that could be an option, but I'll have to look into it. I'm sure the card will be useful anyway, since we WILL go places other than DisneyWorld someday, but it may not have been the best choice for my immediate goal. At least we aren't planning to go until April 2017 so I have time!

Yes, I'd prioritize this card over anything else now that they have that 5/24 rule. I'm so glad I never attempted to cancel or churn this card. Korean is a transfer partner for Delta so that may work for you. You might want to read up on redeeming Delta flights via Korean though. One of the bloggers is bound to have covered it. While Jet Blue does have an airline card you may be better off with an American Express Membership rewards earning card like the Everyday or Everyday Preferred card. Membership reward points transfer to both Jet Blu and Delta, along with a handful of other airlines.

Since AA has a hub in Miami we have their co branded card and also have the Starwood Preferred Guest card. SPG points which transfer to AA and about 30 or so other airlines. Albort is right about getting an easy 100K AA miles between one card and a Citigold checking account. I am waiting for my miles to post before I downgrade or close the checking account. I was lucky and was able to get in just a few weeks before they stopped allowing applicants to fund the checking account with a credit card.

 

[linzjane88]

haha, that 5/24 rule stopping you? Once your year end with Sapphire, you should change it to a Freedom, then apply for the CSP after 18 months. Honestly, i dont find CSP much great anymore, but i plan to keep it around with the fee free Ink.
I just replaced my CSP with a Citi Premier for now.

The 5/24 is stopping me from getting anymore Chase for a while. Sigh. I want the Sapphire and the Freedom. At least I have my trusty Ink to console me. I love a good sign-up bonus. I'm currently experimenting with using only gift cards purchased through staples on my ink for our grocery/dining out budget. It will get me an additional 2 round trip tickets to Hawaii per year (actually 3 but the fees eat up some of the value of the third ticket).

 

[Albort]

Yes, I'd prioritize this card over anything else now that they have that 5/24 rule. I'm so glad I never attempted to cancel or churn this card.

Do you have any suggestion for the CSP and Ink card? Im thinkin about getting rid of my CSP and replace it with an Ink(transfer use). I have a TY Preferred as a current CSP replacement...

 

[linzjane88]

Also the Discover IT card has been pretty great for us since they are doubling the first years Cashback. It's almost worth having for the access to the Discover Deals portal if you do much online shopping . When the Sears double dip was still working we ended up buying all new appliances for a total steal. Spent about 4k and got a little over 1k back in reward dollars after the first month and when June rolls around and we get "doubled" we will get another 1k.

 

[linzjane88]

It will all depend on availability. There are times I have been able to book award flights close to my travel date. If you are transferring UR points to your frequent flyer account in order to book an award flight the transfer usually happens the same day. Sometimes within minutes.

As for signgin up for anything else. Your frequent flyer accounts if you have not already done so. As for other things to sign up for, well, it depends on the airline you intend to fly most with. We live in south Florida and American Airlines has a hub in Miami so we focus on trying get accumulate AA miles. Therefore, we created an account on the AA dining rewards network and will often do our online shopping by going through the AA shopping portal to earn extra miles. If the airline you will use the most has a dining rewards program I would join it, add whatever credit cards you may use for dining in the meantime until you get your CSP card and then begin exploring restaurants on the list. We have earned tons of miles this way. You also want to do any only shopping through the Ultimate Rewards shopping portal or a specific airline shopping portal in order to get extra miles on purchases you were going to make anyhow.

In terms of credit cards, if you want to maximize your Ultimate rewards earning potential you will want to apply for a Chase Freedom (no fee) card. Spend $500 in 3 months and get $150 bonus. This card has quarterly bonus categories that earn 5 UR points per dollar for up to $1500 in purchases. These points cannot be used to transfer to airline programs on their own. However, you can transfer your Freedom UR points into your CSP UR account and then use those points to transfer to airlines, hotels etc. If you want to go all out and do the Chase trifecta then you'd get a Chase Ink Plus business card too.



It does seem intimidating and overwhelming but it really isn't that hard. Just a bit of reading and it starts to become less overwhelming. I can't stress enough that anyone can do this. DH and I have managed to create a points and miles balance of about 2 million. We have flown round trip in first class to Europe 3 times and once in first to Vancouver in the last 3 years and have first class RT flights booked this summer to Europe again, plus a handful of domestic first class flights all paid with miles. We've enjoyed plenty of international hotel stays that would have cost thousands without this little hobby that we paid for using points. Understand that I barely know what I am doing and yet have managed to make this hobby work for us just fine. I'm sure if someone with a clue were to look at the award flights I've booked they would have been able to stretch my mileage usage much better. Once I make the time to read and understand how stopovers and open jaws can work I may be able to get more flights for my miles.



Yes, I'd prioritize this card over anything else now that they have that 5/24 rule. I'm so glad I never attempted to cancel or churn this card. Korean is a transfer partner for Delta so that may work for you. You might want to read up on redeeming Delta flights via Korean though. One of the bloggers is bound to have covered it. While Jet Blue does have an airline card you may be better off with an American Express Membership rewards earning card like the Everyday or Everyday Preferred card. Membership reward points transfer to both Jet Blu and Delta, along with a handful of other airlines.

Since AA has a hub in Miami we have their co branded card and also have the Starwood Preferred Guest card. SPG points which transfer to AA and about 30 or so other airlines. Albort is right about getting an easy 100K AA miles between one card and a Citigold checking account. I am waiting for my miles to post before I downgrade or close the checking account. I was lucky and was able to get in just a few weeks before they stopped allowing applicants to fund the checking account with a credit card.

Do you guys do manufactured spending too or just stick with credit card churning, if you don't mind me asking? We stick to churning. I am way to timid to try MS. I *almost *had myself worked up enough to try loading money at a Kate machine and about the same time they started closing down serve accounts. I envisioned being kicked out of Wal Mart by security or something. Different strokes for different folks! Lol.

 

[calypso726]

Do you have any suggestion for the CSP and Ink card? Im thinkin about getting rid of my CSP and replace it with an Ink(transfer use). I have a TY Preferred as a current CSP replacement...

I keep my Chase Trifecta but if I had to part with either the Ink or CSP it would be the CSP. Follow Million Mile Secrets' step by step guide on applying for a business card if you don't think you have a business ;-) We get most of our UR points through the Ink. We purchase gift cards for Whole Foods, Disney, Macy's etc. at Staples or Office Depot to get 5 miles per dollar. The majority of our Adventures by Disney trips, Disney Cruise trips, annual passes, DVC dues etc. have all earned 5 miles per dollar by getting Disney gift cards at office supply stores with the Ink card. We tried the Raise/Target/Disney gift card hack and saved about $800 on DVC dues and $1500 on the Adventures by Disney River cruise. However, booking first class flights to Jackson Hole for the Winter in Wyoming ABD trip this year sucked 200,00 UR points from our stash when we transferred them to United for the flights. This mean the Ink card is going to get a workout again LOL

The Ink is under the 5/24 rule too so if you are an authorized user on any credit card accounts those sometimes get counted even though they shouldn't and be aware of that. You may want to remove yourself as an AU or be prepared to explain that on a recon call.

DH and I each picked up a TY Prestige and Premier but I value UR points much higher than I value TY points. If we paid for flights more often or I could get DH to travel in economy (he is now spoiled) then we'd get some decent value from the TY points by earning and burning on paid AA flights. We only picked them up so we could pay for flights on AA to Hawaii next year with the $3200+ in TY points. I simply couldn't stomach blowing over 500,000 AA miles for a first class flight in a domestic carrier. Ok, so maybe I'm spoiled too. If figured we'd be better off paying for it with TY points and earn the butt in seat miles.

 

[calypso726]

Do you guys do manufactured spending too or just stick with credit card churning, if you don't mind me asking? We stick to churning. I am way to timid to try MS. I *almost *had myself worked up enough to try loading money at a Kate machine and about the same time they started closing down serve accounts. I envisioned being kicked out of Wal Mart by security or something. Different strokes for different folks! Lol.

We do some MS. We are trying to get the BA companion pass now and are half way to the $30K spend required. Yeah, DH got his Blue Bird shut down in December and was using mine after that. Mine just got shut down last week. However, after his shut down we put plan B and C into play. Now he is using a BB in his brother's name. If and when that gets shut down, he will use his sister's, and we will keep moving through family members that have no interest in this game but don't mind helping us out. Walmart security won't know. You just won't be able to load to Kate when the shut down happens. You'll also get an email.

 

[Ava]

Yes, I'd prioritize this card over anything else now that they have that 5/24 rule. I'm so glad I never attempted to cancel or churn this card. Korean is a transfer partner for Delta so that may work for you. You might want to read up on redeeming Delta flights via Korean though. One of the bloggers is bound to have covered it. While Jet Blue does have an airline card you may be better off with an American Express Membership rewards earning card like the Everyday or Everyday Preferred card. Membership reward points transfer to both Jet Blu and Delta, along with a handful of other airlines.

Yes, I'm glad I got the CSP as I'm sure it will be useful. And I already have a Freedom card, which I use for the 5X categories, so now I'll be able to turn those points into UR points instead of just getting cash back with them. I also recently found out that my wife has an AmEx Everyday card. I'm not sure what it was when she originally opened the account but at some point AmEx converted it to an Everyday card. She never uses the account so I didn't even know about it until she got a new card in the mail the other day. It's even still in her maiden name! So now I'm on her case to get her name changed on that account so we can start using it once we hit the spend for the CSP. I will still probably get the JetBlue card, since its my preferred airline and the bonus alone is enough for at least 1 free RT ticket to Orlando. I might have my wife get the no-fee version as well for the extra 10K bonus.

 

[calypso726]

Yes, I'm glad I got the CSP as I'm sure it will be useful. And I already have a Freedom card, which I use for the 5X categories, so now I'll be able to turn those points into UR points instead of just getting cash back with them. I also recently found out that my wife has an AmEx Everyday card. I'm not sure what it was when she originally opened the account but at some point AmEx converted it to an Everyday card. She never uses the account so I didn't even know about it until she got a new card in the mail the other day. It's even still in her maiden name! So now I'm on her case to get her name changed on that account so we can start using it once we hit the spend for the CSP. I will still probably get the JetBlue card, since its my preferred airline and the bonus alone is enough for at least 1 free RT ticket to Orlando. I might have my wife get the no-fee version as well for the extra 10K bonus.

I haven't really made full use of my Everyday no fee card. I only got it to keep my Membership Reward points alive since I was about to cancel an Amex Platinum card. I didn't mind paying the $450 fee once since I was getting 100K MR points, a $100 credit for global entry and a $200 airline credit so it wound up being a $150 fee all said and done. But when the year came up I didn't want to pay the fee again, nor did I want to lose the MR points I had not used. Applying for the Everyday card allowed me to keep my MR points once I cancelled the Amex Platinum card. I do take advantage of the Amex offers though.

 

[Albort]

I keep my Chase Trifecta but if I had to part with either the Ink or CSP it would be the CSP. Follow Million Mile Secrets' step by step guide on applying for a business card if you don't think you have a business ;-) We get most of our UR points through the Ink. We purchase gift cards for Whole Foods, Disney, Macy's etc. at Staples or Office Depot to get 5 miles per dollar. The majority of our Adventures by Disney trips, Disney Cruise trips, annual passes, DVC dues etc. have all earned 5 miles per dollar by getting Disney gift cards at office supply stores with the Ink card. We tried the Raise/Target/Disney gift card hack and saved about $800 on DVC dues and $1500 on the Adventures by Disney River cruise. However, booking first class flights to Jackson Hole for the Winter in Wyoming ABD trip this year sucked 200,00 UR points from our stash when we transferred them to United for the flights. This mean the Ink card is going to get a workout again LOL

The Ink is under the 5/24 rule too so if you are an authorized user on any credit card accounts those sometimes get counted even though they shouldn't and be aware of that. You may want to remove yourself as an AU or be prepared to explain that on a recon call.

DH and I each picked up a TY Prestige and Premier but I value UR points much higher than I value TY points. If we paid for flights more often or I could get DH to travel in economy (he is now spoiled) then we'd get some decent value from the TY points by earning and burning on paid AA flights. We only picked them up so we could pay for flights on AA to Hawaii next year with the $3200+ in TY points. I simply couldn't stomach blowing over 500,000 AA miles for a first class flight in a domestic carrier. Ok, so maybe I'm spoiled too. If figured we'd be better off paying for it with TY points and earn the butt in seat miles.

I do have a semi legit business, will definately not cancel CSP until i qualify for Ink card. Only reason i got TYP cards is that the airline i fly with takes TYP transfers, Best UR can do is *AU. Ive only applied for CSP and Primier so im good with the 5/24 rule. I am thinkin about getting the Freedom Unlimited though... just another card for more UR points!

 

[linzjane88]

OK- Question thats been bugging me for a while. Why are the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card points valued so highly in the MS world? Is it strictly for the high accrual rate and subsequent free hotel night stays?
Personally, I value points that go towards airfare any day of the week. We pretty much ONLY travel to Florida so I want to get there cheaply

 

[Albort]

OK- Question thats been bugging me for a while. Why are the Starwood Preferred Guest credit card points valued so highly in the MS world? Is it strictly for the high accrual rate and subsequent free hotel night stays?
Personally, I value points that go towards airfare any day of the week. We pretty much ONLY travel to Florida so I want to get there cheaply

I know Starwood has one of the most partners of all the rewards, i think their redemption towards hotel stay is also really good(dont quote me on that).