The Chase Sapphire preferred and reserve are two of the best travel credit cards you can get on the current market. They are the best to start out with due to Chase's 5/24 rule which will be explained below along with how to redeem.
Points Value
One of the best parts about ultimate rewards points, as they're called, is the fact that you can get 1.25% more redemption value in the chase portal with the Saphire Perferred and 1.5% with the Saphire Reserve. This is great for people who don't really want to put in the extra time to play around with transfer partners and find the best redemption rate. You know what you're getting and it can help offset some or all of your flight or hotel. 100,000 points will either come out to $1,250 or $1,500 depending on which Saphire card you have. If you do choose to use transfer partners though, you could have a lot more spending power. Do note that you should not transfer your points to partners unless you plan on doing the booking then and there. You can transfer them back to chase.
5/24 Rule
Chase has the not so unwritten rule called 5/24. They will deny your new credit card application if you've opened up 5 different credit cards in the span of 24 months (2-years). This counts across all issuers. This is why Chase is recommended to start out with when it comes to travel cards. While buisness cards do not count towards 5/24, if you are at or over 5/24, they will deny your application. So if at 4/24, apply for the buisness card first, then another personal card after so you could get 2 cards for example.
Once you hit 5/24 you can go to other issuers no problem. If you do want other chase cards though, you'll have to enter a "gardening state" of waiting 2-years for the new applications to drop off your credit report. That's entirely up to your personal strategy. There is no one strategy fits all.
Travel Partners
Chase's travel partners are as follows
Airlines:
Aer Lingus AerClub
Air Canada Aeroplan
Air France (Flying Blue)
British Airways Executive Club
Emirates Skywards
Iberia Plus
JetBlue TrueBlue
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
United MileagePlus
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hotels
IHG One Rewards
Marriott Bonvoy
World of Hyatt
When it comes to the best bang for buck airline travel partners, you'll want to look at Singapore's Krisflyer program, United, and Air Canada's Aeroplan. All these airlines should give you around 2 cents per point when redeeming. Mostly we recommend using these for international trips because domestic trips are relatively cheap. Can't find a cheap domestic flight? Tag us on Instagram and we'd be glad to help!
If you do fly domestically a lot then United, Southwest, and jetBlue will be your best options. Personally we would only transfer to Southwest if we needed a points top off but it's nice to have as a travel partner for someone who does a lot of domestic travel and Southwest is one of our favorites to use!
For hotels we know everyone loves using Hyatt as a transfer partner because of the great rates you can get for only 30,000 points but we personally use Marriott everywhere we go. When it comes to hotel points, most programs are going to be worth less than airline points so beware. Marriott points are worth around .8 cents per point. Hyatt is a whopping 2.8 cents per point though! Why don't we use them you may ask? Well, they do have a smaller footprint around the world and we started off with Marriott and have loved them and we are loyalists now. Both have their own credit cards with Chase and we have the Marriott Bonvoy boundless card. Our welcome offer was one of the best we've ever seen, it was so good they cut it down for new card holders about 2-3 weeks after offering it. We got 5-free night at any hotel in the world. We used it in Vancouver and had an amazing stay in a one bedroom suite. At the end of our stay, we checked out and paid nothing . $0. Mostly your welcome offer will be in the form of points which are definitely helpful when you have the chase Saphire to use to transfer points to your Bonvoy account. Free stays are definitely easy to get.
Where to start
After all this information you may be asking "where do I start?" That depends on your credit history. If you have a limited credit history, it might be wiser to start out with the freedom unlimited or freedom flex. If you have a more established credit history then either Saphire should be good to start with. Still not sure? Reach out to us on instagram @offseasontravelss and we'd be happy to help.
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