How Our Team Would Use the 100K Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Bonus

The *chase sapphire preferred* is currently offering a bigger welcome bonus of 100,000 points after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months. And the entire team here at Thrifty Traveler HQ started thinking about how we'd put all those points to use. 

That's up from the standard bonus of 60,000 points, making this one of the best bonuses you can get on this card – or any travel card right now, period. Many of us already have this card, but a bonus this good has some of us attempting to get it again.

Wondering just what those 100,000 points get you? Between the ability to book flights and hotels directly through Chase Travel℠ and transferring them to more than a dozen airline or hotel partners, these points are more than enough to cover a few types of trips.

But let's make it real. The Thrifty Traveler team turned on wanderlust mode and dreamed up how we'd each put these points to use.

Learn more about the *csp*.
 

Jared: Fly to Milan in Style on Emirates

Thrifty Traveler founder and CEO Jared would use his own bonus of 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book a fifth-freedoom flight on Emirates business or first class to Milan (MXP).

Since Emirates – is a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, you can instantly send Chase points to Emirates to book a first-class flight for 102,000 miles and $106 in taxes and fees each way (or 87,000 miles for business class). Since I would have at least 105,000 points after spending $5,000 to hit the bonus, I would have 3,000 points left over.

Got a spouse or go-to travel partner? You can both open a Chase Sapphire Card and earn 200k+ points!

From bottomless caviar and Dom Perignon to the onboard bar and taking a shower at 40,000 feet, there's really nothing else like it – especially if you find yourself on a flight with the new, game-changer first class suites. It's the definition of “extra” … in the best possible way.

Read our full review of the Emirates First Class flying from Milan (MXP) to New York City (JFK)!

Nick: Three Nights in Wine Country at the Alila Napa Valley

Now it's my turn.

My wife and I are looking at booking a trip to Napa Valley this year, and I can't think of a better hotel stay to make the experience special than the Alila Napa Valley, a Hyatt property.

The Alila Napa Valley is a category 8 property, meaning a standard room will cost 40,000 World of Hyatt points per night. With Hyatt introducing peak and off-peak award pricing a few years back, it's possible to pay as few as 35,000 points per night for a free night at this property for off-peak dates, or as much as 45,000 during a peak period.

This is a very good deal considering cash rates for those nights typically cost north of $1,000 per night.

Since Hyatt is a transfer partner of Chase, I can transfer the 105,000 points I would have after spending $5,000 directly into my Hyatt account and book the three off-peak nights I need.

Kyle: Three Nights at the Park Hyatt London River Thames

Our executive editor Kyle has his sights set on making a trip to the U.K. happen after his plans got cut short during the pandemic.

My wife and I scrapped a trip to the U.K. in the late summer of 2020 – thanks a lot, COVID-19. Five years later (almost to the day!), we're finally making it happen … and I know exactly how we'll use these points to make our trip special.

We've already got Virgin Atlantic Upper Class flights on the books to get to London-Heathrow (LHR), booked minutes after discovering that the airline had dropped business class award rates as low as 29,000 points each way – and cut fees to a quarter of the previous price, too. We used some Virgin Atlantic points again to book a Delta flight home: Just 15,000 points (and about $200 in fees) apiece for a nonstop from London back home to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) in economy.

But hotels are still up in the air. Being able to transfer 100,000-plus Chase points to Hyatt is too good an opportunity to pass up.

So I'm downgrading my current Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, waiting a week, and opening it all over again. After getting that bonus, I'll send 90,000 points straight to my Hyatt account to book three nights at the (relatively) new Park Hyatt London River Thames. 

At 30,000 points for a standard award night, it's a bargain compared to the $600-plus nightly rates – and a great way to redeem this big Chase bonus. Most importantly, it'll be an excellent way to cap off our long-overdue trip to England and Scotland.

Jon: Roundtrip and Nonstop to Hawaii for Cheap

We don't need to tell you that 100,000 points from a single credit card is a big deal. It's so big, in fact, that you can book a roundtrip flight to Hawaii … and still have 5,000 points left over! You just have to do it right.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points offer one of the cheapest ways to fly nonstop in economy to Hawaii. There's just one hitch: You're not using them to fly Virgin Atlantic, but its partner carrier Delta Air Lines. On Delta, you can fly from Minneapolis St. Paul (MSP) to Honolulu (HNL) for just 70,000 miles roundtrip (or less) … with minimal fees!

And that's exactly what our Thrifty Traveler Premium chief flight analyst Jon would do.

My wife, Sarah, and I have been trying to sneak in a getaway to Hawaii for years. Using this big 100,000 point Chase bonus, each of us could earn the bonus and easily fly from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Honolulu (HNL) nonstop on Delta, with at least 35,000 points leftover after booking!

It's hard to believe we can do it this cheap. Paying cash, each one of these flights would cost more than $1,100 apiece roundtrip!

Gunnar: A Year's Worth of Domestic Flights

Travel doesn't always have to be about luxury experiences in 5-star hotels or business class suites. Our travel reporter, flight deal analyst and podcast host Swiss Army Knife Gunnar prioritizes getting the most out of his points to travel more often rather than spend it all on a few premium redemptions.

Not all travel has to be big and bougie. Sometimes, you just need to get to your cousin's wedding in Louisville, or a bachelorette in Scottsdale, or up to Minneapolis to meet your newborn niece. And 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards can get you a year's worth of small travel – and it's probably enough for two if you play it right. 

The easiest way to do this is to find cheap flights and book them through the Chase Travel portal for 1.25 cents per point. That's a great deal all on its own and can offer big savings. Plus … it's just easy. Find flight. Book flight. Take flight to Phoenix for the bachelorette party … all for 7,758 Chase Ultimate Rewards roundtrip. 

 

 

But it gets better than that. The next level to this is transferring your Chase points to Southwest and United – two of Chase's U.S. transfer partners. If you can find a miles rate through Southwest Rapid Rewards or United Mileage Plus that's cheaper than the Chase Portal, make the transfer and book the flight.

Remember your cousin's wedding in Louisville? Your Chase points – when transferred to Southwest – can get you there from just 7,000 points roundtrip! 

 

 

Finally, let's get to expert mode. Many of the U.S. airlines don't have transfer agreements with Chase, but their partners do. So if you want to fly Delta using your Chase points, for example, you'll want to do some searching with Delta's partners that are Chase partners … like Air France/KLM Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. 

 

 

 

Your 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards might best be used for a year's worth of domestic flights, because not all travel is big and epic. 

 

Peter: Two Stops in South America

Ready to take things to the next level with Chase points?

Our senior flight deal analyst and points and miles reporter Peter has insights into redeeming this bonus for an incredible trip to South America with one of the best ways to use United miles.

With 100,000 Chase points, I would book a multi-city “winter” escape down to South America. It’s one of my favorite places to visit and by utilizing Chase’s transfer partnership with United and the airline’s excursionist perk, I'd book the following itinerary to see both Peru and Colombia for just about 67,000 United miles plus around $137 total in economy.

 

 

United's little-known Excursionist Perk allows you to tuck in a free one-way flight inside of a roundtrip reservation. That means the flight from Lima (LIM) to Bogota (BOG) on my trip doesn’t require any extra miles in this case since it’s booked as a stopover on the way back home to San Diego (SAN). That's right: I'm flying down to Lima, over to Bogota, and then back home from Colombia to San Diego for the same mileage as a simple roundtrip to Peru.

With points to spare, I could book a few more flights within South America or hotels for my trip via Chase Travel℠. 

Paying cash for these flights would cost me well over $1,000, so it's a great value using Chase points. Flying business class with points is almost always a better value compared to the cash cost of a ticket, but if one sign-up bonus can fly a traveler in economy to see two destinations in South America and back, I’d say that’s a steal!

 

Jackson: A Trip in the World's Best Biz Class

As our senior editor Jackson put it, a bonus of 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards is more than enough to “live like the rich and famous” … at least for a day or two.

This isn't just any business class seat: It's Qatar Airways Qsuite, complete with a fully closing door, lie-flat bed, and top-notch food and drinks. I can't think of a better way to spend a hard-earned welcome offer than this!

 

 

Read next: Qatar QSuite Business Class Review

Qatar flies its Qsuites business class all over the world, including many routes from the U.S. to Doha (DOH). But why stop there? I'd prefer to continue on from Doha to see another destination in the Middle East like Dubai (DXB).

 

 

In order to make it happen, I'll need to transfer 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards to British Airways Avios. Since Chase points transfer instantly to British Airways, I shouldn't need to worry about award space disappearing while I wait. 

I could stop here and book flights directly with British Airways, but I'm actually going to take things one step further and transfer those Avios to my Qatar Airways Privilege Club account instead. There are a couple reasons why taking this extra step makes sense, since Chase and Qatar aren't direct partners. It's a necessary one.

For starters, I'm going to save some points by doing this: British Airways charges 77,000 Avios for the one-way business class flight from Chicago O'Hare (ORD) to Dubai, while it only costs 75,000 Avios when booking with Qatar. When it comes to booking a bucket list trip like this, 2,000 points isn't much … but hey, every bit counts! But the bigger reason for booking through Qatar is that they have a more generous change and cancellation policy than British Airways. If my plans change, I'll only have to pay $25 to change or cancel my trip compared to the $55 I'd be on the hook for with British Airways. 

When all is said and done, the total out-of-pocket cost for taxes and fees will run me a moderate $206.40. Not bad for nearly 14 hours in the world's best business class – and a pit stop in the incredible Al Safwa First Class Lounge in Doha (DOH) before the final leg to Dubai.

 

 

Heck … since I still have points leftover, I might even consider building in a stopover to check out the brand new Andaz Doha or the bougie Park Hyatt. Free nights here start at 9,000 and 12,000 points per night, respectively. Since Hyatt is a 1:1 Chase transfer partner, booking either hotel would be no problem at all. 

Read more: The Easiest (& Cheapest) Way to Get Into the World’s Coolest Airport Lounge

Long: A Direct Flight to Vietnam in Biz Class

Our hotel deal analyst and award travel reporter Long has a bucket list trip that many aviation geeks don't even know how to book. With 100,000 Chase points, he would top up his points balance and fly to his favorite country in the world: Vietnam.

Just last year, I got a Thrifty Traveler Premium deal for a business class flight with Vietnam Airlines on the only nonstop route from the U.S. to Vietnam.

I grew up in Vietnamese American household and have traveled to Vietnam frequently, so  I instantly geeked out over this deal. It's a flight I'd been eyeing for a while but never dared to book because of its hefty price tag of $3,500 or more. 

In order to book this flight I'd need to transfer 108,000 Ultimate Rewards to Virgin Atlantic miles during one of Chase's 30% transfer bonuses. While the current bonus isn't quite enough to make this flight a reality, it will get me most of the points I need. And since I don't ever plan to spend $3,000 or more for a flight, it's well worth it to me.

With the current bonus offer, I'll be roughly 40,000 Virgin points short. But since I can transfer points to Virgin from many other banks including American Express, Capital One, and others, this shouldn't be an issue at all. And if a transfer bonus pops up, I'll just need to top off my redemption with 3,000 more points.

Considering this flight is over 15 hours long, business class is essential. I've been on a lot of cool flights, but this one is still one on my list that I have yet to check off.

Tracey: A Trip to Europe for Four

Booking travel for yourself is easy. But flying your entire family is a different beast.

Our product manager Tracey loves booking flights with Flying Blue to get her family of four to Europe because of the 25% discount on award tickets for kids.

Flying Blue points are super easy to earn with so many transfer partners, including Chase. While I didn't use Ultimate Rewards points for this particular redemption, we recently paid 87,500 points one way to get a family of four from Denver to Milan for the Winter Olympics in economy (flying TAP business back!). This might not be the sexiest redemption, but I think it's a realistic option for beginners. It sure beats paying upwards of $3,700 one-way for family of four!

Read more: How to Book Award Tickets with Air France/KLM Flying Blue Miles

Bottom Line

Clearly, no one on our team would have a hard time putting 100,000 points to use.

From business class flights to a luxurious hotel stay to taking a slew of cheap flights and making them free, there are a ton of options to get a lot of value out of this bonus on the *chase sapphire preferred*. Our ideas are just the tip of the iceberg, so be sure to read up on all the great ways to redeem this huge bonus!

Learn more about the *csp*.