For nearly a decade, we’ve considered the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card the best travel rewards credit card for beginners. Its premium sibling, the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, has long been among the best cards for travelers, period. Nothing has changed in 2023.
With eye-popping welcome bonuses over the last few years, amazing ways to use Chase points, and perks like built-in travel insurance, both these Sapphire Cards have rightly become a mainstay in millions of travelers’ wallets. If you don’t have one yet, the Chase Sapphire card is one of the best ways to get started with points and miles. And thanks to something called the Chase 5/24 rule, you’ll want to start with Chase cards before it’s too late.
So you’ve got a Chase Sapphire card in your wallet (or will soon) … but what’s next? How do you use those cards and points well? And how do you keep earning even more valuable Chase points to fuel your travels?
Here’s what you need to know.
Read more: Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Reserve – Which is Right for You?
Make Sure You Earn the Welcome Bonus (Responsibly)
First things first: Whether you get the Sapphire Preferred or Reserve, you can currently get the same welcome offer bonus. But that big points bonus won’t do you much good if you don’t actually earn it.
Welcome offers like this are so important because you only get one crack at them. If you don’t actually spend the $4,000 on your new Sapphire Card in the first three months of card membership, you will not earn the bonus – or any bonus, for that matter.
The clock starts from the moment you open the card, not when you receive it in the mail. If you’re not sure when your deadline is, start a secure message with Chase and they can give you an answer.
But this isn’t a license to spend willy-nilly. Credit cards and debt are serious business. Spending for the sake of meeting your welcome offer bonus spending requirement is dangerous.
Your mantra should be to charge to your Sapphire Card the money you were going to spend anyway, then pay it all off in full. If you don’t think you can spend the required $4,000 in the first three months of card membership required, skip it. Digging yourself into a hole of debt and paying credit card interest negates any benefit you get from those points.
Related reading: How to Hit Minimum Spend (And Earn That Bonus) Responsibly on Credit Cards
Keep Spending On Your Sapphire Cards (Sometimes)
Nothing beats earning a big welcome bonus. But there are plenty of good reasons you might want to keep turning to one of your Sapphire cards – and not just to keep earning points.
But let’s be real, the extra points don’t hurt. Both of these top travel cards offer bonuses on specific spending categories that could make it your go-to credit card depending on what you’re doing. And both waive foreign transaction fees, which make them a must-have for your wallet when traveling abroad.
Got the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card? You may want to use it to earn:
- 3x points per dollar spent on all dining, including some delivery services
- 3x points per dollar spent on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2x points per dollar spent on all travel purchases
- 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal
- 5x points per dollar spent on all Lyft rides through March 2025.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® with some even bigger bonuses, including:
- 3x points per dollar spent on all travel purchases
- 3x points per dollar spent on all dining, including some delivery services
- 5x points on flights booked through the Chase Travel Portal
- 10x points per dollar on hotels and car rentals booked through the Chase Travel Portal
- 10x points per dollar spent on all Lyft rides through March 2025.
But there’s one even more compelling reason to use your Sapphire cards when booking travel: Built-in travel insurance. These two cards come with some of the best travel insurance you’ll find on any travel card, allowing you to skip those add-on policies. That’s critical at a time when many Americans are worried about delays and cancellations. Even delays or trip cancellations caused by severe weather – like a snow storm – are eligible.
So long as you book your travel with your Chase Sapphire card (or use your Chase points), you could get reimbursed for:
- Up to $100 a day (for five days) if your checked bag is delayed by six-plus hours, covering the costs of buying extra clothes and necessities
- Flight delayed or canceled, leaving you stuck away from home. The Reserve card’s coverage will cover extra costs like meals, hotels, toiletries, and more if your flight is delayed by more than six hours (while the Preferred Card requires a delay of 12-plus hours or overnight to kick in)
It goes beyond flights: Both cards offer some of the best primary rental car coverage you’ll find so long as you pay for your rental with your Sapphire Card and decline the company’s policy.
Read More: All About the Chase Sapphire Rental Car Insurance Benefit
Earn More Points with the Chase Freedom Cards
You’ve earned the big bonus and keep turning to your Chase card to earn more points. But the best way to keep adding to your stash of Chase points might be with other Chase cards.
Take a hard look at either the Chase Freedom Flex℠ or the Chase Freedom Unlimited® cards. They form a perfect tandem with your Sapphire Card – and best of all, neither has an annual fee.
While Chase markets both of these cards as cashback credit cards, they get exponentially more valuable if you hold either (or both) of them with a Chase Sapphire card. That’s because you can transfer the cash back earned from either card directly into your Chase Ultimate Rewards account, turning that cashback straight into Chase points. If you earn $100 of cashback, that can become 10,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Read up on how to combine cash back and points on your Chase cards!
Most importantly, these cards are more lucrative for some of your everyday expenses rather than simply continuing to swipe your Preferred or Reserve card.
Let’s take a look below at the benefits offered by each of the Freedom cards.
Read more: Chase Freedom Flex vs Freedom Unlimited – Which Card is Right for You?
Chase Freedom Unlimited
- Welcome Offer Bonus: Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) – worth up to $300 cash back!
- Earn 5% cashback on travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal
- Earn 3% cashback on dining
- Earn 3% cashback at drugstores
- Earn an unlimited 1.5% cashback on all other purchases.
Click Here to learn more about the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.
Chase Freedom Flex
- Welcome Offer Bonus: Earn a $200 bonus after spending $500 in the first three months of card membership.
- Earn 5% cashback on rotating quarterly categories on up to $1,500 of spending which could include:
- Grocery stores, gym memberships, streaming services, gas stations, etc – see our guide of the rotating Chase Freedom bonus categories.
- Earn 5% cashback on travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal
- Earn 3% cashback on dining, including takeout and delivery services
- Earn 3% cashback at drugstores
Click Here to learn more about the Chase Freedom Flex.
Refer Friends & Family to Earn More Points
If you have a Chase Sapphire card, a Freedom card, or even an Ink Business card, you can keep adding to your stash of points by referring your friends and family and having them apply for a card through your personal referral link.
Generally, these referral welcome bonus offers match what you’ll find publicly available, so your pals won’t be leaving points on the table. To sweeten the deal, you’ll also earn 10,000 to 15,000 points for each person you refer who gets approved.
If you hold the Sapphire Preferred, you’ll be capped at earning up to 75,000 points each year for referrals. With the Sapphire Reserve, you’ll be able to earn up to 50,000 points each year for referrals.
All you have to do is go to the Chase refer a friend homepage, log in to your account, and generate a referral link to share with friends and family for any cards currently in your wallet. As long as they apply for the card through your link, you’ll earn 10,000 to 15,000 points – those points typically come within about six weeks of their card approval.
It’s an easy way to keep adding to your stash of Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Combine Your Points with Household Members (or Your Other Chase Cards)
Chase allows you to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to other members of your household. But there’s a hitch: You must share the same billing address on Chase accounts.
This means spouses, partners, family members, and even roommates can earn the same sign-up bonus on the same card – then pool those bonus points together under one account. To make it happen, all you need to do is select “Combine Points” from the menu in your Chase Ultimate Rewards account, then select “Add a Household Member” and you’ll land on a screen that lets you add somebody and complete a transfer.
You’ll have to enter the last name of the person you are transferring points to and their Chase credit card number.
You also shouldn’t have to wait for the points to arrive, as they should be processed immediately. Also, there is no limit to the number of points that can be transferred each year.
Read more: How to Combine Chase Points with Another Cardmember
If you hold a Chase Freedom or Chase Ink card, you can transfer the cash back from those cards into Ultimate Rewards points using the same “Combine Points” menu option.
It will show your available cards and give you the option to move them back and forth between accounts. Since I hold both the Sapphire Preferred and Chase Ink Business Unlimited card, I can transfer cash back from the Ink Unlimited card directly into my Chase Ultimate Rewards balance associated with my Sapphire Preferred card which ultimately makes them worth more.
Read more: How to Transfer Points Between Your Chase Cards
Use Your Ultimate Rewards Points
Here’s a public service announcement: Your points and miles are not getting more valuable by sitting in your account.
Sure, it’s nice to see those balances grow … but that’s a bad decision. Use them: That’s ultimately what they’re there for. Points and miles are best used for travel experiences that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford or wouldn’t be willing to pay cash for.
So if you’ve got Chase points. You might be wondering how exactly you can use them – or, better yet, use them wisely.
Thankfully, there is no shortage of ways to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points. In fact, one of the biggest reasons our team values them so highly is that there are so many ways to use them for great trips.
Read up on our 10 favorite ways to use Chase points!
The Chase Travel Portal
Let’s start with the easiest route: Booking travel through the Chase Travel Portal. With either Chase Sapphire card, there’s a bonus for doing so.
Simply book a flight, hotel, car rental, or cruise through your online Chase account. When you do, your points will be worth 1.25 cents each or 1.5 cents apiece with the Sapphire Reserve.
That means you can book a $750 flight using 60,000 points from your Preferred Card or just 50,000 points with the Reserve. And there’s a silver lining: You’ll still earn miles when you fly booking this way, unlike a traditional airline award ticket. Plus, there are no extra fees or taxes – your points cover the full amount.
Almost any flight you find through Google Flights can be booked straight through the Chase portal. Better yet, get the cheapest flight deals sent to you with Thrifty Traveler Premium. Just about every flight deal we send our members can be booked with Chase Ultimate Rewards points through the travel portal.
And if you’ve got the Preferred Card, don’t forget to use up your $50 credit for booking a hotel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
Use Chase Transfer Partners for More Value
If you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck from your Chase points, look no further.
In addition to the Chase Travel Portal, you can also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points directly to more than 10 airlines and three hotel brands.
All those options give your points immense flexibility that shouldn’t be overlooked. In many cases, sending your points to Chase transfer partners can get you far more value – especially if you’re looking to fly first and business class.
| Program | Type | Transfer Ratio | Transfer Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Air France/KLM | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| British Airways | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Emirates | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Iberia Plus | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| JetBlue | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Singapore Air | Airline | 1:1 | 12-24 hours |
| Southwest Airlines | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| United Airlines | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| Virgin Atlantic | Airline | 1:1 | Instant |
| World of Hyatt | Hotel | 1:1 | Instant |
| IHG | Hotel | 1:1 | 1 day |
| Marriott Rewards | Hotel | 1:1 | 2 days |
Read our full guide to Chase transfer partners and how it works!
There’s a reason we consider Chase points so valuable. There are a lot of sweet spots here to highlight – this is just a small sample.
- Want to fly to Europe? Transferring your Chase points to Iberia opens up one of the cheapest ways to get to Europe – in either economy or business class. For just 34,000 miles, you can get to Madrid (MAD) and back almost any time of the year. Iberia’s business class starts at only 68,000 miles round trip from the East Coast or Chicago-O’Hare (ORD), less than what most airlines charge to fly economy!
- British Airways offers one of the best ways to get to Hawaii using points. For just 26,000 miles, you can fly from Los Angeles (LAX) or Phoenix (PHX) direct to the islands on American Airlines – when American itself charges 45,000 miles or more for the exact same flights.
- Virgin Atlantic is one of our favorite ways to save SkyMiles and book flights on Delta. Their partnership allows you to book Delta One business class (including Delta One Suites) to Europe for just 50,000 miles each way – when Delta often wants $5,000 or 200,000 SkyMiles or more for a trip to Europe in business class. Read our guide on how to book Delta One Suites for cheap by transferring Chase points!
- With cheap domestic flights starting at 5,000 miles each way, round-trip to Europe for 60,000 miles, and 35,000 round trip to the Caribbean, United can be a competitive option. Just keep in mind that United has switched to an unpredictable dynamic award system, so prices can vary wildly.
- Aeroplan is Chase’s newest addition, and it’s a strong one. You can use Aeroplan miles to book cheap United flights across the country, get from the West Coast to Hawaii and back for as low as 25,000 miles, or fly from the U.S. to Asia in EVA Air business class for just 75,000 miles. You can even use Aeroplan to book Singapore Airlines business class.
- Hyatt is far and away one of the strongest Chase transfer partners. That’s largely because the hotel chain’s low award rates make it easy to get an outsized value on amazing hotels worldwide. Check out one of our favorite ways to use Hyatt points for all-inclusive resorts!
Bottom Line
Once you get a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card, there are lots of ways to keep earning points. And earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points should be a top priority as you delve into the world of points and miles.
Great info for a newbie here, thanks Nick!
Tina
Good luck with that travel insurance on the Chase Sapphire Preferred paying out. If that is the reason you get the card, don’t bother. I caught Covid-19 on day 4 of a 14 day bicycle tour in Europe last summer. I did not see a doctor but instead used a rapid test when I came down with symptoms. I kept testing myself and my husband to see if I was still positive. I was too sick to ride the bike and I couldn’t travel with the group in the van (per the tour company’s covid protocols. The riders were traveling around 40 miles per day. Impossible for me to do with Covid-19! Chase’s insurer denied my claim because of the lack of a medical professional’s signature attesting that I had Covid-19. Additionally, it took them about 6 months to get to the point of denying it. There is really no one to talk to about the claim, only someone who sees the same info that you see online. I had over a $6K loss on the tour’s costs alone. I had to buy additional hotel rooms and train tickets on my dime as I couldn’t keep up with the tour. I provided details and letters from the tour company as to the loss due to Covid but that is not enough. I immediately cancelled the card even though I have had it for many years.
The article refers to Chase Saphire as having some of the best rental car insurance in the market. I tried to file a claim on a minor parking lot ding I had almost a year ago. They asked for info that was not available such as a police report. In todays world police departments don’t respond to such incidents. I’m still waiting for phone calls promised to be made. Filing with my personal insurance carrier took five minutes. What a joke!
Thanks for the article Nick! We have points to use. MSP is our home airport and we primarily fly Delta. SunCountry occasionally. If we book with Chase points, how do we obtain the benefits of the SkyMiles or SC Rewards programs for bags, boarding priority and in the case of SC 1/2 price seat selection? Thanks.
Hi Jerry. With Delta, there is no requirement that you book with the card to receive the bag, priority boarding, and seat selection benefits. Just for holding the Delta card you get those benefits. That means you can book with your Chase card and still take advantage of those.