The GREATEST Credit Card of all time…for beginners!!

How does one choose the greatest credit card of all times?  Well, with so many out there, it’s not an easy choice!!  I believe, however, that for those just beginning in the points and miles world, that after earning the Southwest Companion Pass, (see this link), that the greatest credit card on the planet is the Chase Sapphire Preferred!  I know I told you, just this week, that you needed to earn the Southwest Companion Pass, and you really do, but that one is very dependent on the time of year.  If it’s early in the year, then the Southwest Companion Pass is definitely the way to go.  If it’s later, or you don’t mind missing out on a couple months of having the Companion Pass, then the Chase Sapphire Preferred is absolutely the way to go.  The benefits of this card are incredible.  

For starters, you’ll earn 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards^®after you spend $4,000 on purchased in the first 3 months from account opening (an all-time high bonus that’s available NOW)!!  That’s $750 toward travel when you redeem through the Chase Ultimate Rewards^® Portal. In reality though, if you use your points wisely and are strategic with your point transfers, you could obtain a value of over $1,100.  More on this later…

You’ll also earn 2x points per dollar on all travel (including airfare, hotels, taxis, and trains), 2x points per dollar on all dining out, and 1x point per dollar on all other charges.  For those of you that are BRAND NEW to this world, no worries.  “2x” just means you’ll receive 2 points for every dollar you spend.  Obviously, the more points per dollar that you earn, the quicker you will be able to take that seemingly unattainable vacation with your family.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred also has an incredible benefit when you rent a car.  If you deny coverage with your chosen rental car company (and you pay with this card), Chase will automatically give you primary rental car coverage.  What does this mean for you?  If you happen to get in an accident in your rental car, you NEVER have to contact your own insurance company, and Chase will take care of the claim!  We rented five different cars on our latest vacation, and this brings complete peace of mind (with $0 additional cost).

Here are some other huge perks:

* $0 Foreign Transaction Fees (when you are out of the country, there is no fee)

* Trip Cancellation/Interruption Service (If a covered loss prevents you from traveling on or before your trip, you could be reimbursed, up to $10K per trip, $20K per occurrence and a maximum benefit over 12-months of $40K if you have charged your trip to the Chase Sapphire Preferred). It will take another post to explain this in detail, but it’s a great benefit.

* Zero Liability Protection (if your card is lost/stolen, and then used, you will not be responsible for the charges, if you are diligent to report it as soon as possible)

* 24/7 Direct Access Customer Service

And one of the GREATEST benefits to this card is that all your points transfer to specific travel partners at a 1 to 1 ratio (I’ll go into greater detail in a later post, but you can transfer the points that you earn to other partners within a specific alliance).

Here’s the current list:

Airlines

• Air France/KLM
• Aer Lingus
• British Airways
• Iberia
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Singapore KrisFlyer
• Southwest
• United
• Virgin Atlantic

Hotels

• Hyatt
• Marriott
• InterContinental Hotels Group
• Ritz-Carlton

I am obligated to tell you that there is a $95 annual fee to have the Chase Sapphire Preferred, but the benefits far outweigh the cost.  This was our main go-to card for everything we spent last year, and how six of us were able to go for two weeks to three Hawaiian Islands (you can take a peek here)!

If you are interested in learning more, feel free to reach out to me.   Or, if I’ve done a great job of explaining all of this, and you’d like to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, please use this link.  I will earn a few points for referring you.