Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred card any good?

[krafty81]

I have Chase Sapphire Preferred. Tried to upgrade to Reserve but you get no bonus points so I stayed with CSP. I like that fact that the points can go into either SWA or UAL points programs. Those happen to be the two airlines I fly most often, so I keep them in the CSP "bank" and dole them out as needed. 2X dining is good also.

[international001]

Like others have mentioned above, I highly recommend the combo of a Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) along with a Chase Freedom Unlimited Card (FUL).

• CSR has $450 annual fee but $300 is credited with travel spend ($150/year effective annual rate). FUL has no annual fee.
• CSR has no Foreign Transactions Fees, Primary Rental Car Insurance, Priority Pass Travel Lounge access
• Freedom Unlimited has 1.5% on everything. CSR has 3% back on travel and dining.
• Easy to transfer all Chase Ultimate Rewards earned on FUL to CSR from any household account
• Redeem the points through the travel portal at 1.5c/point. So effective cash back is 3%*1.5=4.5% for travel and dining. Everything else is 1.5%*1.5= 2.25% for everything charge to the FUL card.
• Some folks redeem using the travel partners to get more than 1.5c/point. We've stopped doing that in order to preserve our sanity.

Will work if you spend enough (and depending on how much you spend on travel/dining!)
It would not work for me since I don't spend that much over the year

Also, I can get much cheaper flights if I don't book via Chase. If you book via european sites, fares are much better.

Still, if you flight a lot, potentially you could get 4.5% return on your spending. Isn't Chase loosing, then? Are they expecting that most people won't beat the bank as a marketing scheme?

[mervinj7]

Still, if you flight a lot, potentially you could get 4.5% return on your spending. Isn't Chase loosing, then? Are they expecting that most people won't beat the bank as a marketing scheme?

I have no worries that Chase will make up the money from other folks who carry a balance at their absurd interest rates. Our travel spending is rather large since we also book tickets for our parents' visits as well as work trips. We get both reimbursed later with checks.

EDIT: It looks like all these CC bonuses (including those from the Reserve card) cost $330M in just one quarter alone but overall the bank still made a record $8.2B in profits.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/credit-ca ... 2-revenue/

[mervinj7]

Also, I can get much cheaper flights if I don't book via Chase. If you book via european sites, fares are much better.

Also, you can continue to book the majority of your flights however you want and still earn the 4.5% ultimate rewards. You only need to use the Chase site once for whatever flight paid you want to book with points. The Travel and Dining category is also relatively broad.

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/which-pu ... preferred/

[essbeer]

About the only thing I'd still charge on the CSP is parking garages, and even then I usually have better options. Bonus was nice but I will definitely downgrade when the time comes. I've got 4% (or better) options for dining, hotel, travel, entertainment, gas and groceries -- all no FTF. And once you've got 4% back on groceries, with just a little extra effort you should be able to get 4% back on just about anything.

[international001]

About the only thing I'd still charge on the CSP is parking garages, and even then I usually have better options. Bonus was nice but I will definitely downgrade when the time comes. I've got 4% (or better) options for dining, hotel, travel, entertainment, gas and groceries -- all no FTF. And once you've got 4% back on groceries, with just a little extra effort you should be able to get 4% back on just about anything.

You forgot to mention which card gives you 4% on groceries

[international001]

Still, if you flight a lot, potentially you could get 4.5% return on your spending. Isn't Chase loosing, then? Are they expecting that most people won't beat the bank as a marketing scheme?

I have no worries that Chase will make up the money from other folks who carry a balance at their absurd interest rates. Our travel spending is rather large since we also book tickets for our parents' visits as well as work trips. We get both reimbursed later with checks.

EDIT: It looks like all these CC bonuses (including those from the Reserve card) cost $330M in just one quarter alone but overall the bank still made a record $8.2B in profits.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/credit-ca ... 2-revenue/

'redeemed the bank’s points “faster than anticipated”'

What does this mean?

[international001]

Also, I can get much cheaper flights if I don't book via Chase. If you book via european sites, fares are much better.

Also, you can continue to book the majority of your flights however you want and still earn the 4.5% ultimate rewards. You only need to use the Chase site once for whatever flight paid you want to book with points. The Travel and Dining category is also relatively broad.

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/which-pu ... preferred/

Right now I'm getting all flights I need at (up to) 60% of what Chase offers me. So the 2.25%-4.5% does not apply (it's effectively 1.35%-2.7%). It If my situation ever changes, then you are right and I'll reconsider.

[essbeer]

About the only thing I'd still charge on the CSP is parking garages, and even then I usually have better options. Bonus was nice but I will definitely downgrade when the time comes. I've got 4% (or better) options for dining, hotel, travel, entertainment, gas and groceries -- all no FTF. And once you've got 4% back on groceries, with just a little extra effort you should be able to get 4% back on just about anything.

You forgot to mention which card gives you 4% on groceries

If you have the CNB Crystal, for instance, it's has 3.6% back in airfare for groceries, but also has a $550 value bonus at 50k spend, so then it's theoretically up to 4.7% back on groceries.

There are others: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-cre ... purchases/

[international001]

If you have the CNB Crystal, for instance, it's has 3.6% back in airfare for groceries, but also has a $550 value bonus at 50k spend, so then it's theoretically up to 4.7% back on groceries.

There are others: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-cre ... purchases/

A $400 fee is for people with higher spending habits than me.
Also, forcing me to buy travel through their website it's a bad deal with me.

Most of the high return cards have funny conditions. Real 2% is the most I get for groceries.

[02nz]

The CNB Crystal Visa is an incredible value if you can get it. The airline credit and Priority Pass membership are per card, even though add'l cards don't cost extra. The airline credit is good for most airline fees - not as easy as the Sapphire Reserve's credit but much better than Amex.

[essbeer]

If you have the CNB Crystal, for instance, it's has 3.6% back in airfare for groceries, but also has a $550 value bonus at 50k spend, so then it's theoretically up to 4.7% back on groceries.

There are others: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/best-cre ... purchases/

A $400 fee is for people with higher spending habits than me.
Also, forcing me to buy travel through their website it's a bad deal with me.

Most of the high return cards have funny conditions. Real 2% is the most I get for groceries.

It's not as bad as it looks. You can buy any published fare by calling in and use cash to make up the difference. The $400 fee is easy to offset with other benefits. Many people get that card and put no spending on it just for the benefits.

But for just cash back you can get the AMEX CBP card which works out to exactly 4.4% cash back on groceries at 6k spending. You could just buy 6k worth of gift cards to shift the spending to other categories. It's not zero effort, but it's not much effort either.