The Top Card for Beginners? Yeah, the Chase Sapphire Preferred
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I’m sure it’s happened to you at some point. A friend asks, “How do you do it?” Take all these trips to places like Hawaii, Tokyo and Osaka, Dublin, Barcelona, and more. How do you get free hotel rooms that cost hundreds of dollars a night?
“I want to travel like you do,” they say. “Where do I start?”
You can stay at the Hyatt at the Bellevue in Philly with Chase Ultimate Rewards points
And you have that moment where you’re thinking inside, “Well for starters, using that debit card for everything you buy isn’t helping anything.” *cough* Kierstin *cough*
You ask about their spending habits. “Do you shop online?” Definitely use a shopping portal – get free miles for clicking a link.
And sign up for dining rewards while you’re at it because you never know when you’ll get some extra miles in your account – especially if you live in a mid-sized to large city.
As far as cards go… where to begin?
Part of me is tempted to say, Discover It ’cause it’s so easy to earn cashback. Or Citi ThankYou Premier because it earns 3X on all travel including gas (but the transfer partners are obscure and points take days to post). Or even Citi Prestige if I know the person books a lot of hotel rooms or buys a lot of flights on American – I can argue why the annual fee is worth it.
Getting Chase Freedom is kind of pointless with the Sapphire Preferred… so I always trace my steps back to the same place.
Going on 5 years with this bad boy
Dammit, the best card to start with really is the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Why I recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred
Link: Chase Sapphire Preferred
Here’s what it comes down to:
Easy, daily bonus categories (2X points per $1 spent on travel and dining)
Great sign-up bonus
Easy to rack up points with ongoing spending
Excellent shopping portal (and only one of its kind – Amex, Citi, and Starwood don’t have one)
Useful transfer partners with instant transfers – *this is KEY*
To start, you earn 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months of opening your account. And the $95 annual fee is waived the 1st year. Stick with me here.
The sign-up bonus is already worth $500 in statement credits. Or $625 on travel. Or even more when you transfer to travel partners.
Chase Airline Transfer Partners
Chase Hotel Transfer Partners
Not only that, but they have useful transfer partners:
50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth ~$700 toward Southwest flights
Lots of United award flights are easily bookable on United.com
Booking a Hyatt award night couldn’t be easier – just tick “Hyatt Gold Passport” to see how many points you need for a free night
British Airways is a good level 2
From there, you can learn Flying Blue and Singapore when you have a sec
Basically, this card is good for peeps who know nothing and need to have it easy. AND for those who don’t mind really geeking out and digging around in award charts.
I flew to Dublin in Business Class by transferring my points to British Airways
Southwest, United, and British Airways and more than enough if you want to travel domestically.
Important: Don’t even bother applying for this card if you’ve opened for than 5 other cards in the previous 2 years. But if you’re a beginner, this shouldn’t be an issue – and it’s a good place to start.
That 1st transfer
My friends ask, “So I just transfer the points? And they show up on the other side?”
Ah, I remember my first award booking with points. Still so unsure and skeptical it would actually work.
Then, when I booked the flights, I felt somehow the flights weren’t “real” – that I’d be found out and have them taken away. How could that be possible? Free flights? Yeah right. Where’s the scam?
We stayed in Boston with Hyatt points – then flew back to New York on a free American Airlines flight with British Airways points – all transferred from Chase
It wasn’t until the 3rd or 4th award trip that I started to gain confidence in booking awards.
And having instant transfers is really so nice. You transfer to United, refresh the page, they’re in the account. Same for Hyatt, British Airways, Southwest, and the whole lot.
You can even call to book the award and transfer while you have someone helping you on the other end.
If you want “points training wheels”, this is an excellent place to begin – with a lot of power left over.
Extra points for everyday spending
Most of my friends eat out too much and frequent too many bars. Sound like your friends? For the love of god, earn bonus points on it!
The travel category is very broad and includes airline tickets, hotel stays, tolls, train passes, bus fare, parking, and lots of other incidentals.
Plus you’ll earn 1X point per $1 spent on other stuff. It’s not a lot, but it’s also a lot better than what you’ll earn with a debit card: nothing.
New Orleans is dead cheap with Chase points – getting there and finding a hotel is very easy
The biggest objection I hear is: $4,000?!?! I can’t possibly spend that in 3 months (to meet the minimum spending requirement). So that’s $1,333 per month for 3 months.
How much is your rent? Put it on a card and eat a small fee once or twice.
Use it when you have a big purchase coming up, like a new appliance, upcoming move, or big party to plan. I even bought a car with credit cards.
Or, take your friends out, pocket their cash, and run the bill through your card.
There are plenty of ways to hit the minimum spending requirement.
Bottom line
So I wrote this to share with my friends – I won’t name names lol. 
