Start with Chase

Chase has a large arsenal of cards in their portfolio. You will start with Chase Ultimate Reward (UR) cards, not the co-branded (hotel/airline) cards. Chase UR cards will allow you to transfer your points out to a ton of airlines or use them for Hyatt hotels, which makes these points HIGHLY valuable.  These include: Sapphire Preferred or Reserve, Freedom Flex/Unlimited, and INK Business cards.

Everyone should start with Chase for a few reasons: 

• Points are easy to earn and redeem

• 5/24 rule - If you open a bunch of Amex and Citi cards, you are locked out from opening any Chase card for two years. It's best to open all the Chase cards you want first, and then move on to other banks. 

• Note: At some point, you will want to start getting Business cards. Business cards do not count against your 5/24.

  • If you can meet the minimum spend, grab an Ink Cash and/or an Ink Unlimited first before opening co-branded hotel/airline cards. The goal here is to get as many UR points first.

  • Depending on velocity, you may want to "take a Chase break", and open a non-Chase business card. (Hint: Pretty much everyone can get a business card.) 

IMPORTANT!!! Each person will have their own cards and accounts. Do NOT add each other as authorized users as it counts against your 5/24 status. 

There is a strategic reason for opening cards in a specific order, so I highly recommend following my card suggestions, or asking first before you open something different. Don't get shiny object syndrome and open a random offer in the mail. 😊

The first two - three cards you will get is the Chase Trifecta: Sapphire Preferred, Freedom Flex, and Freedom Unlimited. Not always, but often you and your P2 will mimic getting the same cards to maximize referral points. You will definitely each want the Sapphire and either a Freedom Flex or Freedom Unlimited. Each card has it's benefits. (Here is how I maximize using each of these cards.) The spend requirement on both Freedom cards is only $500 for 20k points, so if you are starting out very slow and do not intend to open more than a few cards your first year, it's fine for each of you to grab all three. Just be mindful of your 5/24 - there are other cards like the Ink's or co-branded (hotel/airline) cards that will earn you significantly more points if you can meet the spend.

Step 1: Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) This is your gateway card to transferring points. You won't be able to use your point without this card.

This card has a $4,000 spend requirement within 3 months requirement, with an average sign-up bonus of 60,000 points! It has a $95 annual fee, but is well worth the cost. For example, you could cash those 60k points out for $600 OR transfer them to an airline for a $1000+ roundtrip flight to Europe! 

**Pay Attention: This link will give you an option to apply for the Preferred or Reserve. Most beginners will get the Preferred ($95 annual fee). The Reserve has a lot of benefits, but also has a steep $550 annual fee. 

Step 2: Refer your spouse to open a CSP. Significant other/spouses/travel partners are commonly known as "Player 2" or P2. If you have a P2, you will send them a referral link to open a Chase Sapphire Preferred card about 2-weeks before you finish the minimum spend requirement on your first Sapphire card.  

Note: This is generally your first card before the two Freedoms listed below because you can only transfer your points to airline and hotel partners with this card. The Freedom cards are "technically" cash back cards, but as long as you hold a Sapphire card, you can conver the cash into points. (Points are always > than cash.)

Earnings just from these two cards: 

P1 = 60k bonus + 4k from the $4k spend

P2 = 60K bonus + 4k from the $4k spend

P1 Referral to P2 = 15k 

Total = 143,000 Points! 

Putting this into practice: Hyatt Regency Maui is 25k points per night or $600+ per night. The bonus from this one card will get you 5 nights! 

Step 3: Grab a Chase Freedom Flex This card is technically a cashback card but you will transfer your "$200" bonus to the Sapphire card and convert it into 20,000 points. Remember points > cash -- Would you rather have $200, or use 20K points to stay at a $400+ per night hotel? 

• This card has no annual fee. 

• The spend requirement is $500 in 3 months, for a $200/20k point bonus.  

The signup bonus often includes an additional benefit of 5x points for groceries for a year! It also has quarterly spend bonuses in areas like gas stations, Target etc... If you maximize these benefits, you can get 110K points from it the first year! That's pretty awesome for a card with no annual fee! 🎉

Step 4: Refer your P2 to the Freedom Flex! 

Step 5: Open a Chase Freedom Unlimited This card is similar to the Freedom Flex - no annual fee, and a $200/20K bonus for $500 spend. There are no additional bonuses, but it does earn 1.5 points on every dollar spent. This is generally my go-to everyday spend card when I am not working on a sign-up bonus. 

Step 6: Refer your P2 to the Freedom Unlimited. 

Earnings from 2 Freedom Flexes and 2 Freedom Unlimited's: 

P1: Freedom Flex = 20k 

P1: Flex referral to P2 = 10k

P2: Freedom Flex = 20k

P1: Freedom Unlimited = 20k

P1: Unlimited Referral = 10k

P2 Freedom Unlimited = 20k

Total = 100,000 Points! 

Putting this into practice: Assuming there are two people and you each opened a Sapphire, Freedom Unlimited, and Freedom Flex: you will have a minimum of 243k points! Let's put that together for a Hawaii vacation, transferring your Chase UR to Southwest Airlines and Hyatt. 

Looking at the Southwest Low Fare calendar, you can fly from Phoenix to Honolulu for 55-60k Points Roundtrip each. 

Two people: 120k

Hyatt Regency Waikiki: 20k points per night = 6 nights for 120k. 

Total Points Spent: 240k Points. 

There you have it! These first 3 cards each should take about 4-6 months, depending on your opening speed. A good rule of thumb is to wait AT LEAST 45-60 days between applications. I typically rotate with my husband, so we are always working on a bonus. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint. You don't want to go crazy with opening cards at a high velocity or you will risk denial and/or can get your accounts shut down.  

After these three cards, you may want to look into business cards. (Side note - pretty much everyone qualifies for a business.) This will help you maximize getting all the Chase cards your heart desires while preserving your 5/24. 

Do you have another trip in mind? Are you ready for your next card? 

Reach out and I'll help with booking guidance and give you a suggestion for what to open next!

CHASE TIPS

• Combining points: After both players have points posted to their accounts, call Chase and ask to "Combine" your points. Both players need to be on the phone AND have your Sapphire cards to confirm the card number to give approval for this. You only need to call the first time. After that, you can combine them yourself online. Not every bank or hotel program allows you to do this. For example, Chase does, but AMEX does not. 

• I recommend only keeping P2's Chase Sapphire Preferred card open for 1 year. Then, when the next annual fee hits, you will call to downgrade the card to an additional Freedom card. You only need the second card for the bonus! The first Sapphire Card is a keeper card, because you must have a Sapphire card in order to transfer your points. Just make sure to transfer all points to P1's Sapphire first so you don't lose any points.

VALUE OF YOUR POINTS

I value my Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) at a high value, and tend to mostly use them to transfer to Hyatt hotels. If you were to cash out your Chase points, this worth 1 cent per point (cpp). (60k = $600). As you can see above - you will get way more than $600 value from the same 60k points. At a minimum, I strive for over 2cpp, but often get 5cpp when booking business class flights. On Average, I get about 2-2.5 cpp at Hyatt hotels. 

It's important to note that all points are not created equal -- you will see that a basic Hilton is 60,000 points, or a similar Hyatt is 8,000. Therefore, I would never transfer my Chase UR's to Hilton and more rely on earning Hilton Points by opening and using the Hilton CC's. Hotel programs like Hilton, Marriott, and IHG have their own "currency", and are not exactly worth the same as Chase, Amex, or Hyatt points. 

To preserve your 5/24 status, and earn points from different banks - you can (and should!) get business cards, or potentially only use 1 of your coveted 5/24 slots for a non-chase personal card with a high sign-up bonus. We can chat more about this after you get your Chase Trifecta. This is where being strategic about your card portfolio comes into play.

Book early: The best routes and hotels can sometimes sell out. Just because are there seats/hotel rooms available for purchase doesn't mean there are award seats/rooms available. Most airlines release their award schedule around 330 days in advance (it's different for each airline, so you will want to research), and hotels can be booked about 13 months in advance.  This isn't saying you can't find deals throughout the year - you absolutely can. It may just be more difficult and you will likely have to be more flexible on your dates, point cost, and specific hotel property. Having flexible dates is generally the most helpful in getting a great award booking. If you are looking to book business class flights, you will want to book almost a year out. There are usually more options and availability in economy.