Difference between revisions of "Chase combos"
From Travel Strategies
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<li>'''The Sapphire Reserve is much more expensive, but it comes with a bunch of extra benefits''': Priority Pass airport lounge membership, free roadside assistance, slightly better "free travel insurance" when you use it to pay for travel, a higher rate (1.5 cents per point) when you cash out your points, and 3x rewards on travel purchases.</li> | <li>'''The Sapphire Reserve is much more expensive, but it comes with a bunch of extra benefits''': Priority Pass airport lounge membership, free roadside assistance, slightly better "free travel insurance" when you use it to pay for travel, a higher rate (1.5 cents per point) when you cash out your points, and 3x rewards on travel purchases.</li> | ||
| − | <li>''' | + | <li>'''For most people, the difference in cash-out rates between the Sapphire Reserve (1.5 cents) and Sapphire Preferred (1.25 cents) is not as important as it seems'''. Unless you are generating really large amounts of points, you are likely to have plenty of opportunity to get more than 1.5 cents in value per point by converting them to Hyatt points or frequent flyer miles, so you won't want to "cash them out" at either of these lower rates. If after a couple of years, you find that you don't have a good opportunity to transfer your points, you can always convert to the Sapphire Reserve, if necessary, to cash them out at the higher rate and then convert back down to the Sapphire Preferred.</li> |
| − | Assuming you don't have another card that earns better rewards, for every $1,000 you spend on Travel, you'll earn an extra 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points with the Sapphire Reserve Card. At {{Value|UR}} cents each, that works out to $17 per $1,000. You don't want to count any money you are likely to spend purchasing airfare through Chase, as you'd earn the same super-high reward rate with either card. You'll earn even more if you purchase hotels and car rentals through the Chase website, but this will rarely be a good deal, so you probably shouldn't factor it into your calculations. | + | <li>'''The extra cost for the Sapphire Reserve depends on how much you expect to spend on travel purchases'''. The annual fee for the Sapphire Reserve is $550. However, the trivial-to-use $300 travel credit brings the effective cost down to $250, which is $155 more than the Sapphire Preferred. The Sapphire Preferred comes with a $50 hotel credit, but it can only be used on hotel reservations made on the Chase website, which won't count for the hotel's own loyalty program and which are likely to be a bit more expensive than you can find on other websites. So, it is worth much less than face value. The Sapphire Reserve comes with a $60 Door Dash credit, which for most people is worth a little closer to face value. So the out-of-pocket difference is likely around $125.</li> |
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| + | Assuming you don't have another card that earns better rewards, for every $1,000 you spend on Travel, you'll earn an extra 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points with the Sapphire Reserve Card. At {{Value|UR}} cents each, that works out to $17 per $1,000. You don't want to count any money you are likely to spend purchasing airfare through Chase, as you'd earn the same super-high reward rate on those purchases with either card. You'll earn even more if you purchase hotels and car rentals through the Chase website, but this will rarely be a good deal, so you probably shouldn't factor it into your calculations. | ||
On the flip side, the Sapphire Preferred earns 3x Ultimate Rewards on Streaming and Grocery Delivery Services. For every $1,000 you spend on these, you'll earn an extra 1,500 points, valued at $26. | On the flip side, the Sapphire Preferred earns 3x Ultimate Rewards on Streaming and Grocery Delivery Services. For every $1,000 you spend on these, you'll earn an extra 1,500 points, valued at $26. | ||
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<li>'''However, if you truly don't need the lounge access, most people will save some money with the Sapphire Preferred'''. Just remember that the lounge access you get from the Amex cards doesn't cover participating airport restaurants and there aren't many non-Amex cards that come with lounge access. {{Link|Lounge Access}}.</li> | <li>'''However, if you truly don't need the lounge access, most people will save some money with the Sapphire Preferred'''. Just remember that the lounge access you get from the Amex cards doesn't cover participating airport restaurants and there aren't many non-Amex cards that come with lounge access. {{Link|Lounge Access}}.</li> | ||
| + | <li>'''Depending on the difference in signup bonuses, you might want to start with the Sapphire Preferred''' to earn the higher bonus. You can convert to the Sapphire Reserve at the end of the first year.</li> | ||
</ul> | </ul> | ||
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| + | === Personal and/or Business cards === | ||
| + | |||
| + | If you are willing and able to get business credit cards, you have more options. {{Link|Business Cards}}. | ||
{{/Main|Article}} | {{/Main|Article}} | ||
Revision as of 01:59, 12 August 2021
Easily Earn Points for Free Travel, Get a Great General Purpose Reward Card and Use It for All of Your Spending
The Chase Unlimited combo requires one of the Chase Unlimited cards to earn 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points on everyday purchases and one of several different Chase cards to be able to convert your points into Hyatt points or frequent flyer miles (or cash them out for more than 1 cent each. There are six different possible combinations, the question is which one is right for you.
Personal cards only
If you aren't willing and able to get business cards, you'll need the Freedom Unlimited and either the Sapphire Reserve or the Sapphire Preferred.
- The Sapphire Reserve is much more expensive, but it comes with a bunch of extra benefits: Priority Pass airport lounge membership, free roadside assistance, slightly better "free travel insurance" when you use it to pay for travel, a higher rate (1.5 cents per point) when you cash out your points, and 3x rewards on travel purchases.
- For most people, the difference in cash-out rates between the Sapphire Reserve (1.5 cents) and Sapphire Preferred (1.25 cents) is not as important as it seems. Unless you are generating really large amounts of points, you are likely to have plenty of opportunity to get more than 1.5 cents in value per point by converting them to Hyatt points or frequent flyer miles, so you won't want to "cash them out" at either of these lower rates. If after a couple of years, you find that you don't have a good opportunity to transfer your points, you can always convert to the Sapphire Reserve, if necessary, to cash them out at the higher rate and then convert back down to the Sapphire Preferred.
- The extra cost for the Sapphire Reserve depends on how much you expect to spend on travel purchases. The annual fee for the Sapphire Reserve is $550. However, the trivial-to-use $300 travel credit brings the effective cost down to $250, which is $155 more than the Sapphire Preferred. The Sapphire Preferred comes with a $50 hotel credit, but it can only be used on hotel reservations made on the Chase website, which won't count for the hotel's own loyalty program and which are likely to be a bit more expensive than you can find on other websites. So, it is worth much less than face value. The Sapphire Reserve comes with a $60 Door Dash credit, which for most people is worth a little closer to face value. So the out-of-pocket difference is likely around $125.
- If you spend a few thousand more in travel than you do in Streaming and Grocery Delivery Services, the extra cost for lounge access (and the other benefits) isn't very high.
- However, if you truly don't need the lounge access, most people will save some money with the Sapphire Preferred. Just remember that the lounge access you get from the Amex cards doesn't cover participating airport restaurants and there aren't many non-Amex cards that come with lounge access. Get Free Airport Lounge Access from a Credit Card.
- Depending on the difference in signup bonuses, you might want to start with the Sapphire Preferred to earn the higher bonus. You can convert to the Sapphire Reserve at the end of the first year.
Assuming you don't have another card that earns better rewards, for every $1,000 you spend on Travel, you'll earn an extra 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points with the Sapphire Reserve Card. At 1.7 cents each, that works out to $17 per $1,000. You don't want to count any money you are likely to spend purchasing airfare through Chase, as you'd earn the same super-high reward rate on those purchases with either card. You'll earn even more if you purchase hotels and car rentals through the Chase website, but this will rarely be a good deal, so you probably shouldn't factor it into your calculations.
On the flip side, the Sapphire Preferred earns 3x Ultimate Rewards on Streaming and Grocery Delivery Services. For every $1,000 you spend on these, you'll earn an extra 1,500 points, valued at $26.
Personal and/or Business cards
If you are willing and able to get business credit cards, you have more options. Unlock Extra Reward Points with Business Credit Cards.
