I, as well as all other Chase Sapphire Preferred customers, received an e-mail last week asking that very question – “Are you taking advantage of all your benefits, Charlie?”
Taking Advantage of the Chase Sapphire Preferred
Are you taking advantage of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card?
The e-mail goes on to list the headline benefits which we are all familiar with by this time:
- 2X points on travel purchases
- 2X points on dining at restaurants
- 1 point per dollar on all other purchases
After clicking through the e-mail, it then talks about all the different facets of the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Ultimate Rewards program – all of these things that any good points collector knows about!
The Earning and Spending Side
The funny part, to me, about this e-mail was that Chase used the e-mail to concentrate on the earning aspect of the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Of course, that involves spending which is the aspect of the card that Chase likes. 🙂 Of course, the earning is good if you are using this for dining and travel with 2 points per dollar. As an everyday card, it really depends more on what your travel goals are as it only gives 1 point per dollar on other purchases. For us, we do use it for many of our everyday purchases because the chip and signature function saves us from having to deal with credit card errors in Europe all the time (which used to happen before we got the chip).
Another advantage of this card is the addition of the primary rental coverage it now offers. This now makes it my primary card to use for rental cars (which is great because the card gives 2 points per dollar on rental cars).
The Redemption Side
Every time I login, Chase tries to “remind” me that I have enough points for gift cards. 🙂
Of course, one of the greatest benefits is the flexibility that the points offer. While we get many options as to how to use the points (and occasional e-mails from Chase suggesting that we have enough points to redeem for a gift card), the most lucrative way to use the Ultimate Reward points is to transfer to one of their many partners. The partner list currently sits at 11. Using these transfer partners is a great way to exact a great value out of these points – much more than the 1 cent per point that Chase will give you if you redeem for a gift card.
The airline transfer partners of the Ultimate Rewards program
The hotel and rail partners of the Ultimate Rewards program
Even in the wake of the United devaluation, transferring to United is still a great value. My family uses most of our Ultimate Reward points just for that purpose as United offers us the best routes for our travels. For every trip, we are getting at least 2 cents per point in redemption value (in coach). For domestic travel, we like to transfer to British Airways Avios and Southwest Rapid Rewards where we also get better than the 1 cent per point that Chase gives for gift cards. Finally, we also transfer to Hyatt for hotel stays.
I know that many people share our transfer partner preferences but the other partners offer great value as well. If they don’t work for you, you can always redeem your points directly for travel at a rate of 1.25 cents per point. While definitely not the best redemption, it is also not the worst!
Taking Advantage of the Chase Sapphire Preferred?
So, am I taking advantage of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the points? Yes, Chase, thanks for asking. In fact, you will know when I no longer am taking advantage of the card because that will be when I cease to pay the annual fee. 🙂
How about you? Have you taken advantage of what the card has to offer? What is your favorite benefit?
Charlie, have you get any luck trying recon call to waive the second year annual fee or get some bonus miles when about to cancel your card? If so , can you please post a guide on how to do this, what the best way to say to the rep, etc…. And the benefit of it verse downgrading the card into non annual fee card. It might be useful for us who think of canceling or downgrading to no annual fee card when the second year fee about to hit.. Like my situation now 🙁
I have never had success getting the fee waived on the CSP. I have heard from others that it is the one card they really do not budge on. However, with the announcement of the disappearing 7% dividend after next year, that might change things. True, they “replaced” that with the insurance parts, but that does not apply to everyone. So, I would start with that and tell them that eventually losing that 7% dividend makes the card not as valuable to you. For instance, last year my dividend was enough to cover the annual fee easily (figuring in the value of UR points to me). Taking that away takes away some of that value.
If you downgrade it, you will not be able to transfer your points to partners directly but you can if you have the Chase Ink Bold or Plus. It does not give the 2x points on travel, but that may not be that big of a deal. Unless you are spending more than $5,000 per year on the travel category, I would downgrade the card. If you do not have a Chase Ink Bold or Plus, you can still keep your UR points and then open one of those cards down the road to be able to transfer to the UR partners.