Credit Cards

Seriously though... CHASE is the best bank for travel points earning. I opened my first travel card in May of 2022, The Chase Sapphire Preferred card, it's a very fancy metal credit card with an annual fee of $99, a small entry fee to limitless free travel. It earns points and has a nice sign up bonus and allows points to be transferred out of the CHASE portal to transfer partners like Hyatt and Southwest, our two favorites!  It is a very good first travel card. I opened us 22 CHASE cards in 21 months of travel hacking! We went from 0 credit cards to 22!  I did open one AMEX card when I was afraid of velocity with CHASE (more on that to follow.) Since CHASE is so important to the travel hobby it's important to play by CHASE's rules. 

Rule #1: Do not upset Chase by breaking their rules of the points and miles travel hobby.

Chase will not approve a card for anyone who has opened 5 or more personal cards in the last 24 months. This is referred to as the CHASE 5/24 status. For example, I opened Chase Sapphire Preferred, CSP, in May of 2022 so my 5/24 status from then until May 2024 was 1/24. "BUT WAIT! Didn't you say that you opened a whole bunch of cards in the last 22 months?" Yes, that's because CHASE business cards, and most other business cards don't add into your 5/24 status, but CHASE still won't give any business cards, or any cards at all, if your 5/24 status is at or over 5/25. So, we're really choosy about what cards we open because we don't want to get shut out of CHASE cards. 

CHASE also doesn't like it if you open to many cards too quickly. I learned that it is important to wait at least 30 days between new cards. Even waiting 30 days between apps, if you open cards every 30 days too many months in a row CHASE might get upset and not approve an app. There is some data about opening business and personal cards inside 30 days being ok, but I have never taken that risk. 

Currently, there are really two different first card options to get started. Remember we talked about how we need at least one "premium" CHASE travel card to be able to transfer points to travel partners? The CSP is a great first option, that was our first cards, there is also the CHASE Sapphire Reserve, CSR, which has a much larger annual fee of $695 but it comes with more perks like airport lounge access. (If you happen to be in active military status you won't pay the annual fee at all.) The other great option right now it the CHASE Business Ink Preferred (CBIP) it has an annual fee of $99 too and has the biggest sign up bonus of 100,000 points! The minimum spend is usually $15k in 3 months but it is currently reduced to a very attainable $8k, I don't know about you but we can hit that in no time with just gas and groceries! The CSR and CSP are usually 60,000 or 80,000 points, and a much lower $4k spend in 3 months. Ultimately, you’ll want the CSR or CSP and the CIBP, and also the two no annual fee CHASE Ink cards Cash and Unlimited and you'll want as many Inks as possible. More on that later! 

The vast majority of people should start with the CHASE Sapphire Preferred ($99 annual fee)or CHASE Sapphire Reserve ($695 but with way more incentives.) Please use my links so I get a referral bonus for bringing you to them, I don't get paid or charge anyone anything. I just do this to to help and get a few extra points for our travels. If you are tolerant to the larger annual fee or are active duty and want more benefits then go with the Reserve, if not start with the Preferred, like we did!  

At least 30 days after opening your CSP or CSR and hitting the minimum spend the CHASE INK Business Preferred is the best next card right now because it has a temporary reduced minimum spend.  If you have big reservations about having an annual fee right now, you can absolutely get started with a CHASE INK Cash or Unlimited. Just make sure you select the card you want and NEVER EVER select the Premier card, that card gets lots of points but they are only for cash back not transferable to travel partners. 

Ready to get started? Please use my CHASE referral links located here and hyperlinked into the text. Select the Chase Ink Business Preferred card since that is by far the best option or Unlimited or Cash if you want to start with a $0 annual fee card. Please always use my links they are the same as the public offers but I get a few extra points for bringing you to them. :)  

I can only teach you what I have done. There are many banks out there and they do all have their place. I loooove CHASE for free travel using points because they have the best travel partners for (basically) free travel using points of any other bank out there. I will stay in the CHASE Ultimate Rewards ecosystem until there is a good reason for me to expand my wallet to include other banks. I use CHASE points transferred to Hyatt almost exclusively because Hyatt redemptions are better than their competitors. It's like comparing US Dollars to Mexican Pesos which can be compared to at a rate of about 1:16 when this was written. One of my very favorite Hyatt Hotels ever goes for 21,000 or 25,000 points a night and its Marriott competitor in the same region goes for 80,000 points a night! CHASE Ultimate Reward Points transfer to Hyatt or Mariott at a ratio of 1:1 for both currencies! So, while that is true, and while I am able, I will keep collecting CHASE points and transferring them to Hyatt! 

I did make a mostly unnecessary strategic move to open an Amex Biz Plat to leverage Ryan's significant business spend and get all 6 of us lounge access. Membership Rewards (MRs) are, as far as I can tell, best for flights to Europe. We're hoping to take our crew Summer of 2025 or 2026 that hasn't happened yet, so I'm hoarding MRs for that! I have blown a bunch of MRs transferred to Hilton for a stay in an area where there were no Hyatts but only because we wanted to visit my sister and our nieces and nephew without using cash so it was still a win in my book!