Best travel credit card - Sapphire

[pugmom]

DH and I just returned from our first European vacation: AMA Waterways Rhine River cruise, and it was fabulous. Although we had previously felt that we were through flying, now that we are retired and have the money, we are rethinking that, at least for international (!) travel.

Previously we had a Southwest VISA because we used them exclusively for domestic flights. Now we want all of our miles/points to be able to be applied to international flights.

We usually put at least (average) $3000 per month on our card, not counting big purchases like the river cruise.

I have done some research, and it seems like the clear choice for travel is the Chase Sapphire card. I am looking at the Preferred, with only a $99 fee.

I just want to make sure I understand how the card works. It seems as though Chase has a rewards program where the points can then be pushed for airline points, for example to your United account for international flights.

Is this correct?

Or is it possible to reserve flights directly from the chase rewards website?

So if you have this card and use it for travel, any hints or explanations will be greatly appreciated.

 

[imbatman]

We use RESERVE. Yes, costs $550....but stay with me here ......$300 travel credit so instantly only $250.....Extended Warranty, Travel insurance including Interruption ($10K), Medical ($2,500) and Evacuation ($100K), Car Rental Insurance, 4 Towing & Roadside Assist, Free Priority Pass (lounges), Free Global Entry incl TSA Pre (for one person), Random Rotating Benefits (ex. $5 per month DoorDash Credits and Free Lyft Pink and $15 per month Instacart all right now), and yes the points which are best for earning on Travel and Restaurants (3X) purchases, and no foreign fees.

You can extra points on travel if you book on their website. Your points can be transferred to a select group of partners (11 airlines and 3 hotels but definitely missing some big names so look at them if you are picky), sometimes sale redemptions at very advantageous rates.

We just filed a claim in the Trip Interruption and got all our food and hotel and incidentals reimbursed for 3-days when we were stuck when an airport was flooded and all flights cancelled.

 

[donheff]

Imbatman, have you used their travel insurance? I have Preferred which also covers travel but the benefits statement mentions strict timeframes and procedures. I have never relied on their insurance and have not had a qualifying event. To use it do you have to contact someone in advance to apply it to a trip your paid with the card?

 

[imbatman]

Hi, yes we did use it and got our money back in about 6 weeks. I found it very straightforward and easy, but I am an organized person and made all those purchases on my Reserve, kept all my receipts, and responded to any questions (received 2 follow-up) the same day. They have an online portal so very convenient.

For Reserve, as long as you made a covered purchases with your card (ex. airplane tickets), you are covered and don't need to register or anything. Keep in mind, their travel insurance has a lot of T&Cs and covers similar to most standard travel policies (ex. will cover weather events but won't cover if the airline just decides to cancel on their own for scheduling reasons).

Here is a good overview: https://awardwallet.com/blog/chase-sapphire-reserve℠-insurance-benefits-detail/

 

[foxcreek9]

We use RESERVE. Yes, costs $550....but stay with me here ......$300 travel credit so instantly only $250.....Extended Warranty, Travel insurance including Interruption ($10K), Medical ($2,500) and Evacuation ($100K), Car Rental Insurance, 4 Towing & Roadside Assist, Free Priority Pass (lounges), Free Global Entry incl TSA Pre (for one person), Random Rotating Benefits (ex. $5 per month DoorDash Credits and Free Lyft Pink and $15 per month Instacart all right now), and yes the points which are best for earning on Travel and Restaurants (3X) purchases, and no foreign fees.

You can extra points on travel if you book on their website. Your points can be transferred to a select group of partners (11 airlines and 3 hotels but definitely missing some big names so look at them if you are picky), sometimes sale redemptions at very advantageous rates.

We just filed a claim in the Trip Interruption and got all our food and hotel and incidentals reimbursed for 3-days when we were stuck when an airport was flooded and all flights cancelled.

Plus, if you have freedom cards, you can transfer them to your Reserve card thus taking advantage of the 1.5 redemption (turning the 5% quarterly bonus cats to 7.5%). Also your spouse can transfer their points to your Reserve card.

The other benefit of the Reserve card is that you don't have to charge the entire flight on the card to get the benefits, if you book with points and pay the taxes with the card you get the trip interruption benefits. That is not true with Venture X and Amex.

 

[pugmom]

Thanks, all... It really seems like for travel there is no downside, and we want to start accumulating miles ASAP.

 

[imbatman]

I will say one annoying thing that is a little inconvenient for the Reserve is that you only get one card for the applicant. If you want a spouse card, they want an extra $75 per year (but you don't really get any more benefits - ex. they don't get their Global Entry covered), so we just share my single card.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I was able to sign up for a Chase Sapphire Preferred a while ago (pre-covid?) and I got 100,000 bonus points for the sign up. I pushed 64,000 of them to Iberia and am finally able to use them next week (after at least 2, maybe 3 cancellations due to Covid). With those 64,000 points, I was able to get a round-trip business class seat (only 1) from New York JFK to Madrid. I forget what I did with the other 36,000 points, but they paid for some form of ticket on American Airlines if I recall.

I have since downgraded that card to a Chase Freedom Unlimited.

I chase a credit card bonus every couple years. It works out.

 

[OldConch]

Thanks, all... It really seems like for travel there is no downside, and we want to start accumulating miles ASAP.

I will say one annoying thing that is a little inconvenient for the Reserve is that you only get one card for the applicant. If you want a spouse card, they want an extra $75 per year (but you don't really get any more benefits - ex. they don't get their Global Entry covered), so we just share my single card.

Next week DW and I are flying ORD MAD on points transferred from Chase to Iberia. We're flying home CPT DOH SEA on points transferred to Qatar. It's free to sign up for these airline programs and transferring points is easy. We're going to Japan/Korea in October and NZ/Australia/Singapore in January.

If you have good credit and use it responsibly, there is no downside. Credit card sign up bonuses are the ticket to accumulating miles and points for most people. With $3000 in monthly spend, OP can earn LOTS of bonuses. If your spouse does the same, point/miles can start accumulating very rapidly.

 

[Cricket69]

If you are able to go into a Chase location you may want to consider the Chase Preferred Sapphire Card($95 annual fee) currently being offered. 90,000 miles being offered but you must apply at a Chase location. If you want to apply online I believe the offer is 80,000 points. There are some conditions but you can do a further review and see if you qualify if you are interested. Happy travels.

https://thriftytraveler.com/news/credit-card/chase-sapphire-preferred-90k-in-person/

 

[Yipper]

I will say one annoying thing that is a little inconvenient for the Reserve is that you only get one card for the applicant. If you want a spouse card, they want an extra $75 per year (but you don't really get any more benefits - ex. they don't get their Global Entry covered), so we just share my single card.

I've just put my card on DW's iPhone wallet and she uses my RESERVE card for just about everything using Apple Pay. Nobody seems to care that it's my name on the "card" she's using.

 

[mpeirce]

I may be wrong, but it seems better to just get a good cash-back credit card like the Costco or Fidelity cards and keep the the KISS principle.

I can’t imagine wanting to be restricted to one airline. We always seem to travel a different one depending on were we are going.

And some while some years we travel a lot, other we don’t and getting cash back allows us to reap the cc rewards without worrying about complying with the cards special kickbacks.

And finally cash is cash, whereas points are sometimes devalued.

 

[Yipper]

Many of these cards (like the Chase Sapphire) can transfer points to airlines. Also can convert points to cash.

Options for all scenarios but that's the best thing about all of these "rewards" cards - find the one that works best for your personal situation.

 

[imbatman]

exactly, there are multiple redemption options for Chase Ultimate Rewards. I have the Fidelity card too (2% flat) but the benefits package with the card PLUS getting 15% minimum in value back on portal hotel/ car rentals, 7.5% minimum on portal flights, and 4.5% minimum in other travel and restaurants....is a worthy endeavor IMO

 

[Sunset]

I may be wrong, but it seems better to just get a good cash-back credit card like the Costco or Fidelity cards and keep the the KISS principle.

I can’t imagine wanting to be restricted to one airline. We always seem to travel a different one depending on were we are going.

And some while some years we travel a lot, other we don’t and getting cash back allows us to reap the cc rewards without worrying about complying with the cards special kickbacks.

And finally cash is cash, whereas points are sometimes devalued.

The problem with the Costco card is they removed most of the travel benefits, making it NOT good for travel.

The Chase card allows easy redemption of points to cash at a fair value so often I redeem just to cash.
When I first got the card, they offered a great bonus of 25% on redemption to the credit card for expenses like groceries. Right now it's just on AirBNB rentals.

 

[pugmom]

Thanks again... I live 1/10 of a mile from a Chase branch, so I will walk over and inquire.

 

[Chuckanut]

The problem with the Costco card is they removed most of the travel benefits, making it NOT good for travel. .

Citi first stripped out the travel insurance. It wasn't a lot but it was enough to cover things like non-refundable coach tickets and some other such fees. That was a big one for me. I can afford to self insure in the event I lose a few hundred dollars of clothing if my luggage is lost, but airfares are often in the thousands for some trips.

Now, IIRC, they stripped out the extra warranty coverage on items you buy using the card.

I believe the Costco card still offers no foreign usage fees. And it is 3% back on most travel expenses.

What I don't like about the Sapphire card is that to get the best value from your points you have use the Chase portal. I like to make my reservations directly with the airline or hotel chain. That seems to work better in the even the travel plans get messed up. Also, points can be devalued at will by the bank. If they decide my 100,000 points are now only worth 0.8¢ I just lost 20% of their value. Show me the money! And keep off my lawn.

 

[audreyh1]

I never used the Costco Citi VISA for travel protection, but once they dropped the foreign transaction fees it became my major card for lodging and dining overseas as well as domestic.

 

[OldConch]

Citi first stripped out the travel insurance. It wasn't a lot but it was enough to cover things like non-refundable coach tickets and some other such fees. That was a big one for me. I can afford to self insure in the event I lose a few hundred dollars of clothing if my luggage is lost, but airfares are often in the thousands for some trips.

Now, IIRC, they stripped out the extra warranty coverage on items you buy using the card.

I believe the Costco card still offers no foreign usage fees. And it is 3% back on most travel expenses.

What I don't like about the Sapphire card is that to get the good bonuses you have use the Chase portal. I like to make my reservations directly with the airline or hotel chain. That seems to work better in the even the travel plans get messed up. Also, points can be devalued at will by the bank. If they decide my 100,000 points are now only worth 0.8¢ I just lost 20% of their value. Show me the money! And keep off my lawn.

You CAN book through the Chase portal. You can also transfer to their transfer partners and book direct. We transferred 68k points to Iberia then booked 2x ORD MAD flights in business class. Transferred 190k points to Qatar then booked 2x CPT DOH SEA flights in business for the ride home. I agree that it's best to book direct when possible.

 

[walkinwood]

Another advantage of the Chase Sapphire cards (and also the Chase United card) is that you get primary insurance coverage for car rentals. For most cards, your auto insurance is the primary - if coverage applies - and the credit card the secondary.

 

[PatrickA5]

What I don't like about the Sapphire card is that to get the best value from your points you have use the Chase portal. I like to make my reservations directly with the airline or hotel chain. That seems to work better in the even the travel plans get messed up. Also, points can be devalued at will by the bank. If they decide my 100,000 points are now only worth 0.8¢ I just lost 20% of their value. Show me the money! And keep off my lawn.

I very rarely use the Chase travel portal for the reason you mention. When things go South, you have to deal with Chase (Expedia?). I'd rather deal directly with the airline/hotel.

 

[tulak]

Another advantage of the Chase Sapphire cards (and also the Chase United card) is that you get primary insurance coverage for car rentals. For most cards, your auto insurance is the primary - if coverage applies - and the credit card the secondary.

+1

I submitted three claims in one year, two domestic and one international, and the process was easy.

I’ve had the Chase Sapphire Reserve card for years and it’s my goto card for travel and dining expenses. It’s a good value for me, but I travel a lot.

 

[imbatman]

I used to think using a Travel Agency (i.e. Chase Portal) was unnecessary and worthless (if not negative).....BUT when I was trapped in New Zealand for three days due to flooding and the airline would not answer the phone, was not at the airport, and not responding to email/ Twitter.................the thing that saved our @ss and got us home was only being able to call our travel agent (Chase), who quickly rebooked us on another flight on another carrier (this was a bare bones economy coach ticket).

We can't tell you how many people we talked to stuck for many days after we got home because they couldn't get through to the airline.

Not saying this is always the case, but it definitely made me rethink my aversion to travel agents (when they don't cost more than the airline).

 

[audreyh1]

Another advantage of the Chase Sapphire cards (and also the Chase United card) is that you get primary insurance coverage for car rentals. For most cards, your auto insurance is the primary - if coverage applies - and the credit card the secondary.

It’s the Chase United Club card that provides rental car primary insurance benefits (not the other United cards).

 

[imbatman]

Sapphire Reserve does too

It’s the Chase United Club card that provides rental car primary insurance benefits.