Chase Sapphire card vs 2% cash back?

[Scuba]

I’m definitely going to hit my $4K spend requirement quickly, but once I do, I’m struggling as to whether to continue using this card or go back to my trusty 2% back on everything, deposited monthly into my checking account. For those of you who have both this card and a cash back on everything card, which do you use for everyday purchases (food, gas, drug store, Costco, Target, etc,)?

It seems like this card has really good benefits for travel so it would be worth it to use it for hotels, flights, etc. but not sure it’s worth it to use it for everything?

 

[Sunset]

I’m definitely going to hit my $4K spend requirement quickly, but once I do, I’m struggling as to whether to continue using this card or go back to my trusty 2% back on everything, deposited monthly into my checking account. For those of you who have both this card and a cash back on everything card, which do you use for everyday purchases (food, gas, drug store, Costco, Target, etc,)?

It seems like this card has really good benefits for travel so it would be worth it to use it for hotels, flights, etc. but not sure it’s worth it to use it for everything?

I'll use it for travel and pay the yearly fee because it's benefits are pretty good for travel.
My travel expenses in a normal year $15K
Although after 1.5 yrs of not traveling now, I'm willing to do more !!

I'll use my other various cards for my normal 2.62% back on everything and my Chase Freedom card for the 5% categories when they fit.

 

[Surewhitey]

Just canceled mine. Sure liked the big bonus though. DW got one with my referral too. "Made" $2500 last year from it, so worth it imo.

 

[Scuba]

Just canceled mine. Sure liked the big bonus though. DW got one with my referral too. "Made" $2500 last year from it, so worth it imo.

Nice!

 

[explanade]

You can't use the points to transfer to airlines, which is the most value to get out of Chase UR points, unless you keep the card.

 

[Sunset]

You can't use the points to transfer to airlines, which is the most value to get out of Chase UR points, unless you keep the card.

Right now you can reimburse yourself for grocery, and some other expenses at the 1.25% rate , since ordering travel is not so available.

I just reimbursed myself ~$190 worth of groceries from points I transferred into the card from my other Chase card.

Still working on my $4K spend.

 

[Chuckanut]

Right now you can reimburse yourself for grocery, and some other expenses at the 1.25% rate , since ordering travel is not so available.

I just reimbursed myself ~$190 worth of groceries from points I transferred into the card from my other Chase card.

Still working on my $4K spend.

Thanks for that idea. I am new to this CC and I usually would never pay a yearly fee, so I want to milk it for every drop of value I can get.

My 4K of spending is going slowly. It's hard to fight those ingrained LBYM habits. But, I still have 10 weeks to go.

 

[BlueberryPie]

Can I add my wife as an authorized user on my card and vice-versa without affecting anything? I assume authorized users expenses qualify too?
I have almost reached $4K on mine and I do have times when I'm spending money and my wife is not around (e.g. fueling up on my way to work).
So i could get working on hers too.

 

[Sunset]

Can I add my wife as an authorized user on my card and vice-versa without affecting anything? I assume authorized users expenses qualify too?
I have almost reached $4K on mine and I do have times when I'm spending money and my wife is not around (e.g. fueling up on my way to work).
So i could get working on hers too.

We don't bother, we just borrow each other's CC if it needs spending on it.
Nobody cares or looks.
I've used DW's at the grocery store checkout with and it flies through.
Gas station pumps never care.

 

[BlueberryPie]

Yeah it's more about having it hand without planning for it

 

[Surewhitey]

Thanks for that idea. I am new to this CC and I usually would never pay a yearly fee, so I want to milk it for every drop of value I can get.

My 4K of spending is going slowly. It's hard to fight those ingrained LBYM habits. But, I still have 10 weeks to go.

We pre-paid our utilities by 4-6 months... So LBYM is intact.

 

[beernutzbob]

Can I add my wife as an authorized user on my card and vice-versa without affecting anything? I assume authorized users expenses qualify too?
I have almost reached $4K on mine and I do have times when I'm spending money and my wife is not around (e.g. fueling up on my way to work).
So i could get working on hers too.

What Sunset posted is how my wife and I do it but I wanted to add that if you add a person as an authorized user on a card that counts for them as one of Chase's 5 cards in 24 months limitation which I believe has been discussed up thread.

 

[Chuckanut]

Still working on the 4 Grand worth of spending. I need a high maintenance girl friend to help me out.

 

[BlueberryPie]

Just hit mine, despite the card already getting canceled due to u authorized charges less than a month in and the replacement taking a week to get here.
The app yells me it could be up to 8 weeks. Must statement date is 8/15, should I expect to see the bonus at that time? Only once I pay the bill?

Now working on DW's bonus (i use her # for anything that doesn't require a physical card). Should got it by early Sept, depending how quickly I get my bonus we try to accelerate it so we can buy plane tickets earlier...

 

[BlueberryPie]

Speaking of physical card, is it possible to add my wife's card to my Google Wallet? I rarely use Google pay but it could be a surrogate for a physical card

 

[Chuckanut]

I read that Chase provides a graphic showing home much spending is left to get the point bonus and the date by which it must be done. But, I can't find it anywhere on their website. Does anybody know where they hide it?

 

[BlueberryPie]

I think it's only on the phone app, I've never seen it on the website.

your $95 yearly fee doesn't count towards the $4000 so for most people deduct your balance from $4095 and that's how much you need to spend to get the reward

Credit transfers, cash advances, easy checks, etc... are other things that don't count.

Also, it's unclear if buying an item and returning it counts or not, but it's listed explicitly as "cheating" and could be a cause for them to "claw back" the bonus, so I'd make sure to discount any returns even if the graph shows you're OK

Edit: pending transactions also don't seem to count yet, and it seems transactions stay pending longer on my Sapphire card than on my Venture card, so I would give myself a few days for the charges to go through if you are getting close to the deadline, although I've read they actually automatically extend the deadline but not sure by how long.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I think it's only on the phone app, I've never seen it on the website.

your $95 yearly fee doesn't count towards the $4000 so for most people deduct your balance from $4095 and that's how much you need to spend to get the reward

Credit transfers, cash advances, easy checks, etc... are other things that don't count.

Also, it's unclear if buying an item and returning it counts or not, but it's listed explicitly as "cheating" and could be a cause for them to "claw back" the bonus, so I'd make sure to discount any returns even if the graph shows you're OK

Edit: pending transactions also don't seem to count yet, and it seems transactions stay pending longer on my Sapphire card than on my Venture card, so I would give myself a few days for the charges to go through if you are getting close to the deadline, although I've read they actually automatically extend the deadline but not sure by how long.

Agreed. I can only directly find this info using the phone or iPad app from Chase. If only using the website, I think you will need to add things up. It starts with the day they opened the account. I did not get my card until about a week later.

 

[Chuckanut]

Also, it's unclear if buying an item and returning it counts or not, but it's listed explicitly as "cheating" and could be a cause for them to "claw back" the bonus, so I'd make sure to discount any returns even if the graph shows you're OK

=

I heard an interesting story from a friend. He and his wife were well on their way to earning a bundle of points using an airline card. I think they had a $3000 spend requirement. He topped out the card at about $100 over the minimum spend. Victory! Or so he thought. It turns out his wife bought some clothes on the buy-em, try-em, return-em plan. After she returned the items she did not want, their fell just under the $3000. No joy. On top of that he had to pay a fee for the card of nearly $100.

His comment was something to the effect of "After nearly 30 years of marriage you would think I would have mastered the art of communicating with my wife."

 

[Sunset]

I read that Chase provides a graphic showing home much spending is left to get the point bonus and the date by which it must be done. But, I can't find it anywhere on their website. Does anybody know where they hide it?

You can click on the rewards ">" on the right hand side, then select your CC if more than one.
At the top it will say how much more spending is needed to hit the bonus.

 

[Scuba]

Just got our statement for the first month. We blew right through the $4K requirement already. Statement reflected the full 100K points and the $50 grocery credit. Now we just need to think about whether to use this or go back to our 2% rewards card.

 

[explanade]

Just got our statement for the first month. We blew right through the $4K requirement already. Statement reflected the full 100K points and the $50 grocery credit. Now we just need to think about whether to use this or go back to our 2% rewards card.

Main advantages are things like renting cars, where they give you great rental car coverage.

Obviously travel because it contains some benefits like travel insurance (though not as comprehensive as buying separate travel insurance).

Medical evacuation is also a thing.

If you plan to transfer points to airline miles regularly, then each UR point is worth more than each dollar spent on the 2% cash cards.

 

[BlueberryPie]

So when exactly do you get the 100K bonus points? On the statement that exceeds $4K?
The balance on my card exceeds $4K already but wasn't there on the last statement. So I should get the credit at that in a few days at the August statement date?

 

[Markola]

^^^^^Perhaps when you make payment? I don’t know, as I’m working toward the $4K, so please let us know.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

You can click on the rewards ">" on the right hand side, then select your CC if more than one.
At the top it will say how much more spending is needed to hit the bonus.

Unfortunately, my website does not show that information in this location. It nicely summarizes how many points I've earned so far, but not how much money I've spent toward the $4000. Since some of my transactions earn more than 1 point per dollar, the 2 numbers are not synonymous.