How Card Experts Like to Use Chase Sapphire

Bankrate’s editorial team is full Chase SapphirePreferred® Card fan. And there’s a big new welcome offer for the card that this card just announced this week, providing a timely example of why this card is a consistently favourite of the staff.

For a limited time only, the card offers 100,000 points to spend at least $5,000 within the first three months of opening an account. If you redeem points for your travel purchase through Chase Travel, this is worth $1,250. Also, transfers to high-value partners allow you to earn 2 cents per point from your tracking reward, according to bank rate ratings. This means that the potential value of the new bonus will rise to $2,000.

The generous welcome offer is one of the reasons our team loves this card so much and we are excited to share our stories about giving ourselves the points of the past. If you want to know what a credit card nerd is doing with Chase’s ultimate reward, we’re here to tell you.

Here’s how five bankrate experts preferred Chase Sapphire’s welcome bonus:

Anna Staples, Principal Writer: 2 weeks in Mexico

I applied for Chase Sapphire’s favorite in 2021. Finally, they promoted a 100,000 point bonus. This was the best welcoming offer I’ve ever received with a credit card.

I spent a bonus on the publisher’s travel portal and booked a trip to Cancun for myself and my mother in early 2022. I booked her a round-trip ticket to fly from Moscow to Cancun. My tickets from Austin, Texas (where I lived at the time) just over 17,000 points. I spent the remaining 23,000 points to pay for my stay in InterContinental President Cancun. Nightly rates ranged from about $130 to $140 per night. How stolen! -It was like a two-week stay and stay for free 2 nights.

We’re still talking about the trip all the time. Chips with Miselada and guacamole on the beach, the ruins of Tulum rising on the Caribbean coast, and the small tropical island of Isla Mugeres. I hope that one day my credit card reward will take me back.

John Pooterbou, senior editorial director: Luxury weekend getaway in Savannah, Georgia

John and his wife also took advantage of the 100,000 points bonus during the pandemic. They each applied for their cards, resulting in a total of 200,000 points. The couple pooled their rewards and used about 80,000 points to pay for weekend getaways and luxury hotels in Savannah, Georgia.

Since the hotel was covered, they felt they could spend more on savanna food and entertainment. And they used it for accommodation for a more routine family trip with two children, as they were still saving a mountain of big points afterwards.

“I keep a big inventory of points and use them in a bit of a way to reduce costs on my trips, rather than going on trips funded by certain points,” says John.

Suragage, Managing Editor: Trips to South Carolina and Texas

Sarah signed up for the card in May 2024 when the offer was promoted to 75,000 points. I used 51,000 points on my 3 night solo trip to Wild Dunes Resort in Charleston, South Carolina.

Sarah combined the remaining bonus with the tracking points she earned through her regular spending Chase FreedomUnlimited®, ChaseFreedom®* (Abolished) and Chase Sapphire Priority Card. She used her reward to cover a big ve day trip with her son to Grand Hyatt San Antonio. This was “stolen for 14,000 points per night with Club Access.”

“San Antonio, Texas, will be working hard with fireworks on the Big Ve day,” she says. “The main show was right behind the hotel (see from the pool deck), but there was a small show taking place throughout the skyline. The hotel was within walking distance of the Riverwalk.

Lance Davis, Vice President of Content: Ski Trips in Utah

Lance and his wife informed each year that they would take a short holiday in February.

In 2022 he won the Chase Sapphire standard 60,000 points bonus, which he used in February 2023 to go on a ski trip in Park City, Utah.

Courtney Mihosik, senior editor: honeymoon in Europe

Courtney won the standard 60,000 points bonus and spent it on his honeymoon in Europe. She spent a little over 19,000 points on hotel bookings in Zurich, earning nearly 16,000 points on her flight and 10,000 points on her car rental.

Swimming at Lake Lucerne, in the middle of the heatwave, was one of the highlights of the trip. “The water was very cold, but it was over 90 degrees, so it felt great,” she says. “We were walking to Lake Geneva the night before, sitting next to the river in Zurich and stepping in due to the heat wave.

Conclusion

As Chase Sapphire likes, there are few market cards that elicit such universally positive emotions from credit card experts. From Caribbean beaches to the cold waters of European lakes, our team used the welcome bonus to make a rather unforgettable trip.

If you’re interested in Chase Sapphire’s preferences, this is the perfect time to apply. Depending on how you redeem your reward, you can win generous limited-time offers worth up to $2,000. And we hope that our card pros will give you some ideas on how you can make your points work.