Chase Sapphire Preferred Review and Extra $300 Sign Up Bonus-Extra SUB Expires 11/14/24

 We are very happy with our new Sapphire Preferred Card. (My sign-up referral link.). Aside from the generous signup bonus (SUB) that we got in branch offer of 70K points in six months with a $6K spend, it has a number of really good features including:

• Primary rental car insurance
• A variety of other travel insurance benefits such as baggage delay insurance, travel accident insurance and more
• $50 annual credit for hotel stays booked through the Chase travel portal
• Ability to consolidate Ultimate Rewards points from Freedom cards and then redeem or transfer
• An excellent lineup transfer partners 
• 5 points per dollar on travel booked through the Chase portal
• 3 points per dollar on dining, select streaming services and online grocery 
• 2 points per dollar on travel not booked through Chase
• Complimentary DoorDash membership until12/31/27 and $10 off per month on a non-restaurant Door Dash delivery
• Access to a wider range of Chase offers
• 1.25 cents per point value when redeeming through the Chase travel portals 
• Extended warranty coverage 
• Purchase protection 

I mentioned primary rental car coverage because this is one of the lowest fee cards that have that benefit.  It allows you to file a claim first with Chase versus with your own auto insurance.  That is a very powerful tool.

And if you take advantage of the $50 annual hotel credit, the net cost of the card is $45 per year, which is very reasonable.

It also has a pretty wide range of other travel benefits that could be of use.  

This card has a similar fee to the CapitalOne Venture Card that I have previously written about.  So how do they compare?

Both have a variety of travel benefits and a range of transfer partners.  The Sapphire Preferred definitely has edges in the area of better travel insurance benefits and it has United Airlines as a points transfer partner which might be of particular benefit depending on your air travel habits.  The Chase card also offers a 1.25 cent per point redemption value when using their own travel portal.  

The Capital One card does offer a TSA Precheck benefit, 2X Points on all purchases and access to the Capital One Lifestyle  collection of hotels.   The Lifestyle Collection includes a $50 experience credit per stay(such as at the restaurant) and when available, room upgrades, late checkout and early check in.  You can use this for multiple bookings, so theoretically the $50 in credits and other perks could really add up. Just two stays at a Lifestyle Collection hotels pay for the annual fee just in experience credits.

Personally , I think the cards compliment each other quite nicely and as I have previously written, being in multiple credit card reward ecosystems is a good idea.

I hope this has been helpful and happy travels!

Miles Earn and Burn Added to Our Recommended Reading List

As anyone reading this blog knows, there are are plethora of travel sites. There are a few I do recommend and the first one that I must recommend is Miles Earn and Burn.

It has lots of good tips and deals without having  any clickbait.  It is informative, quick to read and has just the right amount of humor.

It gets my highest recommendation and is the first one on my recommended reading list.

Enjoy it and as always, I wish you happy travels!

10% Cashback on Westin, Fairfield Inn, Renaissance Hotels and Lyft with Wells Fargo cards

 There are a variety of good offers for various Wells Fargo cards, both credit and debit.

Lyft gives 10% back, up to $4.00 until 11/21/24.

There are also a number of promotions for a range of Marriott properties.  For Renaissance Hotels, the offer is 10% back, up to $75 maximum.  It is good until 11/18/24.

There is also a 10% back on Fairfield Inns, maximum of $38, good until 12/1/31.

 And finally, there is an offer for Westin Hotels. It is for 10% back, $68 maximum,  good until 12/01/24.

All of these offers say that both credit and debit cards are eligible, so check your accounts.  The total value of all these offers are $185, which is definitely a respectable amount.  They are time limited so act promptly.

Happy Travels!

Amex offer:Spend $300 or more at select Radisson Blu and Cambria Hotels, get $100 back-Possible stacking

 Here is the list of available properties.

The offer is good for various properties in the US, Canada, Chile and Aruba.

This might also stack with the $20 back on $300 for just using your Amex, but I can’t guarantee that yet.

Expires 12/31/24.

Happy Travels!

15% Cashback at Six Flags with Wells Fargo-$30 Maximum

 I found this in my Wells Fargo offers:

This is good for up to $30 cashback total so it is a good way to save on season passes for 2025.

Good until 11/11/24.

Happy travels and enjoy the roller coasters!

2X Pancoins at IHOP on purchases of $5 or more until 10/31/24

 I got this in my email today. The header to the email said unlock your mystery offer so other people might get different benefits.

 Here is the link to join IHOP’s reward program. 3 Pancoins get you a short stack of pancakes and 5 Pancoins get you a tall stack, so the return on investment is pretty good if you like pancakes!

I find that IHOP does a lot of promotions so it is really easy to get lots of Pancoins. I think I have about 120 right now!

Your best redemptions are pancakes or burgers so do keep that in mind.  

Happy travels and enjoy the pancakes!

$2.50 off a month on public transit in Chicago, Boston, Miami, Philadelphia and Dallas

 When using your Mastercard, you can get $2.50 a month back on mass transit purchases per month until December 31, 2025 In the following cities:

The terms of the service are here.

Here is the list of issuers NOT PARTICIPATING. As you can see, it is a pretty small list so this offer should be readily available.

I hope this post helps a lot of people with their transit expenses.  

Happy Travels!