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!

Wyndham Credit Card Enhanced Sign-Up Offers and Various Other Wyndham Promotions

 Wyndham has enhanced SUBs for their credit cards as I write this. While they are not the best ever bonus, they are an increase over their standard rates.

If you regularly stay at Wyndham, one of their credit cards might make a lot of sense.  It allows you to get a higher level of rewards when you book directly.

As for which credit card, the Earner+ at a $75 annual fee probably offers the best value. For the $75, it gives you 30K extra points which could be worth hundreds of dollars and certainly more than $75.

Aside from the credit card bonuses, there are other ways to save.

My Amex Green has $100 back on $500 on select Wyndham properties.

As for other discounts, here are my thoughts:

When you go to the Wyndham home page to book for the first time, you should get a pop-up for a first time booking discount.  I have been seeing this at a 10% discount.  That of itself is at least a decent discount.  You do have to sign up for text messages. But it might be possible to stack this with the Amex discount and get some really solid savings.

You might also be able to stack a 10% discount from the text sign-up with their credit card. If you can stack this with a purchase on the Wyndham credit card that again would provide a lot of return.

I personally don’t have a Wyndham card or participate in Wyndham Rewards but that is because their particular line-up of hotels does not match our spending and travel habits.  I also can’t vouch for the stacking, only for the individual savings.

But with over 9000 properties, there is no doubt that they do fit a lot of people’s needs and preferences.

Happy travels!