If you like saving money on travel, finding the best travel credit card is an essential step. The problem is that with so many travel credit cards available, it can be hard to choose a card with the most advantages and the least fees.  

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® card may be a newbie in my wallet, but boy has it packed a punch saving me $1931 USD on two flights to Tokyo.  Now that’s some serious mileage!  

What’s crazy is that this is not the only benefit that I’m receiving from this travel credit card! So in this article, I wanted to share my honest experience using the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card.

I will cover the benefits I love the most, the annual fee and if it’s really worth it, and what you can expect from your sign-up bonus. This breakdown will show you exactly why the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card is the best travel credit card out there!

Plus, I will share the informative e-book that helped me learn how to use my credit card points to the max. This book is a real game-changer, and I’m thrilled to share it with you!

You can also watch my full review below!

One Little Warning about Credit Cards

One qualifier that I have to make about using credit cards is that you have to pay off your entire balance every month for these benefits to be worth it. If you are paying 21%-28% interest every month, you will lose the majority of your gains.  However, as long as you pay your bill in full every month the benefits for this travel credit card far outweigh the risks.  

Although my husband David and I have been traveling full-time for over four years, we have always avoided credit cards with annual fees. We didn’t want to “waste” money on annual fees when there are so many other free travel credit cards available.

While we enjoyed no foreign transaction fees and the cashback that these free credit cards offered, we knew we weren’t getting the same dramatic savings that other travelers received.

That’s why I wanted to see what the fuss was about with these travel credit cards with annual fees. Are they really worth it?

I decided to dip my toe in the water with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card because it has some great benefits and one of the lower annual fees on the market. 

The Benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The main benefit that I was looking forward to with the Chase Sapphire Preffered® card was the Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver which reimburses you up to the actual cash value of your rental car for collision damage and theft.  

Considering I’ve paid an excessive amount of money for car rental insurance over the years, I was really looking forward to declining car rental insurance in the future. Instead, I could enjoy being automatically covered by paying with my credit card.  This benefit alone has already saved me hundreds on car rental expenses.  

Another benefit I enjoy is that this card has free trip cancellation insurance which reimburses you for non-refundable travel expenses canceled due to sickness and severe weather.  Again, this is another travel insurance I can happily decline now.   

In addition, Chase’s website has a nice spending visualizer that tells me see exactly how much I’ve spent in each category.  So, the month when I overspent on restaurants, it made me check myself and reduce spending in that area the following month. 

This one insight helped me go from spending $800 per month in restaurants to $400 per month, which was a big benefit to my full-time travel budget.  

Like most travel cards, Chase Sapphire Preferred® card has no foreign transaction fees which saves you money with each purchase you make abroad.

Naturally, the biggest benefit is the welcome offer reward points. You can earn 60,000-75,000 points once you meet the minimum spending requirement.

In addition to this generous welcome offer, you also earn points with your everyday spending. You can earn 2x points on all eligible travel purchases and 3x points on restaurants and dining.

Once you rack up enough points, simply transfer these points to select partner airlines and hotels to maximize the value of your points. 

Currently, Chase works with partner hotel chains like IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriot Bonvoy, and Hyatt. Sometimes, they even have bonus point offers where you can earn 30%-40% more points once your points balance transfer is complete leading to even more free hotel stays.

Chase has partnered with even more airlines making it easy to navigate the entire world with airlines like Air Canada, British Airways, Emirates, Air France KLM, Southwest, United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and Jet Blue just to name a few.

When I first signed up for Chase Sapphire Preferred®, I didn’t realize just how valuable my sign-bonus points would be. But, those points saved me $1931 on flights, and now I’ll tell you exactly how.   

How My Sign Bonus Saved Me $1931 in Flights

When I got my points sign-up bonus, I immediately went shopping for travel on the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal. Unfortunately, I didn’t really see anything worth spending my points on.  

We were in Martinique at the time and had spent 6 months island hopping in the Caribbean, so we were looking for a change of pace.  We’ve always wanted to go to Japan but naturally, plane tickets from the Caribbean to Tokyo were very expensive with one-way tickets starting at $1195.  

Luckily, I looked at how many points it would take to get to Tokyo because the amount of points needed was much less than the amount of cash needed.  We’re talking only 40,000-44,000 points versus 160,000 points if you are traveling on a high-traffic day.  

This point price seemed too good to be true so I only transferred enough points to Air France to pay for one ticket.  I was hesitant because once you transfer points you can’t transfer them back, so you really have to be sure that you want to fly with that airline.  

In the end, I got my flight for 44,000 points and $212 USD.  By the time I was ready to transfer points to get David’s tickets, which takes 1-7 days to transfer, the points amount increased so I wound up paying $353 USD and 39,000 points, which I was still very pleased with. 

If we paid cash for these tickets plus one check bag, we would have paid $1249 per person or $2498 total.  But with this credit card points transfer, we spent a total of $566.36 for our flights to Japan which is a savings of $1931.64.   

Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links. Buying through our links is at no extra cost to you, but it supports our website and our travels as we will receive a small commission. We really appreciate the support!

How I learned this points strategy

Now, you might be wondering, how did I learn all of this?  Well, I honestly didn’t learn it on my own.  I got an e-book called The JGOOT Way of Travel (JGOOT stands for Just Get Out Of Town) which is a short e-book that helped me understand the best travel credit cards to use and the most effective strategies for maximizing your points and getting the most savings.

This book was so informative and is the reason I found this great points deal. If you would like this type of travel hacking knowledge for yourself, you can read the e-book here!   

Is it worth the annual fee?

Considering all of the benefits, I would say that the annual fee of $95 is very reasonable and well worth the money.  This travel credit card saves me money on car rental insurance, trip cancellation insurance, and getting me cheap flights to Asia.  I have definitely received more than $95 worth of value, and I will renew this card for another year.  

The New & Improved Sign-Up Bonus

Now, when I signed up for this credit card, the sign-up bonus was only 60,000 points but for a limited time if you sign up now you can get 75,000 bonus points.  Use my referral link here to get this deal while it lasts because those 15,000 extra points can really lead to a lot of travel savings.  

I can’t believe all the benefits this Chase Sapphire Preferred® card has.  It has quickly become my go-to card for everything because the included insurance and points make it one of the best travel credit cards in the world.

Airline cards and hotel credit cards just can’t compare because they lock you into one brand. Chase makes it easy for you to transfer points to different brands so you have the freedom to spend your points as you see fit. The variety of redemption options helps you get the maximum value out of your points.

If you love international travel but get discouraged by the high cost of flights and hotels, make sure to add Chase Sapphire Preferred® to your travel strategy because this travel credit card can save you thousands!

Want to learn even more money-saving tips?

• Discover the Cheapest Way to Fly to Europe
• Learn 10 Ways to Save for Full-Time Travel
• The Best Travel Apps for Quick and East Travel Planning

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