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Chase Sapphire Preferred, a 2nd time?
I recently signed up for the Ink Business Preferred which offers 80k bonus points after $5k spend in 3 months. I also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, a Freedom, Ink Plus, and an IHG card from Chase. As long as I maintain one premium Ultimate Rewards earning card, I keep the ability to transfer rewards into that account which allows me to then transfer to travel partners like Singapore Air, Hyatt, and Korean. I, like many others, now have 2 premium cards ( Chase Sapphire Preferred + Ink Business Preferred). It got me thinking…what do I do next? I’m not sure I want to keep both the Ink Business Preferred and the Sapphire Preferred open and pay the fees. I’d wanted to get the Chase Sapphire Reserve with the 100k offer, but alas, it has expired and I wasn’t able to get in on the deal. It’s currently sitting at 50k – while I think that’s a fair offer, I’d rather wait and see if they don’t have an increased bonus at some point. In the meantime, I have to figure out what I’m going to do…and one of those options is potentially getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred a 2nd time.
The Sapphire Preferred was keeping my points transferrable
The main reason I was keeping the Sapphire Preferred was just that reason. I have an Ink Business Cash and a Freedom. Both of those cards are technically Cash Back cards and the points can only be transferred to partners if I keep a premium card open. Now that I have an Ink Business Preferred I don’t need the Sapphire Preferred to do that job.
I won’t cancel the account, but will try to downgrade/convert to a Freedom
Keeping the card open helps your credit score because it lengthens your account history which in turn makes your score stronger. So I wouldn’t cancel the account, and would instead convert it to a Freedom. Miles to Memories has done this several times and creates the opportunity to stack up category bonuses.
That would be 2 Freedoms, 2 sets of quarterly category bonuses – 48k bonus points annually if maxed out.
You can get a bonus every 24 months with Chase
It’s been well over 24 months since I picked up the Sapphire Preferred. This means…as long as I’m not currently carrying the card, I can sign up for it and get the bonus again. My fee is due in September and I drop another opened account in August. I’m in no rush tho, but instead of just keeping the card as is, I could have a 2nd Freedom and reapply for the Sapphire Preferred to get the sign up bonus for a 2nd time.
Why not get a Sapphire Reserve?
Makes sense, right? I’ve never had it, and before my annual fee is due in September I’ll be under 5/24 again ( if i’m not already) so I could pick up the Reserve at the 50k offer.
- Reserve is $450 annual ( $300 travel credit ) nets to $150
- Preferred is $95 annual fee
I’ll be the first to argue that the $55 incremental cost of the Sapphire Reserve compared to the Sapphire Preferred is worth the annual fee. I still think the Reserve is the best card in the marketplace. However…I’m not sure I want to burn my application for the Reserve on just 50k points. The battle of premium cards goes back and forth and for some reason I think the Reserve will have some targeted, limited time, etc etc offer for more than 50k in the next couple years.
I have an Amex Biz Plat and a Citi Prestige so I’ll still have lounge benefits, primary car rental insurance, 2x dining bonus ( albeit a different currency), but I’ll be able to get similar category bonuses and card benefits.
Right now I’m leaning towards keeping my Citi Prestige, downgrading my Sapphire Preferred to a Freedom, and determining which cards make most sense
*The links I provided are my bonus referral links. Much appreciated if you use them as it helps me continue to earn points, review products ( like the feature picture in Singapore First), etc – if you’d like to leave your own referrals you can do so in the comments section.
Ink Business Preferred 80k after $5k spend
Chase Sapphire Preferred 50k after $4k spend:
Chase Freedom: $150 ( 15k points) after $500 spend
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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