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The Chase transfer partner that isn’t, but I wish was…again.

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The Chase transfer partner that isn’t, but I wish was…again.

It’s been a couple years now since Chase lost Amtrak as a transfer partner. At the time, I wasn’t really that bothered by it. Yes, I’d used Ultimate Rewards to book Amtrak trains before, but it wasn’t something that I regularly did, nor something I aspired towards.  Even with that being said, I almost transferred over 25k-30k points the week before the partnership ended just in case. I WISH I HAD. There have been several instances in the past two years that I’d have redeemed points to cruise down to San Diego on the pacific surfliner:  it’s a fun trip I’ve done a couple times and it really means that everyone can enjoy the ride down vs driving where the driver has to concentrate.  Now, the only good option is to transfer SPG to Amtrak 1:1. There are other ways of accessing the points, but they don’t really give great value like when Amtrak was a partner. So Chase…if you’re reading this – Miles and I vote to strike up that partnership again!

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How can you beat <2000 points to travel along the coast in business class…

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There are a lot of cross country trips I’m keen on taking, and would be even more so….if I could just transfer over some UR. Like the California Zephyr.

 

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 3x on dining
    •  including eligible delivery services for takeout
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel Portal
  • 2x on all other travel
  • $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Chase Travel
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 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 Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Primary rental car coverage is my favorite

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.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

5 Comments

  • Vicente June 25, 2017

    Also, you didn’t mention there’s a credit card with bonus. I got a much better bonus 4-ish years on the old card, but the new one is better than nothing at all.

  • Vicente June 25, 2017

    I transferred 40K before the end, just to bank for future. Ocassionally I take a ride on Amtrak which keeps expiration at bay. I have taken sleeper from ATL to NYC and it was fantastic! Looking forward to the Zephyr later this year.

    IMO Eurostar London to Paris is a bucket list item. If you book far enough in advance it can be as cheap as 37 pounds! And SOOO much more relaxing than traversing airports and security. We just did this a couple weeks ago and it was fantastic. Amex Platinum gets you into the lounges. We only hit the one at Gare Du Nord, but it was very nice. The snacks were just so-so, but 8 wines to pick from in dispensers. Nice!

    • Miles June 25, 2017

      Thanks for the info Vicente. I did the Eurostar long ago and thought it was such a cool way to travel. I’m becoming quite a train fan. Also…you’re right, I didn’t include the Amtrak card. I thought about it, but the offer is so low compared to what was once attained with a UR transfer that it depressed me lol. But you’re absolutely correct…you can pick up some points that way.

  • A big ol word to this. Even with the devaluation a few years ago there’s still lots of value in Amtrak points. It’s just so hard to GET them

    • Miles June 25, 2017

      Totally agree – overnight it went from very easy to hard. Ahhhh! Maybe they’ll come back 🙂 🙂

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