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Last year I locked in IHG One Rewards Diamond status simply by purchasing points for $640. This year, the same deal is back, but it’ll run you $800. Ultimately, I decided to go for it mainly because you’re buying 120k points for $600 ( which I’ll definitely use ),and then adding diamond on top for $200. I’ve utilized my diamond status throughout the year enough to offset that and reckon I will again in 2026. Buy Elite Qualifying Points, get a 20% discount since I’m an IHG cardholder, and settle up for $800.
- Be targeted…check your email
- Buy Points ( EQP apparnetly also mean your balance of redeemable points will increase )
- Get a 20% discount if you’re an IHG cardholder ( I used a different card and it still worked, but I do have 2 IHG cards )
- Check here
Now, these are listed as Elite Qualifying Points, and I kind of hemmed and hawed at spending $800 for another year of top tier status, but I’ve gotten some great upgrades, breakfasts, and thought…oh why not give it a go, it’s a write off anyway.
So I did it…again.
For 2025… $640
120k redeemable points + a year of diamond status for $640 was insane, but $800 is still a very good deal!
The status and points updated instantly
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 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 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 Points Boost
- each account anniversary you’ll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
- $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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