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Monkey Miles Monday Memos are designed for beginners looking to get their feet wet
Every Monday, MonkeyMiles sends out a Memo with a tip on how you can save time, money, and points. Many of you may already know the tips, but more and more new monkeys are flocking to this hobby every single day and knowledge is power. This Monday we are looking at credit card pairing and how it can be very beneficial to you.
Credit Card pairing is having 2+ cards from the same issuer that earn the same points.
Let me show you an example of how this can earn a lot of points. I currently hold the following cards from Chase.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase Ink Business Preferred
- Chase Ink Cash
- Chase Freedom
- Chase Sapphire Preferred ( which I will downgrade to a Freedom)
Each of these cards earn Ultimate Rewards, but they don’t earn them equally.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3x points on all travel and dining
- Chase Ink Business Preferred earns 3x on travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone
- Chase Ink Cash earns 5x points on Internet, Cable, phone charges, and at office supply stores
- Chase Freedom has rotating quarterly categories that earn 5x points.
So what card do I use to pay?
- I put my Cell phone bill on my ink business cause it earns 3x points, but gives me free insurance on the phone. This is worth earning 2x less points
- Travel I split between Ink Business Preferred and Reserve depending if it’s for business or personal, but the Reserve has better travel protection. Both earn at 3x.
- Internet and Cable goes on my Ink Cash at 5x.
- Dining typically goes on my Reserve for 3x
- Freedom is offering 5x right now this quarter so through September I pay with it.
- I put all other spend on my Reserve unless I can spend on my Freedom for a category bonus
- I have cards from other issuers that I apply the same technique and shore up balances that way.
It may seem like the above scenario is complicated, but mostly it comes down to paying with either my Reserve or my Freedom. The bills that go on my Ink Cash and Ink Business Preferred are monthly bills that are set for autopay.
By pairing cards up to earn higher category bonuses it keeps your balances poppin’ so you can fly in lie flat seats or stay in 5 star suites
Like Singapore Suites
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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