Chase Sapphire Preferred’s New Welcome Bonus Is Worth $1,000 in Travel

The price of travel is skyrocketing, and consumers eager to hit the road again following pandemic-related travel restrictions and lockdowns are now coming face to face with inflation-driven costs.

Even in my own recent travel booking experience, I’ve noticed outlandish pricing, including a $1,500 price tag for two round-trip economy flights from Fort Lauderdale to Las Vegas and basic rental cars running more than $100 per day. And with gas prices still exceeding $4 per gallon and food costs surging, it may feel like you need to look for alternative vacation options.

That said, just because costs are going up doesn’t mean you should feel like traveling right now is completely off the table. By using points and miles, you can still score deals on flights, hotels and other travel expenses for much less than the retail price. And, there are deals available to quickly grow your stash of travel rewards, including valuable welcome bonuses on credit cards like the the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Below, Select details how consumers can save money on travel this summer by using hotel points, airline miles and credit card points, and what else you should keep in mind when redeeming credit card rewards.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is offering a welcome bonus of 80,000 Ultimate Rewards® points for new cardholders who spend at least $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. What that really means is that you’ll end up with a minimum of 84,000 points after hitting the spending requirement. Those 80,000 points are worth $1,000 in travel when you redeem them directly for flights, hotels, rental cars and other activities through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® travel portal.

While the card has a $95 annual fee, the benefits it offers make it one of the best travel rewards credit cards on the market today. For starters, you’ll never have to worry about paying foreign transaction fees for using the card abroad and you’ll receive extensive travel insurance, including auto rental collision damage waivers, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, baggage delay insurance and zero liability protection.

Cardholders can also earn 3X points on dining (including delivery and takeout), certain streaming services and online grocery orders; 5X points on travel purchased via the Chase Ultimate Rewards® travel portal — not counting hotels that qualify for the included $50 annual hotel credit, which is another great perk — 2X points for all other travel-related purchases and 1X points for any additional spending. You’ll also score a 10% points boost in honor of your membership anniversary.

There are a ton of ways to get big value from the Chase Sapphire Preferred‘s current 80,000-point welcome offer, for example you could:

• Transfer 50,000 points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to book a one-way flight in business class on Delta Air Lines from the U.S. to Europe (retail price: $2,800+). You’ll still have 30,000 points leftover.
• Transfer 80,000 points to World of Hyatt and book four nights at the Hyatt Andaz West Hollywood (retail price: up to $2,100 incl. taxes and fees)
• Transfer 78,000 points to British Airways Executive Club and book three round-trip flights from West Coast cities to Hawaii on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines (retail price: $1,350)

For this reason, it’s always worth shopping around, checking the list of Chase’s travel rewards partners and seeing if there’s a better way to get the biggest bang for your buck with points before you commit.

Elite status isn’t recognized with Chase travel rewards

If you have status with any hotel or airline and decide to book travel through the Chase travel portal, know that your status level and associated benefits will not be recognized. If you’re looking to take advantage of your elite status during your upcoming travels, it’s best to book directly with your preferred airline or hotel, especially if you have a higher-tier status. If your status is with one of Chase’s partners, you’ll probably be better off transferring your points directly to that loyalty program instead of booking through the portal.

Consider saving your points and using alternative travel options

In some cases, especially if you won’t to avoid how expensive travel has become, you may want to save your points for a later date and just pay cash. For example, I could have used my Chase points to pay for a rental car in Las Vegas, but it would be a huge waste of points because of how inflated rental car prices are at the moment. Instead, I opted to rent a car through Turo, a peer-to-peer car rental site, instead. While saving money is the end goal of using points and miles, it’s best to try and be as strategic as possible with the rewards you’re earning to really make them work for you.