THE CHASE TRIFECTA: HOW TO MAXIMIZE EARNING CHASE POINTS
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Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points are some of the most valuable travel points you can earn. With multiple travel transfer partners like United Airlines, Southwest, British Air and hotels like Hyatt and IHG, the options are endless.
Did you know that there is more than one credit card that earns Chase points? That’s right! And by having a combination of these cards, you can maximize your point earnings fast.
WHAT IS THE CHASE TRIFECTA?
As you can gather from the title, the Chase Trifecta means that you will have three cards from Chase that all earn Ultimate Rewards points. The key card in this plan is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. The other key is having cards that earn more than 1x point per dollar.
While other Chase cards are marketed as cash back cards, if you hold the Chase Sapphire card as well, that cash back amount can be converted to Ultimate Rewards points. Without the Chase Sapphire card those points cannot be transferred to travel partners (where you’ll get the most value).
There are two versions of the Chase Trifecta. One that includes a business card and one that doesn’t. I highly encourage you to look into applying for a business card. There are many side hustles that qualify as a business, like blogging, reselling items on eBay or Facebook, driving for Uber, dog sitting, etc.
Here are the three cards that make up the Trifecta, only one has an annual fee.
CHASE TRIFECTA
Highlights and Rewards Rates:
Earns 5x points on travel booked through Chase Travel℠
Earns 3x points on dining and online grocery (excluding Wal-Mart, Target)
Earns 2x points on travel related purchases
$50 credit on any hotel booked through the portal
Primary rental car insurance
No foreign transaction fees
Chase Freedom Flex® - $200 Bonus Cash Back (or 20k points) after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. If you hold the Chase Sapphire card, that $200 cash back is equal to 20,000 Ultimate Rewards points. No annual fee. Before I qualified for a business card, this is my most used card and, in my opinion, should be one of the first cards that you get.
Earn 5x points on rotating categories with the Chase Freedom Flex
Highlights and Rewards Rates:
Earns 5% cash back (or 5x points) on rotating categories every quarter up to $1500. This is my favorite way to earn Chase points. If you maximize the categories, you’ll earn 30k points annually. You must register your card for the promotion every quarter.
Earns 3x points on dining and drug stores
Cell phone protection when you pay your wireless bill with your card
Chase Freedom Unlimited® - This card earns unlimited 1.5x points per dollar on ALL purchases. It also earns 3x points on dining, drug stores and travel booked in the Chase Travel℠ portal. No annual fee.
Highlights and Rewards Rates:
Earns 3x points on dining and drug store
Purchase protection and extended warranty protection
DO I REALLY QUALIFY FOR A BUSINESS CARD?
As I mentioned above, adding a Chase Business card that earns Ultimate Rewards points is a great way to supercharge your point earnings. You don’t have to have a brick-and-mortar business or an LLC. If you are self-employed and provide a service for money, this is considered a business, and you would qualify as a sole proprietor. There are three Chase business cards that you should consider adding to your wallet.
Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card: This card is marketed as a cash back card. So, $750 is equal to 75,000 points. There are two steps to earn the welcome bonus: Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening. This card requires a minimum spend of $6,000 but it gives you six months to meet it. That’s just $1,000 a month which is fairly reasonable for most of us. You can combine these points with your Chase Sapphire to book travel. No annual fee. This is my work horse card and one that I keep year after year.
Highlights and Reward Rates:
Earn 5% cash back (or 5x points) on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year. This is 5x points per dollar when you pay for your internet and phone bill with your card.
Earn 2% cash back (or 2x points) on the first $25,000 in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants
HONORABLE MENTION
Another card that can be a part of your Chase Trifecta is the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. This is a premium card with a higher annual fee but a lot of perks and credits to help offset that.
You will earn 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. This is a premium card that also earns Ultimate Rewards points.
Highlights and Reward Rates:
Earn 3x points on dining
Earn 5x points on air travel booked through Chase Travel℠ after the first $300 is spent on travel annually.
Earn 10x points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase through Chase Travel℠
$300 annual statement credit reimbursement
Complimentary Priority Pass Membership giving you access to over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide.
$120 credit towards purchase Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS
Trip Delay and Primary Car rental insurance
Complimentary DashPass and Lyft Pink subscription
MY STRATEGY
When I’m not meeting a minimum spend on a new card I’m maximizing my point earnings with these four cards:
I use my Chase Ink Cash to pay for our internet, phone, cable and any supplies that can be purchased at the office supply store (hello, back to school!)
I use my Freedom Flex to max out the 5x rotating categories. I also use my Freedom Flex to pay for all of our prescriptions and drug store purchases as well as dining out to earn 3x points.
I pay for all my travel related purchases and car rentals with my Chase Sapphire for the trip insurance that it provides. The Chase Sapphire is also that card I take when I travel out of the country because it doesn’t have any foreign transaction fees.
I use my Freedom Unlimited when I make a purchase that doesn’t fit any of the above categories, like paying for my daughter’s cheer online. Earning 1.5x points is better than 1x and that extra .5 adds up.
GOOD TO KNOW
All of these cards are subject to the Chase 5/24 Rule. That is, Chase will not approve you for one of their cards if you have received more than 5 cards (from any bank) in the past 24 months.
The Chase Ink Business cards do not count towards your 5/24 slot, but you must be under 5/24 to be approved.
All points from these three cards above can be transferred to your Chase Sapphire account so that points can be transferred to travel partners like United and Hyatt. Avoid the Chase Ink Premier as those points cannot be transferred to travel partners.
You will always get the highest value from your points by transferring points to travel partners. Your points are typically worth only one cent per point when you book through Chase Travel℠
Happy Travels!
See how we stayed four nights FREE in Paris with points here.
Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
