New Chase Sapphire Offers Are Announced And They Are Big!

 

Wow! Chase just announced three whopper deals on its Sapphire line of credit cards. We will detail these for you and help you decide if you should jump on any of these offers. We knew the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card was undergoing a refresh and you can check the details here to see how you will be affected if you already hold the card. It's good! 

 

Now if you don't have a Chase Sapphire Credit Card yet or if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, there are some awesome new benefits on this card too plus a 75,000 bonus offer. Not as good as the 100,000 bonus offer that ended in May, but better than the regular 60,000 point offer. 

The new Reserve business credit card has a crazy high minimum spend of $30,000, but if you can swing it, the 200,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points bonus is outstanding. 

You can read here about why we love Chase Ultimate Reward points and their flexibility. 

Let's break down the offer on each card:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred - Bonus offer 75,000 points (valued at $750) with a $5,000 minimum spend in three months. This is our all time favorite travel credit card. Annual fee of $95 and it comes with a $50 hotel credit when you book through the travel portal. You earn 3x points on dining, 3x on online grocery, 2x on travel, 5x on travel booked in the Chase Travel Portal and 1x on everything else. It also comes with a $120 DoorDash credit and points boost when you book in the Chase Travel Portal. 
• Chase Sapphire Reserve - Bonus offer 100,000 points (valued at $1,000) with a $5,000 minimum spend in three months. This was our all time favorite premium travel credit card, but it now has an increased annual fee of $795. We still think it's a great deal, but you need to make certain that you will use the credits to make the high annual fee worth it. We detailed the credits and benefits of the new refreshed card here. 
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Business - Bonus offer 200,000 points with a $30,000 minimum spend in six months. This is a brand new card and if your business can swing the spend, it's a great deal for you. You can squeeze as much as $4,000 value out of those 200,000 points. Plus annual credits on the Chase Travel Portal, DoorDash, Zip Recruiter, Edit Hotels, Google Workspace, Lyft and more. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Or book a 1:1 consulting call.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

Got My 100,000 Chase Bonus, Now What?

 

Woohoo! Thank you Chewy. That one purchase put me over the $5,000 minimum spend for the 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. 

This was the incredible bonus offer that ended May 15th. You may still be working on reaching the minimum spend or you may see the bonus pop up in your account soon!

It is interesting that I have not even made the second payment on this card yet, but they gave me the bonus points. It used to be that Capital One was the only issuer that would award the points before you paid the bill. 

• This means that you could actually put the points towards a statement credit on this payment so you knock $1,000 off your credit card bill. Pretty cool. 

But we can actually squeeze a lot more value out of 100,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points. 

How can you squeeze more value out of your CUR points? 

• One way is to transfer them to an airline that usually gives fantastic points redemption on flights like Flying Blue (KLM, Air France loyalty program) and Iberia Avios. 
• But you can also find some great surprise redemptions on airlines like Emirates like this 7,500 points for a flight from Malta to Cyprus. 
• If you were to buy this flight, it would cost you $284.  
• I like to use the tool seats.aero to find out what award flights are available. The tool is FREE unless you want to search more than 90 days out.  

Another way to squeeze more value out of CUR points is to transfer them to Hyatt. You can find Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels for as low as 3,500 per night. Incredible. 

And you can also transfer the points over to a Chase Sapphire Reserve account and use them in the Chase Travel Portal for 1.5:1 or use them in the Chase Sapphire Preferred Travel Portal for 1.25:1 value. 

This is why I love flexible points like CUR, Amex and Capital One. 

If you don't have a Sapphire card yet, you could apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve before June 23rd to lock in the $550 annual fee. Right now, it offers 60,000 bonus points for a $5,000 minimum spend. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is back to its regular offer of 60,000 points for a $5,000 minimum spend and $95 annual fee. We hear that some better offers might be announced next week so you may want to hold off for a few days. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Or book a 1:1 consulting call.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

Should You Hang Onto Your Chase Sapphire Reserve?

 

The Chase Sapphire Reserve has been my favorite credit card for quite awhile. Even when the annual fee increased to a whopping $550 a few years ago, I held onto it. But today Chase announced that the annual fee is going up again, this time to $795. So now the question is should you hold onto it? I'll tell you right now, the answer is yes!

Should You Hang Onto Your Chase Sapphire Reserve?

But let's break down the benefits and dig deeper. 

Now worth and value are very personal. What's treasure for me, maybe trash for you. But let's see if we can investigate the changes and benefits and see if it's worth it for me and that might help you decide if it's worth it for you. 

How do I use this card right now? 

• I charge all of my travel and dining to this credit card. Why? 
• Currently, it earns 3x points on dining and travel. It also has amazing travel cancellation, rental and interruption insurance. I made a claim a few months ago and though it took several times uploading the same documents, they eventually reimbursed me. I always charge rental cars to this card because it earns 3x points and has awesome car rental insurance so I can pass on the insurance offered by the rental agency. 
• Moving forward, it will continue to earn 3x points on dining and 4x points on travel booked directly with airlines and hotels. But other travel like car rentals, Airbnbs, and tours will only earn 1x points so that's disappointing. 
•  I combine all of my Chase points onto this card to use them in the Chase Travel Portal. Why?

• Currently, when you book in the portal, you earn 5x points on airlines and 10x points on hotels. When you use your points to purchase, the points are worth 1.5 in the portal. 
• Moving forward, when you book in the portal, you will earn 8x points on all travel purchases booked through the portal. Current cardholders will still be able to get 1.5 value for points in the portal for a two year grace period. But the card is moving towards a "points boost" up to 2x points on certain travel purchases marked with a rocket ship. We are unsure right now how much travel will be eligible for a boost. 
• $300 Travel Credit - I use this credit every year since it is automatically applied to travel purchases. Though it's not really a benefit, it does bring down the annual fee by $300. 
• Moving forward, this credit will remain so it brings the annual fee down to $495. 
• Global Entry credit - you can use this once every four years so it's valued at $30 per year as a benefit. 
• Moving forward, this benefit remains. 
• Priority Pass Lounge and Sapphire Lounge Access - remains a benefit on the Sapphire Reserve. 
• Moving forward, there's no change 
  
• Earns 5x points on Lyft and 10x points on Peloton. 
• Moving forward, there's no change. 

Should You Hang Onto Your Chase Sapphire Reserve?

Other changes: 

• Authorized users - price is going up from $75 to $195 per user. I don't recommend adding authorized users to any cards, but if you want to, Capital One Venture X allows you to add authorized users for free and let's them use the lounge access, but we hear this benefit may be ending. 
• You could only hold one Sapphire card at a time. 
• Moving forward, you can hold both cards at the same time. This could be huge! The Sapphire Preferred has an annual fee of $95 and is one of my favorite cards. I usually advise my couple clients for one person to hold the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the other to hold the Reserve. Now one person could hold both. Instead of downgrading, you can just apply for the other Sapphire card and get the welcome bonus again. 

• Other new credits:
• $500 credit to use on Edit Hotels (Chase curated list).(split in two $250 credits) A quick search showed most properties were 5 star and came with perks like breakfast and $100 property credit. 
• $300 credit on StubHub or Viagogo
• $300 in monthly Doordash promotions 
• $300 credit at Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables (split in two $150 credits)
• $250 annual credit for Apple TV and Music 
• $120 Doordash membership 
• $120 Peloton Membership 
• $120 Lyft in app credits 

If you spend more than $75,000 on the Reserve card annually, then you will earn some added benefits  like status at IHG and Southwest, $500 Southwest travel credit, and $250 credit at The Shops at Chase. 

Chase says the refreshed Chase Sapphire Reserve will offer $2,700 value of benefits, but the question is how many of these benefits will you actually benefit from? 

It's enough to make your head spin, but rest assured, if you already have this card, the new benefits will kick in June 23rd and you won't get charged the increased annual fee until after October 26th 2025 when your annual fee is due.  

So if your annual fee is due July 1st like mine, you will end up in the sweet spot. You will get to enjoy the new benefits until July 2026 and the old benefits until October 26th 2025, but only pay the old annual fee of $550. Then you can decide if you want to pay the increased annual fee next year. 

If you don't have this card yet, you could apply before June 23rd to lock in the $550 annual fee. Right now, it offers 60,000 bonus points for a $5,000 minimum spend. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Or book a 1:1 consulting call.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

Chase 5x Bonus Categories Announced For Q3

 

Woohoo! It's that time when Chase announces the 5x bonus categories for the next quarter. For Q2, Amazon was one of the bonus categories which is always exciting and a great time to stock up on your Amazon purchases and earn 5x points. I have two Chase FREEDOM credit cards and have reached the max $1,500 on both cards already this quarter. 

Still working on my P2 new Chase FREEDOM FLEX credit card he received when he downgraded his Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card a few months back. 

For Q3, the new categories are:

• Gas Stations
• EV Charging 
• Select Live Entertainment
• the bonus birthday category, Instacart

These are great summer categories since we may be driving more for road trips and attending more summer concerts! Instacart works for groceries and other household essentials. Think beach vacation?

You can activate the new categories now either by logging into your Chase account and clicking on redeem rewards or by clicking here. 

If you don't have a 5x bonus category credit card yet, it's a good add to your wallet. Chase FREEDOM FLEX offers a $200 bonus for $500 spend. There is no annual fee. Pair this card with your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve and you will be earning points fast. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Or book a 1:1 consulting call.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

Hidden Treasure: How One Client Discovered 275,000 Points She Never Knew She Had

A new client reached out the other day because she wanted to fly across the country to visit her cousins. She had 29,500 United miles, but the flight she was eyeing was charging 15,000 miles each way. Should I buy the extra 500 miles that I need for this trip? And would it be possible to fly premium or business class?

Since this was my first meeting with this client, we needed to find out if she had any other points or miles available. She booked a 1:1 consult through the website. The client said she had a Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, but had never checked the points balance. 

Hidden Treasure: How One Client Discovered 275,000 Points She Never Knew She Had

She logged into her account and guess what? She found that she had 275,000 CUR points, wow! "How much are those worth?" she asked. Those points could be worth as little as $3,000 and as much as thousands more depending on how you spend them. 

Back to the United flight, premium economy was not available and business class would cost a whopping 117,000 points. Though the client had the points, she didn't want to spend so many of them on this flight. 

Another option would be to transfer 1,000 CUR points to United to top off the account and buy the economy flight for 30,000 points and $11.40 taxes. 

But first we checked the Chase Travel Portal. The same flight listed for 27,798 points. Woohoo! That's even less points than using United miles. 

Hidden Treasure: How One Client Discovered 275,000 Points She Never Knew She Had

Done! And she still has 247,000 CUR points to travel where ever she wants to go next and next and next. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Or book a 1:1 consulting call.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

How To Score The Best Travel Deal With Points And Miles

 

Sometimes the best option for using your points and miles is not the most obvious one and as always I am going to make another plug for why I love flexible points like Chase Ultimate Rewards.  

The most obvious is using your points and miles to book directly with the airline or hotel. But we always recommend checking multiple options before you book because you may be surprised. 

Sometimes it's a better plan to transfer miles or points to a transfer partner that may offer the same flight for less miles or use the points in a travel portal. 

Let's take a look at an example: 

We are looking to book a one way flight from San Diego to JFK in New York. 

• First, we check google flights to see what options are available. Then we check seats.aero to see what points and miles options may be available. Seats.aero is free for search 60 days out and $9.99 per month for search one year out. 

We see on Seats.aero that there are flights available on Jet Blue, Delta and American. Jet Blue is a new transfer partner with Chase so we check Jet Blue. Delta is offering flights from 15,900 points so then we hop over to Delta to see what's available. 

We see a few good options Jet Blue for 13,100 points and Delta for 14,900 points. 

The Delta flight has better timing so we check the Chase Travel Portal just to see if any of these flights are listed there and we can get an even better deal. 

Bam! We find that the Delta flight is being offered for just 11,900 points through the Chase Sapphire Reserve travel portal. CUR points are worth 1:1.5 so we can get the same flight for even less points than if we booked right on the Delta website. 

That's how we do it here and that's why we love flexible points. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. 

Or you can book a consulting call with us for just $100. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

***In honor of every new paid client, we will make a donation of 10% to one of our favorite charities. 

How You Can Visit Two Countries For The Price Of One

Want to spend the day or a week in Iceland on your way to Europe? Several airlines will allow you to add a stopover for FREE to your flight. Yes, you can add the stop over even if you are flying on points. Woohoo! 

The airlines that offer this option are:

• Turkish Airlines
• Qatar Airways 
• Etihad Airways
• Icelandair
• TAP Air Portugal
• Iberia
• Copa 
• Air Canada
• Air China
•  Ethiopian Airlines
•  Singapore Airlines

Some of the airlines allow the stop over for up to 2 weeks, others allow the stopover for 8-24 hours and provide tours or hotel accommodations. 

For example: Ethiopian Airlines provides free pickup and drop off from the airport, a hotel room and a meal. 

• Layover Duration: 8 to 24 hours. 
• Hotel: Ethiopian Skylight Hotel. 
• Includes: Free hotel stay, airport transfers, complimentary breakfast. 
• Eligibility: You must have a connecting flight through Addis Ababa and a valid transit visa or be eligible for a visa on arrival. 
• How to book: You can book this service when booking your Ethiopian Airlines flight or through their website, according to Ethiopian Airlines. 
• Additional benefits: Kids under 12 stay and dine for free, all-day pool access, and 30% off massages. 

Several airlines offer layover tours and/or discounted/free hotel stays during long layovers. Some popular examples include Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Icelandair, and TAP Air Portugal. 

Here's a more detailed look at some of these programs:

1. Turkish Airlines: Offers "Touristanbul," a free guided tour of Istanbul for passengers with layovers of 6-24 hours at Istanbul Airport. They also offer free hotel stays or discounts on hotels in Istanbul during layovers. 

2. Qatar Airways: Provides discounted or free hotel stays in Doha for passengers with layovers of 12 hours or more. They also offer free visas for those who need them. 

3. Etihad Airways: Offers "Abu Dhabi Stopover," providing free hotel stays for up to two nights in Abu Dhabi for passengers with layovers. 

4. Icelandair: Allows stopovers in Iceland for passengers flying transatlantic, offering a chance to explore the country for a few days or even a week at no extra airfare cost. 

5. TAP Air Portugal: Offers stopover programs in Lisbon and Porto, allowing passengers to stay for up to 10 days in either city. 

6. Iberia: Offers a "Hola Madrid" program with a free stopover in Madrid for up to seven days, including discounts on experiences and accommodations. 

7. Copa Airlines: Offers a special stopover program in Panama. 

8. Other Airlines: Air Canada, Air China, Ethiopian Airlines, and Singapore Airlines also offer stopover programs or discounted hotel stays in certain cities. 

As always, if you need more guidance, please join our Travel Coaching Program, you can find out more about our personal coaching here. Use FREETRAVEL for $50 off the cost. Or you can book a 30 minute consult for just $100. We would love to help you! 

#1 Way To Prepare For Southwest Changes Coming Wednesday

 

The day is finally arriving this Wednesday, May 28th. The end of Southwest as we know and love it. Starting this Wednesday, the FREE bag policy is ending. We anticipate that the bag charge will be approximately $35 per bag in line with other airlines. 

Starting soon, you will also be choosing your seat when you book your flight. Though assigned seats do not officially start until early 2026. Travel credits will start to expire as well, but since we always fly on points, we are not worried about that. 

You are probably already seeing some strange pricing happening on the Southwest website and app. 

Hopefully you are taking advantage of some of the strange low fares. I snagged a 6,000 point flight from San Diego to Seattle and pair that with my companion pass and wow! 

If you buy a Business Select ticket or have A List Preferred, you will still get two FREE checked bags. If you have a Southwest credit card or A List, you will still get one FREE checked bag. If you follow my blog and have earned the Southwest Companion Pass, then you have at least one Southwest Credit Card. Your companion will also get a FREE checked bag. 

But since you won't get two FREE checked bags, what's the #1 way to prepare for these changes?

#1 is to stop traveling with checked bags. #teamcarryon all the way. Southwest will still allow a FREE carry on and a FREE personal item. 

If you are saying right now, there is no way I can fit all my stuff in just a carry on, I'm here to help you. 

There are a few methods like 5-4-3-2-1 (5 shirts, 4 pants, 3 shoes, 2 dresses, 1 accessory), but I follow the pack for approximately 7-10 days no matter how long you plan to travel. You can always do laundry. 

You can check out this video to see how I pack my carry on. You will note that I take along a French press too. 

I also bought this nifty personal size backpack that fits under the seat, but holds an extraordinary amount of stuff. You can find it on Amazon for $36.99 in all different colors. 

Bottom line, change is part of life, but the challenge is to find the best value. 

As always, if you need more guidance, please join our Travel Coaching Program, you can find out more about our personal coaching here. Use FREETRAVEL for $50 off the cost. Or you can book a 30 minute consult for just $100. We would love to help you! 

How To Visit National Parks With Points and Miles

 

Feeling uneasy about traveling internationally right now, there are so many beautiful places to visit right here in the US including National Parks. And yes, you can use points and miles to visit them. 

Recently, I visited Joshua Tree National Park, it is the 6th most visited park in the US with 3 million visitors every year. The park is located approximately 45 minutes from Palm Springs in the Hi Desert.

The top 10 most popular National Parks are: Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, Acadia, Grand Teton, Joshua Tree and Olympic. 

And those are just the most popular ones. Some of the smaller yet amazing National Parks include: Canyonlands, Lassen Volcanic, Big Bend, Channel Islands and North Cascades. 332 million people visit the National Parks each year. 

You will need to pay the entry for each park so if you plan to visit 2-3 of them, you should look into purchasing the America The Beautiful annual pass for $80. For seniors, it's just $20 for an annual pass and $80 for a lifetime pass. The pass is FREE for military and fourth graders and their families. 

You could pay a lot to stay inside some of the parks OR there are a handful of hotel chains that are typically located just outside the entrances to the parks. Those chains include Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott, Holiday Inn Express by IHG and Sure Stay Plus by Best Western. These hotels usually qualify for FREE night certificates like Marriott's FREE night for 35,000 points. In addition, Holiday Inn is a stay 3, get the 4th night FREE and Marriott is stay 4, get the 5th night FREE. 

If there is no chain near the entrance or you don't have a FREE night certificate, you can also look in the Chase Travel Portal or the Capital One Travel Portal or you can "erase" the hotel with your Capital One Venture credit card. 

For Joshua Tree National Park, I used a FREE night certificate to stay at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Twenty Nine Palms. It is located about seven minutes outside the park entrance. There is a grocery store across the street from the hotel and a few restaurants nearby including a Chipotle and Starbucks. I prefer the Fairfield Inn and Suites hotels because the rooms can accommodate up to 6 people, there is a pool and includes breakfast. 

Most of these parks are located within driving distance from a city where Southwest flies so you can use points and your Southwest Companion Pass. For example, Joshua Tree National Park is approximately 30 minutes from Palm Springs, 1.5 hours from Ontario Airport and 2.5 hours from Los Angeles, Burbank, John Wayne Airport and San Diego. 

Yellowstone is located a few hours from Salt Lake City and Boise, Idaho. Yosemite is located a few hours from Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and Fresno. The Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce are located a few hours from Las Vegas. You can also fly into Phoenix to visit the Grand Canyon. 

The biggest expense with a National Park trip is usually renting a car, but if you charge this purchase to your Capital One Venture or Venture X credit card, you get rental insurance and can "erase" the purchase with points. Right now, the Capital One Venture credit card is offering 100,000 bonus points through my special link. You might also try booking your rental car through the Chase or Capital One Travel portal, but I usually find Costco has better rates. 

One of my clients told me she finds great rates through airline offers when she books her flights. But however you make the reservation, be sure to pay for the rental car with a credit card that earns bonus points for travel. Or use a credit card that you are working to earn a bonus offer like the Chase Sapphire Preferred 100,000 point offer or that you can erase the rental with points. 

Food options can be limited near the National Parks so it's a good idea to carry a cooler with you and stop at a grocery store on the way. Keep plenty of water with you as well since many of the parks can be hot and have long lines during the busy season. 

Some of the parks like Joshua Tree National Park offer ranger tours like the one I took to Keys Ranch, an original homestead inside the park. We spent two hours in a private area inside the park that is only accessible on the tour. The original house, equipment and cars are on the property and Ranger Tom had lots of stories about the miners and park back in the 1930's. The tour is only available October - April and costs $20 per person. 

If you are looking to stay closer to home or in the US this summer, National Parks offer a great escape from the city and are super affordable with points and miles. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable.