How to travel in style .. for less

💳️ Free vacations with credit card points? You bet!

If you are a high spender (and do NOT carry any credit card debt), using the right credit card strategy can help you book free luxury travel experiences.

In this newsletter edition, learn how using the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card can turn everyday spending into unforgettable vacations.

Note: We don't accept any commissions or fees for our recommendations. So you can rest assured about our editorial integrity. Also, if you carry credit card debt, this is not a good strategy for you. Paying off high interest credit card debt is an essential first step for securing your financial future. Credit card interest fees will wipe out savings from any rewards program - and then some.

 💪 The Power of Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve Card provides a string of benefits, all geared towards maximizing your travel experience.

• $300 travel credit per year. This can be used for almost any kind of hotel or travel expense (including ride-sharing services such as Uber)

• Free Doordash Dashpass subscription. This normally costs $96 per year. This can help you save 10-15% on each food delivery order from Doordash. You also get an extra $5-$10 monthly discount on certain orders.

• Airport Lounge access. Free access to airport lounges in major airports worldwide.

• Global Entry/TSA fee reimbursement. Global Entry fee typically is $120.

• Incredible travel protection. Free auto rental coverage, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement, travel accident insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, baggage delay insurance, emergency medical and dental assistance, emergency evacuation and transportation 😅 

This card currently has an annual fee of $550.

If you take 2-3 vacations a year (or travel frequently for work), this card is a no-brainer.

Just the travel credit & Dashpass subscription give you ~ $400 back in value. In-built travel protection can save you hundreds in fees. Free airport lounge access is the final icing on the cake.

🎁 Chase Ultimate Rewards® program - the real deal

The rewards program though is where the magic happens 🔥 

Every time you swipe your Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you’re earning their Ultimate Rewards® points.

You get:

• 3x points on travel (airfare, hotels, car rentals, tolls, etc)

• 3x points on dining

• 5x-10x points on travel & dining purchased through Chase

• 1x point on everything else.

The average credit card lets you earn 1 point for a purchase. So the extra earning potential here is a big deal. Plus, these extra points get deposited automatically. They don’t make you jump through hoops such as selecting categories upfront etc.

Let’s say you typically spend $3000 per month (excluding your rent/mortgage).

• $1300 a month on eating out (dine-in/take-out/delivery).

• $200 a month on ride-sharing.

• $1500 in other expenses.

By using the Chase Sapphire Reserve card for these expenses, you could earn 6,000 points per month (3900 points for dining, 600 points for ride-sharing, 1500 points for other expenses).

That is, 72,000 points per year.

✈️ Booking Free Travel

For most credit card programs, each point is typically worth 1 cent.

However, when you use your points for travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, they are worth 50% more.

💡 So not only can you earn 3x-10x more points, the value of those points is a lot more compared to an average credit card point.

Here is how the value lines up:

🇪🇺 Simply using your card for everyday expenses could fund your next flight to Europe!

🚀 Turbocharging with the Chase Freedom Unlimited card

Pairing with the Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card  is a great hack to further turbocharge your points.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited card has a $0 annual fee with 1.5% cash back rewards on every purchase. The cash back however, is offered via points (1.5x per purchase)

You can transfer these points into your Chase Sapphire Reserve account to get the 50% boost in travel redemption value.

Let’s use the same $3000 per month spending example. But now, we will use:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve for travel & dining expenses ($3000)

• Chase Freedom Unlimited for all other expenses ($3000)

Here is how the rewards line up:

💰️ For high-spenders, the rewards can stack up even more!

👫 What if you have a partner?

If you have a partner, use this strategy to pile it on:

1. You hold the Chase Sapphire Reserve

2. Your partner gets the Chase Freedom Unlimited

Your partner can transfer their points into your Chase Sapphire Reserve account - which would then let you get the 50% travel boost on those points.

💡 Result: Every dollar your partner spends, becomes a high-value travel asset.

🖋️ How to start?

Chase frequently offers promotions for new sign-ups. At the time of writing this, the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card was offering 60,000 bonus points for signing up.

So you effectively get $900 in travel spending for simply signing up 🎁 

Note: These cards generally require good to excellent credit.

⚖️ Alternatives

There are some other credit cards too such as the American Express Platinum credit card that provide amazing benefits. But the value that Chase Sapphire Reserve provides, makes it hard to beat.

Till next time,

Sumeet @ InverseWealth

The Fine Print

This content is for educational purposes only. Not investment advice.

Do your own due diligence, and make sure to read all credit card terms and conditions carefully, before making any decisions.

All information was taken from the Chase credit cards website