It’s been over a year since going on the journey of using credit cards strategically for the sake of travel and earning points for free flights and hotels.

The very first card we started with for this specifically goal was the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. Today I’m going to share why this card is the one to start with, and if you have any plans of traveling in the future, you should open this card.

As a reminder, here’s the general concept of hot to use credit card points for travel:

  • Sign up for a credit card that has a sign up bonus you know you can achieve, and rake in those points. Use that card for everything while working on that sign up bonus. For example, the offer is often something like, “Spend $6,000 in 3 months and earn 60,000 points.”
  • Pay off the card monthly.
  • Once you’ve hit that sign up bonus, you apply open another card, again with a bonus and a timeline you can achieve. 
  • Pay off the card monthly.
  • Repeat over and over again.
  • Then you use those points by transferring them to the airline or hotel of your choice and booking your travel through the airline or hotel directly.

In 2024, I used credit card points to pay for:

  • 1 round trip flight
  • 1 solo night in a fancy hotel when I needed a break
  • 1 night for the family in St. Louis when dropping our car off at the port
  • 5 nights for the family in South Dakota and Montana on our summer road trip
  • 4 nights in Canada for the family on our summer road trip
  • 1.5 nights in Alaska hotel for the family over Labor Day

If you want to use points to be able to afford more family travel, you should get started today acquiring points. Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is an easy and convenient place to get started and here is why.

  • Chase simplifies points usage with a user-friendly website and app. It’s easy to transfer points to partner sites to get more “bang for your buck,” and its just easier to learn points with Chase.
  • Spending $4,000 in the first 3 months earns you a generous 60,00 points.
  • 60,000 points is estimated to be equivalent to $750 in travel.
  • It’s important to remember you aren’t spending the $4,000 on anything extra, but you use this card only for 3 months on your every day groceries, gas, etc. and then bam, you’ll be awarded the 60,000 points.
  • Active duty service members and spouses get the $95 sign-up fee waived.
  • Even if you aren’t active duty, the $95 fee for this card is DEFINITELY worth it.
  • After we hit the $4,000 spend, I then sent a referral link for bonus points to my husband. I got referral points. He opened a card and then we spent 3 months using his card to hit the same bonus on his account. 
  • Chase points can be transferred to the following airlines and hotels:
    • AirCanada
    • KLM
    • Emirates
    • JetBlue
    • United
    • IHG Hotels
    • Marriott
    • Hyatt
    • more
  • You can book your travel with your points and only pay taxes ($6-$20ish depending on the trip)!
  • Members of the same household can combine points.

Learn more about Chase Sapphire Preferred here. *
When you use my referral link and are approved for the card, I also receive bonus points- it’s a win-win! The bank will never share your personal information with me.

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For all of the cards we opened in the first year, read this blog post here!