This post is all based on my own opinion.
I have had the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card for almost 5 months now and everywhere I go, everyone still has to make a comment about it. YES its heavy! I’m tired of hearing that! YES its the most unique credit card you have ever held! I am so tired of hearing that as well! Good job Chase for making a metal credit card so that everyone can ask me where I got it, how I got it.. good job at marketing the credit card everywhere I go… but seriously it gets annoying. Its like I’m a personal commercial for Chase every time I use my card.. I don’t get rewarded enough for that!
Whenever you get a credit card for the rewards, you have to always realize that the credit card company is enticing you to sign up for a reason. Sure they will waive the first year fee of $95 and sure they will give you 40,000 bonus points just for signing up, but is it really worth sticking around after the first year? The credit card company has one goal.. to make money.
My first year is free and I got my Chase Sapphire Preferred card with 50,000 bonus points, that means I got $500 just by registering and meeting their minimum spending requirement of $3,000 within the first 3 months. But now that Ive got the $500 and have already spent it, what other benefits are there? They give you a 7% annual bonus for however much you spend the year prior.
As an example, if you spent $10,000 on your Chase credit card the previous year, you would earn 700 extra bonus points (7%) at the start of your next year. Chase values their rewards points at 1 cent each, which means you just made an exciting $7 bonus and you also just paid $95 for the next year to use that card.
Every 10,000 points earned gets you an extra $7 in rewards. Remember though that the first 10,000 points earned is equal to $100 in rewards. The $7 extra would be credited after your year is up. Just to get $95 in ‘extra’ rewards to cancel out the yearly fee, you would need to earn $95/$7 x 10,000 = 135,714 rewards points in that year, or about $135,714 worth of spending on one credit card!
This does not take into account the bonus points you earn for spending at specific vendors. Dining out and booking travel earns you 2 rewards points per dollar spent. Shopping at the Chase Ultimate Rewards mall earns you 10 points per dollar spent. For me this is completely worthless. I would rather take my spending to another credit card that offers better rewards or better redemption offers.
The American Express Membership Rewards program is one of the best rewards programs that I belong to. Who else offers transfer bonuses? I know that having AMEX rewards points, I can transfer them to British Airways and receive a 50% bonus, depending on if the airline is offering a transfer bonus and what their current offer is.
Delta had offered bonus transfers as well, which I have earned between 20%-50% more air miles just by transferring my AMEX points to my SkyMiles account. How do you think I flew my family to Alaska for free? If you are patient and can wait for these transfer bonuses (no guarantee that they will be offered in the future), then having an American Express rewards card is well worth it.
So why would I be willing to pay a yearly fee and not pay the Chase Sapphire Preferred fee? If you think about it, there are no other benefits for owning this credit card. Does it give me free luggage when I travel? Sure they will give you double points for buying an airline ticket, but honestly, so does any other airline credit card. For instance the Gold Delta American Express credit card gives me free luggage for up to 9 people in my party. Every time my wife and I fly on Delta we never pay for our luggage. This saves us $100 every time we fly.. the cost of the yearly fee! We also earn airline miles for any tickets we buy, we get 20% off anything on our Delta flights and we would pay the same $95 yearly fee.
You have to determine if you are into rewards for travel or for ‘merchandise’. If you want to travel, then get an airline credit card that also offers a bonus. If you want to purchase merchandise them Chase or American Express have a large number of products or gift cards you can redeem for your rewards points.
Since my wife and I love to travel, the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card is not for us.
Agree or disagree? Let me know!
