The Apple-like Chase Credit Card Ecosystem
Published in
2 min readJan 24, 2019
Chase is strongly recommended as the place to start when you begin travel hacking for a lot of reasons, but the most profitable reason is how well all the Chase cards work together.
First, lets get some basics out of the way. Chase Universal Rewards (UR) are earned by all Chase credit cards that are not specifically branded with a partner airline like United or Southwest. Each has its own advantages and UR earn rates, but you can pool all these points under the card with the best redemption rates.
Key advantages of UR earning cards:
Freedom
- Earn 5x UR on rotating categories
Freedom Unlimited
- Earn 1.5x UR on ALL purchases
Sapphire Preferred
- No annual fee the first year, $95 afterwards
- 1.25 redemption rate
- Honestly, skip this one and go for the CSR (link to other post)
Sapphire Reserve
- 1.5x redemption rate (transfer all your UR to this card)
- $450 annual fee minus $300 travel credit = $150 effective annual fee
- Priority Pass
Ink Preferred (CIP)
- 1.25x redemption rate
- Refer yourself to second CIP
- Many, many, more advantages.
Ink Cash
- Earn 5x UR on many purchases
Ink Unlimited
- Earn 1.5x UR on ALL purchases
- Like the Freedom Unlimited but it doesn’t show on your personal credit report.
With all these great cards to choose from, where should you start? Take a look at my beginner’s guide to travel hacking.
