The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card can start your summer off right with a welcome bonus worth $1,000 in travel rewards

Travel prices are rising, and consumers who want to travel again after pandemic travel restrictions now face inflation -related costs.

Even with my last travel reservation, I noticed some unusual prices, including a $1,500 price for two economy class flights from Fort Lauderdale to Las Vegas and a basic car rental of over $100 a day. With gas prices still above $4 a gallon and grocery prices on the rise , it looks like alternative strike options are needed.

However, rising costs don't mean you can't talk about travel anymore. By using points and miles, you can always get cheaper deals on flights, hotels, and other retail travel expenses. There are also special offers to help you quickly increase your travel rewards, including valuable credit card welcome bonuses such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card .

Among other things to consider when using credit card rewards, choose below how consumers can save money on travel this summer with hotel points , airline miles and card points. credit.

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The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers a welcome bonus of 80,000 Ultimate Rewards® points to new cardholders who spend at least $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening an account. This actually means you earn at least 84,000 points after meeting the cost requirement. When you use it to pay for direct flights, hotels, car rentals and other activities through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® travel portal , those 80,000 points are worth $1,000 for travel.

Although the annual fee for the card is $95, the benefits it offers make it one of the best travel credit cards on the market today. Firstly, when you use the card abroad, you don't have to worry about foreign transaction fees and you benefit from comprehensive travel insurance, including car rental insurance, cancellation and termination insurance. insurance, baggage delay insurance and travel protection.

Cardholders can also earn 3x points on meals (including delivery and pickup), select streaming services, and online food orders; 5X points for trips purchased through Chase
final The Travel Rewards® Portal – another major perk, including a $50 per year hotel loan, excluding hotels – double points on all other travel-related purchases and double points on all additional charges. You will also receive a 10% point bonus to celebrate your membership anniversary.

Once you've reached the minimum spend threshold and earned approximately 84,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, it's time to start booking your summer trips. However, there are a few things you need to consider before using credit card rewards.

Chase Travel Portal Honey Reservation and Transfer

As a Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholder, you can book premium travel directly through the Chase Travel Portal, which automatically guarantees you a fee of 1.25 cents per point. However, you can get a better deal by transferring your points directly to one of Chase's or hotel's loyalty program partners. Here's a list of 14 Chase Travel Partners - keep in mind that you can transfer points to any of them at a 1:1 ratio:

• Aer Lingus Flying Club
• Air Canada plane
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards
• Flying Blue (KLM and Air France)
• IberiaMore
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Singapore Airlines ChrisFlyer
• Southwest Airlines Quick Rewards
• United Airlines Million Plus
• Virgin Atlantic Aeroclub
• IHG Rewards Club
• Marriott Bonvoy
• Hyatt of the world

For example, if you want to book a room at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas for the 4th of July holiday, you will earn 25,000 World of Hyatt points each night by returning your points for the World of Hyatt loyalty program. . Meanwhile, when booking accommodation through the Chase travel portal, booking the same hotel room costs nearly 40,000 points per night.

There are many ways to take advantage of the current Chase Sapphire Preferred welcome offer with 80,000 points, for example:

• Transfer 50,000 points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to book a one-way Delta Air Lines business class flight from the United States to Europe (retail price: $2,800 and up). You have 30,000 points left.
• Transfer 80,000 points to World of Hyatt and stay at Hyatt Andaz West Hollywood for four nights (retail price: up to $2,100 including tax)
• Transfer 78,000 points to British Airways Executive Club and purchase three round-trip flights from the West Coast to Hawaii on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines (retail price: $1,350)

That's why it's always worth shopping around, checking out Chase's list of travel rewards partners, and seeing if there's a better way to get the most bang for your buck with points before you commit.

Elite status is not recognized by travel rewards

If you have hotel or airline status and choose to book your travel through the Chase Travel Portal, please note that your status level and associated preferences will not be considered. If you want to use your Elite status on future trips, it's best to book directly with the airline or hotel of your choice, especially if you're a high tier. If your status is Chase Partner, it may be better to transfer your points directly to that loyalty program rather than booking through the portal.

Consider saving your points and using other travel options.

In some cases, especially if you don't want to avoid the cost of travel, you can save your points for a later date and just pay in cash. For example, I could use my Chase Points to pay for car rentals in Las Vegas, but that would be a huge waste of points because car rental prices are now inflated. Instead, I decided to rent a car through Turo , a peer-to-peer car rental site. Although the main goal is to save money when returning points and miles, it's a good idea to try to be as strategic as possible with the rewards you earn so that they work. really for you.

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