My new favorite credit card… is not really just one credit card, but the Chase Ultimate Rewards combination of cards: the INK Bold, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and soon to be INK Plus cards.
As you long time readers know, I have been a staunch supporter of the Starwood Preferred Guest card. I have both the personal and business cards. Katy has the personal card only. I am not ditching the card, just backing up its use somewhat. I don’t spend much in Starwood hotels to earn the 3 points per dollar for Gold members so I’m typically getting just one point per dollar. I value that one SPG point at 2.5 cents minimum.
The Chase Freedom doesn’t interest me personally as I can never remember to activate the quarterly bonuses. Even when they email me it means a switch of procedure. I change very slowly.
The INK Bold is paying off nicely with the bonus category involving office supplies, and I will be adding the INK Plus card in my next batch of applications to give me a larger annual spend limit on earning 5 points per dollar. I hope to easily surpass the $50K in annual spend on the Bold card. There is an additional $50K available on the Plus card.
I’ve gone back to the website drugstore.com through the Ultimate Rewards site for the bonus earnings in the mall. I took a quick trip to the grocery store to compare costs of some dry goods and grocery staples and actually found some cheaper at drugstore.com. And that has paid a 10 point bonus per dollar this past month. Nice haul Rick. BTW, not all items are cheaper at drugstore.com so shop and compare.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card has recently become my primary card with Priceline, United, and American Airlines. I have changed to the Preferred card as my default card of record.
Why the change? It is all value, diversity, and future travel plans. I’ve got 750,000 AA miles but am near nothing with United. Ultimate Rewards allows a simple transfer from their points to United miles. Ultimate Rewards can also be transferred to Hyatt points. I have 250K SPG points and almost none with Hyatt. Time to diversify. Overall the transfer options between individuals is just simpler with Ultimate Rewards. I can even bet Howie on future events for as few as 1 UR point.
I value Ultimate Rewards points at 1.6 cents each, so double points on travel with the Sapphire Preferred gives me 3.2 cents in the travel category. I’m still using my debit card for dining at the higher office supply bonus with the INK Bold as that is our highest volume category.
Is my SPG card relegated to the credit card bag? Heck no, I still love the value of SPG points particularly with lower end category 1 and 2 redemptions and the ever popular “cash and points” redemptions. I just need to move things around some to equalize my holdings.
For those of you that follow the stock market it would be like having all my eggs in one basket. I’d like to stay diversified with cash, stocks, and bonds. Let’s just say I am re-balancing my portfolio.
Deal of the Day
For today’s Deal of the Day we have TripAlertz who is donating $50 in Trip Cash for the best overall travel deal submitted. A great mileage run, mistake fare, partner promo, new card sign-up offer, or the special twist you figured out on a deal today. Add it to the comments section of this post (make sure to include your first name, last inital, and home airport) or this afternoon’s Deal of the Day post to be eligible to win.
