Why Chasing Sapphires More Like Not Just a Beginner Card

this Chase Sapphire Priority® Card (look Rates and fees) is often called The best starter card for travel rewards – The first card that beginners should get. And there are good reasons.

But it’s not just a newbie’s card. Even more middle and advanced points and Miles collectors often have this card in their wallet.

Since this card is Current welcome bonus Spend $5,000 in purchases in the first three months of opening an account, allowing you to earn 100,000 bonus points, which is even more valuable.

Even if you are no longer a newbie, there are six reasons why you may want to get sapphire.

Earn welcome bonuses several times

Some experienced points and Myers collectors believe they will encounter obstacles in Chase’s qualification rules. You can win a Sapphire Preferred Welcome Bonus as long as you meet the following qualification requirements:

You must be Less than 5/24which means that over the past 24 months, you must have no more than five new credit cards (in all issuers).
You cannot earn bonuses on sapphire cards The past 48 months.
You may not currently open any sapphire cards.

This eliminates many people who otherwise want to apply Sapphire prefers. But, assuming that sapphire preference is one of your earliest cards, you get a welcome bonus, redeem all points, Close or downgrade your card.

If you have been awarded for more than 48 months last time, you can get the bonus again as long as you belong to Chase’s 5/24 rule for less than five new credit cards in the last 24 months.

Remember that your 48-month clock starts when you receive a bonus, not when you apply or close the card.

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Compared to American Express, the 48-month rule is one of Chase, whose every millennium limit limits you to get the same card again in most cases.

Make a quick profit

Although very important Daily expensesGetting a welcome bonus on a new card is one of the easiest ways to quickly accumulate a lot of points.

In just three months (or less, depending on how fast you can spend $5,000), you may offer enough points for the travel experience:

From West Coast to Hawaii Using British Airways Avios
World of Hyatt Point using Hyatt Points
A one-way Turkish Airlines Fly to Europe using Aeroplan Point

Or, if you book Directly through Chase Travel℠you will still get a lot of travel value. With Sapphire’s preferred choice, your points are worth 1.25 cents per point when redeemed through Chase Travel. It’s not like your point of view worth it through transfer partners, but it’s a solid value for a simple redemption method.

Opportunities to transfer partners

Many of Chase’s best cards are sold in cash cards, including Chase FreedomFlex® (look Rates and fees), Chase for Freedom® (look Rates and fees)and Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (look Rates and fees).

However, if you have any of these cards without the final reward card, your reward is essentially a valid cashback. This means you missed the best benefit of the final rewards program: transfer partners.

To transfer your final reward points to any of its airlines and hotel partners, you must have a mid-tier or premium card, e.g. Chase SapphireReserve® (look Rates and fees), Chase Sapphire’s first choice or Ink Business First Choice® Credit Card (look Rates and fees).

Maybe you don’t care about the $550 annual fee for sapphire reserves, or you don’t want or need a business credit card (although Side Gigs and freelancing do satisfy Approved eligibility). This makes the best choice for sapphires the best choice for you to transfer points.

Almost no learning curve

Sometimes, people who are new to points and miles apply for a credit card without understanding the complexity of the program or how to redeem points. Many newbies may redeem bonus points directly from the sapphire via Chase Travel, which will be estimated at 1.25 cents.

Now, this approach doesn’t necessarily have any problems. After all, you wouldn’t have had a few hundred dollars travel.

However, according to TPG’s April 2025 Valuationthe ultimate reward points are worth 2.05 cents, more than the value you get when using points in Chase Travel. Thankfully, the learning curve for transferring the ultimate reward partner is not steep, allowing you to get the most value for points.

If you’ve delved into another issuer’s rewards program and are worried about getting into another issuer, that’s good news.

No foreign transaction fees

If you even travel internationally once a year Cards without foreign transaction fees In your wallet, it is crucial to avoid paying more for your purchase.

this Chase Sapphire’s first choice Meet the needs. Since you earn 3 points per dollar for dining on travel purchases outside of Chase Travel, it may be used in large quantities when you are outside of your country.

Travel and insurance benefits

We see travel protection and car rental insurance as beneficial benefits, but we hope we don’t have to use them. However, Sapphire prefers It can bring you peace of mind with a variety of insurance benefits. These include:

Eligible for coverage even if you use your final reward points or pay taxes on the reward flight.

Because airline crashes occur more frequently, Delayed or cancelled flightsit is important to have a card with these benefits.

Bottom line

Chase Sapphire Preferred’s current welcome bonus allows new cardholders to earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first three months of opening an account. If you are an intermediate or advanced point and mileage collector, you may have logged out Cards are only for beginners.

However, if you don’t have a card at the moment and you’re running into Chase’s application restrictions, the card is a card that you should highly consider adding (or if you added it again in the past) to your lineup.

To learn more, please check out our The complete review of Sapphire Preference.

Apply here: Chase Sapphire’s first choice

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