10 Lessons Learned While Racking up 1,000,000 Points & Miles

Points & miles has been an area of interest I've been exploring the past couple years. I'd estimate that you can make roughly 10-20%+ of your annual income in deeply discounted travel by navigating this space. And it's one of those things where you can get 80% of the benefit with 20% of the work so it's worth learning about even if you don't make it a hobby.

I'm naturally predisposed to playing this game. I'm open to considering any deal - just tell me the terms and I'll let you know if I think it's a good deal. I also think I'm genetically predisposed to it. My 99 year old grandmother has an upright electric organ in her living room. Over the years every one of her children and great-grandchildren have enjoyed playing on that thing. And she got it by, you guessed it: Signing up for a checking account.

In the past year I've leveraged a variety of techniques to earn 1,000,000+ points and miles. I wouldn't say it's "easy" but I will say that anyone who is interested in this game can do it. As long as you're 18, have a job, and a good credit score (more here on whether signing up for credit cards hurts your credit score) you can start playing this game. Just start slow, read a lot, and do what you're comfortable with.

See also: 10 Reasons why the Chase Sapphire Preferred is my favorite travel credit card

Here are 10 lessons I learned on the way to 1,000,000+ points & miles...

1. Credit card signup bonuses are where it's at (and there is more leverage in points & miles than cashback)

Say you spend $3,000/month on credit cards. If you get 2% back on all your purchases that's $720 a year - hardly enough to fly a family of four on a single vacation.

A better use of your credit card spending is towards meeting minimum spending requirements on new credit cards. The signup bonuses are more lucrative for travel rewards cards than cashback cards and there are more of them. Plus, when it comes time to redeem points & miles there is potentially more leverage in points & miles than cashback. Cash is king but it takes a lot of cash to fly internationally - especially in premium cabins. Points & miles make these things possible so there's more leverage in points & miles than cashback.

That said, there's nothing wrong with working some cashback into the mix if you have a card that earns 5% cashback buying cash equivalents. You can then take that cashback and either buy travel if the price is right or buy points & miles if award availability is favorable. More on this approach here.

2. The path to what you want is often counter-intuitive

If you're in the market for a rewards credit card, you'd think it would make sense to get co-branded credit cards from companies you enjoy doing business with. Say for example you enjoy going to Disney and flying JetBlue - you'd think it would make sense to get a Chase Disney card and the JetBlue AmEx. That's actually a rather poor approach.

It's not that the cards themselves are so terrible (trust me I've had them both). It's more a mater of there being better options out there. And each credit card you apply for takes up a "slot" from each issuing bank. And each credit card you apply for requires a hard credit pull which temporarily diminishes your credit score.

When I first started out in this game I didn't want to rack up a bunch of United miles to fly in the grey cramped seats on the back of their airplanes for vacation. But I found I could United miles to fly in premium cabins to Europe on Lufthansa. Great deal!

Conversely I could use Lufthansa miles (obtained by signing up for a Barclays Lufthansa Miles & More credit card and transferred from the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest program) to fly on United domestically in First Class for just 17k miles each way (a much better deal than 25k each way United charges). Similarly I could transfer American Express Membership Rewards to Singapore Airlines for 40k roundtrip domestically on United in First Class.

Or I could use British Airways Avios to pay for short haul domestic flights on American Airlines. Or Avianca Miles to fly on Star Alliance partners. Or credit Star Alliance flights to Aegean Airlines for Gold status. The list is goes on and on.

More than anything, it baffles me when a company has a credit card that isn't even the best option to use when spending money with that company. For example, it's better to use a Starwood Business card to pay for a Hyatt stay than a Chase Hyatt card. Bizarre. Co-branded card really should be the best way to pay for transaction with the company.

As a consumer, it pays to figure out the most common angles for high value redemptions for the travel you want to enjoy.

3. Getting a feel for historical signup bonuses is important (so you know when to pounce!)

If you sign up for a credit card for a 40k bonus and the next day you see an offer for the card for 100k you'd be mad you only got 40k. Some credit card companies will retroactively give you the heightened signup bonus within a reasonable timeframe (Chase) but many (like American Express) do not. So it's important to catch a signup bonus at a historical high.

Furthermore, some credit card companies will only give you a signup bonus for a given credit card once per person lifetime. Credit card companies frequently create new "products" (and sometimes a Visa or Mastercard variation of a card constitutes a new product) but still - there are only so many cards out there so when you do sign up for a card you'll want to make sure you caught it at a high point.

I don't know of a good resource out there that tracks these things over time. I think a site that charted standard and targeted signup bonuses of the most popular cards would be tremendously useful. But I bet credit card companies disallow that in their affiliate terms so the most likely people to do this can't without losing their lucrative affiliate relationships with banks.

One way I've tried figuring out if a given credit card has ever been offered with a higher signup bonus than what's currently available is to perform Google searches for logical increments above what's now available. Say for example the Chase Sapphre Preferred (great card) is available with a 40k signup bonus. I'd do a Google search for "chase sapphire 50k" or "chase sapphire 100,000" (dare to dream!). Often these searches will turn up now expired offers. But if they weren't too long ago I'd get the feeling the heightened bonus might come back.

For now, the best way to get a feel for historical signup bonuses and stay informed of heightened bonuses is to follow the Boarding Area blogs (and a few of your other favorites) and read FlyerTalk. Especially this thread. It would be hard for something to sneak past if you follow those two.

4. Get to know the easiest, most reliable ways to manufacture spend

"Manufacturing" spend is buying things on your credit card that can easily be converted to cash. One of the greatest manufactured spend schemes of all time was when the US Mint sold dollar coins with free shipping and allowed them to be purchased fee-free with credit cards. You could buy them and deposit them at your local bank again and again, racking up as many miles as your credit limit, back, and patience would allow.

Manufactured spend is most useful when applied towards meeting minimum spending requirements on new credit cards without spending more than you otherwise would. For big spenders or those with high levels of reimbursed spending they can put on their personal credit card manufacturing spend isn't needed. But credit card issuers have been increasing the minimum spending requirements of their most lucrative cards. For situations like this, manufacturing spend can be handy.

There's an entire FlyerTalk forum devoted to Manufactured Spend. Vanilla Reloads purchased at CVS and liquidated through Bluebird is a current favorite. Amazon Payments is probably right behind that. And there are many many more ways to manufacture spend for those interested in making this an ongoing hobby.

Learning how to manufacture spend isn't necessary. But it sure beats spending more than you otherwise would to rack up points & miles.

5. You never know how plans might change (so diversity and flexibility is key)

When I first started collecting points & miles it was with the intention of getting the family from Boston to Munich for European Delivery. You can save quite a bit on a new car this way but if you spend $6k to fly 4 people the savings goes out the window. Since I wanted to use points & miles to get us there I started to focus on racking up United miles so I could fly on their Star Alliance partner airline Lufthansa. I'd need 60k x 4 miles (240k) to get there.

But while working on earning those miles I noticed a lot of other heightened credit card signup bonuses. I went for them, and things have turned out great for the most part. Especially ones with flexible redemption options like Chase Ultimate Rewards, AmEx Membership Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest (which can be transfered 20k to 25k airline miles through a ton of partners).

Worst case, Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards can be converted to cashback or gift cards worth around $0.01 a point. But the highest leverage redemptions come from transferring flexible points to airline partners for premium cabins awards. So these programs provide the best of both worlds: A floor value of a penny a point and upside beyond that if you can find a great reward redemption.

It may be possible to spread things around too much if you have just a few points & miles in a bunch of different programs. But as long as you have enough critical mass to get a reward ticket I don't see any harm in diversifying. The majority of the trips we've taken the past two years weren't on my radar screen two years ago. Especially since points & miles have enabled trips I wouldn't have otherwise been able to justify in my mind.

6. Award charts can change at any time, and they represent a best case scenario

In the past couple years almost every airline and hotel program has devalued their loyalty program in some way. People hem and haw about it when this happens, suggesting the airlines need to make it easier to earn points if they're going to increase award costs. I'm thinking to myself: I can get signup bonuses for a Chase United card, a Chase Sapphire Preferred, a Chase Freedom, a Chase United business card, and multiple Chase Ink business cards that all transfer to United - and someone wants United to make it easier to earn miles? You can fly your entire family to Europe or Asia on credit card signup bonuses alone and consumers are arguing for more? I don't get it but I understand it: When a loyalty program changes beneath you while you're working towards a reward it stinks.

Yes, United devalued their premium cabin redemptions on partner airlines. But they're still a good value. High quality partners, above average award availability, and tons of ways to earn miles without stepping on a plane. We're still in a golden age for credit card signup bonuses.

But finding award availability can be challenging. And this is the part that can still drives me bonkers. I feel like if I rack up enough points & miles for a certain reward and I've got a reasonable amount of foresight and flexibility I should be able to get the reward. For example, if I'm willing to rack up 300k AA or UA miles to fly from Boston to Hawaii in Business/First class some time during my kids' school break (plus or minus a few days) a year ahead of time I should be able to find that award. And sometimes, even looking very far out and having date flexibility certain awards aren't available.

Some airlines are better than others. This chart does a fair job of comparing award availability at saver levels on various carriers. For the most part - I think they get it right. Keep this in mind when considering which miles to collect.

7. Your points balance may outpace your available vacation (if so, go for the premium cabin redemptions)

One of my favorite things about points & miles is how it enables travelling in Business or First Class. For some reason, most airlines charge a lot more for Business/First when paying with money. When paying with miles premium cabins aren't nearly as much of a premium. And award availability is often better in Business/First which makes justifying the splurge easier. This is a rather irrational thing to "like" about points & miles - I admit it - but who doesn't want premium service at a deep discount?

Now, some might say Business/First isn't worth it. That they'd rather have two vacations instead of one. I see their point. But since time off work and school is limited for us, and I figure I'd rather burn miles I have now than hoard them while they devalue beneath me I figure I might as well earn 'em and burn 'em. I can always earn more miles later. Or if this gravy train stops I can pay cash or take different vacations that don't involve long distance flights.

8. Strategies when feeding a family

It's hard to rack up enough points & miles to fly a family on multiple vacations each year, especially when travelling at peak school vacation times.

The good news is each adult can separately apply for the same credit cards and both can receive the bonuses. Even if someone is an authorized user on a given credit card they can apply for the card on their own and qualify for the bonus. So any sign-up bonus discovered can be taken advantage of twice as many times as it otherwise would which makes times spent reading about this stuff more efficient.

Typically, one person is more interested in playing this game than the other. In cases like this I find it convenient to sign up the less interested partner for cards with lower spending requirements and fewer cards in general. And I'll limit the number of cards my less interested partner has at any given time to 2. For example: "Use this for gas and groceries, and the other for everything else." Then swap them out when new cards come in.

I'll add myself as an authorized user to help meet high minimum spends, but a word of caution before you add yourself as an authorized user on all of your spouse's cards: The balance on the card will show up on your credit report so when you're ramping balances to meet minimum spend it could negatively impact your credit score at an inopportune time! To avoid this problem, only add yourself as an authorized user when absolutely necessary and pay the card off a few days before the statement closes.

9. Set dollar and time thresholds

A long time ago I created a "$20 rule". I wouldn't stress myself out about any transactions that were less than $20. For example, if I bought something at an out of the way store and was overcharged $5 for the item, I wouldn't invest a lot of time or effort to rectify the situation. If I could just submit a claim online or send an email - fine - but I wouldn't get in a car and make a special trip for something unless it was worth more than $20. It just isn't worth the time.

As it comes to chasing points & miles I think about things like this at well. It's super easy to stop at a CVS as part of my normal activities and takes less than 5 minutes to grab a few Vanilla Reloads a few times a month. So I gladly do it. But schemes involving trips to Wal-Mart and the Post Office and interacting with people who look at you like you're doing something shady are non-starters for me. I just won't go there.

My point is that you should set a dollar threshold beneath which you won't sweat a transaction that's gone awry. Or perform a point-earning activity that takes too much time relative to what it pays. Milenomics has done a great job expanding on this and more.

10. Consider: Where would you go if travel was nearly free?

One of my favorite things about playing the points & miles game is it gives me a chance to constantly be planning (and dreaming about) awesome family vacations. Once you take away the financial restrictions associated with paying for air travel and hotels it enables a whole new level of vacationing.

But it's kind of like saying you wish you could write the next great novel if only you had the time. The thing that's hard about writing a great novel isn't time off work: It's really hard to write a great novel. Similarly with travel - I found I was planning many of our vacations assuming airfare cost a certain fixed amount. Once that gets paid for, and I can viably consider literally the entire world it opens up some incredible possibilities. Now I'm more concerned with flights being too long (rather than costing too much) or subjecting the family to a locale that's too foreign or exotic as to induce travel anxiety.

But if you (and your family) can reasonably travel to anywhere you want in the world at deep discount, where would you go? It's a really fun question to consider.

And for now, credit card companies are willing to pay to fly the world in premium cabins if we're willing to sign up for their cards and meet the minimum spends. It's probably not going to last forever but for now I'm enjoying the ride.

Continue reading: "Lessons learned while (trying to) redeem 1,000,000 points & miles".

I'd love it if you subscribed to keep informed of future updates. 

Questions or comments? Drop me an email or ping me on Twitter: @RobertDwyer

(Image courtesy of millbill.com)

Related Reading:

• 10 Reasons the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the Best Travel Credit Card
• Maximizing the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Freedom Credit Cards

Credit Card Companies Invite us to Refer Friends...for Inferior Signup Bonuses? (and how to work around the situation)

Chase and American Express offer some of the best credit cards available in the market today. They've got generous sign-up bonuses and reward ongoing spend. They like to get more people to sign-up and use their cards because many of them carry an annual fee and they all generate swipe fees.

In order to encourage more people to sign up for their cards, banks offer affiliate links to websites which meet their criteria. You need to have a lot of traffic, and a professional website aimed at their target market. Family blogs like this don't qualify. Even high quality travel websites don't always qualify - you've got to have sufficient traffic for them to want to maintain a relationship with you. This is different than the Amazon model where almost any website can become an affiliate - they just pay at a higher percentage for sites that refer more revenue-producing traffic.

If you're like me and you talk to a lot of family and friends about which credit card sign-up bonuses are best there's another option besides affiliate links and that's Refer a Friend programs. Both Chase and American Express offer these options but there's one a catch:

The signup bonuses are almost always inferior to the best available option.

What kind of friend would refer a friend for a bad offer? This is a terrible way to run a referral business. You want to refer a friend for a great product with a great signup bonus.

I wish the credit card companies provided ways for referrals of the best offers. I'm sure this is a common complaint of affiliates as well: "Give us the best links if you want us to promote your products."

There's nothing I can do to change this, but I can offer up an assessment of the current referral offers available for some of the best credit cards out there along with suggestions of how to work around the problem to get the best signup bonuses -and- a referral bonus as well.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

Chase offers a referral option for some of their cards, for certain cardholders. If you have this card you can check whether you're eligible to refer friends here: http://chasereferafriend.com

Chase invites you to refer your friends -
for an inferior signup bonus!

Refer a Friend Offer: 40k Ultimate Rewards (this is my referral link)
Better Offer: 40k + 5k for adding an authorized user, $95 annual fee (this is the standard link)

Workaround: None. If you refer a friend for the 40k offer the best you can do (with a lot of persistence) is get Chase to match the 5k authorized user bonus.

Guidance: If you're averse to arguing about signup bonuses go for the 40k + 5k authorized user bonus. You can probably go through a referral link and then request a match on the 5k authorized user bonus, effectively getting both the referral bonus and the 5k authorized user bonus. There was a 50k offer with a $125 annual fee for this card for a while there but it seems to be gone now unless you call in.

American Express Premier Rewards Gold

American Express offers a referral option by logging into http://americanexpress.com then Rewards - Refer a Friend. If you're eligible you should see this:

AmEx's referral program also has inferior offers
sent through emails you can't customize

The way AmEx does referrals is a little quirky. You have to send an email to your friend which includes a personal link. Since it's new to me I'm unsure if the resulting link in the email can be used by multiple people. But since the referral links for the best available offer for the Platinum and Gold cards I wouldn't recommend using them anyway.

All three of these cards are terrific - but only if you catch a peak signup bonus. Even then you may want to consider which cards to apply for concurrently because AmEx blocks signup bonuses for products from the same family. For example, if you currently hold a gold card you can't get the signup bonus for a platinum card. More on strategies related to this in a future post. (subscribe for updates)

Refer a Friend Offer: 25k
Better Offer: Card Match or Targeted 50k

Workaround: None. In my experience AmEx is not friendly about matching better bonuses. I even had to fight with them to get the standard 25k bonus on the AmEx SPG I signed up for this year.

Guidance: Check https://www.creditcards.com/cardmatch and/or log into http://americanexpress.com in an incognito browser window then go to Cards - Learn About Charge & Credit Cards - Your Special Card Offers

American Express Starwood Preferred Guest

25k might seem like a weak signup bonus compared to the big numbers other cards offer. But it's because Starwood points are very valuable. I'd estimate their worth a $0.02 a piece so even a 25k signup bonus isn't bad. Starwood points can be redeemed at their properties at favorable rates and - perhaps strangely for a hotel loyalty program - they can be transferred to a ton of airlines at a 20k to 25k ratio. Then, for example, you can redeem those points on Lufthansa for 34k roundtrip domestic flights within the US on United. Crazy, right?

Refer a Friend Offer: 25k (my referral link)
Better Offer: None right now. Best signup I've seen lately for this was 30k this past fall.

Workaround: Sadly, this is the only card of the bunch where the referral signup bonus is on par with the current best offer. If you're in the market for this card now, 25k isn't a bad signup bonus. I'm not sure whether use of a referral link (that I generated by emailing the offer to myself) will make me eligible for a referral fee. But it's worth a shot.

This is a really strange way to design a referral program (email only? what about Facebook and Twitter?). If you'd really like to make sure I get the referral bonus (5k) drop me an email and I'll send you one.

Chase Freedom

As I mentioned in this post this is a great card with no annual fee.

Refer a Friend Offer: 10k Ultimate Rewards
Better Offer: 20k Ultimate Rewards (expired)

Workaround: Apply through the refer a friend link. Then when you're activating the card (or shortly after via secure message) ask them to match the 20k offer. Chase is good about this in a case like this where the signup bonus has increased and the offer is otherwise identical.

American Express Platinum

I wouldn't apply for this card for less than a 50k signup bonus. For even semi-frequent travelers the $450 annual fee is easily justified by lounge access, $200 in airline incidentals (or gift cards twice a year), Global Entry (worth $100, good for 5 years and includes TSA PreCheck), and its Starwood/Hilton/National status (which can be matched to Hertz Five Star).

Refer a Friend Offer: 25k Membership Rewards
Better Offer: Targeted 100k (but hard to come by)

Workaround: None.

Guidance: Check https://www.creditcards.com/cardmatch and/or log into http://americanexpress.com in an incognito browser window then go to Cards - Learn About Charge & Credit Cards - Your Special Card Offers

Conclusion

I understand that banks have to abide by regulations in place to avoid consumers getting duped by unscrupulous characters. But I wish they'd learn from how Amazon sets up its affiliates program. Almost anyone with a website is eligible to participate in the program. The more products you sell, the more your referral percentage goes up.

This seems like a bright way to run an affiliate program because as small sites grow they're already familiar with your program. And with social media we're all potentially affiliates aren't we?

I hope this is helpful in navigating your way to the best sign-up bonuses while, in some cases, maintaining your referral bonus as well.

Pasta Genovese alla Nonna

Showing me the tricks of her trade, 2003

These days my sweet little Nonna remembers the faces of the people she loves but much else is just a haze.  Now that she doesn't cook, I am so grateful that 10 years ago I stood beside her in the kitchen and watched her make one of my family's beloved dishes.  To this day, mention of it makes my husband and my father's eyes light up.  

"Genovese" is what she always called it, though, there's no basil to be found.  This one is authentic from her childhood and is absolutely perfect for a cold Fall or Winter night.  This pasta sauce is "peasant style" which is the polite way to say it uses very inexpensive ingredients.  From humble beginnings come memorable cuisine.  It also happens to be super simple and one you should put on your must-try list.  

Pasta Genovese

2 lbs. of onions sliced thinly into strips

1 and 1/2 lbs. boneless chuck steak (cut the meat into 4 large cubes and remove visible fat)
1 lb. hot linguini cooked in salted water
Parmigiano Reggiano to taste

Cover bottom of a dutch oven or thick pot with olive oil

Warm the oil, season meat with salt and pepper, then brown the meat on medium high

Cook for 5 minutes then add the onions.

Add 1 cup of beef broth and bring to a boil,

Turn down heat to a simmer and cook, covered for 2+ hours, until meat is easily falling apart into sauce.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over hot linguini with lots of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

I hope you enjoy a small part of the legacy that is my sweet little Grandma.

Maximizing the Value of the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Freedom Credit Cards

Key Link: Sign up for the Chase Freedom for a 20K bonus (regularly 10K) for a limited time

I've had the Chase Freedom credit card for many years but it wasn't until just recently that I explored (and figured out) how to maximize its value. In its simplest use, the card offers 5% cash back on quarterly rotating categories and 1% on everything else with no annual fee.

That in itself makes it a good card to keep forever since the average age of your credit card accounts and the age of your oldest account has a meaningful impact on your credit score.

See also: 10 Reasons the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the Best Travel Credit Card

But there are two key concepts you need to understand in order to take the value of this card to the next level:

Trick 1: Pair it with an annual fee based Chase Ultimate Rewards card to enable quick conversion of points earned on the Chase Freedom into more-valuable-than-cash airline and hotel points

For many years I'd convert the points earned on my Chase Freedom into cashback. Cash is king right? Not necessarily. If you also have a fee based Chase card like the Sapphire Preferred or the Ink (business) cards you can combine the points earned on the Freedom with the points associated with your fee based card to transfer them to airline/hotel travel partners with favorable award availability and redemption levels like United and Hyatt. It pains me when I look back at my lowly past redemptions.

This makes Ultimate Rewards worth more than a penny if you like to travel and can redeem them effectively. For example, if you transfer 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points to United for a roundtrip ticket to Europe that would normally cost $1,600 that's a redemption worth $0.026 per point. This is much more valuable than redeeming for cashback. And the values get even more attractive when redeeming for premium cabin flights - especially internationally.

That's why I get excited about 5x Ultimate Rewards points (as opposed to 5% cashback). It's almost like 10+% back if you can redeem them effectively.

Trick 2: Maximize the 5x Categories by Category/Time Shifting and Manufacturing Spend

With the Chase Freedom, each quarter you can earn 5x (capped at $1,500 in spending) in rotating categories. That's 30k points per year for just $6k spent annually. Here are the categories for 2013:

A normal person would look at these and think "Hmm - I spend quite a bit on gas and restaurants. I should be able to get some nice 5x rewards." But in order to maximize these categories there are a few simple tricks you can leverage.

First, consider drugstores. Have you seen the massive gift card racks they have at drugstores like CVS? You can buy merchant gift cards for retailers like Amazon, gas stations, retailers and more. This is called category shifting. You spend money at drugstores (on gift cards) for 5x back and you spend the gift cards elsewhere.

Time shifting is when you buy these gift cards for future use. You want to maximize the $1,500 for the quarter but you're not going to immediately use the gift cards. So for example you buy retailer gift cards at a gas station when that's the bonus category -or- gas gift cards at Lowe's when that's the category and use them over the next couple months.

I'm personally not a fan of time shifting because I don't like to prepay for stuff. I prefer to "manufacture" spend. For example, at CVS they sell Visa gift cards and various "reload" cards that, for about a ~1% fee can generate bonused spend then be quickly liquidated. Since you're getting 5x (actually 10+% thanks to Trick #1) you can easily stomach a 1% fee. You then take these near-cash equivalents and liquidate them using various techniques. Loading Vanilla Reloads to Bluebird then paying bills (even your mortgage) or the credit card bill itself is the simplest and longest running scheme around. It sounds crazy at first but if you're interested it's not that difficult at all.

Sign-up Considerations

First, know your credit score and what goes into it. Read Does Churning Credit Cards Damage Your Credit Score for more info. If your credit score is south of 720 I'd work on improving your score up before playing any games with credit card sign ups.

Then, there are different things to consider depending on your credit history and the current cards you carry. If you've applied for a credit card within the past 90 days, especially another Chase card, I'd wait until 90+ days have passed before signing up for another.

If you already have a lot (as in, like, more than 6) Chase credit cards, especially if you've signed up for them within the last year, you might want to hold off on signing up for more. Chase allows users to have an indeterminate number of their cards but at some point you start to hit a wall with them. You can usually swap out a card you're not using when you apply and sometimes it requires a call to their reconsideration line if your application goes pending or is denied.

But you need to be choosy when picking your Chase cards because they have a ton of great ones and you only have so many "slots" with any one bank. I think the Chase Freedom is worthy of a slot though because:

1. It has no annual fee (so you can keep it forever and use it to build up your credit score)
2. It earns valuable and flexible Ultimate Rewards points (when paired with a fee based Chase card)

Sign-up Strategies

Again, everyone's situation is different. But here's what I'd do in terms of signing up for the Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire Preferred with some family and friends in mind at various stages in life. Remember - you've got to have a fee based card to unlock the potential of the Chase Freedom card.

Young Single

I'd go for the Chase Freedom first to start building your credit history. Since it has no annual fee you can keep it forever and banks like to see that you've had one or two long standing credit cards in your portfolio.

Once you start accruing some points and are within striking distance (40k) of a desirable redemption sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Within the first year of having the Sapphire Preferred (before the annual fee hits) transfer the ponits to United, Hyatt, or other travel partner.

Single with Established Credit

Tough call here. There are so many great cards out there and if you're running enough natural spending through your credit cards (due to reimbursed business expenses and "other stuff") you can probably justify the annual fee of the Sapphire Preferred ($95). I'd go for the Sapphire Preferred first and supplement with the Freedom down the line when you have a better feel for how valuable Ultimate Rewards can be.

Married

This is really the sweet spot of the Chase Ultimate Rewards scheme. You can transfer points to your spouse without a fee so you only need to have one fee based Chase card per family. That means you can each have a Chase Freedom which effectively gives you $3,000 per quarter you can earn 5x with plus you can each have a Sapphire Preferred (one of which you'd likely cancel the first year after receiving the signup bonus).

On top of this, you can add each other as authorized users (if desired) to one another's cards. Typically, I find that one of the two partners in a marriage are interested in points and miles. The other just goes along and is willing to tolerate it. For situations like this, add the point junkie as an authorized user of the cards with bonused spend categories that have a quarterly cap so they can do the hard work for both spouses.

Caution: Adding a person as an authorized user of a card will make the balance and usage of that card appear on their credit score. So only do this in cases where it's worth it. For me, it's worth it if 1) The card gives you points for adding an authorized user (the Chase United card gives 5k) or 2) The card continually needs to be accessed to rack up points and miles in bonused categories.

Advanced Maneuvers

Do you have a small business? Even a fledgling one? Have you ever thought of starting a fledgling one? The Chase Ink business cards that carry an annual fee also earn Ultimate Rewards, come with a lucrative 50k point sign up bonus and earn 5x at office supply stores and telecom services. The 5x at office supply stores presents a perpetual category shifting opportunity. These cards pair brilliantly with the Freedom and Sapphire Preferred, but to minimize fees you only need to carry one fee based Chase card per family any time you want to transfer to airline/hotel partners.

You could sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and then the Chase Freedom and earn a signup for both. Then, I've heard you can "downgrade" the Sapphire Preferred to a fee-free Sapphire variant of the card OR a second Freedom card and have both a Freedom MasterCard and a Visa. This could effectively give you even more ceiling with which to earn 5x in rotating categories and would be worth pursuing so long as you have one fee based card you can use (either your spouse's or an Ink business card). I haven't tried this maneuver yet so I can't comment on how it's working recently.

If you sign up for the card through the link below I'll get 5,000 points for referring you and you'll get 10,000 points. I wish I could tell you that you could sign up yourself then refer friends or your spouse to get additional miles. But the current Chase Refer a Friend promotion is only available to existing cardholders as of the date the promotion started. Hopefully they'll run this same promotion down the road and you too can earn referral bonuses. But if you had a Sapphire Preferred -or- a Freedom before this offer started running you can refer your spouse or your other friends and family. To see if you're eligible to refer go here and enter your name/zip/last 4 digits on your card.

Conclusion

The Chase Freedom card is a terrific card to get if you like to travel and don't mind interacting with your cards enough to maximize its value. By pairing it with a fee based Chase card like the Sapphire Preferred you can maximize the value of the points earned with the no fee Chase Freedom card.

Key Link: Sign up for the Chase Freedom for a 20K bonus (regularly 10K) for a limited time

Feel free to drop me an email if you have questions.