Chase Credit Card Trifecta

I currently hold about 10 different credit cards in my Slate Wallet, and since you're apart of 'The Slate' family we decided to share some insight and knowledge on the most important cards out of those 10.

These 3 cards are all through Chase. Thanks to their large sign up bonuses, various bonus spending categories, using these three cards is a great way to boost your Ultimate Rewards points balance and get closer to your next free awarded trip. Let’s go through why the trifecta of the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Ink Business Preferred and Chase Freedom Unlimited should be in your wallet and look at how to maximize your spend by combining these cards to get the biggest return.

It’s all about maximizing every single dollar you spend and putting the right spend on the right credit cards. I tell people all the time: You don’t need to be a frequent flyer to be into the points game; you just need to be smart about how you spend your money.

Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of the best credit cards on the market right now. It won our battle of the premium travel reward cards and initially came with a 100,000-point sign-up bonus, which is now 50,000 points if you spend $4,000 in the first three months. I say that’s worth $1,050 based on my monthly points and miles valuations, thanks to Chase’s fantastic transfer partners.

You’re also getting ongoing value because the earning categories are really strong: You get 3 points per dollar on all travel and dining — which includes pretty much everything under the sun in regards to travel, like airplane tickets, hotels, commuter transportation, parking, Uber, Lyft, etc. Dining is also pretty broad, including all restaurants and even food-delivery services. So with these broad categories and the amount I eat out and travel, I really rack up points quickly.

The hefty $450 annual fee is offset by the broad $300 annual travel credit, effectively making the fee $150 per year. You’ll also get a Priority Pass Select membership, a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit up to $100 and things like rental car insurance, trip cancellation and delay coverage, lost luggage reimbursement, concierge service, access to the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection and accelerated access to Club 5C status with Relais & Châteaux.

When the Sapphire Reserve came out, people were worried about how long the benefits would last. Despite the fact that the sign-up bonus was lowered to 50,000, it’s still a really strong bonus and a really strong card overall. The Sapphire Reserve has a forever place in my wallet or at least until Chase comes out with an even better Sapphire product (and I’m not holding my breath on that happening anytime soon).

Ink Business Preferred

My spend goes to many more categories than just travel and dining, so that’s where the second card in the trifecta comes in. At The Points Guy we spend a lot on online advertising, and with the Ink Business Preferred we earn 3x points on that. More specifically, the Ink Preferred offers 3x bonus points on up to $150,000 in combined spending each year for purchases made on travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone services and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines. I love that the categories are broad, and I end up maxing out the $150,000 limit every year.

The $95 annual fee card also offers a massive 80,000-point sign-up bonus after spending $5,000 in the first three months, which I value at $1,680!

Along with the same primary rental car insurance as the CSR, the Ink Preferred also offers a cell phone protection insurance benefit in which the card will pay to replace a damaged cell phone up to three times per year with just a $100 deductible so long as you pay the bill with your card. You can even protect your employees’ cellphones if their lines of service are included on the same bill. And by paying the bill with the Ink Preferred, you’re earning 3x Ultimate Rewards points since phone services is one of the card’s bonus categories.

Chase Freedom Unlimited

The last card in the trifecta is the Chase Freedom Unlimited. With this card you earn 1.5x points on all purchases with no annual reward caps. This card gets a lot of my non-bonus category spend. The no-annual–fee card also offers a $150 sign-up bonus for spending $500 in the first three months. And, because you can transfer your points into a Sapphire Reserve or Ink Preferred account if you have one of those cards, that bonus is equivalent to 15,000 Ultimate Rewards points (worth $315) if you link the card to a normal UR-earning card like the Sapphire Reserve, Ink Preferred or Sapphire Preferred.

The other option is to use the Chase Freedom Card, which offers 5% cash back on rotating quarterly spend categories. Since it’s capped at $1,500 a quarter, I’d rather have the Freedom Unlimited, which is uncapped and essentially gets me 1.5 Chase points per dollar, which is strong for categories that offer no spend bonuses. But if you do spend a lot in the Freedom categories, which range from gas stations to grocery stores, that might be a better option. Again, it’s all about choosing the cards that reward you for the types of purchases you make.

I actually downgraded my Sapphire Preferred to the Freedom Unlimited instead of canceling it. If you have the Sapphire Preferred and want the Sapphire Reserve, you’ll only be eligible for the sign-up bonus on the latter card if it’s been more than 24 months since you last received a Sapphire sign-up bonus. If it’s been less than 24 months and you want the Reserve now, you can always upgrade your Preferred card to the CSR, though you won’t get the 50,000 points for spending $4,000 in the first three months. The ability to product-change cards from an issuer can also come in handy if you’re over Chase’s 5/24 rule, which prevents most cardholders from being approved for a credit card application if they’ve opened more than 5 accounts in the last 24 months.

Additional Card Perks

Beyond offering you a great variety of bonus categories to reward your spending, the Chase trifecta of cards gets you some great benefits.

Bottom Line

A trifecta is used in horse racing, so I’d say the three cards finish the race like this:

Win: Sapphire Reserve

Place: Ink Business Preferred

Show: Freedom Unlimited

If you can only get one card, I’d recommend choosing the card that will get you the biggest return based on your most frequent purchase categories. The Sapphire Reserve’s 3x on travel and dining will fit the needs of many, but those with business-related expenses could also earn tons of rewards with the Ink Business Preferred and its bonuses for shipping and advertising. And for those purchases that don’t qualify for bonuses, the Freedom Unlimited is a great choice since it earns you 1.5x points on everything.

When it comes time to redeem Ultimate Rewards points, you can actually transfer all your points to your Reserve account and get 1.5 cents per point versus 1.25 cents (if you book through the Chase travel portal).