5 Fun Ways to Get $1,000+ of Travel From the Chase Sapphire Preferred Bonus

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The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is one of the best travel rewards cards available.  And it’s my top pick for beginners to the miles and point hobby!

The 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards point sign-up bonus you can earn after meeting the minimum spending requirements is worth $625 in travel when you redeem your points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.

But in my experience, the best way to get the most out of Chase Ultimate Rewards points is to transfer them to airline and hotel partners.  You can get thousands of dollars worth of travel by transferring them to partners like Hyatt, United Airlines, or Singapore Airlines!

I’ll show you 5 terrific ways to get the most Big Travel from the Chase Sapphire Preferred sign-up bonus!

Get Thousands of Dollars in Luxury Travel by Transferring to Partners

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are my favorite kind of points.  That’s because they are:

• Flexible and easy to use
• Easy to earn
• Transferable to great travel partners

They’re good for both beginners and veterans in the miles & points hobby.  Because you can use them like money to book airfare, hotels, and more with NO blackout dates through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.

Or you can transfer them to different travel partners, to get thousands of dollars in luxury flights and hotels!

We’ve used Chase Ultimate Rewards points to travel to Paris, Maui, Kauai, Switzerland, Italy, and many more destinations.

Here are ideas to inspire your next adventure!

1.   Stay for Free at a Luxury Hyatt Hotel

Link:   Hyatt Award Chart

The Million Mile Secrets team often transfers Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt, because they’re one of our favorite hotel chains and you can frequently get very expensive rooms for a reasonable amount of points.

50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points is enough for 2 nights (at 25,000 points per night) at a category 6 Hyatt hotel like the Park Hyatt Vienna.

Rooms here costs 25,000 points, or ~$640+, per night, depending on the time of year.  So 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points could be worth ~$1,280 if you used your points for a 2-night stay at the Park Hyatt Vienna.

Or, you could stretch your points at Hyatt’s category 1 to 4 hotels.  They cost 5,000 to 15,000 points per night, and most are very nice!  Team member Jasmin had a wonderful stay at the Grand Hyatt Berlin, a category 4 Hyatt hotel that costs 15,000 Hyatt points per night.  She loved the gorgeous rooms, central location, and incredible service!

2.   Fly on United Airlines Within the US or to Europe

Link:   United Airlines Award Chart

Transferring 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United Airlines can get you lots of travel on United Airlines and their partners.

For example, you could get 2 round-trip coach tickets within the US, which cost 25,000 United Airlines miles a piece.  Or a one-way coach ticket to Europe, which costs 30,000 United Airlines miles.  And you’d still have points left over!

United Airlines also charges just 10,000 United Airlines miles for short-haul flights (700 miles or less) within the US.  Meaning the sign-up bonus from the Chase Sapphire Preferred is enough for 5 one-way (or at a minimum 2 round-trip!) short-haul flights.  That could end up saving you thousands of dollars!

For example, team member Meghan often uses United Airlines miles to travel between Missoula, Montana, and Denver.  Because United Airlines is one of the few airlines that offers non-stop flights between the 2 cities.

Usually, a round-trip flight costs at least ~$500.  In her case, the sign-up bonus from the Chase Sapphire Preferred would be worth ~$1,000+ (2 round-trip tickets X $500)!

3.   Get 2 Round-Trip Tickets to Ireland

Link:   Sweet Spot:  Fly to Ireland From 6 US Cities for Only 26,000 British Airways Avios Points Round-Trip! 

After completing the minimum spending requirements on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you’ll have at least 54,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.  That’s enough for 2 round-trip tickets from certain US cities to Ireland!

That’s because you can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Aer Lingus for an award flight.  Or book the same flights at the same price by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to British Airways Avios points.

You can fly from these cities to Dublin for 13,000 Aer Lingus or British Airways Avios points one-way (26,000 points round-trip) in coach during the off-season:

• Boston
• Chicago
• Hartford
• Newark
• New York – JFK
• Philadelphia (starting March 2018)
• Washington, DC

And  off-peak times include nearly 8 months out of the year.  So there’s plenty of opportunity to take advantage of the cheaper award seats. ?

For example, I found 2 round-trip tickets between Boston and Dublin in the end of April 2018, for ~$556 each.  So you’d save ~$1,112 in cash by using your points instead!

4.   Transfer Points to Singapore Airlines for Flights to Europe or Hawaii

Link:   Singapore Airlines Award Chart

You could plan a trip to Europe with the sign-up bonus from the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, by transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Singapore Airlines.

The 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards point sign-up bonus is enough for 2 one-way coach tickets (22,500 Singapore Airlines miles each) between New York and Frankfurt, for example.

Or, you could also use fewer Singapore Airlines miles to fly to Hawaii on United Airlines.  Because a round-trip award flight costs 35,000 Singapore Airlines miles, instead of the 45,000 miles United Airlines charges.  You can read my step-by-step guide to redeeming Singapore Airlines miles for a United Airlines award flight. 

And folks on the West Coast can save even more by using Singapore Airlines miles to fly on Alaska Airlines to Hawaii!

5.   Use Korean Air Miles to Fly to the Aloha State

Link:   Korean Air Award Chart

There could be situations where transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Korean Air is a good deal.  That’s because you can use Korean Air miles on SkyTeam and other partners, and some awards are cheaper using Korean Air miles.

For example, if you transferred 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Korean Air, you could use them for 2 round-trip coach class award tickets to Hawaii on Delta!

That’s because Korean Air considers Hawaii to be part of North America.  So round-trip coach tickets cost only 25,000 miles!

That said, do NOT transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Korean Air until you know there are award seats available on Delta.  It can be difficult to find available award seats!

I priced 2 coach tickets from New York to Honolulu in April and the cheapest I could find on Delta was ~$1,579!

Bonus:  Don’t forget, you can also transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to other hotels, like IHG and Marriott, and Ritz Carlton.  But you’re less likely to get the most value from your points that way.

But you could get an excellent deal if you find award nights during peak seasons or for special events, where the cash price is higher than normal!  Like at The Ritz Carlton, New Orleans, where rooms can go for nearly $900 during the Mardi Gras celebration.

Get $625 in Travel Without Blackout Dates

The 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards point sign-up bonus is worth $500 in cash back.  But you’ll get more value from your points by using them for travel through Chase’s Travel Portal.  

When you redeem your points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, they’re worth a flat 1.25 cents each (unless you also have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which makes your points worth 1.5 cents each).  This means the 50,000 point Chase Sapphire Reserve sign-up bonus is worth $625 (50,000 points X 1.25 cents each).

You can book nearly all flights, hotels, car rentals, and cruises through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.  And it’s super easy!

Chase Sapphire Preferred

Link:   Chase Sapphire Preferred

Link:   My Review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred

When you open the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you’ll earn 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. 

You’ll also get:

• Earn 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases worldwide

• Primary car rental insurance – Covers damage or theft to your rental car, when you pay for the rental with your card
• Trip delay reimbursement – Get up to $500 back per ticket when your trip is delayed more than 12 hours
• $0 foreign transaction fees

The annual fee is $0 for the first year, then $95.  This makes it easy to evaluate the card for ~10 months without a fee to see how you like it.

If you decide to cancel, it’s very easy to do so by sending Chase a secure message through your Chase account.  Or you can call.

Note:   The Chase Sapphire Preferred is affected by Chase’s strict approval rules.  So if you’ve opened 5+ cards from any bank (NOT counting Chase business cards and these other business cards) in the past 24 months, it’s unlikely you’ll be approved.

Bottom Line

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you’ll earn 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening.  And the $95 annual fee is waived for the first year!

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are my favorite kind of points, because they’re so flexible.  And the Chase Sapphire Preferred is my favorite card for beginners!

50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points can save you $1,000+ on your next adventure.  Because it’s enough for free nights at expensive luxury Hyatt hotels, 2 round-trip coach tickets within the continental US or to Hawaii, a one-way ticket to Europe, and more!