The Chase Trifecta: Earn tons of rewards with 3 cards (one that’s offering an incredible new bonus) and just ONE annual fee

  • Meghan Hunter

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    When you’re a beginner and starting out in the miles and points hobby, the thought of developing a long-term strategy for opening the best credit cards for travel can seem overwhelming. We’ve all been in your shoes. One easy way to do this is something we call the “Chase trifecta.” It’s the best way to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points quickly towards your next free vacation, just by using those cards for everyday expenses.

    Here are some examples of cards that would qualify:

    Why consider the “Chase Trifecta?”

    The MMS team loves Chase Ultimate Rewards points because they’re easy to earn and redeem. With little effort, you can use these flexible points to save lots of money on airfare, hotel stays and car rentals.

    With the Chase trifecta, you can earn tons of Chase Ultimate Rewards points and take amazing trips to destinations like Switzerland with little out-of-pocket expense. I took this shot on the way to Verbier. (Photo by Joseph Hostetler/Million Mile Secrets)

    Having the Chase trifecta means you’ll have an opportunity to earn three lucrative sign-up bonuses. Each card also has access to different bonus spending categories, which means you can boost your points balances quickly with everyday purchases.

    You don’t have to be a miles & points expert to make the most of the points you earn with the Chase trifecta. At a minimum, you’ll have the ability to use the Chase travel portal to quickly redeem points for flights and hotel stays just as you would through Expedia, Priceline, or any other online travel agency.

    Why Chase Ultimate Rewards points are so useful

    The thing we like most about earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points is that you have many different ways to redeem them. You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points directly to Chase transfer partners, like Hyatt or Southwest, or you can use points to book paid travel through the Chase travel portal without having to worry about blackout dates. This is by far the best way to use Chase points.

    It’s also possible to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for gift cards, cash back, or to pay for Amazon purchases, but we typically don’t recommend using points this way because Chase points value is much higher toward travel redemptions.

    Scott loves transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt or United Airlines for easy yet valuable awards because Hyatt has no blackout dates — even at their all-inclusive hotels on the beaches of Cancun, like the Hyatt Zilara Cancun. Scott also uses them to acquire United Airlines miles, then to book flights on their partner airlines like LOT Polish and TAP Portugal, to travel to Europe.

    Note that you can only transfer points directly to airline and hotel partners if you have at least one annual-fee Chase Ultimate Rewards card. If you have a no-annual-fee card, however, you can still pool those Chase Ultimate Rewards points with another eligible card and then transfer points to a travel partner.

    Transfer your Chase points to United Airlines and book a business class seat on Turkish Airlines. (Photo courtesy of Turkish Airlines)

    Chase Trifecta card strategy (only ONE annual fee)

    Here’s a guide to getting three fantastic Chase Ultimate Rewards point earning credit cards and only having one annual fee. One caveat: Keep in mind you’re unlikely to get approved for any of these cards if you’ve opened five or more cards from any bank (not counting Chase business cards and certain other business cards) in the past 24 months. This is referred to as the Chase 5/24 rule.

    You don’t have to get these exact 3 cards: As long as you have one annual-fee card, you can mix and match the rest between Chase’s no-annual-fee cards.

    Step 1: Get an annual fee card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred OR Chase Sapphire Reserve

    First, we recommend getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred (read our review) or Chase Sapphire Reserve (read our review). Having either one of these cards gets you access to amazing and easy-to-use travel partners. This is the one annual-fee card you’ll want as part of the Chase trifecta strategy.

    Alternatively, you can open the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, which also allows you to transfer points to partners. Plus, it’s got by far the highest bonus of any Chase Ultimate Rewards points earning card: 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. That’s worth:

    Note that Chase now restricts folks to only having one Chase Sapphire card at a time. So choosing between the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve is an important first step in getting the Chase trifecta. We recommend opening the Chase Sapphire Preferred first, as it’s got a higher sign-up bonus. You can then upgrade your card to the Chase Sapphire Reserve with a simple call to Chase.

    The suite of benefits you’ll receive for the Chase Sapphire Preferred annual fee is money well spent. And despite the significantly higher annual fee, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is worth it, as well. You’ll get extra perks like:

    It’s also worth noting that active military members can receive waived annual fees.

    You’ll have to run the numbers yourself, but for many folks the additional benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve offset the annual fee. For example, the $300 travel credit effectively makes the Sapphire Reserve annual fee $250 ($550 annual fee – $300 travel credit). Having the Chase Sapphire Reserve in your pocket also increases the value of all your Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which is ideal for folks who hold the Chase trifecta.

    With the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you’ll pay a $95 annual fee. And right now, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is offering an increased 100,000-point bonus after you spend 4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. But with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you’ll effectively pay only $155 more each year ($250 – $95) to get many extra perks. So take a good look at each card to see which one makes the most sense for you.

    Step 2: Sign-Up for the no-annual-fee Ink Business Cash

    The no-annual-fee Ink Business Cash card is the next card you’ll want to add to your wallet (read our review).

    When you sign-up for the Ink Business Cash, you’ll earn $750 bonus cash back after you spend $7,500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening..  This is the highest bonus I’ve ever seen on this card.

    Because you’ll have a Sapphire branded card (if you followed Step 1, above), you’ll have the ability to move points from your Ink Business Cash account and then transfer them directly to travel partners.

    Having the Ink Business Cash also gives you access to additional bonus spending categories.  You’ll earn:

    This is a small business card, so you must have a for-profit venture to qualify. (That said, you might have a small business without realizing it!)

    Step 3: Add the Chase Freedom Flex OR Freedom Unlimited to your wallet

    To complete the Chase trifecta, you’ll want to get one of two no-annual-fee Chase cards: the Chase Freedom Flex (read our review) or the Chase Freedom Unlimited (read our review).

    The Chase Freedom Flex comes with great benefits like:

    When you sign-up for the Chase Freedom Flex, you’ll also earn:

    For anyone who spends a lot on groceries, this is a fantastic deal for a no annual fee card.

    In comparison, the Chase Freedom Unlimited comes with perks including:

    When you sign-up for the Chase Freedom Unlimited, you’ll earn:

    The main difference is that the Freedom Unlimited card doesn’t offer the opportunity to earn 5% back on rotating bonus categories. Instead, it has a slightly higher earning rate for non-bonus purchases (1.5% vs 1%).

    Consider a “Chase Quadfecta”

    You can take this strategy a bit further to become an absolute Chase Ultimate Rewards points earning machine by assembling a credit card QUADfecta (and still pay just one annual fee). Here’s an example of what you can do:

    This ensures you’re earning as many points as possible for literally every purchase you may have. Plus, you’ll have a MOUNTAIN of points from earning all those welcome bonuses:

    That’s a total of 220,000 Chase points just from bonuses. You could even apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred as well, which comes with 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening — making your grand total 280,000 Chase points! Read our post on the best ways to use Chase points to learn how you could potentially receive $5,500+ in free travel from that kind of stash.

    Bottom line

    The Chase trifecta is an ideal strategy for folks looking to travel for free while minimizing annual fees. Here’s a recap of how it works:

    Let us know your ideal Chase trifecta below. And don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more foolproof free-travel strategies.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)
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