Sometimes Simplicity Is Your Best Bet In the Miles & Points Hobby (And It’s Why I Love Chase Ultimate Rewards Points!)

Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

The miles & points hobby can be overwhelming, especially once you start digging into airline award charts, blackout dates, routing rules, etc.  So LOTS of folks love using cards with easy-to-redeem rewards, like the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.  Both of these cards consistently make our list of best credit cards for travel!

They both earn valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points that can be used to make your travel dreams a reality!  Chase points are especially useful because of their flexibility.  If you don’t want to fuss with award charts or blackout dates, you don’t have to!  It’s easy to book travel through Chase’s Travel Portal using the points you earn.

Being able to book nearly free travel through Chase’s travel portal is just one of the many reasons I always recommend Chase Ultimate Rewards earning cards to my friends.  Especially those who are new to the hobby or who own a small business.

Because I’m obsessed with travel rewards (good thing my coworkers function like a support group! 😉 ) and because people are always intrigued by the hobby, conversations at the dinner table often end up in a discussion about planning a vacation.

During one such recent conversation, a friend mentioned how excited she was to get a mailer about the Bank of America Alaska Airlines card.  She was especially impressed with the card’s companion certificate perk.  Without getting too worked up, I explained to her why she and her family would be much better off getting a card like the Chase Ink Business Preferred.

I told her that because her husband runs his own excavating service, they’d qualify for a small business card.  And although a companion ticket sounds great, they could actually get a lot more value from the welcome bonus on a card like the Ink Business Preferred – or any Chase Ultimate Rewards earning card for that matter!

The conversation was an interesting one as it made me consider how newbies to the hobby view credit card perks.  And it also made me realize how easy it is to fall for a marketing flyer!

In theory, a companion certificate sounds like a killer deal.  Perks like this are about as straightforward as it gets and they might make sense for some.  But there are a number of points and miles earning cards that can offer $1,000+ in savings on your next vacation.  And the rewards you earn are incredibly easy to redeem!

What’s your favorite travel rewards credit card?  Let me know in the comments!