The Best Card for Impatient People

Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Here’s our full Advertising Policy.

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

I have to admit, I can be an impatient person.  (Although I’m working to change that through meditation!)  Our hobby requires planning and organization.  So it’s nice to get instant Big Travel gratification when you can!

For that reason, I really like the Chase Sapphire Preferred.  Because you can easily use the points you earn right away.  And if you need to contact customer service, a real person answers the phone, so you don’t have to navigate those frustrating “enter your 16-digit-card-number” menus.

I’ll explain why you don’t have to worry about being on hold with Chase Sapphire Preferred.  And there’s another card that might work for you too!

What’s the Chase Sapphire Preferred?

Link:   Chase Sapphire Preferred

Link:   Everything You Need to Know About the Chase Sapphire Preferred

When you sign-up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and spend $4,000 on purchases within the 1st 3 months of opening your account, you’ll earn 40,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Here’s my post explaining how to use those 40,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for $400 in cash back, $500 worth of flights on nearly any airline with no blackout dates, or thousands of dollars worth of flights or hotels when you transfer to partners like United Airlines, British Airways, Southwest, and Hyatt!

Here are other perks of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card:

• 5,000 bonus points when you add an authorized user who makes a purchase within the 1st 3 months
• 2 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1 you spend on travel and dining
• 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
• No foreign transaction fees

The $95 annual fee is waived for the 1st year.  This makes it simple 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 message.  That said, this is 1 of the cards I keep!

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great card for impatient folks like me because you get service and rewards right away!

Avoid the Hold Times

If you have questions about your account or need assistance, you can call the number on the back  of your card and talk to a person right away.

So you don’t have to navigate a maze of robotic menus.  And unlike other customer service lines I’ve called, you get a real person who’s typically well informed and is fluent in English.  Plus, they’re available to help you any time, day or night.

Take Advantage of Your Rewards Right Away

Once you earn your Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you can start using them for travel instantly.

You can redeem for cash back at 1 cent per point immediately.   Although that’s NOT the best use of your points.  Or you can book travel right away through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal at 1.25 cents per point without worrying about blackout dates!

But my favorite use is to use my Chase Sapphire Preferred to transfer my Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to airline and hotel partners for even bigger travel:

The points typically show up in most partner accounts like Hyatt, Southwest, and United Airlines, instantly.

Citi ThankYou and Starwood points are also great because you can use them to book paid travel immediately without blackout dates.  Or you can transfer to airline and hotel partners, but it often takes longer.

You could wait up to 4 weeks for Starwood points to show up in your airline account.  And Citi ThankYou points you earn with cards like the Citi Prestige and Citi ThankYou Premier can take ~1 day to as many as ~6 days to transfer.

A long wait could be enough to ruin your trip when you’re planning last-minute travel and the points don’t transfer in time!  So you’ll be thankful you have Chase Ultimate Rewards points to get the job done!

Earn Big Travel Quickly!

Link:   Chase Hyatt Card – 2 Nights at ANY Hyatt Hotel

Link:   My Full Review of the Chase Hyatt Card

Another good option for impatient folks is the Chase Hyatt card.  With this card you’ll earn 2 nights at ANY Hyatt hotel when you spend $1,000 within the 1st 3 months.  See my full review of this card to learn more about what you get with this card.

So you’ll get Big Travel for a small amount of spending!

You could use your 2 nights at the Park Hyatt in New York City, which could otherwise cost you ~$1,000+ per night!

Emily and I don’t earn a commission on this offer, but we’ll always tell you about the best deals.

Bottom Line

If you don’t like waiting, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a terrific option.  You can call and talk to an actual person right away without long hold times or robotic menus, which saves time and frustration.

And you can immediately use the Chase Ultimate Rewards points you earn for cash back or book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.

That said, my favorite way to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points is to convert them to airline or hotel points with Chase’s partners such United Airlines, Southwest, and Hyatt.  And what I really like is that the transfers are instant.

The Chase Hyatt card is also a great choice for folks who want quick rewards.  You’ll earn 2 nights at ANY Hyatt hotel when you spend $1,000 on purchases within the 1st 3 months of opening your account.

That’s Big Travel with Small Wait Times!