Chase Freedom and Sapphire Credit Cards in Points and Miles

Frank McBride • February 16, 2024

While the Chase Freedom cards are limited to cash back, a Chase Sapphire card can boost a travel rewards program.

The post from February 9th brought up the topic of credit card “families” and how cardholders can upgrade within a family to increase benefits or downgrade to decrease annual fees. Over the next few weeks, Travel Rewards Optimizer posts will discuss credit card families for co-branded cards (airlines and hotel chains) as well as families of cards that generate proprietary points or cash.


Today’s first installment will discuss Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire cards. Although these are different card brands, there is a logical progression for those interested in travel. The Freedom cards include entry level and cashback credit cards while the Sapphire cards are travel oriented and provide opportunities for leveraging Chase Ultimate Rewards points.


  • Chase Freedom Rise
  • Chase Freedom Unlimited
  • Chase Freedom Flex
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred
  • Chase Sapphire Reserve


Chase Freedom Rise


The Freedom Rise is a “starter” card for people who are new to credit cards. There is no annual fee, and the card generates 1.5% cash back on all purchases. With this card, you will be getting the 1.5% return on all spending, but this card is clearly for students and people who have never had a credit card before.


  • Chase suggests that your chances of approval are higher if you open a Chase checking account and deposit at least $250.
  • Chase indicates that it will evaluate you for a credit limit increase after six months or more suggested that the credit limit will not be very high to begin with.
  • The Annualized Percentage Rate (APR) starts at a whopping 27%.


Because the Travel Rewards Optimizer plans we create are for people with established credit histories and higher FICO scores, we would not incorporate this card into a client’s program. However, with the cash back feature, it could be a good starter card for a young adult who could pay their statements in full to avoid the high interest charges.


Chase Freedom Unlimited


This card also has no annual fee and, like the Freedom Rise, generates 1.5% cash back on many purchases. At the same time, it is much more attractive for several reasons.


  • The cashback rate is 3% for restaurants and drug stores.
  • Chase offers a $200 bonus if you spend $500 in the first three months.
  • Currently (and this is subject to change) this card offers a 5% cashback rate on groceries and gas for the first year.
  • The initial APR is 0% for 15 months and, once an APR kicks in, it could be as low as 20.5%.


Chase Freedom Flex


This card also has no annual fee but has a different bonus structure than the Freedom Unlimited. The Freedom Flex offers 5% bonuses on rotating categories that change every quarter. In the past, categories have included grocery stores, gas stations, Amazon, gyms, and warehouse clubs. Typically, the featured bonus category is announced just before the beginning of a quarter to maintain the interest and engagement of cardholders. The 5% bonus is limited to the first $1500 spent in the category during the quarter.
 
Most other purchases generate 1% cashback.


Like the Freedom Unlimited, the Freedom Flex has other attractive features.


  • The cashback rate is 3% for restaurants and drug stores.
  • Chase offers a $200 bonus if you spend $500 in the first three months.
  • Currently (and this is subject to change) this card offers a 5% cashback rate on groceries and gas for the first year.
  • The initial APR is 0% for 15 months and, once an APR kicks in, it could be as low as 20.5%.


For someone interested in only getting cash back, these Chase Freedom cards are a reasonable option. Using both a Freedom Flex and one of the Freedom cards that returns 1.5%, a cardholder who pays careful attention to the rotating bonus categories could net a cashback return of perhaps 2% or perhaps even better in the first year. However, there are other free cards that generate 2% on every purchase without having to think about which card you are using.
 
Those who want to turn their routine spending into free travel can do far better than a 2% return and this is where the Chase Sapphire cards come into play. These cards have annual fees, but both accelerate your ability to turn credit card expenditures into travel.


Chase Sapphire Preferred


This card has a $95 annual fee and offers a welcome bonus of 60,000 Ultimate Rewards (UR) points if you spend $4,000 within three months. Treated as cash, those points are worth $600. Like the Freedom Flex and Unlimited, the bonus for restaurants is 3X (three points per dollar spent) and there is also a 2X bonus for travel expenses. In addition to the 2X bonus for travel purchases, there are other factors that make the Sapphire Preferred especially worthwhile for travelers.


  • The Ultimate Rewards points can be exchanged (often 1:1) for the points and miles of many airlines and several hotel chains. In some cases, the miles or points of these partners can be worth much more than the one cent per point you can get in cash back. In fact, Ms. Optimizer and I routinely double the value of our UR points by transferring them to certain airlines or the Hyatt program.
  • If you purchase travel through the Chase portal, each point is worth 1.25 cents or 25% more than if you used them as cash. (NOTE: I do not know if purchases made through this portal are competitively priced or not and that is a topic that will be addressed in the near future.)
  • Holders of this card can combine UR points with the points earned through the no fee Freedom cards to turn those points into flexible UR points. This makes those points worth considerably more than the one cent per point you get if you use them as cash.


Chase Sapphire Reserve


When launched in 2016, the Chase Sapphire Reserve was the queen of travel cards. Since then, other issuers have upped their game and offered highly competitive products. Still, this card has a place for many travelers.


The card’s annual fee, at $550, is deceptively high. A card benefit is an annual travel credit of $300 and this credit differs from those offered by other card issuers because there are no restrictions such as a requirement to purchase travel through Chase's travel portal. There is no need to apply for the credit. You simply make travel related purchases (which Chase defines liberally) and the credits appear on your statement automatically. You can utilize the credit with one purchase or spread out over multiple purchases.


After factoring out this easy-to-use credit, the Sapphire Reserve is a de facto $250 annual fee card. To assess its value compared to the Sapphire Preferred, the question to ask is if the card is worth an additional $155. The signup bonus for both cards is the same (60,000 URs) and both offer a 3X bonus on dining.


The Sapphire Reserve surpasses the Sapphire Preferred as follows:


  • There is a 3X bonus for travel expenses compared to the 2X offered by the Sapphire Preferred.
  • The URs are worth 1.5 cents each (vs. 1.25 cents for SP) if purchasing travel through the Chase portal.
  • The Reserve will cover the cost of TSA PreCheck or Global Entry every four years.
  • The Reserve includes a Priority Pass which gives the cardholder access to a network of airport lounges all over the world.


In the past, Ms. Optimizer and I used the Sapphire Reserve but have since downgraded to Sapphire Preferred for several reasons.


  • Our Global Entry memberships are paid for the next few years.
  • We have access to an airport lounge network through another credit card.
  • We do not tend to use the Chase portal for travel purchases.
  • We estimated that we would need to spend at least $8,000 each year on travel (most of our flights and hotel stays are free) to take advantage of the fact that the Sapphire Reserve has a higher bonus (3X) than the Sapphire Preferred (2X) for travel purchases.


In our case, a downgrade saved us money on the annual fee and cost us very little, but this is largely because our travel rewards program has matured, and our needs has changed over time.

___________
 

To conclude, for some, these Chase products can be combined to create a formidable travel rewards program. The Freedom cards, by themselves, can give you a decent cash back program although it will be unexceptional after picking up the first-year bonuses. However, one of the Sapphire cards can be the foundation of a productive travel rewards program for those who want to turn their credit card spending into travel. Because the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards are more similar than they were in the past, a key criterion for choosing between them might be your interest in airport lounge access and lounge availability in places you might fly.
 

We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.
 

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Just Say "No" to Dynamic Currency Conversion

By Frank McBride • April 23, 2026
As the summer travel season approaches, this is a friendly reminder to avoid "dynamic currency conversion" (DCC) when making credit card purchases outside of your home country. DCC gives you the option of selecting a payment amount in your home currency rather than in the local currency. Typically, when presented with a credit card reader at a shop or restaurant, the touch screen will show purchase amounts in the local currency and in US dollars (for those with American credit cards) and you have the opportunity to choose. I have been seeing these “offers” for several years now and have learned, after doing a little mental math, they are almost always a bad deal for the purchaser. When presented with a credit card reader, I always choose to pay the amount shown in local currency rather than the amount shown in US dollars. During a recent trip, I was making purchases in Euros, Hungarian Forints, and Czech Korunas. From what I could tell, the option of paying in dollars inflated the cost of the purchases around an average of five percent (5%). Once, a card reader screen acknowledged that making the purchase in dollars added an eight percent (8%) fee. Even a credit card with a foreign transaction fee (which you should avoid using when traveling abroad) would have added only three percent (3%) to the tab. Currency games aside, Visa and MasterCard offer reasonable exchange rates when you choose to pay in the local currency. Upon returning home, our credit card statements showed exchange rates that were quite close to market rates. It is reasonable and fair for the credit card issuers make a fraction of a percent here and there as they are performing a service and accepting currency risk (although very briefly). But, claiming to offer a “preferential” rate to pad their bottom line is disingenuous. Because exchange rates are reasonable, using credit cards while traveling abroad is still worthwhile for a points and miles program as long as you avoid cards with foreign transaction fees. Travel oriented cards can offer 2X and 3X spending bonuses for transportation and restaurants to give you a leg up on saving money and accumulating points or miles for your next vacation.

Beating the Delta Sky Club Lines at Atlanta International Airport

By Frank McBride • October 2, 2025
I have read a great deal recently about crowding at airport lounges or even lengthy waits to get into lounges. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, dominated by Delta Airlines, has eight Delta Sky Clubs (there is one in each of the airport’s seven concourses except for Concourse A which has two). Even with the wide availability of Sky Club options, many of the Atlanta locations still get crowded and can have long lines of travelers waiting to get in. Despite flying Delta through Atlanta many times in the past couple of months, Ms. Optimizer and I have avoided this problem. We have used the Fly Delta app to keep us apprised of which Sky Clubs are crowded, and which are relatively empty. Although we might prefer a Sky Club near the gate we will use for our next flight, we often use a Sky Club on an adjacent concourse if the Sky Club closest to our gate is crowded or has a line. The Atlanta International Airport has a straightforward configuration of parallel concourses starting with Concourse T, followed by Concourses A through F. These seven concourses are connected by the Plane Train. The Plane Train can transport you between adjacent concourses in about a minute. Or, if you want to get in some steps, you can walk to an adjacent concourse in about five minutes (less if you use the moving sidewalk). The walkways are below ground level and can be accessed where you get on the Plane Train. The Fly Delta app is easy to use for assessing Sky Club capacity. When you arrive in Atlanta, go to the Delta Sky Club tab (it has a cocktail glass icon) and open. It will open to a list of the Atlanta Sky Clubs and describe their status ranging from “extremely busy” to “not busy.” Even if you can get into an “extremely” busy Club, bear in might that you might be the last person who brings the Club to full capacity. We have found that a short walk to the next concourse is well worth it as a less busy club offers a better choice of seating and a more relaxed atmosphere (and less likelihood of lines at the buffet, bar, coffee machine, etc.). But, don’t forget to budget enough time to return to the concourse with your departure gate!! We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

American Miles Accumulation: As One Door Closes, Another Has Opened

By Frank McBride • September 24, 2025
Yesterday, I posted about how the Barclays American Aadvantage Aviator MasterCard will be disappearing soon . Along with Citi, Barclays offers a co-branded American Airlines credit card that gives points and miles players two options for amassing American miles. Even though this “double play” will not be an option much longer, there are new opportunities for travelers who want to earn free flights on American. American Airlines is Now a Citi Transfer Partner The recent launch of the premium Citi Strata Elite card coincided with a new ability to transfer Citi Thank You points to American miles. Previously, a key weakness of the American Aadvantage program was that it did not have a transfer partner like Delta (which takes transfers of American Express Membership Rewards points) or United and Southwest (which take transfers of Chase Ultimate Rewards points). This meant that accumulation of American miles required spending on co-branded American credit cards (with limited bonus categories), buying miles at a cost well above their fair market value, or actual flying. Now, with Citi cards that generate Thank You points, travelers can accumulate American miles more quickly and get better value. The Citi Strata Elite card ($595 annual fee) offers 3X points for restaurants (6X on Friday and Saturday nights), 6-12X points for travel booked on Citi’s travel portal, and 1.5X on other purchases. The Citi Strata Premier card (with a $95 annual fee) offers 3X points on air travel, hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, and gas. It is worth noting that, because you can exchange Thank You points for American miles at a 1:1 ratio, the bonus point structure for the Citi Strata Premier is better than that of most co-branded American Airlines cards for the purchase of American flights (3X vs. 2X) . The lone exception is the $595 American credit card with offers a 4X bonus for American purchases and gives you Admirals Club access. You Can Even Make Transfers to American with No Annual Fee Citi Cards In a post from a couple of years ago, I discussed how some credit cards with annual fees of about $100 were the keys to unlocking value because they allowed cardmembers to transfer flexible points to airline and hotel partners. However, Citi’s recently added option of turning Thank You points into American Miles also applies to cards with no annual fee such as the Citi Double Cash card and the new Citi Strata card. While it is nice that cardmembers can make these transfers with a no annual fee card, it is important to point out that rather than a typical 1:1 transfer ratio, the ratio is 1000:700 with these free cards. This means that you would get only 700 American miles for cashing in 1000 points. The consensus value of an American mile is about 1.4-1.5 cents, so this transfer nets out to a value of about one cent per Thank You point, about the same as the return you get from using these cards for cash back. It might make sense to use a few thousand Thank You points this way if you have some miles in your American account that need to be “topped off” to get a free flight. However, if you have a larger number of Citi Thank You points to work with or are interested in flying American with regularity, you should spring for one of the cards with an annual fee that will give you a better transfer ratio. It is unfortunate that the co-branded Barclays card will disappear soon (although they are still accepting applications ) but, on balance, the ability to convert Thank You points to American miles will provide more opportunities for American award flight than in the past. Because credit cards like the ones discussed in this post can play a significant role in your points and miles pursuit, it is important to develop a comprehensive program to make sure you are getting the most free travel from your routine credit card spending. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control. We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Barclays American Airlines Aadvantage Aviator Mastercard Will Disappear Soon

By Frank McBride • September 22, 2025
UPDATE: As of 9/30/25, Barclays has stopped offering this card. I hope that those of you who were interested were able to pick up this card. Barclays offers several co-branded travel cards, but will soon stop offering its American Airlines card as an agreement between American and Citi gives Citi exclusivity in offering a co-branded American Airlines credit card. Although the Aadvantage Aviator’s days are numbered, it is still available and offers an excellent opportunity to pick up a quick signup bonus. Barclays American Aadvantage Aviator MasterCard This card has been part of an American Airlines “double play” that both Ms. Optimizer and I have used. It is also a quick and inexpensive way to add Aadvantage miles to your account. The current sign-up bonus offer is 50,000 miles after you have paid the $99 annual fee and made your first purchase on the card in any amount. In other words, you could get 50,000 miles added to your Aadvantage account in just one billing cycle and with a minimal spend. Our estimate is that these miles are worth perhaps $700. Like many airline cards, the Aviator offers a free checked bag as well as earlier boarding when flying American. The bonus structure for spending is not particularly exciting as you get a 2X mile bonus for American Airlines purchases and one mile per dollar for all other purchases. Once Barclays gets dropped as American’s partner, my understanding is that this product will get converted to a Citi product. Any American miles you earn will, of course, remain in your account. Risks of Applying for This “Short Termer” Card From what I understand, there is little risk to the 50,000 mile sign-up bonus assuming you complete the minimum spending in a timely fashion. American miles stay in your Aadvantage account whether coming from a Barclays product, a Citi product, flying American, or other activities. One risk is the temptation to “earn and churn” with this card. I like to think of the points and miles game as a long term and sustainable hobby and counsel clients to “play nice” with issuers rather than grabbing bonuses and cancelling the card after one year. Potential applicants should determine if they want to build a relationship with Barclays, especially as Barclays offers other co-branded travel cards you might want in the future including JetBlue, Emirates, Frontier, Lufthansa, Breeze, Wyndham, and Carnival. Another consideration is that any new credit card can have an impact on your ability to get approved for future credit cards (i.e., the Chase 5/24 rule). You do not want to hinder future opportunities just to pick up some easy miles. But, if this card makes sense for you and can fit into your future travel plans, it is better to apply sooner rather than later. Because credit cards like this one can play a significant role in your points and miles pursuit, it is important to develop a comprehensive program to make sure you are getting the most free travel from your routine credit card spending. When we design a custom Travel Rewards Optimizer plan for you, we take your travel goals, travel habits, spending patterns, and preferences into account. We want to ensure that the cards we recommend for you can quickly generate free travel and provide relevant benefits while keeping your annual card fees under control. We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.

Just Say “No” to Offers to Pay Credit Card Charges in Dollars When Traveling Abroad

By Frank McBride • July 25, 2025
Ms. Optimizer and I do not shop a lot when we travel but, Ms. Optimizer thinks alpacas are cute and likes things made of their wool. So, we went shopping for knit products during a recent trip to Aguas Calientes, Peru. As we were about to pay, we saw the sign pictured above with an offer from Visa/MasterCard offering an opportunity to: “Pay in your own currency and get a preferential exchange rate” I have been seeing these “offers” for several years now and, after doing a little mental math, they are almost always a bad deal for the purchaser. When presented with a credit card reader, I always choose to pay the amount shown in local currency rather than the amount shown in US dollars. In the case of the purchase of some alpaca blankets, I was given the choice of paying: 1) 420 Peruvian soles; or 2) a bit over $125 US dollars and chose the local currency. When I reviewed my credit card statement, the charge ended up being a little over $117. Had I taken the option of the “preferential exchange rate,” I would have paid an extra eight dollars. Even a credit card with a foreign transaction fee of 3% (which you should avoid using when traveling abroad) would have added less than four dollars to the tab. Currency games aside, Visa and MasterCard offer reasonable exchange rates when you choose the local currency. During our trip, the exchange rate for the Peruvian sol was 3.55 soles to the US dollar. My credit card statement reflected a rate of 3.57 which is entirely reasonable. It is fair for the credit card issuers make a fraction of a percent here and there as they are performing a service and accepting currency risk (albeit briefly). But, claiming to offer a “preferential” rate to pad their bottom line is disingenuous. Because exchange rates are reasonable, using credit cards while traveling abroad is still worthwhile for a points and miles program as long as you avoid cards with foreign transaction fees. Travel oriented cards can offer 2X and 3X spending bonuses for transportation and restaurants to give you a leg up on saving money for your next vacation. We are ready to help you turn your routine credit card spending into the travel of your dreams.