Chase Ultimate Rewards points are among the most valuable transferable points programs. This is mainly due to its vast number of transfer partners, including major airline and hotel loyalty programs like Air Canada Aeroplan, World of Hyatt, United MileagePlus, and others.
Since these points are so valuable, you should ensure you earn as many of them as possible on your everyday spending. One way to do this is by opening more than one Chase Ultimate Rewards-earning credit card.
Generally, the sweet spot is opening three Chase cards to earn bonus points on everyday purchases. In this article, we’ll discuss which cards these are and how they form the “Chase Trifecta” that can boost your points earning on everyday purchases.
The “Chase Trifecta” typically refers to having the following three Chase cards in your wallet:
While all three are Chase credit cards, they have different use cases. For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is best for travel expenses, while the Freedom Flex has rotating bonus categories spanning from Amazon to grocery stores. Meanwhile, the Chase Freedom Unlimited earns an elevated rate on all purchases.
There’s one key thing to understand about these cards, however. While the Freedom cards technically earn Ultimate Rewards points, Chase brands the points they earn as cash back. This is because they cannot be transferred to airline and hotel partners without being transferred to a Chase Sapphire card. This makes the Sapphire Preferred an essential part of the Chase Trifecta for travelers.
Here’s a closer look at each card in the Chase Trifecta and where you should use each card.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is one of the most iconic travel credit cards on the market. It launched in 2009 and has seen many changes and improvements since then. It’s often seen as the baseline travel rewards credit card in the U.S. market since it offers a suite of powerful travel perks with a low $95 annual fee.
Here’s a look at the card’s earning rates:
Some of the card’s other perks include:
When to use this card: Use this for travel and dining purchases.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited Card earns 1.5% cash back on all purchases, with some multipliers for some everyday purchases. While it’s branded as a cash back card, it earns Ultimate Rewards points you can transfer to airlines and hotels after transferring them to a Sapphire card. This card has no annual fee.
Here’s how many points you’ll earn with the Chase Freedom Unlimited:
When to use this card: At drugstores and on all purchases that do not earn bonus points on other cards.
The Chase Freedom Flex is a newer addition to the Chase Freedom family. It has many similarities to the Chase Freedom Unlimited, but it swaps earning 1.5 points per dollar on unbonused spending for rotating 5x points categories. These change once per quarter, and you can earn up to 7,500 points every quarter.
These quarterly bonus categories are announced throughout the year. When writing this article, Freedom Flex cardholders earn 5 points per dollar at grocery stores (excluding Walmart® and Target®), Norwegian Cruise Line, fitness clubs and gym memberships, and hair, nail and spa services.
Here’s how many points you’ll earn with this card:
When to use this card: Use it to maximize earnings on quarterly purchase categories.
While these three cards make up the typical Chase Trifecta, there are a couple of cards you can swap in. Namely, you might consider opening the Sapphire Reserve® Card instead of the Sapphire Preferred.
This card has a substantially higher $595 annual fee, but it includes airport lounge access, a $300 annual travel credit, and earns 3 points per dollar on travel purchases, among other benefits. However, we only recommend this card to those who can take advantage of the card’s premium travel benefits and higher earning on travel purchases.
You might consider opening one (or more) of the Chase Ink cards if you’re a small business owner. The Ink family has four cards, each with different earning categories. The cards without an annual fee must be paired with a Sapphire card or the Chase Ink Business Preferred® to transfer to airlines.
Note that rewards earned with the Ink Business Premier℠ Credit Card cannot be transferred to airlines or hotel loyalty programs, even if combined with a Sapphire card or the Ink Preferred. Make sure to read our full guide to Chase Ink small business credit cards for more information on each card.
When building the Chase Trifecta — whether using the two Freedom cards and a Sapphire Preferred, or mixing in other Chase cards — you should be aware of Chase’s unique credit card application restrictions. Namely, you should know about the infamous 5/24 rule.
In short, this rule means you can only be approved for a Chase card if you’ve opened less than five new credit cards in the past 24 months. These are credit cards across all issuers, but do not include small business credit cards. For those interested in maximizing benefits, consider exploring the World of Hyatt card for additional rewards opportunities.
We have a full guide to Chase 5/24 that shows how the rule works and how to track your current 5/24 status. Make sure to read this article before you apply for any Chase credit card, regardless of if the card is mentioned in this article.
The Chase Trifecta is a great way to increase your rewards earning on everyday purchases. If you go the route outlined in this article, you’ll earn bonus points on travel, dining, drugstores, and rotating purchase categories. Plus, having the Sapphire Preferred in your wallet means you can transfer these points to airline and hotel loyalty programs.
You can change your preferences or opt out at any time by clicking on one of the hyperlinks available at the bottom of each newsletter.
If you are already a subscriber and would like to unsubscribe, you can click on the link at the bottom of any of our e-mails.
