topic Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel in Credit Cards

Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2017 18:45:08 GMT

I know this topic has been covered tremendously and beaten to death but what I wanted to discuss is if focusing spend on Chase's Eco-system is really better than just racking up cash-back?

From what I gathered, you get more value for your points when you book through the Sapphire Preferred / Reserve portal or transfer points to which ever partner is cheaper.

BUT.. is this better than getting a higher cash-back rate from other optimizing cash-back cards and just booking the flight yourself with cash?

From my point of view, those who are frequent travellers can greatly benefit from focusing their spend on Chase cards, but what about the everyday person? Is it really worth it?

I'm not sure where I stand in my travel frequency but I usually have 2-3 big trips a year and I've been focusing on Cash-back cards and make roughly 600-1K cash-back a year and it covers probably 1-2 tickets for free depending on the location or time of year I'm booking. I'm trying to figure out if I should consider using Chase's system for the future or just keep using my cash-back cards.

What do you guys think about this?

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

stellar — Thu, 25 May 2017 18:57:25 GMT

I was wondering the same thing.

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2017 19:15:45 GMT

Since points are worth 50% more with CSR when redeemed for travel...the FU effectively becomes 2% and rivals the DC, while staying all within Chase.

I think that it is worth it, unless you really do shop in certain categories a lot with a card that has a better %. i.e. if you spend a lot of groceries, I think it would be worth having the BCP for those purchases, but also having the trifecta for the remaining purchases.

However, when the Freedom is 5% for grocery stores, that now 5.5% with the CSR is almost...almost the 6% by the BCP. If you can prove by the math that the .5% difference is worth it or whatever percent difference is for other cards/categories, then have both

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2017 19:22:23 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Since points are worth 50% more with CSR when redeemed for travel...the FU effectively becomes 2% and rivals the DC, while staying all within Chase.

I think that it is worth it, unless you really do shop in certain categories a lot with a card that has a better %. i.e. if you spend a lot of groceries, I think it would be worth having the BCP for those purchases, but also having the trifecta for the remaining purchases.

However, when the Freedom is 5% for grocery stores, that now 5.5% with the CSR is almost...almost the 6% by the BCP. If you can prove by the math that the .5% difference is worth it or whatever percent difference is for other cards/categories, then have both

At the risk of sounding snobby... your calculations are slightly off with the CSR percentages. Yes, they are worth 50% more, in which case you'd add half of the existing point value to the existing value (0.75+1.5 for the freedom unlimited). Or to simplify, just multiply the existing reward structure by 1.5. It isn't just 0.5% added to the existing reward structure. For example......

FU - 1.5*1.5=2.25% rewards on all non-category purchases

F - 5*1.5=7.5% on select categories up to $1,500 per quarter

CSR - 3*1.5=4.5% on dining/travel

Of course, these would all be absolute minimum redemption rates, aside from cash/gift card redemptions of course.

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2017 19:24:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Since points are worth 50% more with CSR when redeemed for travel...the FU effectively becomes 2% and rivals the DC, while staying all within Chase.

I think that it is worth it, unless you really do shop in certain categories a lot with a card that has a better %. i.e. if you spend a lot of groceries, I think it would be worth having the BCP for those purchases, but also having the trifecta for the remaining purchases.

However, when the Freedom is 5% for grocery stores, that now 5.5% with the CSR is almost...almost the 6% by the BCP. If you can prove by the math that the .5% difference is worth it or whatever percent difference is for other cards/categories, then have both

Actually when paired with the CSR, the point values are:

- Chase FU: 1.5% turns into 2.25%

- Chase Freedon: 5% turns into 7.5%

- Chase Reserve: 3% turns into 4.5%

My goal is always to maximize my ROI on my total annual spend so do use a combo of UR/MR/cash back. However, I do travel a ton and eat out a ton, so the CSR really drives it home for me. I think UR points are some of the most valuable currency out there. In 2016 I averaged about a 10% return and am trending higher so far in 2017. These include signup bonuses, but if I were to remove signup bonuses, would probably average around 4.5% return on all CC spending.

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2017 19:24:59 GMT

You beat me to it AustinOK!

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

SecretAzure — Thu, 25 May 2017 19:49:14 GMT

It's great that people have posted the numbers...which I'm sure the OP has seen before but nobody is really answering his (/her) question. While the trifecta grants you a minimum CB of 2.25 through Unlimited...does having to use Chase's portal make you miss an opportunity on cheaper ways of using points/miles on other travel cards? I know little about the subject but as an example I'll use Delta. Would the Delta SkyMiles maybe offer greater redemption rates during special offers than CSR does for similar flights? There are many benefits to have the Chase trifecta...is it possible that other cards might be better for OP with his (/her) travel life. Might it be more worth it to him who travels 2-3 times a year to get a different card? Marriott for a free night? SkyMiles for free baggage? Etc.

For the big spenders it's kind of obvious to go this route...what about for the rest of us? I made a similar post a couple of days ago.

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2017 19:57:05 GMT

@SecretAzure wrote:
It's great that people have posted the numbers...which I'm sure the OP has seen before but nobody is really answering his (/her) question. While the trifecta grants you a minimum CB of 2.25 through Unlimited...does having to use Chase's portal make you miss an opportunity on cheaper ways of using points/miles on other travel cards? I know little about the subject but as an example I'll use Delta. Would the Delta SkyMiles maybe offer greater redemption rates during special offers than CSR does for similar flights? There are many benefits to have the Chase trifecta...is it possible that other cards might be better for OP with his (/her) travel life. Might it be more worth it to him who travels 2-3 times a year to get a different card? Marriott for a free night? SkyMiles for free baggage? Etc.

For the big spenders it's kind of obvious to go this route...what about for the rest of us? I made a similar post a couple of days ago.

Good point. One thing to remember is you can always redeem UR points as cash back, but you do not receive the 1.5X booster then. The Chase portal typically has very competitve pricing though, so unless there is a special offering only through booking directly with the airline, I feel the exposure is minimal. To me the flexibility of redeeming UR points is extremely valuable.

Without knowing spending and travel habbits, it is very diffuclt to provide specific recommendations. If they're provided, I'll take a shot at it since I evaluate this a lot

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2017 20:01:53 GMT

@SecretAzure wrote:
It's great that people have posted the numbers...which I'm sure the OP has seen before but nobody is really answering his (/her) question. While the trifecta grants you a minimum CB of 2.25 through Unlimited...does having to use Chase's portal make you miss an opportunity on cheaper ways of using points/miles on other travel cards? I know little about the subject but as an example I'll use Delta. Would the Delta SkyMiles maybe offer greater redemption rates during special offers than CSR does for similar flights? There are many benefits to have the Chase trifecta...is it possible that other cards might be better for OP with his (/her) travel life. Might it be more worth it to him who travels 2-3 times a year to get a different card? Marriott for a free night? SkyMiles for free baggage? Etc.

For the big spenders it's kind of obvious to go this route...what about for the rest of us? I made a similar post a couple of days ago.

Kudos! You saved me a post haha!

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2017 20:31:12 GMT

The clear case where points make sense are for "aspirational" travel, such as first class long haul international flights, or to some extent, highest tier hotels.

In some cases, with each ticket costing several thousands, these will be out of reach for cash back via normal (i.e. non MS) spending, whereas providing you are flexible, transfer of points to a partner will get the award with much lower spend.

Other cases are less clear cut

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2017 20:31:36 GMT

Kudos! You saved me a post haha!

Tell us your spending and travel profiles and I'm sure many of us will be able to provide more specific recommendations

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

iced — Thu, 25 May 2017 20:53:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I know this topic has been covered tremendously and beaten to death but what I wanted to discuss is if focusing spend on Chase's Eco-system is really better than just racking up cash-back?

From what I gathered, you get more value for your points when you book through the Sapphire Preferred / Reserve portal or transfer points to which ever partner is cheaper.

BUT.. is this better than getting a higher cash-back rate from other optimizing cash-back cards and just booking the flight yourself with cash?

From my point of view, those who are frequent travellers can greatly benefit from focusing their spend on Chase cards, but what about the everyday person? Is it really worth it?

I'm not sure where I stand in my travel frequency but I usually have 2-3 big trips a year and I've been focusing on Cash-back cards and make roughly 600-1K cash-back a year and it covers probably 1-2 tickets for free depending on the location or time of year I'm booking. I'm trying to figure out if I should consider using Chase's system for the future or just keep using my cash-back cards.

What do you guys think about this?

This isn't really an apples to apples comparison, because many of the heavy travel reward users aren't redeeming points for the crap economy airfares. For example, my personal rule is if the ticket is less than $3,000 it's not worth using points on, and sometimes I'm redeeming for tickets that price out to $10,000 or more. I also *never* redeem points for economy class. If you take the perspective of earning $500 cash back versus spending $500 on a plane ticket (or $750 through the Chase portal), then your math applies, but when 150,000 points is worth $2250 versus a R/T biz fare using 150,000 miles that may otherwise price out to $4000-$5000, those points suddenly become much more valuable than 1.5cpp.

For what its worth, I have yet to find a ticket via Chase that prices out below what I can get it for via miles.

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

Anonymous — Thu, 25 May 2017 20:59:48 GMT

For what its worth, I have yet to find a ticket via Chase that prices out below what I can get it for via miles.

Yup!!!! Point transfers are by far the most valuable. However, if someone isn't comfortable with this (I know many who refust to transfer points), the portal still offers very competitive prices most of the time.

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

happypill — Thu, 25 May 2017 22:53:43 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
The clear case where points make sense are for "aspirational" travel, such as first class long haul international flights, or to some extent, highest tier hotels.

In some cases, with each ticket costing several thousands, these will be out of reach for cash back via normal (i.e. non MS) spending, whereas providing you are flexible, transfer of points to a partner will get the award with much lower spend.

Other cases are less clear cut

Yes, totally agree with this. When you see people talking about the amazing value they are getting from some point transfer program, it almost always involves stuff like international flights, first class fares/upgrades, luxury hotels, etc. Another thing to consider is to get the best redemption values (or in some cases to be able to redeem at all), you need to be able to book and plan way in advance. If your'e not able to book in advance and get in on the very limited number of award seats, you might get better value from cash back.

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

Anonymous — Fri, 26 May 2017 16:22:26 GMT

@happypill wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
The clear case where points make sense are for "aspirational" travel, such as first class long haul international flights, or to some extent, highest tier hotels.

In some cases, with each ticket costing several thousands, these will be out of reach for cash back via normal (i.e. non MS) spending, whereas providing you are flexible, transfer of points to a partner will get the award with much lower spend.

Other cases are less clear cut
Yes, totally agree with this. When you see people talking about the amazing value they are getting from some point transfer program, it almost always involves stuff like international flights, first class fares/upgrades, luxury hotels, etc. Another thing to consider is to get the best redemption values (or in some cases to be able to redeem at all), you need to be able to book and plan way in advance. If your'e not able to book in advance and get in on the very limited number of award seats, you might get better value from cash back.

I've noticed this too. SO ideally, you are getting more perks with points/points transfer like upgrades with the similar amount of $ it would cost by buying an economy flight?

Re: Cashback VS Chase Trifecta for Travel

Anonymous — Sat, 27 May 2017 03:56:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I know this topic has been covered tremendously and beaten to death but what I wanted to discuss is if focusing spend on Chase's Eco-system is really better than just racking up cash-back?

From what I gathered, you get more value for your points when you book through the Sapphire Preferred / Reserve portal or transfer points to which ever partner is cheaper.

BUT.. is this better than getting a higher cash-back rate from other optimizing cash-back cards and just booking the flight yourself with cash?

From my point of view, those who are frequent travellers can greatly benefit from focusing their spend on Chase cards, but what about the everyday person? Is it really worth it?

I'm not sure where I stand in my travel frequency but I usually have 2-3 big trips a year and I've been focusing on Cash-back cards and make roughly 600-1K cash-back a year and it covers probably 1-2 tickets for free depending on the location or time of year I'm booking. I'm trying to figure out if I should consider using Chase's system for the future or just keep using my cash-back cards.

What do you guys think about this?

My 2 cents, it is more fun with the points

Realistically, for many a 2% or even 3% cashback (or discount) is good but not a big deal esp. since it does not compound. (For example, you buy A car with xxxxx amount of $, do you realistically expect B car with a price tag of $xxxxx* (~103%) to be up to the next level and a great improvement over A car?)

The same goes for points, at the end of the day it doesn't matter much "objectively".

The fun is in the process of "found a great award ticket with X cents per point using such such brilliant way=)", "redeemed a suite worth Y cents per point and 'stacked' with ??? promotion as well=)", or, even in the daydreaming of the above happening (sort of like the state of thinking about the prizes after entering a raffle that gives a good chance but far from guaranteeing a sure win but before the lucky numbers are announced), see, the fun of points starts way before the travel has even commenced.

On the other hand, the process of "Oh, I got 2% off this thing, great =|" is not as interesting.

Another point, travel cards do make the actual travel process a bit more enjoyable as well since most don't want to fork out $50 per person per leg/airport to buy day pass for lounges and many might not rent over 50 times per year to qualify for that rental car upgrade or stay 75 nights in hotel brand Z for their free breakfast/room upgrades. These could dent the return on the cash back cards badly even from a totally 'objective' point of view