Hey everyone. I have been doing some research on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and I am planning on applying in the coming months. I am trying to understand how their rewards program works but I am still a little confused. When it comes to the 1:1 point transfer to patricipating frequent travel programs, I would need to also have a "membership" with one of these programs, correct? For example, if I wanted to do the 1:1 transfer for a Southwest flight, I would also need to have the Southwest Rapid Rewards card? I'm assuming this 1:1 transfer would be different than just booking a flight through the Chase Ultimate Rewards program at a 20% discount?
I just recently started traveling a lot for work and I plan to start traveling more for leisure and I want to get the most out of the points. I also have the Chase Freedom card so I plan on transfering points from the Freedom to Sapphire.
If you do need to also have the "membership" with a frequent traveler program, does anyone have any recommendations on which program to go with? I don't really have a preference when it comes to airlines/hotels etc.
Thanks!
I am also very interested in getting the most out of my CSP/Freedom combo. Want to know more about getting the most out of the points if I go on travel for my bday in August 
@jamesdwi wrote:just need a membership number of the program, and then you can transfer the points, if you are serious about traveling southwest, I would get the card, mine came with 2x the limit of my CSP card which is nice.... and 50k pts... basicly enough to pay for 2 round trip tickets to California.
Allowing me to save my CSP points for a rental car, not exactly the best use, but it saved me $200 for the rental car for 5 days.
My HHonors surpass card had 120 pts which made embassy suites 5 day stay for free.
Wow! See those are great savings! Like I said in my first post, I am just now starting to travel a lot for work. We pay for the trip on our personal cards and the company reimburses us the full amount. I can also choose any airline/hotel/rental car I please so I would like to get the most of of these trips (point wise) to pay for some leisure trips. My boss recommended signing up for the Marriot Rewards program as we tend to stay in Marriot hotels but he didn't have any recommendations when it came to airline programs.
@Anonymous wrote:
@jamesdwi wrote:just need a membership number of the program, and then you can transfer the points, if you are serious about traveling southwest, I would get the card, mine came with 2x the limit of my CSP card which is nice.... and 50k pts... basicly enough to pay for 2 round trip tickets to California.
Allowing me to save my CSP points for a rental car, not exactly the best use, but it saved me $200 for the rental car for 5 days.
My HHonors surpass card had 120 pts which made embassy suites 5 day stay for free.
Right, just to make it clear: you do NOT need any other card, just be a member of the reward program which is usually free to join. As Jamesdwi says, in certain circumstances it might also make sense to get the corresponding card (which will often be from a different issuer than Chase) but it is by no means necessary.
That's great! Thanks so much for clearing that up. I guess I will start researching the best program to join.
@Anonymous wrote:I'll save you some time. Chase Rewards are best used for airfare alone, not hotels/car rentals.
I don't think we can post a direct link to it here, but there is a great video on youtube where a guy with blonde hair explains how to best utilize Chase Rewards to basically get all your flights for free. You already have Freedom and Freedom plays a big role in those freebies.
The best thing to do is sign up for United MileagePlus, British Airways Executive Club and Korean Skypass, then compare mileage prices between the three before you book.
I think I know which video you are talking about. I watched it earlier today and that's when I really started looking into getting the CSP. Since I now know that most airline programs are free, I will sign up for comparison!
@Anonymous wrote:I'll save you some time. Chase Rewards are best used for airfare alone, not hotels/car rentals.
I don't think we can post a direct link to it here, but there is a great video on youtube where a guy with blonde hair explains how to best utilize Chase Rewards to basically get all your flights for free. You already have Freedom and Freedom plays a big role in those freebies.
The best thing to do is sign up for United MileagePlus, British Airways Executive Club and Korean Skypass, then compare mileage prices between the three before you book.
Actually the redemptions for Hyatt are decent. United's deval lower the redemption value for flights. They can still be ok, but its not what it once was.
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