How does Freedom Unlimited Compliment Sapphire

[longtimelurker]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@RadioRob wrote:

It does not have to be for a LOT of travel.  But the question is what you redeem it for.  If you have absolutely no interest in international travel potentially in business class, it may not be worth it.  

Even if I only make one trip a year...  if that trip happens to be from the US to Austrailia in first class that I can book for pennies on the dollar....  that could potentially save me thousands of dollars.

---

Maybe I am not understanding the benifits, but how does CSR help you get first/business class for cheaper?

---

You transfer points to the partner airline  (for this, CSP is as good as the CSR, although CSP earns less URs in the first place).   So international biz/first class flights are VERY expensive when you pay cash.   The amount of airline miles needed is much less than 1:1 with the price.   So you transfer your UR points and book an award flight.    Generally you need to flexible with dates as award availability is a gating factor, but for many, this is the only way you can afford these type of flights, if you are paying for yourself...

ETA: or read what simplynoir said first!

[signaturecardmember]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@RadioRob wrote:

It does not have to be for a LOT of travel.  But the question is what you redeem it for.  If you have absolutely no interest in international travel potentially in business class, it may not be worth it.  

Even if I only make one trip a year...  if that trip happens to be from the US to Austrailia in first class that I can book for pennies on the dollar....  that could potentially save me thousands of dollars.

---

Maybe I am not understanding the benifits, but how does CSR help you get first/business class for cheaper?

---

This misunderstanding is common. Say you go to Asia using a current common promotion using ANA airlines redeeming points through Virgin Atlantic (partner airlines). If the ticket retails for $12k and you use 120,000 points for the ticket you are getting a value of 10 cents a point or 10% back etc vs 2% cash card. This is a pretty realistic reward, some arent as good but you could still be at 6 or 7 cents a point pretty easy. Even if you only do 1 trip a year or so it can save you a ton of cash as others have stated, you do not have to be big into traveling to make it worth while.  This why 90% dollar wise of my spend goes onto Freedom Unlimited. Hope this illustration is useful.

[RadioRob]

Think of it this way... there are two sides of the coin that someone needs to evaluate.

Side one... EARNING.
Where do you spend your money? You want a card or card family (CSP/CFU for example) that matches categories in which you normally spend. This is to maximize how fast you earn.

Side two... SPENDING.
Now that you have a whole bunch of points, you need to get something out of it that is of interest to you. If you never travel and have no interest in ever doing international travel, etc... travel cards are most likely not your best bang for the buck.

For the Chase trifecta.... you're earning at least 1.5cpp with the Freedom Unlimited. You're earning 2cpp with CSP on travel/dining (3 for CSR). And 5% is earned on the Freedom Unlimited if the spend is in the rotating categories for that quarter.

So basically you're earning 1.5 to 5 points per dollar at MINIMUM for travel. If you redeem that through Chase's portal you get another 25-50% when booking travel. Otherwise you can transfer those to airline partners that sometimes have better point redemption rates.

[LunaBuna]

Thanks all for the info.   Will read up on the Chse Trifecta to get more info and try and figure this out even more.   I have enough info now to be dangerous, so need to learn a little more.

Although i travel quite extensively, it is for business, i take two or three family trips so the points will get worked.

[RadioRob]

For your work travel, is it on a corporate card or is it on a personal card that you expense?

[jdbkiang]

You can also look into the Chase Ink cards, as they earn UR as well. The 5% cap for the CF is $6000/year, while the 5% cap for the CIC is $25K.

[Anonymous]

i just want to mention that Chase recently partnered with Expedia for a more enhanced UR travel portal so the deals are about to get alot sweeter. i would definitely recommend the "trifecta" if you're a frequent traveler