The Chase Sapphire Preferred is My Oldest Card – Here’s Why I’m Getting it Again

The  *chase sapphire preferred* is widely considered the best travel card for anyone just getting started with points and miles, and I would know: It was the first credit card I ever opened beyond my trusty bank card. It's been a mainstay in my wallet ever since. 
I opened the Sapphire Preferred card years ago for the same reason most people want to open a travel card: I wanted to earn a big welcome bonus to travel for (nearly) free with points and miles. The Chase Ultimate Rewards points I earned from that initial signup bonus were enough to cover an expensive trip to South Beach in Miami (MIA) to visit a friend. But I've kept it (and kept spending on it) to keep earning more valuable Chase points as well as use other perks, like the card's $50 annual hotel credit and some excellent built-in travel protections. 
But with a bigger bonus of  75,000 points after spending $4,000 currently available for new Sapphire Preferred applicants – as well as its premium sibling, the *chase sapphire reserve* – I'm finally going to get rid of my Preferred Card … so I can open it all over again. 
Here's why – and why it works. 
 

 
I Can Earn Another Big Welcome Bonus 
There are plenty of ways to keep padding your stash of points , but a big welcome offer is undoubtedly the easiest way to earn a big pile of points fast.  And it's tough to beat the current 75,000-point bonus on the Preferred Card – especially with its reasonable $95-a-year fee.
But earning that bonus isn't so straightforward, as Chase's rules make it harder for travelers to earn multiple bonuses. Most importantly: Once you've earned a welcome bonus on a Chase Sapphire card – whether it's the Sapphire Preferred or the Sapphire Reserve – you won't be eligible to earn a bonus again for at least four years.
Thrifty Tip:  That four-year clock starts based on when you last earned a Sapphire bonus – not when you opened the card. 
But since I've held my Chase Sapphire Preferred card for nearly eight years, I'm in the clear. I can get another boatload of Chase points if I open it again. 
The best part? I don't have to close my current card and risk my credit score taking a big hit. Instead, I'm going to downgrade my Sapphire Preferred card to the *freedom unlimited* , one of Chase's no-annual-fee cashback cards (and the perfect companion for a Preferred Card ). Plus, I won't lose the 2,300 Chase points I currently have to my name as I would if I closed my account outright. 
 

 
After that, it's waiting time: I'll wait another two to three weeks to make sure my account is in the clear and that my old Sapphire Card is really gone in Chase's eyes. 
Then, it's time to apply for a new Chase Sapphire Preferred card all over again. 
The best time to apply for a new card is when there's a big welcome offer available, and right now you can earn 75,000 Chase points when you spend $4,000 on your new Sapphire card within the first three months of holding the card. Those points are worth a minimum of $900 towards travel, if not much more. And that will easily help offset the cost of some of the trips I have planned this year and next. 
Read more: How to Get Another Chase Sapphire Card Bonus
 
Fly For Free with Chase Points 
For years, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card was the lone travel card in my wallet.
I swiped it everywhere I went and used the Chase Ultimate Rewards points I racked up on it to cover one to two free flights a year. In my eyes, that alone makes the Sapphire Preferred card worth holding for anyone – whether you frequently take big trips abroad or fly just a few times a year.
You don't have to fret about whether or not you're getting the most value out of your Chase points. Even just booking through the Chase Travel℠ portal , with my Chase Sapphire Preferred card, every point is worth 1.25 cents toward travel.  It's one of the easiest ways to book free flights using points – and one of the only ways to make it absolutely free. 
Say I wanted to take a last-minute trip to visit my friends in Washington, D.C. for Memorial Day weekend. This pricey $409 roundtrip flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Washington, D.C.-Reagan (DCA) would only cost me 32,716 Chase points to book. 
 

 
Using other points currencies like Capital One Venture miles, you'll pay closer to 40,900 miles for the exact same flights. 
 

 
Unless you luck out with a  flash sale , you won't even get as good of a deal with Delta's own SkyMiles .
 
 
The cheaper the fare, the fewer Chase points you need to cover it. Whether you find a cheap flight through Google Flights or get a flight deal alert like this one from Thrifty Traveler Premium , you should be able to pull up those exact flights in the Chase Travel portal. 

 
After meeting my new card's minimum spending requirement and earning the 75,000-point welcome bonus, I'll have enough points to cover roundtrip flights to Iceland (KEF) for me and my fiancé this summer – the best time to visit!
 

 
You don't have to be a points and miles wizard to get good value for your Chase points. It's the main reason why the Chase Sapphire Preferred card remains my go-to travel card, and by getting it again (and earning another welcome bonus), I'll have even more Chase points at my disposal for upcoming trips. 
 
Book More Flights With Transfer Partners 
There's absolutely nothing wrong with using your Chase points to book flights through the Chase Travel portal. It doesn't take a ton of legwork and you'll always be getting a better deal using Chase points than booking cash. 
But I'd be lying if I said that was the only reason I want to earn another bonus on the Sapphire Preferred Card. To me, business class flights always seemed well out of reach … until I learned how powerful it can be transferring credit card points to airline partners . 
 

 
It's more complicated, but it's the key to getting more value out of your Chase points.
By transferring my Chase points to any of Chase's airline partners , I can use them to book flights for far fewer points. That includes bucket-list-worthy flights at the front of the cabin that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars – or hundreds of thousands of points booking another way.
Using Chase's transfer partners, I can turn 50,000 Chase points into 50,000 Flying Blue miles and book a lie-flat, business class seat to Amsterdam (AMS) on KLM for just 50,000 miles plus about $200 in taxes and fees. Booking through the Chase portal as usual, this same flight would cost nearly 300,000 points!
 

 
To get home from Europe, I can easily transfer 15,000 Chase points to another airline partner, Virgin Atlantic , to book this one-way economy flight back to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP). 
 

 
That's right: That 75,000-point bonus for opening the Chase Sapphire Preferred card again can easily get me a roundtrip flight to Europe next year – and a fancy business class experience, too – with a few thousand points leftover for another trip. 
Chase has some of the best transfer partners in the game, including three domestic airlines (JetBlue, Southwest and United), making it one of the best cards for domestic travel . Or I could transfer some points to Hyatt – the best hotel chain for redeeming points – and book a free night or two. 
Read more: 10 Great Ways to Spend a Big Chase Points Bonus
 
Excellent Travel Protections
Even though the Chase Sapphire Preferred is no longer the only travel card in my wallet, it's still the one I put down when booking flights – and one I always pack when I'm heading abroad. 
The Sapphire Preferred Card comes with built-in travel insurance that provides better coverage than any the airline might try to sell me . If my trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather, or other covered situations, I can get reimbursed for any nonrefundable travel expenses booked with my card, including airfare, tours, and hotels. 
Plus, should my flight be delayed and I get stuck somewhere, I know that slapping my Sapphire Preferred card down for a surprise hotel night means I can get reimbursed later on. 
Not to mention that the Sapphire Preferred Card doesn't charge foreign transaction fees , making it a great card to swipe at restaurants and shops abroad. 
Related reading: A Firsthand Experience Using Chase's Trip Delay Insurance  
 
Bottom Line
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is the oldest travel card in my wallet, but I'm planning to downgrade it to one of Chase's no-annual-fee cashback cards … just so I can open a Sapphire Preferred card all over again.
There are plenty of reasons I want the Sapphire Preferred card again, but none more important than earning another big bonus on the card. And since Chase is currently out with a big welcome offer of 75,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of card membership, it's time to put my plan in action.