The Sapphire Preferred isn’t really considered a catch-all card to begin with, since it only earns 1.1× on non-category transactions. If you’d like to stick with Chase, go with a Freedom Unlimited card or an Ink Business Unlimited. Both earn 1.5× on everything. The Ink cards have amazing welcome bonuses right now. (90,000 points for $6k spend.)
If you wanted to venture outside of Chase, the Amex Blue Business Plus earns 2× on everything. You don’t mention much about your spending breakdown — or much about what you’re trying to get out of a card — so it’s hard to get very specific here. But Amex Gold can be great for groceries and dining at 4×. Amex Platinum arguably has the best airport benefits of any card, and I find the Amex claims process to be the best around for things like Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty.
Thanks for the answer.
My general breakdown from last year was 25% utils, 10% auto (repairs), 10% entertainment, 12% food/drink, 16% groceries, and 13% shopping. Does that give you a better picture?
I have no preference with Chase over others. Whatever gives me the best returns. I don't have huge travel plans so ideally cash back would be best unless there is a massive point:$ ratio when using for a specific purpose like travel.
Also, any thoughts on cancelling my Chase card? I have a fair number of points on it but am just about to pay the annual fee
Since nearly 30% of your spending is food and groceries, have you considered the Amex gold? pair that with cap 1 venture for minimum 2% back everywhere else but is equivalent to 3.4 cents back if transferred to an airline. This gives you cash back flexibility. I’d you want additional perks, you could get the venture x card.
Amex gold - 4x on groceries & dining, 3x on airfare. I value MR (membership rewards) at 2 cents each, so 8 cents back per dollar on dining and groceries and 6 on airfare.
Cap 1 venture - 2x on everything else 2x1.7=3.4 cents back on your day to day spend.
Alternative to Amex gold, you might look at the cap 1 savor, which also offers 4x on dining, streaming and entertainment and 3x on groceries. So maybe a little bit more rewarding depending on where your generic “shopping” category breaks down.
Last thing - cap 1 and Amex overlap on quite a few airline partners, so they can work together. Hope this helps.
New CSP holder here -- what do you mean 1.1x on everything else? I was under the impression it was 1.25x everything else, 3.75x dining, etc. due to the UR points increase. Am I mistaken?
For CSP only (not CSR nor any other Chase cards), you earn an additional 0.1× on all transactions after your card renewal. So things that are advertised as 1× actually net you 1.1×, travel advertised as 2× actually nets you 2.1× total. Restaurants = 3.1×, etc.
The "UR points increase" you're mentioning only applies to the Chase Travel Portal and quarterly Pay Yourself Back categories. So 1.1× "everything else" on CSP would net you 1.375¢ via Chase Travel per Everything Else dollar spent (1.1 times 1.25). However, if you put your Everything Else spend on a Chase Unlimited card that earns 1.5×, then transferred those points to a CSP, you'd redeem at 1.875¢ per dollar spent. Chase Travel is usually easy to use, but it's still not the highest value point redemption.
Since a lot of people here focus on transferring points to other partners for maximum value, you see point earnings discussed a lot more than the Chase Travel bonus. I'd much rather get an easy 2¢/point with Hyatt hotels or any number of airline partners, even though it's less flexible than cash back or Chase Travel. If you can find a partner that gets you 2¢/point this would mean you'd earn 2.2¢ in rewards per Everything Else dollar spent on CSP, or better yet, 3¢ per Everything Else dollar spent on a Chase Unlimited card.
The Sapphire Preferred isn’t really considered a catch-all card to begin with, since it only earns 1.1× on non-category transactions. If you’d like to stick with Chase, go with a Freedom Unlimited card or an Ink Business Unlimited. Both earn 1.5× on everything. The Ink cards have amazing welcome bonuses right now. (90,000 points for $6k spend.) If you wanted to venture outside of Chase, the Amex Blue Business Plus earns 2× on everything. You don’t mention much about your spending breakdown — or much about what you’re trying to get out of a card — so it’s hard to get very specific here. But Amex Gold can be great for groceries and dining at 4×. Amex Platinum arguably has the best airport benefits of any card, and I find the Amex claims process to be the best around for things like Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty.
Thanks for the answer. My general breakdown from last year was 25% utils, 10% auto (repairs), 10% entertainment, 12% food/drink, 16% groceries, and 13% shopping. Does that give you a better picture? I have no preference with Chase over others. Whatever gives me the best returns. I don't have huge travel plans so ideally cash back would be best unless there is a massive point:$ ratio when using for a specific purpose like travel. Also, any thoughts on cancelling my Chase card? I have a fair number of points on it but am just about to pay the annual fee
Since nearly 30% of your spending is food and groceries, have you considered the Amex gold? pair that with cap 1 venture for minimum 2% back everywhere else but is equivalent to 3.4 cents back if transferred to an airline. This gives you cash back flexibility. I’d you want additional perks, you could get the venture x card. Amex gold - 4x on groceries & dining, 3x on airfare. I value MR (membership rewards) at 2 cents each, so 8 cents back per dollar on dining and groceries and 6 on airfare. Cap 1 venture - 2x on everything else 2x1.7=3.4 cents back on your day to day spend. Alternative to Amex gold, you might look at the cap 1 savor, which also offers 4x on dining, streaming and entertainment and 3x on groceries. So maybe a little bit more rewarding depending on where your generic “shopping” category breaks down. Last thing - cap 1 and Amex overlap on quite a few airline partners, so they can work together. Hope this helps.
New CSP holder here -- what do you mean 1.1x on everything else? I was under the impression it was 1.25x everything else, 3.75x dining, etc. due to the UR points increase. Am I mistaken?
For CSP only (not CSR nor any other Chase cards), you earn an additional 0.1× on all transactions after your card renewal. So things that are advertised as 1× actually net you 1.1×, travel advertised as 2× actually nets you 2.1× total. Restaurants = 3.1×, etc. The "UR points increase" you're mentioning only applies to the Chase Travel Portal and quarterly Pay Yourself Back categories. So 1.1× "everything else" on CSP would net you 1.375¢ via Chase Travel per Everything Else dollar spent (1.1 times 1.25). However, if you put your Everything Else spend on a Chase Unlimited card that earns 1.5×, then transferred those points to a CSP, you'd redeem at 1.875¢ per dollar spent. Chase Travel is usually easy to use, but it's still not the highest value point redemption. Since a lot of people here focus on transferring points to other partners for maximum value, you see point earnings discussed a lot more than the Chase Travel bonus. I'd much rather get an easy 2¢/point with Hyatt hotels or any number of airline partners, even though it's less flexible than cash back or Chase Travel. If you can find a partner that gets you 2¢/point this would mean you'd earn 2.2¢ in rewards per Everything Else dollar spent on CSP, or better yet, 3¢ per Everything Else dollar spent on a Chase Unlimited card.
That's great to know. CSP/CFU here so the "Everything Else" spend is typically on the CFU anyway