The Best Credit Card Duo For Maximizing Your Points
There are a lot of great credit cards out there.
Personally I have 21 at the moment, and have seven cards that I most use for my everyday spend.
While I know some people are like me in terms of how many cards they have, I know other people say "I don't want that many cards, I could never keep track of them.
Give me a simpler strategy.".
In this post I wanted to share what I'd consider to be the single best credit card duo that earns you big rewards and gets you great benefits, all while keeping annual fees to a minimum.
If I could just have a total of two credit cards, these are the ones I'd get.
The key to unlocking value with the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
On its own, I don't consider the Chase Freedom Unlimited® to be that great.
Essentially the card earns 1.5x points per dollar spent, and each point can be redeemed for a penny, so it essentially offers a return of 1.5%.
If that's how you're using the card then there are better options, like the Citi® Double Cash Card, which offers 1% cash back on every purchase, plus an additional 1% cash back when you pay for those purchases.
But there's a way to unlock more value from the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.
If you have the card in conjunction with a card that accrues Ultimate Rewards points — specifically, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ Card, or Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card — then you can convert the points earned on the Freedom Unlimited into Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio.
This can easily be done online for free, and it's an instant process.
Using this method you go from earning 1.5 cents per dollar spent on the Freedom Unlimited to earning 1.5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent.
I value Ultimate Rewards points at ~1.7 cents each, so to me that's like increasing the value of the points you earn by 70%.
The perfect card duo.
With that in mind, what's the perfect card duo? As far as I'm concerned, the Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ Card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.
You'd pay a total of $450 in annual fees (the Reserve has a $450 annual fee, the Freedom Unlimited has no annual fee), and you'd earn:.
3x points on dining and travel (with the Reserve).
5x points on everything else (with the Freedom Unlimited).
But then you'd receive all kinds of other perks that make this a fabulously well rounded combination:.
The Reserve comes with a $300 annual travel credit that's automatically applied, so assuming you spend at least $300 on travel per year, that lowers the real "out of pocket" on the card to $150 per year.
You get a Priority Pass membership, which gets you access to 1,000+ lounges around the world.
You get a Global Entry fee credit every four years.
You get no foreign transaction fees, making this a great card for international purchases (especially since you'll largely be earning triple points on purchases abroad).
You get great travel protection for lost baggage, delayed flights, car rental coverage, etc.
Essentially between those two cards you'll get just about all the most valuable benefits offered by credit cards.
Crunching the numbers on this combination.
There are two ways to redeem points earned on the Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ Card most efficiently:.
You can transfer them to any of the Ultimate Rewards airline & hotel transfer partners, where you can get outsized value by redeeming for first & business class travel.
You can redeem Ultimate Rewards points for 1.
5 cents each towards the cost of a travel purchase, including flights, hotels, etc.
The latter redemption takes no skill, but rather you can redeem points for 1.5 cents each towards the cost of virtually any flight.
Given that, you'd be earning the following return (as credit towards travel) with this setup if you have both of these cards:.
5% return on travel and dining spend.
25% return on everything else.
That's an incredible return, especially when we're just talking about two cards.
Other potential complements/options.
If you want to keep things simple then skip this question, but for those who want to take this strategy one step further, there are a few other additions I should mention:.
You could complement the above two cards with the no annual fee Chase Freedom® Card, which offers 5x points in rotating quarterly categories, and similarly allows you to convert points into Ultimate Rewards points.
If you wanted a business card to maximize Ultimate Rewards points, you could get the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card, which offers a huge sign-up bonus of up to 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points, and offers triple points on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable, phone services, and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines.
If you don't want to pay the $450 annual fee on the Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ Card, you could instead get the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, which has a $95 annual fee (waived the first year), and offers double points on dining and travel.
Bottom line.
If you're new to miles and points, it's tough to beat the combination of the Chase Sapphire Reserve℠ Card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.
While you'd pay a total of $450 in annual fees, the way I see it the $300 annual travel credit is more or less worth face value, so I tend to think the real "out of pocket" on this combination is $150 per year.
For that you're getting triple points on dining and travel, 1.
5x points on everything else, a Priority Pass membership, incredible travel coverage, no foreign transaction fees, a Global Entry fee credit, and the ability to redeem points for 1.
5 cents each towards the cost of a travel purchase.
I don't think there's a better card duo out there.
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