Costco members/Chase Freedom

Re: Costco members/Chase Freedom

• als1982 member

  

  June 2016

  We don't spend enough at Costco to make only 1% on other purchases worth it, but I've been thinking about the travel card you've recommended before, the one that you can transfer miles to the airline of your choice. Can you remind me which one that is? And will you send me a referral link? If we go for it, you might as well get some free points from it!

  HeartlandHustle | Personal Finance and Betterment Blog  

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• hoffse member

  

  June 2016

  @als1982 thanks!  PM me with your email address, and I'll send along the referral link.  I think it usually takes a few days to show up.

  
  

  The one we use a lot is the Chase Sapphire Preferred.  You can do 1:1 points transfers to a lot of reward programs.  We have used ours to transfer points to Southwest, United, and Hyatt.  They also have British Airways, which lets you book AA flights and they JUST added AirFrance/KLM, which will let you book Delta flights.  By transferring the points I can usually get at least 2 cents out of each point, sometimes significantly more.  The points transfers show up pretty much instantaneously.  It's great.

  
  

  For us the most valuable thing about it is that there are a few other cards that earn the same type of points ("Ultimate Rewards") and you can consolidate all of your points from the other cards onto the Sapphire account for transfer.  T

  
  

  he Freedom card is one of those, and the 5x points for the rotating categories has added up quickly for us.  I mentioned the wholesale club thing above, but next quarter they are also doing 5x points on restaurants and the fourth quarter is 5x points on holiday shopping (which historically has meant online shopping).  Anyway, when  you have the suite of Chase cards and use them strategically for their various categories, the points add up very quickly.  

  
  

  The other card that earns Ultimate Rewards are the Chase Ink cards.  They are business cards, but earn 5x points for cable and cell phone bills and also at office supply stores.  I buy gift cards at Office Depot all the time.  We spend a ton of money at Lowes, HD, and Amazon, so I buy gift cards to those places and just keep them around.  Given that I can get at least 2 cents out of each point, it's like getting 10% back at those stores all the time.

  
  

  I love the Sapphire card, but it really works best when you have a Freedom card and an Ink card to use with it.  We end up getting 5x points on a lot of our spending that way.  The Sapphire does 2x points on travel and restaurants, which is decent... but the real value of it is the ability to consolidate and transfer points and use it overseas (it has no foreign transaction fees and they give you bonus points for overseas restaurants, trains, etc.).

  
  

  
  

  

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• hoffse member

  

  June 2016

  Forgot to add: spouses can transfer points to each other too.  I am the primary account owner for our Sapphire card, but H is the primary account owner for our Ink card.

  

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• cbee817 member

  

  June 2016

  Which we had costco around here...  

  

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• jtmh2012 mod

  

  June 2016

  We've got a Chase Freedom and a Costco membership.  Been waiting for them to flip over.  The only bad thing is I've been using them to finish off my old books of checks.
  

  
  

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• vlagrl35 member

  

  June 2016

  I'll have to tell DH.  He shops at costco more than I do and he has a chase card.  I'm excited we are getting a costco up here in the fall.  DH shops at the one downtown close to his studio.

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• short+sassy member

  

  June 2016

  hoffse said:

  Costco is switching to Visa on June 20.  The Chase Freedom card is offering 5% back on wholesale clubs (up to $1500 in spending) this quarter AND NEXT QUARTER, which ends Sept. 30.

  
  

  Once Costco switches to Visa, they will accept ALL Visas, not just the new Costco-branded Visa card from Citi.  Getting 5% back at Costco, in addition to the 2% for executive members, is a heck of a deal.

  
  

  The "wholesale club" category also applies to Sam's Club and BJ's.  

  
  

  EDIT: I just read a report saying that this 5% back deal on wholesale clubs is going to extend through the rest of the year!  I suspect Chase is trying to draw away some of the Citi Visa customers.  When Costco was on AmEx a lot of people never realized that Costco would take ANY AmEx, not just their own card.  

  Right on!  I have both and, let me tell you, the equivalent of 7% off for the rest of the year is enough to make me move even more of my grocery shopping there.

  B of A Visa always has (I think) 3% back for wholesale clubs.  I'm almost positive it is 3%, but it could be 2%.  I haven't been able to use it at either Sam's or Costco in the past, so I didn't pay much attention, lol.
  

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