Which Credit Card Should I Get First?

Ever since I started talking to my family and friends about how I learned to maximize Credit Card points and frequent flyer miles to travel for little to no money. I usually get asked the question, which credit card should I get first? This is obviously a very loaded question and ultimately depends on your travel preferences. However, if I would recommend a good starter card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred would be it. Now, this doesn’t mean it’s the best card, but it’s the card i would get first.

Before I explain why I think the Chase Sapphire Preferred should be the first card you get; let’s see the card’s benefits.

• Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening* – that’s $625 towards airfare or hotels when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards^®
• Earn 5,000 bonus points after you add the first authorized user and make a purchase in the first 3 months from account opening
• Earn 2X points on dining at restaurants from fast food to fine dining
• Earn 2X points on all travel from airfare and hotels to taxis and trains
• Earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Get 20% off travel when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 1:1 point transfer. Transfer points to participating frequent travel programs at full value
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Korean Air SKYPASS
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards^®
  • United MileagePlus^®
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
  • Hyatt Gold Passport^®
  • IHG^® Rewards Club
  • Marriott Rewards^®
  • The Ritz-Carlton Rewards^®
• ZERO foreign transaction fees
• $0 Introductory Annual Fee the first year, then $95
• The card looks and feels cool with it’s sleek metal design

As you can see, the card has some amazing perks and comes with $0 annual fee for the first year then $95 per year after that. But the question now is;

Why get the Chase Sapphire Preferred first?

The main reason is Chase’s tight approval conditions that I explained before in my understanding the Chase 5/24 rule post. This rule from Chase, basically means that; Chase generally doesn’t approve people for certain credit cards if they’ve applied for more than five credit cards in the past 24 months– That’s what we call the Chase 5/24 rule. So if you are planning on getting in the hobby of applying for credit cards to earn the sing-up bonuses and maximize the points you earn, the Chase Sapphire Preferred should be first on your list.

Now you might think that who cares about this one card, I’ll just apply for 20 other cards and use those points. That might be OK, but you’ll be losing on one of the most valuable type of points there is- Transferable Points. The value of Ultimate Rewards points lies in their ability to be transferred at 1:1 ratio to plenty of great airline and hotel partners.

Keep in mind, the Chase Freedom card also earns Ultimate Rewards points. However, you can use those points for cash back at 1c/point only. Now if you combine the points you earn with the Chase Freedom with the points you get from the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can transfer all of these points to your preferred airline or hotel transfer partner. Only the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Ink Plus Business Card allow you to transfer Ultimate Rewards Points.

Bottom Line:

In my opinion the Chase Sapphire Preferred card should be the first card you get. That’s not because it is the best card, but because it opens up a whole lot of opportunities by giving the ability to transfer the Ultimate Rewards points to any of the airline or hotel transfer partners. If you use your points strictly for cash back like the case with the Chase Freedom, you’ll only get a value of 1c/point. On the other hand, if you transfer your points to partners like Singapore Airlines or Korean Airlines, you can get a much higher value. I believe that the Chase Freedom card with it’s 5X points quarterly categories and the Chase Sapphire Preferred with it’s transfer partners are a great combo of credit cards to have in your wallet.

If you have any questions comment below or tweet me @pointspointers or email me at pointspointers@gmail.com