Daddy Travels Miles & Points

Why I finally applied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve

January 4, 2017March 21, 2018 daddytravels

I wrote a blog entry where I detailed my journey in getting pre approved the Chase Sapphire Reserve. What’s the big deal? A credit card is a card, right? Do I really need another credit card? That could open up a whole debate. There are folks who don’t even want a credit card. Good for them. There are folks who are also content with having just one credit card….hey, good for them, too. There’s a fear of temptation to spend and fortunately, we’re disciplined enough NOT to use credit cards for meaningless expenditures. Instead of paying in cash, we just use our credit card/s. That’s all. We pay our bills timely, and in full, every month. That’s why I tell folks that this miles/points hobby will only work if you pay your bills in full monthly and reap the benefits it comes with.

So back to what’s the big deal with the Chase Sapphire Reserve? I’ve been wanting to get a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve) but could not get pre approved because I had too many cards that I’ve opened in the past two years. It didn’t matter how excellent of a credit score I had, nor how decent of an income I had. Chase was just too strict with folks with lots of cards open in the past 24 months. But I found a way to clean up my credit report, and after 2.5 months of clean-up focus, I was finally informed that I got pre approved to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR).

The CSR is Chase’s newest card, the creme de la creme. For details on the perks of this card, click here….it’s the entry I wrote as to why this card is so great. But in a nutshell this card offers:

• 100,000 bonus points (so using my Hawaii trip example, that could be valued close to $3,000 or four round trip tickets to Hawaii).
• $300 Travel Credit
• Complimentary access to airport lounges
• Global Entry or TSA Pre Check Fee Credit (a $100 value)
• 3x on travel and dining worldwide
• No Foreign Transaction Fees
• $450 Annual Fee (not waived) – but the travel perks help cover that fee

After 2.5 months of working to clean-up my credit, and once I got the pre approval, you would think I’d jump on it and apply immediately. Well, that wasn’t exactly the case. I decided to hold off. The 100,000 bonus points were still available and as of Dec. 22 (the day I was informed of the pre approval), there was no news as to when Chase would kill the bonus.

Fast forward two weeks later. On January 3rd, one of my favorite travel/credit card bloggers, The Points Guy, posted this article, Last Chance For Chase Sapphire Reserve 100,000 point online bonus. 

I was in the office at the time, and I knew I needed to pull the trigger. I called my Chase banker who happened to be at lunch. I decided to apply in person since this banker has been so patient with me. In fact, I’ve been working with three other bankers over the past three months. They’ve all been so good to me. I could’ve applied over the phone. But I decided to go to the nearest Chase close to my office. After sitting down with him and informing him that I want to apply for the CSR, it only took a few keystrokes, a few questions about my income, address, and finally a printout….that was it. It wasn’t a whole application process. It was swift!

In between the application process, I actually told him all the wonderful trips we’ve been on and how these points, when used to their potential, could really result to amazing vacations. His eyes popped when I told him of out trips to:

• Hawaii (Maui, Kauai, Oahu) – where I helped 21 of my friends and family go to Hawaii for $11 each using 25,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Points
• London, Budapest, Prague – we used 120,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
• Lisbon, Barcelona, Madrid, Paris – we used 240,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points and treated ourselves to beautiful hotels…where for three weeks, our airfare cost was $528 for four of us, and our hotel stays were FREE
• Australia – where we stayed at the

  

  Park Hyatt Sydney, where the nightly cost was over $1,000/night, and where we had breakfast with Justin Timberlake (yes, he was 50 feet away LOL).

My Chase banker (new friend) was dumbfounded (in a positive way). He said, “you should work for Chase!” Maybe I should! LOL!!! Kidding aside, prior to the CSR approval, it was many thanks to cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred (click for more info), one of my favorite Chase cards.

 

So there! I finally pulled the trigger. In a few days, my own Chase Sapphire Reserve under my own name will be coming via UPS. Now the next problem is – what do I do with 100,000 bonus points….naaaahhh, not a problem. I’ve got trips already circling in my head!