These 3 Cards get me $15,000 in Travel EVERY YEAR

[00:00] One of the best ways to take epic trips, fly business class and stay in luxury hotels is through points and miles from credit cards. In fact, my wife and I once traveled full time for six months thanks in part to a huge stash of points that we earned with over 20 credit cards.

[00:17] Here's the thing though, you don't have to go credit card crazy like we did to travel for free. In fact, the average person can take one or two free trips every year if they have three specific

[00:29] cards and they know how to properly use them. So in this video, I'll show you that exact three card setup. I'll show you how to turn your everyday spending into free travel and if you stick around till the end, I'll also show a couple fun modifiers I use to earn $15,000 worth of travel

[00:46] or more every year like this trip we took last fall using points that should have cost over $27,000. But first, there's something you gotta know and getting this right on the front end could be the

[00:58] difference between flying in a cramped basic economy seat and an epic life-flat business class seat. It's how to earn an elevated point value on every purchase you make. What does that mean?

[01:11] Well, most credit cards out there allow you to earn at least one point per dollar on any purchase you make and that's okay, it's better than earning no points. But let's be honest, you can and should

[01:23] be earning at least 1.5 times points on everything if not two times three times or more. So here are three cards every traveler needs that when used strategically will allow you to do exactly that.

[01:38] First, you need a well-rounded travel card that earns bonus points on travel purchases and allows you to transfer those points to a number of different airlines and hotels so you're not locked into one

[01:50] program. Ideally, this card also offers other travel perks and benefits like rental car coverage or even lounge access. Second, you need a card that earns extra points in categories where you already

[02:02] do a lot of spending. For example, groceries or gas or let's say you have a business or a side hustle. Why not have a card that earns you elevated points on those business expenses? Card number three is a card that earns extra points on everything else. This is commonly called a catch all card and it's

[02:19] very simple. You earn an elevated rate of points on everything. Those are the three types of cards and there's one more crucial element to making all this work. You're able to pool the points together. This special grouping of three cards that work together is commonly called a trifecta.

[02:37] And there's multiple trifectas in the credit card world but one of the best trifectas out there is the chase trifecta. I'll explain some variations at the end but the most common and in my opinion, the best for beginners is this one because it allows you to, one, earn one of the most powerful

[02:52] points currencies out there, chase ultimate rewards that can be transferred to several different airlines and hotels. Two, it helps you get that elevated point value on every purchase you make. And three, it only has a total annual fee of $95 per year. Let's start with the card in this

[03:10] trifecta that earns you extra points in areas that you probably already spend a lot. The chase freedom flex. This card is an amazing card because it allows you to earn extra ultimate rewards points on specific categories like groceries or gas stations or your gym membership with no annual fee.

[03:28] Now, this card is technically a cashback card. And while there's nothing wrong with that, cashback is not as helpful in the pursuit of free travel as points and miles. Here's where things get fun.

[03:40] When paired with one of the other cards in this trifecta, you can convert that cashback into ultimate rewards points. It's kind of like alchemy, except instead of being burned at the stake, you get to fly business class for free. So to illustrate, this card earns 5% cashback on up to $1,500

[03:57] and spending per quarter in rotating categories like groceries, gas stations, and more. But when you combine it with that other card, that 5% becomes 5 points per dollar, which is an amazing rate. This

[04:11] card also earns 5% on travel purchased through chases travel portal and 3% on drug stores and dining. Right now, when you sign up for this card, you'll earn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 on purchases

[04:24] in the first three months of opening your account, which is effectively 20,000 ultimate rewards points. Nothing to sneeze at. Next, we need our catch all card that card that earns us extra points on

[04:36] everything. This is the Chase Freedom Unlimited. Similar to the Freedom Flex, this card has no annual fee, and it's also technically a cashback card. The big perk is you earn 1.5% back or 1.5

[04:50] X points on every dollar you spend. Right now, when you sign up for this card, Chase is throwing in an extra 1.5% on everything you buy on up to $20,000 spent in the first year. So three times points

[05:03] instead of just 1.5. Plus, 6.5 on travel purchased through Chase and 4.5 on drug stores and dining. Both this card and the Freedom Flex are great by themselves, especially given they have no annual fee,

[05:17] but they are infinitely more powerful when paired with the final card of this trifecta. The Chase Sapphire Preferred. This is the travel card of the trifecta and pound for pound, my top recommended

[05:29] card for travel rewards because it earns those valuable Chase Ultimate rewards points and it comes with a palatable annual fee of only 95 bucks. Now, if that fee bothers you, one cool thing is you get an annual $50 statement credit for hotel stays, which effectively makes the fee only $45. Not to mention,

[05:46] it's got all kinds of spending multipliers too. You get 5X points on travel book through Chase. You get 3X on dining and 2X on all other travel purchases. And you get a 25% points boost on any

[05:59] travel book through Chase. Plus, a bunch of other travel related perks and protections like primary rental car coverage, trip delay and cancellation insurance, baggage delay, loss luggage, and more. At the time of filming this video, the current welcome offer for this card is 60,000

[06:13] bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Chase values that at around $750 when you book through Chase travel, but you can stretch those points much, much further when using transfer partners. My take is you can get $1,200 or more worth

[06:30] of value simply from achieving the welcome bonus. And that's not even including what you earned from your own spend. So putting it all in action, you could use all three of these cards together like this. Use the Freedom Flex to get 5X points on gas, groceries, your gym membership,

[06:46] Amazon. Remember this rotates quarterly, so it's going to kind of depend by quarter. Three x points on dining using any of these cards, two x points on travel using the Sapphire preferred, and 1.5 x points on everything else thanks to that freedom unlimited. Your dog needs

[07:02] surgery, 1.5 x points. Pay your water bill, 1.5 x points. And because you've got the Sapphire preferred, you're able to pool all of these points together as ultimate rewards for epic travel

[07:14] bookings through Chase or by transferring them directly to airlines and hotels, all for only $95 a year, 45 if you use that hotel credit. Now if you are interested in more travel perks, you could sub the Chase Sapphire preferred for its older brother, the Sapphire Reserve. I say instead

[07:31] of because you can only have one. The Chase Sapphire Reserve does everything the preferred does except it earns three x points on travel. It comes with a priority pass membership, which gives you access

[07:43] to over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide. And it also comes with a credit to use for TSA precheck, or global entry. Plus, you can earn far more points when booking through Chase Travel.

[07:55] That card has a $550 annual fee, but you get a $300 travel credit every year, which effectively reduces that fee to $250 bucks. I think for most travelers, the preferred card

[08:08] makes more sense than this one. But if you book a lot through Chase Travel or you travel enough to fully utilize all the benefits, it could be worth the upgrade. Okay, now here's a very fun

[08:20] modifier that I use to earn hundreds of thousands of Chase Ultimate rewards points every year. Chase's ink cards. If you have a small business or even a side hustle, you can most likely qualify for one

[08:32] of Chase's business cards and really take this whole thing to the next level. And when I say side hustle, I mean it. I'm talking walking dogs for money. I'm talking buying stuff at garage sales and flipping them on eBay. You have a small business leveraging a Chase business card like the ink

[08:49] business preferred allows you to turn other regular purchases into more Ultimate rewards points. There's a whole suite of ink cards, but my favorite is the ink business preferred, which earns $3.00 per dollar on shipping purchases, advertising your internet, cable, and phone bills. And of course,

[09:06] all business travel. At the time of filming this video, it's got an unheard of sign-up bonus of 120,000 Ultimate rewards points after $8,000 worth of spend in the first three months.

[09:18] And I know, I know. Eight grand sounds like a lot, but the spend requirement has been way higher before for a way smaller bonus. So this is actually a fantastic way to not only unlock new points

[09:31] earning opportunities, but also start your journey with a massive stash of Ultimate rewards points. I'm also a big fan of the ink business unlimited card, which is basically the business equivalent of the Chase Freedom Unlimited. It earns 1.5x points on all business expenses. So here's what this

[09:48] looks like in practice in my household, and exactly how we are currently sitting on a stash of over 300,000 Ultimate rewards points without recently signing up for any new Chase cards. All of our personal travel and dining goes on the Chase Sapphire Reserve, where we get 3x points.

[10:04] All of our business expenses, including the cost of running this channel, go on either the ink business preferred for 3x points, or the ink business unlimited for 1.5x points. And this really

[10:16] just depends by category. And all other personal spending are bills, daycare, everything goes on the Chase Freedom Unlimited, where we earn 1.5x points. Whether the card is in my name, whether it's in my

[10:31] wife's name, we can pool all of these points together because Chase allows you to combine business and personal points as well as combined points with your spouse. This exact approach enabled us

[10:43] last year to book life flat business class seats for two from Chicago to Vienna, which are worth almost $6,500 a piece, and United Polaris business class from Munich to Chicago for over $7,000 a piece,

[10:57] which altogether would have cost over $27,000 retail. Now you may notice I didn't mention the Freedom Flex, and that's because it's not currently in either of our wallets. Neither of us have been

[11:10] under 524 for a while now. And this is Chase's rule around how many cards you can open. Basically, if you've opened more than five cards in the past 24 months, Chase will automatically deny you.

[11:23] So keep that in mind as you consider applying for Chase cards, and it's why I typically recommend if someone is just beginning their credit card journey, they consider starting with Chase cards. This is also a great time to say don't go apply for three credit cards at once. Take your time to

[11:39] build this stack. If you're starting from scratch, I'd probably grab the Chase Freedom Unlimited first, and then one of the Sapphire cards. The Chase Sapphire Preferred tends to run an elevated sign-up bonus at least once per year, and so if you're patient and you want to be notified the next time

[11:56] they're running a promotion, be sure to sign up for my email list below. I've linked to every card mentioned in this video, including the all-time high sign-up bonus on the ink business preferred down below this video, and if you end up applying for one, please consider using these links

[12:11] to support our channel. If you want to go deeper on points and miles and how to redeem the rewards you earn, be sure to check out this video. Thank you so much for watching. Happy travels.