One of the things that initially held me back with the whole credit card and travel hacking game is that I didn’t really understand where to begin. There was a lot of information that I needed to know if I wanted to play the game right and when you come in with no knowledge, it can be pretty intimidating to get started.
Looking back, what I really wanted was for someone to just tell me what to do. If I wanted to start travel hacking today, from scratch, what was the exact credit card (or credit cards) I should get?
Up until recently, even that question wasn’t completely clear thanks to some nuances that muddied the waters. However, some recent rule changes from Chase – changes that were designed to make it harder to accumulate points – have actually come with the side benefit of making the beginning process much easier for the new travel hacker. Instead of a myriad of card choices, under the current credit card rules, there’s basically just one or two cards that everyone should start their travel hacking journey with.
This post is the one that I wish someone had written for me back when I was first starting out on this whole travel hacking adventure. If you’re brand new to this world and you want someone to tell you what to do, this post will do just that.
What Should Be My First Card?
In my opinion, you’ve basically got five cards to choose from for your first card. These cards include:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred OR Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase Ink Preferred OR Chase Ink Unlimited OR Chase Ink Cash
The first two cards (the Sapphire brand of cards) are personal credit cards that are available to anyone. The second group of cards (the Ink brand of cards) are business credit cards, which are available to anyone who has a business or side hustle of some sort. In most circumstances, going for these cards first will put you in the optimal position to maximize your points and miles.
In the past, it was possible to get all of the above cards (and this was the best way to get started in the past), but a change to the One Sapphire Rule means that you can now only get one of the Sapphire brands of cards – either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Sapphire Reserve. You can’t get them both now under the current Chase rules.
Along with either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve, most people should also be able to get the Chase Ink Preferred, Chase Ink Cash, or Chase Ink Unlimited. These are business credit cards, so there are some requirements to qualify for them (namely, you need to have a business). Still, most people should be able to qualify for these cards – in today’s world, we should all have a business, whether we know it or not.
Note, there are some prerequisites to think about. Travel hacking requires premium credit cards, and premium cards generally require a decent credit history. When I got into the whole travel hacking world, I already had ten years of credit history built up since I opened up my first credit card back in college. If you don’t have at least a year of credit history, take a year or two to build up your credit card foundation first before going for cards like this.
Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve
You’ve basically got three choices to go with for your first card. I’m going to start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Sapphire Reserve first.
Both cards are personal cards, which means that there are no special requirements to get them beyond having a good credit score. If you’re new to credit cards and travel hacking, then the 5/24 rule probably won’t apply to you, but be sure to read up on the 5/24 rule to make sure you can qualify for these cards. The rule basically says that if you’ve opened up 5 or more credit cards in the past 24 months, you will not be eligible for most Chase credit cards, including the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve.
As mentioned, in the past, it was possible to get both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Chase then implemented a rule that said you could only get one of these cards. Thus, when starting out, you have to choose which card you want to get – the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
What’s the difference between these two cards? Here are the main things to know:
Chase Sapphire Preferred
- Annual Fee: $95 (not waived in the first year)
- Signup Bonus: 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Annual Fee: $550 (not waived in the first year)
- Signup Bonus: 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
- Other Benefits: $300 in travel credits each cardmember year; Priority Pass; $100 Global Entry Credit; $60 per year of DoorDash credit until 2021; Lyft Pink membership
My recommendation. I think that given the current rules, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is the best option to go for. Even though it comes with a hefty $550 fee upfront, the benefits, for me at least. make it worthwhile and cover the cost of the annual fee.
If you’re just absolutely terrified of the high annual fee, then you can go with the Chase Sapphire Preferred as your first card. It does have the advantage of offering more Chase Ultimate Rewards Points and is an easy beginner card to start with.
Chase Ink Preferred vs. Chase Ink Cash vs. Chase Ink Unlimited
Once you’ve got one either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Sapphire Reserve, I highly recommend getting a business credit card – either the Chase Ink Preferred, the Chase Ink Cash, or the Chase Ink Unlimited. In order to qualify for any of these business credit cards, you obviously need to have some sort of business.
Luckily, in today’s world, everyone should have a business. A business doesn’t have to be a big thing or a brick and mortar business. Nor does it have to be something that earns a ton of income. In fact, if you’re earning any income outside of your day job, that makes you a business. That includes things like reselling stuff on Craigslist or eBay, doing gig economy stuff like Uber or DoorDash, or anything that even has the potential to make money, such as having a blog. If you really don’t have any side hustle that qualifies you for a business card, I highly recommend picking up some side hustle because it’s well worth it to have one, if for nothing else than to open yourself up for business credit cards (I think of these business credit cards as the ultimate tool for travel hackers).
When you apply for the Chase Ink Preferred, Chase Ink Cash, or Chase Ink Unlimited, apply as a sole proprietor (unless you have some sort of incorporated business). On the application, the name on the card is your name, and the business name is just your name. So, if you deliver food with Postmates, your card name is your name, and your business name is your name. Your business ID would be your personal social security number (you don’t need a special tax ID to be a sole proprietor).
Which business card you pick will really depend on how many points you are trying to earn and how much spending you can do. The Chase Ink Preferred offers the most points, at 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points, but it has a hefty minimum spend requirement of $15,000 in three months. This will make it difficult for a lot of people to earn the bonus on this card.
The Chase Ink Cash and the Chase Ink Unlimited both offer 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points for $3,000 worth of spend in three months. This makes these two cards much more realistic for most of us.
Below is a comparison of the three cards:
Chase Ink Preferred
- Annual Fee: $95
- Signup Bonus: 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
- Other Benefits: 3x points on first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, and on advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines (downside to this card is that it has a high minimum spend requirement of $15,000 in first 3 months)
Chase Ink Cash
- Annual Fee: $0
- Signup Bonus: 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
- Other Benefits: 5x points on first $25,000 spent at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services; 2x points on first $25,000 spent at gas stations and restaurants
Chase Ink Unlimited
- Annual Fee: $0
- Signup Bonus: 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
- Other Benefits: 1.5x points on all purchases
My Recommendation. In the past, the obvious choice was the Chase Ink Preferred because of the high signup bonus it offered. Unfortunately, due to the high minimum spend requirement, this is now a tougher card to recommend unless you have a lot of spending that you can put on a credit card. If you can hit the minimum spend requirement, then I’d recommend going for the Chase Ink Preferred. Otherwise, I’d likely go with the Chase Ink Cash or Chase Ink Unlimited, with a slight edge to the Chase Ink Cash due to the bonus categories it offers.
Note that business credit cards have the added advantage of not appearing on your credit report, which means that if you’re one of those people that think opening up new cards will hurt your credit, you can go with one of these Chase business cards and all it’ll do is show up as a hard inquiry on your credit report. The actual account won’t appear on your credit report and can’t be seen by anyone.
If you want more information about how business credit cards work, you can check out this post: Business Credit Cards: The Ultimate Tool For Travel Hackers.
Continue On Your Travel Hacking Journey
If you’re a new travel hacker, these are generally the cards that you should be starting out with in order to optimize your entry into the travel hacking world. If you start with these cards – either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve, plus the Chase Ink Preferred, Chase Ink Cash, or Chase Ink Unlimited – you’ll put yourself in a great position to fly for free using travel rewards.
To recap, if you’re brand new to the world of travel hacking and aren’t quite sure what to do, these should be your first two cards:
- Pick either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
- Get the Chase Ink Preferred, Chase Ink Cash, or Chase Ink Unlimited if you earn any income outside of your day job or do anything on the side with the potential to earn income. Which card you pick will depend on the level of spend you think you can hit and which bonus categories are more useful to you.
After starting with these two cards, you’ll have a lot of options to choose from. If you need more advice, please feel free to take advantage of my free credit card consultation where I’ll gather some information from you and provide you with personalized advice specific to your situation.
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:
- GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
- Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($10) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Moomoo (5 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 5 free stocks (usually worth around $75-$100) if you open an account using a referral link and deposit $2,000. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (5 free stocks) – Webull also gives you 5 free stock valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free stocks using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($100) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $100 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- Upgrade ($100) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $100 referral bonus if you open an account and complete three debit card transactions. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Importantly, this bonus says that it’s now scheduled to end on January 31, 2023. As long as you get your account opened before January 31st, you should be eligible. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $100 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link.Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($100) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- OnJuno ($60) – OnJuno is a fintech/neobank that is currently offering a $10 referral bonus if you open an account using a referral link and make a deposit of $50 or more. You will also get 1000 JCOIN. The 1000 of JCOIN is cryptocurrency. At the time I'm writing this, it'll be worth about $50. Check out my OnJuno referral bonus guide here.
- Varo ($30) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $30 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Albert ($150) – If you can manage to do a real direct deposit, Albert is an easy account you can use to earn a referral bonus. Here’s a review about Albert I wrote. And here’s a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Albert referral bonus.
- Netspend ($20 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $20 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $20 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- DCU. Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $100 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a savings account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000.
- Novo Bank. Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. It’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
Brilliant! I would’ve guessed one of the Chase cards. We rolled with Sapphire, but that was before the Reserve came out. We then each signed up for the Ink card for our respective businesses. Thank you Chase for the points!
Yeah, you always start with either the CSP or the CSR, or the CIP. It used to be a little more complicated because the optimal opening strategy was to actually do the “double-dip” and get both the CSP and CSR on the same day. That made it a little more complicated since asking a newbie credit card churner to open up two credit cards on the same day is not an easy sell, even if it is the optimal play.
The double dop loophole was just plugged a few weeks ago, which sucks because that means everyone is short 50,000 chase points now, BUT, it means that it’s easier to get started since you don’t have to think about the double dip option anymore.
Totally agree with your post. Whether luck or not, this is how I got started. I was able to open the CSP collect 50K points, the CSR and collect 100K points. Since then I’ve downgraded the CSP to CFU and kept the CSR due to its perks. I’ve also been opening Chase business cards which recently have offered 50K points and do not count towards the 5/24 rule and have no annual fees!!!!. CIP is next for both my wife and I. We are just waiting to time a couple of expenses that should took place in a few months. Great post FP.
I just read on another travel blogger’s website that downgrading from the Chase Sapphire Reserved could devalue your points…
“Just a few things to keep in mind if you plan to downgrade. Make sure you have another credit card like the Ink Preferred or a spouse with an Ink or a Sapphire to ensure you still have access to Chase’s airline and hotel transfer partners.
If you don’t, it’s not a good idea to downgrade. Any Ultimate Rewards points in your account would devalue to a fixed 1 cent per point value and only be usable for the Chase travel portal and cash back rewards.”
Would it be better to downgrade from the Reserve to the Preferred instead of a no-annual fee Freedom card to retain the value of your points?
Hey CJ, you don’t need to downgrade to the CSP (Chase Sapphire Preferred) because of two reasons.
1) You can always upgrade a downgraded card back to the CSR (Chase Sapphire Reserve) or CSP (Chase Sapphire Preferred) if and when you need to transfer to travel partners or use the portal. In other words, just wait until you actually need the travel portal or transfer partners and then upgrade when you need it. There’s a more advanced strategy I use to do this as well that you can email me and I can share how it works if you happen to have a Chase Freedom and a Chase Sapphire Reserve.
2) You can and should be getting the Chase Ink Preferred (CIP), which also gives you access to the travel portal. If you’re travel hacking with any regularity, you will likely always have a CIP active at some point (and this is doubly true if you have a P2). Given this, there’s likely not much reason to downgrade to the CSP just to keep access to transfer partners, since you’ll almost always have a card that has access to the travel partners anyway.
Hope that makes sense.