I hope this title isn’t click bait, because that’s not what I want at all.
And before you start freaking out on me, don’t worry, there are no scary affiliate links that are going to jump out at you. Boo! I have not sold out. This isn’t some shameless fucking promotion or money grab.
What I do on here, week in and week out, is tell stories. And that’s what this will be… a story. My story with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card.
Okay, so let’s preface, I don’t know shit about travel reward credit cards. It has never been my thing. So, if you have some good tips for me or suggestions from your own experience, drop me a line in the comments below.
Why?
Because I never needed travel reward points before.
Most of my career I have been a semi-business traveler. Therefore, I could easily accrue car rental, hotel and airline points pretty easily with my fucking eyes closed. Yes, I have been lucky in this manner, but so goes the world. When the sky hands me lemons, I make some badass lemonade that will knock your shorts off, or maybe your socks off too while I’m at it. I could go really far with this one liner and get creative, but I value your time dear reader.
Or then again, with all my bullshit ramblings, do I? Haha.
However, once COVID hit, my travel got axed like the almighty hand of God coming down on those snake slithering penitents worshiping the golden altar.
It was done. Kaboosh. Nilt. A lightning crack of the bug zapper frying those pesky flies.
All those beautiful numbers sitting in my accrued points accounts weren’t going up anymore. And if anything, they were going to expire at the end of 2021 if I didn’t get busy traveling. And currently, my travel schedule is still pretty light.
I also don’t see this changing anytime soon.
Big Brother megacorp has been lapping up all of those T&E savings by conducting business via video-chat like an alcoholic lost in Bevmo. And once Big Bro Employer gets hooked on new cashflow, it’s hard to reverse that junkie behavior anytime soon. Management wants bigger bonuses and a higher stock price, so you know how that goes…
Once again, I digress. But you get the point. I was a business traveler that never paid attention to travel rewards and now I need to. Because like everyone else, I like free stuff in return for using someone’s business.
Then with the new house purchase, bingo. I’m about to start spending some serious scrilla, so why not sign up for a good credit card with a nice travel rewards bonus?
Ba-ding!
So, I do a little digging, which in translation really means – any fucking FIRE blog I click on, has crazy Chase Sapphire ads and affiliate links attacking me from every corner of the web like I was some terrorist trying to infiltrate the White House.
I mean in all honesty; the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card should have “OFFICIAL FUCKING CREDIT CARD OF THE FIRE MOVEMENT” plastered across the top.
Yeah, it’s that wild.
So of course, this sales bombardment annoys the fuck out of me, and I end up just going to the Chase website to sign up for the card. Sorry awesome internet marketers, no commission earned from me. Yes, I’m failing in supporting all these amazing entrepreneurs in the FIRE Movement and their self-award-winning lifestyle design blogs.
Oh well.
Your boy Q-FI can be a crummy, grumpy grouch sometimes. Hahaha.
As you already know if you’re a familiar reader of my blog, my home search took a long time. (If reading about that might interest you, here are Part I, Part II and Part III.) During that search I had to keep my credit pristine for the savage hoarding loan and mortgage demons that wanted all that cabbage for themselves.
So right after we officially closed, I was free. I was a new man – maybe shackled in fresh smelling debt that stunk all the way from the Pacific to Atlantic Ocean – but that didn’t dissuade me from signing up for the Chase Saphire Preferred Rewards card. Those 60,000 bonus points currently being offered were hyped as one of the best deals you could find. And with my new home purchase just waiting in the whim, oh yes baby, boy was I ready to consume!
Now, just for full disclosure, I am no stranger to Chase and really like the company. I have an Amazon Rewards Chase card that I’ve been happy with for over a decade. You can call Amazon the devil all you want, but they are one efficient mother fucking company that is convenient to use. I’ve also owned Chase stock for a very long time and respect Jamie Dimon as a business leader and top banker – my unrealized gains appreciation has been excellent.
So going into this I feel confident opening up another account with Chase.
Then something unexpected happens…
Three days after opening my card, the FIRE community goes bananas that Chase has raised their sign-up bonus to 80,000 bonus points! Holy shit! That is a big jump up in scratch! My 60,000 bonus points that were being hailed as one of the greatest deals ever, is now chump change compared to the 33.3% increase.
At first, I was honestly excited. I had only missed this date by 3 days, I’d just call Chase customer service and tell them this, and they’d agree with me. They’re a good company. They get it. I can even hear it playing out in my head – hey, Q-FI only missed that date by less than a week, let’s just give this guy the bonus points because it’s logical and the right thing to do.
So that’s exactly what I do. I give Chase customer service a call, explain my situation and the rep goes, “Oh wow, you’re right. You only missed that by three days. Let me log your request and see what I can do for you.”
The conversation continues, and I learn that this customer service rep has no power to adjust my account and give me the additional 20,000 bonus points, but she agrees with me I have a good case for this to happen. However, the ultimate decision and power lies with the Chase “Marketing Department.” She advises me my request has been documented and I’ll receive a letter in a week from the marketing department that either approves or denies my request.
Okay, I think. That’s done. My additional points will be arriving shortly.
And then the letter arrives. This is what it says verbatim:
“Thank you for contacting us about the bonus offer on your account. Although your account is not eligible for the new offer you requested, the original offer is still available to you.
We encourage you to take advantage of your original offer.” (Bold by Chase not me)
Well, if that isn’t a pearly white “Fuck You” from Chase, I don’t know what is.
I can take advantage of my current offer? Yeah, no fucking shit Sherlock! Fuck you Chase Marketing Department pricks!
I was shocked. I mean, I shouldn’t have been, but I was. I held Chase in high regard as a company. I naively thought they’d come through for me. What was an extra 20,000 bonus points to a longtime customer and stockholder?
Nothing.
But to me, this was a decision that would determine whether I would remain a lifelong customer with them or not?
Plus, why the fuck is the “Chase Marketing Department” making these decisions? They don’t know anything about customer service. The whole point of a marketing department is to manipulate customers into using their products by whatever means possible. You don’t give these A-holes the power to make real decisions.
Shame on you Chase.
I’ll be honest, I was pissed off. Really fucking pissed off. Irate. Fuck Chase. They had let me down.
I wanted to do something bold and rash. Sell all of my Chase stock on a whim! Cancel all my Chase credit cards right away! I would show them!
But, and a big BUT here, I’m a pragmatic consumer that doesn’t believe in making emotional decisions. I know that I’m an irrational human. I have feelings that can cloud my judgement, so I waited until I calmed down and thought it through.
I’ll not selling any stock and will continue to use which Chase products benefit me, but you can rest assured that when it comes to next year right before that annual fee is due, I’m chopping my Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card in a heartbeat.
Fuck them… hahaha.
And in the future, if there’s ever a decision that is close between Chase and another company? Yep. You guessed it; I’m picking that other company.
Chase is going to die a slow and painful death to me. Am I petty? You bet. I’m going to twist that knife like the spiteful and shameless creature I can be.
Muwahahaha!
Plus, it’s always amazing to me that companies still function like this. There are simple business actions that will either make or break a customer for life. Chase just lost my business over such a small and trivial thing. They could have given me some extra bonus points that they are giving out to every new customer anyway.
It was nothing to them. But to me, it was everything.
They decided to stick to their rules and ignored the human factor.
So, I’m taking my business elsewhere when I can. Maybe this is beneath me. Maybe this is childish. It probably might even prove to be stupid in the future.
But I remember how I’m treated. If I’m going to take the time out of my day to ask, and try to make something right, I expect that company to understand.
By the details of the contract, they had no obligation to help me. I get that. But just a little bit of understanding from a human adjuster, could have made a customer for life.
So, if you happen to work in the Chase Marketing Department, and are reading this, here’s a warm wishes FUCK YOU to you.
Hahaha.
-Q-FI
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I know I never even got into the credit card itself, so if you have this card, is it as awesome as every FIRE blogger claims? Or if you’re like me, and value the bigger picture, tell me about a time when a company could have given you a break but decided not to and tow the line instead. Bonus points for anyone that has good travel reward tips for me to check out as I start to look into and learn about this new rewards sector.
Sorry to hear that. I agree on their poor call and they now have lost a customer for life. That sucks. I use them for my SWA rewards cards and no problems with them over many years. Oh well!
I don’t really get the credit card churning thing with the FIRE folks. It seems overly complicated for very little reward, but admittedly I don’t have that spreadsheet fetish or get all that excited about a free flight to wherever. I’d rather do a couple hours of consulting and get the cheddar.
Yeah, like you said, “Oh well.” I was annoyed but life goes on. I think the “marketing department makes this call,” was the line that really irritated me. That made no sense to me at all.
I think you and I being travelers never really had to pay that much attention to travel points before. You probably do now a little more being out of the corporate life, but churning points doesn’t really excite me that much either.
I figure while I’m spending the chedda I might as well get the best bang for my buck.
I’m really surprised this happened to you, since the same exact thing happened to me last summer with my new chase Southwest. I missed the new sign up bonus by 2 weeks. I think I had 40k and the new one was 65k or something like that. I called and the service rep gave me the same lip service. But the letter came approved. I dont even think I had the card yet when I realized I’d just missed out big time. As an aside, I also screwed myself on that one for the free companion pass, as I got it later in the year,and you only have a calendar year in the year you get the card to go for it…not a year from getting it like I thought.
The chase card is awesome point wise. I’m not a travel hacking expert but their points are the most powerful and flexible of the cards. I try not to hate on the FIRE bloggers who promote cards and do affiliate links—as long as they aren’t sneaky about it or over the top. The old “don’t hate the player hate the game” thing lol. If they can get fish to bite their hooks good for them. I’ll admit it does turn me off from reading to think there might be a hidden agenda, but if they have good enough writing or ideas that’ll be enough to keep me reading.
Don’t let this deter you from travel hacking. It feels good to work the system, especially so if you’re spending money anyway, get something back for it. I’m glad you arent selling the stock…I have the same love/hate with Amazon.
Dude, that’s crazy the same thing happened and you go the approved letter. Wow. Hahaha. Maybe something in my profile turned them off… haha. But that’s hilarious. What are the odds?
Now, that the mortgage is complete, I was thinking of maybe having my wife sign up to get the full 80,000 bonus now. We’ll see. It’s a good deal, but giving Chase more of my business irritates me. Hahaha. Maybe I’m just a grumpy old man this week.
I hear ya on don’t hate the playa hate the game. And I’m all for bloggers making money if they’re transparent and acknowledge it. But I feel like I rarely see that, or only partial acknowledgement. It doesn’t matter, but for some reason it tends to get under my skin.
Thanks for this comment Noel. You’ve redeemed my faith in furthering my travel points knowledge.
Let me add on to this thread. I signed up for the CSP exactly 7 days before the bonus was boosted to 80,000. I went through the same request process, and I got rejected as well. I get the feeling that Chase is wisening up to the cohort that are milking all the sign-up bonuses and rewards, and maybe they’re not being as lenient with granting the perks. Who knows. I was mildly annoyed, but I’ve gotten so much free travel out of the Chase Rewards portal over the past 7-8 years, I’m not going to complain. Also, my wife “referred” me, so she got a 15,000 point bonus out of the transaction.
I would consider us ‘casual’ travel hackers. We typically sign up for 2 cards a year, either to replenish Chase points balances or get 6-8 hotel nights for our road trips. Nothing crazy, but definitely worth the minimal effort if you ask me.
That’s good info Adam. I think I was more peeved because this was my first attempt at a travel card and I had just paid the $95 annual fee. So when they rejected me it was salt in the wound. Good to know that I wasn’t the only one though. If only I knew that before I wrote my bitchfest post. Hahahaha. We’ll probably be like you guys, doing a few cards here and there to get the points we need.
Also good to know on the referral. I’ll have to try that as well with my wife.
Thanks for the tips bud.
Haha great read, at your expense unfortunately. The marketing department clearly did not do a cost benefit analysis and determine that: a) as a FIRE blogger you would use the card religiously and b) that you would post about your experience! I have a Preferred, and I believe it was 60k points for me when I signed up a couple years ago. I use it for basically everything–2x on dining/travel, which are my biggest expenses. They also have a great 5x deal with Lyft, not that I’ve taken many rideshares lately. I would try them again and see if you can speak to someone else/restart the process. I think the “you can take advantage of the original offer” is the most condescending bullshit you can hope to hear from a corporate marketing department.
Hahaha… I enjoyed your cost benefit analysis.
Great to hear you use it quite a bit. I’ll be using this year to try it out and see how things go. Who knows, if the perks are worth it, I’ll keep it.
I might hit up Chase on Twitter and try to play it from another angle.
Thanks for the comment IF!
Interesting read, needs a subtitle of “am I the a$$hole?”
To recap, you found a card you were perfectly happy with, that offered a sign up bonus you were doing the victory dance over at the time you applied.
Then after you’d happily signed up and mentally banked those points, the issuer commenced an even better promotion?
At which point you suffered a case of buyer’s remorse.
Granted, it would have been a fortuitous display of good fortune had the issuer magnanimously waved their terms and conditions to mitigate your buyer’s remorse.
But I’m not sure you’re in the right complaining that they are evil bastards for not breaking their rules to accommodate your desire to keep up with the Joneses here, Q-FI.
You got what you originally wanted, based on the best information available to you at the time. There is always going to be a bigger/better/stronger/faster/sexier option just around the corner, the grass is always greener.
The trick is being content with the option you chose.
Who would we be blaming had an equivalent house around the corner from your new abode sold for $100k less than you recently paid? The realtor? The seller? Or the guy with 20/20 hindsight doing the Monday morning quarterbacking?
You must be an engineer. Very linear thinking. Hahaha.
However, I don’t think you and I will ever see eye to eye on this. If the world was black and white then sure.
Yes, I was happy with the deal before I saw the increased promotion. True.
I don’t think buyer’s remorse would fit at all. I was fine with my purchase, I just wanted more. Maybe egotistical and delusional expectations would be more apt.
I don’t think I ever claimed to be in the right either. As I pointed out numerous times above, I’m being petty, childish, emotional, as well as acknowledging they had no obligation per the contract to accept my request.
“The trick is being content with the option you chose.” Alright, finally we can agree on something. Hahaha.
Not sure I follow that house analogy at all. Chase giving out a few more bonus points to me that they are already giving others, doesn’t hurt anyone. A house being sold at a discount, definitely has winners and losers while affecting many others on a grand scale.
Interesting take though. Thanks for being honest.
I think the point, that I failed to convey, is customers are emotional. Sure, follow a business contract to a “T”. A company has every right to do that. But it would also help a company in the long run to have some discretion about exceptions (there is usually a grace period after a promotion for cases just like mine, as Noel points out above when his rewards were adjusted 2 weeks later by Chase). I think that’s where a lot of companies fail and it can cost them in the long run. As I was trying to point out myself as an example.
Thanks for the comment bud.
A very mature and proportionate response 🤣….love it.
It’s funny what tips the balance for us all. We’ll never fly Ryanair again since they abandoned us in Lithuania (long story), despite they are often the cheapest and best flight times. They are very few companies that have actually earnt my loyalty. Not many companies reward you for it, most expect you to play the ‘satisfied switcher’ game.
Unsurprisingly, I love travel point hacking. It’s awesome. Stuff for free? Guilt-free upgrades? Yes please! I’m off on a free flight this weekend business class as it happens – woohoo travelling! You US guys have no idea how good you have it when it comes to point earning, way easier than in the UK. So yup – absolutely make the most of it – it’s pretty addictive I find 😁.
This blog is my practice at being diplomatic and a well mannered persona… hahaha. I’m glad you caught that.
It’s true how different we can all be with what tips the balance for us all. What drives one person nuts doesn’t even bother someone else.
I love that – “the satisfied switcher game”. That’s a great line Michelle and spot on.
You as well as Noel have piqued my interest even more to roll up my sleeves and see what points I can accrue the old fashioned way (meaning minus business travel).
Thanks for the uplifting comment. I enjoyed it.
i have always drawn the line at any card with any annual fee since i ditched my SW airlines card about 5 years ago. we always go for a cash back option hopefully with a sign-up and/or referral bonus. i have used chase for many years now and even signed up for a checking account in 2020 for a $400 cash bonus. i didn’t need a checking account but only need to divert 250/week and mostly use that to pay my 1.5% cash back card from the same dashboard. i’m a lazy rewards hunter but also have a 2% on groceries, 3% on dining cash back card from td bank. that came with a sign-up bonus too and everybody needs groceries, right? i’ll only change something every couple of years to make a few hundred bucks or when the mood strikes and i have some free time to easily get the prize.
anyhow, i totally get how you feel about the turds who refuse to give you the upgraded deals. i can hold that grudge for years; just like you Q-FI! that internal rage is real.
Hahaha… yes, that internal rage is real. Although sometimes you can look like a maniacal dick when you type it out. Hahaha – but as you know, we always feel much better after venting.
I was exactly the same as you Freddy prior to this card – any annual fee and I’d say no way. After researching this travel card, it seemed like the points would be worth the annual fee and the wife and I are trying to plan some trips this year and next so I figured I’d give it a go.
I’ll have to do a follow-up post in a year to tell everyone if it was worth it or not.
Time to experiment…
That’s bullshit! I bet Jamie Dimon would’ve given you those points. He’s all about the customer experience, so why not just write him and send the link to this blog post? He doesn’t do his bus tours for nothing.
I used my 60,000 points for my flight to Croatia that I had to cancel due to Covid. Got those points back. They’re still waiting to be used. Someday I’ll get to Croatia. Other than that, I’ve been quite good at travel rewards, but I’ve yet to reach master level.
Like you, I’ve been screwed over, so my days with HSBC and BOA are over, though I still occasionally reconsider the ways in which HSBC could be used to my advantage. BOA is an absolute never again for me though.
Good luck accruing more points! Chase isn’t the only option you have, so don’t sweat it.
Hahaha… maybe I’ll write Mr. Dimon. I’m sure I’m top of his priority list. Hahaha. Thanks for the suggestion.
So looks like you have the card then. It seems many people have enjoyed its use. No one has been negative on it yet.
Yeah, BOA has never been top of my list either. Never actually had an account with them but have heard some horror stories from family members so I’ve steered clear. I have a love/hate relationship with Wells Fargo. If it weren’t such a pain to wind down my accounts and switch assets I would have by now. But I keep using them because I’m lazy. Hahaha.
Thanks for reminding me that there are other good cards out there as well!
Hopefully you’ll get that trip to Croatia sooner rather than later.
Thanks for the comment Katie!
LOL. Sorry about the pain, but it’s not surprising.
I’m about of a travel hacker. I think the drawer next to me has 30 cards in it. 🙂
Of course, there’s plenty of Chase cards in there.
Aside from just ignoring the 20K loss and moving on, I think the smartest thing you can do with the points is…well, you’re going to love this…
Sign-up for another one of their cards! Haha. You probably read a lot about the Sapphire Reserve card in your travels, too. It’s their Very Expensive Person card so the annual fee is somewhere around $500 these days. And of course you get a big signup bonus with it, like the Preferred. But, the key here, is the redemption process for the points. With your Preferred, you can redeem each point with a 25% bonus when used on Travel. That’s generally the best *simple* redemption (though you have to book through the Chase Travel site—but prices are usually the same as Expedia, etc.). So your 60K points become worth $750 of travel, as I’m sure they touted to you.
The Reserve bumps that redemption up to a 50% bonus. 60K points becomes $900.
That’s obviously more valuable when including the signup bonus you’ll get from the Reserve itself, and any natural spending.
All this starts to become worth it when you consider picking up multiple Chase cards that earn UR points and putting category-specific spend bonuses on different cards. Your typical annual credit card spend of say $20K might generate 40K points, or even 80K with some effort. So each year you might earn $1,200 in travel.
When considering all the other benefits on the cards, it winds up paying for themselves and then some pretty easily.
For the past year or so Chase has let users redeem for groceries and a few other categories (I believe home improvement?) with that bonus redemption (25% Preferred or 50% with the Reserve). Jenni has the Reserve so we pool all of our points to her account and I think we’ve ripped through 300K points or so we saved up and had “free” groceries for most of the pandemic.
One big gotcha with that strategy is that I believe Chase doesn’t let you earn a “Sapphire family” bonus more than once every 48 months. But that doesn’t mean your wife can’t grab the Reserve and you pool your points to her 😉 Then, hypothetically, you could grab the Reserve in 2 years and she could grab the Preferred — after downgrading (“product changing”) your existing cards to no annual fee Freedom cards.
That should start you off down the very deep rabbit hole of travel hacking and churning for fun and profit 🙂
Dude, 30 cards is wild. I thought managing my 5 cards was excessive. Hahaha. You’re pulling some Jedi shit on travel rewards. I knew people got into it, but I don’t think I ever realized how deep you can go.
Thanks for sharing all the examples. It’s clear this is an area that I’ll have to spend some more time researching in the future and learn more.