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The card_name is a card that comes with a annual_fees annual fee that has always been a good card to hold for unbonused spending. Its makeover way back in September 2020, however, turned it from a good card to an excellent card that can form a key component of an Ultimate Rewards strategy.
The card_name
In brief
The card_name is a annual_fees annual fee credit card that offers impressive levels of cash back (or Chase Ultimate Rewards Points) on purchases in key spending categories. It also offers the best level of return of any Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card for spending in categories that don’t offer category bonuses.
In detail
Here’s what you need to know about the card_name:
Annual fee:
- annual_fees
Cost of authorized user cards:
- $0 (zero)
Current welcome offer:
bonus_miles_full
Note: This product is only available to applicants who do not already have this card and who have not received a new cardmember offer for this card in the past 24 months.
Standard earnings:
- 5% cash back (or 5 points/dollar) on travel purchased through the Chase travel portal
- 3% cash back (or 3 points/dollar) on dining (includes takeout and delivery)
- 3% cash back (or 3 points/dollar) on spending at drugstores
- 1.5% cash back (or 1.5 points/dollar) on spending in all other categories
Key benefits:
- annual_fees annual fee
- Earn valuable Ultimate Rewards Points in place of cash back when this card is paired with a Chase Sapphire Card or the card_name (review).
- Trip cancellation/interruption insurance
- Purchase protection for 120 days after a purchase is made
How Chase pays out cash back
The card_name is, at its core, a cash back credit card, but Chase pays cash back in the form of points which holders of the card_name can exchange for statement credits at a rate of 1 point = 1 cent.
As I’ll show a little later in this post, under the right conditions, the points that this card earns can be used for more than cash back.
Why this is an excellent card
Great welcome offer
With Chase saying that it will add an additional 1.5% cash back (1.5 points/dollar) to up to $20,000 of eligible spending in the first year of card membership, these are the earning rates that successful new applicants can enjoy in year 1 (on the first $20,000 of cumulative net eligible spending):
- 6.5% cash back (or 6.5 points/dollar) on travel purchased through the Chase travel portal.
- 4.5% cash back (or 4.5 points/dollar) on dining (includes takeout and delivery).
- 4.5% cash back (or 4.5 points/dollar) on spending at drugstores.
- 3% cash back (or 3 points/dollar) on spending in all other categories.
Anyone who now successfully applies for the card_name will, for the first $20,000 of cumulative eligible spending in year 1, have the most powerful card for dining expenditure, the most powerful card for drugstore expenditure, and the most powerful card for spending in categories in which other cards don’t offer a bonus.
annual_fees annual fee
The card_name doesn’t charge an annual fee, so when you consider the bonus earning rates that the card offers and the fact that this card will earn a minimum of 1.5% cash back (1.5 points/dollar) on all unbonused spending, that’s pretty good going.
Great standard earning rates (outside of the welcome offer)
1.5% – 5% cash back (not including the welcome offer) is an amazing return to be given by a annual_fees annual-fee credit card, but for holders of one of the Chase Sapphire cards or the card_name, it gets better.
If you’re a fan of pure cash back, the card_name will work very well for you, but it can also be an amazing card for anyone who loves earning a valuable rewards currency and who is happy to put in a bit of extra work to maximize the value that the card offers.
When held alongside a Chase Sapphire Card or the card_name, the cash back that the card_name offers can be taken in the form of Ultimate Rewards Points.
These points can be transferred to a variety of airline and hotel loyalty programs where they can be used to extract considerably more value than the basic cash back that the card offers.
Essentially, the cash back that the card_name earns can be turned into a currency that can be used to book high-end hotels and premium cabin flights for considerably less than they would ordinarily cost.
I value Chase Ultimate Rewards Points at 1.5 cents each (based on the value I know I can easily get out of each point with relative ease) and that means that in effect, you could say that the card_name offers the following standard earnings year on year:
Effective rebate of 7.5% on:
- Travel booked through Chase.
Effective rebates of 4.5% on:
- Spending at drugstores.
- Spending on dining (including takeaway and delivery).
Effective rebate of 2.25% on spending in all other categories.
There are a number of premium credit cards on the market (annual fees of over $200) that don’t offer rebates as good as these, and yet the fee for the card_name remains at annual_fees.
Also, it’s worth noting that one of the more interesting selling points of the card_name is the 3% cash back (3 points/dollar) that it offers on spending at drugstores as drugstore spending is a category that rarely appears as a credit card bonus category.
Considering the fact that drugstores generally sell a lot more than just pharmacy items, this is an incredibly useful bonus category to have.
Being able to earn effective rebates of between 2.25% and 7.5% courtesy of a credit card with a annual_fees annual fee is impressive, and it’s what makes the card_name the very special card that it is.
Bottom line
As a standalone card, the card_name is a great card to have in your wallet because the returns it offers are impressive for a annual_fees annual fee credit card. As a card paired with the card_name, card_name (review), or the card_name (review), the card_name becomes one of the best annual_fees annual fee cards on the market, and when you take a look at the current welcome offer, it becomes hard to find a reason why not to add this to your portfolio.
Put simply, if you’re a fan of Chase Ultimate Rewards, this is almost certainly a card you should have in your wallet.