re: Credit Card Rewards and Points Discussion

A strategy for anyone that has the Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire Reserve. I didn't read the whole thread so maybe it has been discussed.

Chase Freedom offers 5x's points every quarter in different categories. Right now it's department stores (Macy's, etc), Wholesale stores (Costco, Sam's, etc.), and drug stores (Walgreens, CVS, etc.)

This is a very easy deal to max out (I think they only allow up to $75 in cash back or 7,500 points per quarter with this deal). If you're a Costco member and use them frequently, simply purchase Costco cash gift cards. Also you can buy gift cards from drug and department stores that you know you'll use like Amazon or even Visa cards (if you buy Visa gift cards make sure they're loadable with your credit card, some don't allow it).

The cool thing if you're a Costco member is you can use the Costco cash gift cards for gas, whereas gas is excluded from the Chase Freedom 5x's promotion if you just used your card. It's basically a loophole.

What really makes this deal though is you can transfer rewards points from one Chase card to another. Why would you do this?

Well, if you just use cash back with the Chase Freedom, the points are worth 1 cent on the dollar. But if you have the CSR card, those ultimate rewards points are potentially worth up to 2.1 cents on the dollar if redeemed for travel. More than double the Freedom card. Therefore, if you rack up points on the Chase Freedom using the 5x's rewards, then transfer them to CSR ultimate rewards, you're getting potentially 10% back if used for travel!!!

For example: Today I purchased a $500 Costco cash gift card online using my Chase Freedom.

Boom, that's 2,500 points. I'll easily use that $500 on gas and groceries.

If I used those 2,500 points for cash back on my Freedom card, they'd be worth $25. Not bad considering I only paid $500 for them, but we can do better.

Next, I'll transfer those 2,500 points over to my CSR ultimate rewards where they'll be worth 2.1 cents on the dollar instead of 1 cent on the dollar. Therefore, my 2,500 points will be worth $52.50, more than double than if I just did cash back.

To recap:
I will have paid $500 for a Costco gift card, and get $52.50 in travel rewards. That's more than 10% back!