Planning Your Next Trip? Check Your Credit Card Rewards First
When you're planning a trip, it's natural to start by comparing travel sites for the best deal.
But before you book anything, have you checked your credit card travel rewards?
Sometimes your credit card's travel portal may have the same—or even a better—price than other travel sites, while also giving you additional rewards, credits or hotel perks.
That has definitely been my experience with my Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
Why I Check Chase Travel When Planning a Trip
Chase has its own travel portal where cardmembers can book flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, activities and tours.
When booking through Chase Travel with my Sapphire Reserve, I can either:
Redeem points toward the cost of the trip, or
Pay with my card and earn additional points.
Currently, Sapphire Reserve cardmembers can earn 8 points per dollar on eligible purchases through Chase Travel.💰
One thing I also appreciate is having multiple travel reservations in one place.
If I need to make a change involving more than one reservation, I can contact Chase Travel instead of calling several different companies individually. In my experience, their travel support has been very helpful.
Like any third-party booking service, there are pros and cons. Here are a few I've experienced.
The Pros
Chase Travel Support
I have had great experiences with Chase Travel's customer service.
When plans change, having one place to help manage multiple reservations can make things much easier.
Competitive Pricing
I always compare prices before booking.
Sometimes Chase Travel is the same price as booking directly or through another travel site—and sometimes I've found an even better value once I factor in the additional rewards or benefits.
Points Boost
Certain Chase Travel bookings may qualify for Points Boost, which can make your points worth more toward eligible flights and hotels.
For eligible Sapphire Reserve bookings, Points Boost offers can increase the redemption value of points by up to 2x, depending on the offer.
This is where I start asking myself:
Do I want to use fewer points—or use the extra value to upgrade the experience?
Sometimes the answer is absolutely the upgrade. 😄
The Edit by Chase Travel
This is one of my favorite travel benefits.
The Edit is Chase's collection of selected hotels and resorts where eligible Sapphire Reserve cardmembers can receive additional benefits.
Depending on the property and availability, those benefits may include:
Daily breakfast for two
A $100 property credit
Room upgrades
Early check-in
Late checkout
A welcome amenity
Wi-Fi
One of our favorite examples was our stay at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
We received early check-in, a room upgrade, a $100 resort credit and daily breakfast. Benefits like these can make a big difference when I'm comparing the real value of one hotel against another.
Sometimes the least expensive room rate isn't actually the best deal once you factor in what you're receiving.
Additional Travel Rewards
Another thing I look at is whether there are additional benefits available through my card or travel partners.
For example, Sapphire Reserve currently offers 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides, along with monthly Lyft credits through the current promotional period.
There are also DoorDash benefits, which can be useful while traveling or even when we're home.
The lesson here isn't necessarily to use every benefit.
It's to know which benefits you already have before paying for something separately.
The Cons
Hotel Loyalty Points
One downside of booking hotels through a third-party travel service is that you may not earn hotel loyalty points or receive all of your normal hotel status benefits.
If hotel status or points are important to me for a particular stay, I compare the value of booking directly versus booking through Chase before making the reservation.
Changes and Credits Can Take Longer
If you have to cancel or shorten a trip, processing credits or refunds through a third-party booking service can sometimes take additional time.
That's something I keep in mind when comparing booking options.
Airline Seat Selection Can Be Tricky
This is probably one of my biggest tips.
Not every airline handles seat selection the same way when you book through a third party, and occasionally the seats displayed through a travel portal may not match what you're seeing directly with the airline.
My workaround:
Find the flight you're considering.
Go directly to the airline's website.
Search the same flight number and check the available seats.
Complete your booking.
Go back to the airline's site or app and confirm your reservation and seat assignment.
Problem solved. ✔️
How I Try to Get the Most From My Rewards
The biggest thing I've learned is that using points doesn't have to be all or nothing.
Before booking a trip, I look at the entire vacation and ask where my points can give me the most value.
Maybe I don't have enough points to pay for the entire trip.
That's okay.
I might use points for:
✈️ Airfare
🚗 A rental car
🏨 Part of the hotel stay
🎟️ An excursion
💳 A portion of the overall trip
I also check whether my credit card is partnering with specific travel companies or running promotions.
If two options are similar in price but one earns additional points or includes a credit, I'll usually consider that option first.
The goal isn't simply to use points.
It's to use them where they create the most value for the trip I want to take.
My First Step Before Booking Any Trip
Before I book a flight, hotel or rental car, I usually compare:
Direct booking → Other travel sites → Credit card travel portal
Then I look beyond the advertised price.
What points will I earn?
Are there hotel benefits?
Do I have credits available?
Are my points worth more for this particular booking?
Sometimes booking directly wins.
Sometimes another travel site wins.
And sometimes my credit card travel portal gives me the best overall value.
If you have a rewards credit card and haven't looked at its travel benefits lately, it may be worth signing into your account before planning your next trip.
You may already have benefits sitting there waiting to be used.
Coming Next: Using Points for Excursions & Experiences
In Part 3, I'll share how we've used credit card points for excursions and experiences—and why sometimes we skip the excursion altogether and put that value toward a better hotel room or upgraded stay instead.
Because maximizing points doesn't always mean doing more.
Sometimes it means making the parts of the trip you care about most even better. ✈️🏨💰
Interested in a Chase Sapphire Card?
At the time of this post, Chase is offering eligible new cardmembers:
Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Earn 100,000 bonus points after meeting the required spending requirements.
Chase Sapphire Preferred®: Earn 75,000 bonus points after meeting the required spending requirements.
Offers and eligibility requirements can change, so always review the current offer details before applying.
Referral disclosure: If you apply through my referral link and are approved, I may receive a referral bonus from Chase. There is no additional cost to you.
Apply through my Chase referral link
This post reflects my personal experience and is for informational purposes only. Credit card rewards, benefits, point values and promotions can change. Always review your card issuer's current terms before booking.
