As you all know I am a insane traveler.   In 2015 alone I clocked over 100,000 miles by air, 10,000 miles by train, 12,000 by car (and usually I hit my 21,000 FitBit step goal).  I’m always somewhere doing something and I refuse to carry cash.  It’s cumbersome, it can get lost or stolen. I also don’t carry an ATM card. If stolen, your entire bank account can get emptied out. This is where awesome credit cards come in.   This is the one card I think is the best value when traveling, the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is Awesome for Travel

Here is the skinny on the card:

The card has a $450 annual fee (ouch! I know)…but you get a yearly $300 annual travel credit.  That means that annually you get $300 credited back to your card on all your travel bookings.   So, year 1 you get $300, year 2 you get $300.   This means the annual fee on the card is really only $150 a year.  Things are looking a bit better, right?

The best thing about the card is that if you sign-up now, you get 100,000 sign-up bonus points.  You can use them on award tickets (round trip for free to Paris anyone?).    You can also use them for rental cars, hotels, Airbnbs and even gift cards.   The best value you will get is definitely awards travel.  I will be putting together a few more life hacking articles on traveling for free via airline miles in next few weeks.  Keep an eye open for them.

On top of those two great benefits, you get triple points on travel and dining. So those sexy dinners in Montepulciano overlooking the Tuscan countryside will get you 3x points to pay for your next trip back to Tuscany!

Lastly, you get all the benefits and protection that Chase Sapphire Reserve offers; such as rental car insurance, trip insurance, loss & theft protection, and their 24/7 support is amazing. Last year we had a small fender bender with a wall in Florence and Chase took care of the broken door. No cost to us. It was a load of stress off my head after just one call to their help center.

Don’t get me wrong. $450 per year is a lot of money for anyone to pay annually for a credit card, but if you weight the benefits it’s only really $150 (and it is really less than that once you start adding up the value of the perks). Personally, this is my go to card for all my purchases big and small. It especially excels as a travel card.

Benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card

• 100,000 Signup Bonus Points
  Think Business Class to Europe 🙂

• 3X Points on Travel and Dining Worldwide
  More points for those romantic dinners for 2.
• $300 Annual Travel Credit
  Card now only $150 effectively with this discount.
• Complimentary Airport Lounge Access
  Stop waiting at the gate and drink some vino in the lounge with cool kids.
• Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® Fee Credit
  I hate waiting for customs in US.  No more with Global Entry.  Straight to front of the line 🙂
• Special Car Rental Privileges
  Upgrades anyone?
• 50% More Value in Travel Rewards
  50k points now worth $750 on Chase website.  Not bad!
• Exclusive Events & Experiences
  Exclusive Justin Timberlake tickets.   He is so hot (seriously – he is)
• 1:1 Point Transfer
  Transfer between programs is as easy as changing your outfit.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees
  No more $5 fee every time you pay for something abroad.
• Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption Insurance
• Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
• Baggage Delay Insurance
• Trip Delay Reimbursement
• Roadside Assistance
• Lost Luggage Reimbursement
• Travel and Emergency Assistance
• Travel Accident Insurance
• Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit

All such great benefits.  It’s my new go to card for Travel.