Best Chase Sapphire Offer, Other News, and What's Next for tJJ
The Sapphire Preferred has matched an all-time-high sign-up bonus, I disclose my upcoming travel, KLM/Air France make business class next to impossible, and requests for questions
Where I’ve Been
Raise your hand if you also hate standardized tests? In my life outside of the credit card points and travel game, I’m applying to graduate schools and had to retake the GRE standardized test. All of my free time went into studying and thankfully I’m done with that part of the process. In a few days I’ll be starting the important step of actually applying to schools while I continuously debate if I can hack it as a full-time blogger and write newsletters for a living...
Because of all of this, I haven’t been traveling much nor keeping up with the world of points and miles, but I’m going to get back into it! Recently, I went to Denver for a family wedding, although I didn’t document much so I won’t have a full trip-report write up for y’all. I’ve put down a few of my thoughts at the end of this edition if you’re interested however.
In June, Kayla and I are going to Los Angeles for a friend’s wedding and I will do a full write-up since we’re staying at the Waldorf Astoria Beverley Hills. I was able to thankfully book this with a hoard of Hilton points I’ve accumulated, so instead of shelling out $1,200 per night (which I would never do), I’m paying $0 after taxes and fees. We could have probably stayed with friends or family for free, but who are we kidding, if I can feel spoiled without having to actually pay cash, I’m doing it 99/100 times.
Between now and then I’m still planning to post some updates on past travel and recent news, but if there is one thing I can ask of you, dear reader, it’s to submit questions I can answer in future newsletters. Whether it’s help finding the best availability for a flight or hotel using points, planning a trip, or really anything else points and/or travel related, I’m here for it! Send me an email or leave a comment on this post and I’ll help you out.
Earn 100,000 Chase Points with the Sapphire Preferred
I’ve written quite a bit about the Sapphire Preferred and why it’s a great “starter card,” so I won’t go on and on about things I’ve already covered. What I will say is that Chase recently increased the sign-up bonus to match their all-time-high offer of 100,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months.
100,000 points is worth, at a minimum, $1,000 if redeemed for a statement credit, which would cover the $95 annual fee for 10 years. If you redeem points through the Chase travel portal, the value jumps up to $1,250, but for myself I’d say this offer is worth between $1,300 and $1,750 if you transfer out to travel partners like Hyatt, United, Southwest, JetBlue, or British Airways.
The only other time Chase offered 100,000 points was during peak Covid in the summer of 2021, so this isn’t something that happens often or sticks around for long. If you’ve been thinking of getting a new travel card and can meet the minimum spend requirement organically (i.e. without spending money just to spend money), I can’t recommend this offer enough. It’s been confirmed this offer ends May 15th and if you do wish to apply, please consider using my referral link directly through Chase. You’ll get the same bonus and it’s one way you can help support me and this content.
A Few Examples of Things You Could Do with 100,000 Chase Points
A Roundtrip flight in economy on United between San Francisco and Tokyo
A Roundtrip flight in premium economy on United from New York to Amsterdam
4 - 5 nights at Hyatt Centric Wall Street New York, Thompson Hollywood, Hyatt Regency Boston, Grand Hyatt Washington (D.C.), Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami, Grand Hyatt Barcelona, Hyatt Regency Tokyo, or Grand Hyatt Seoul (just to name a few options)
3 - 4 nights at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach, Hyatt Regency Maui, Andaz Napa, Andaz Miami Beach, Andaz Prague (my personal favorite Hyatt I’ve ever been to), Andaz London Liverpool Street, Thompson Madrid (my parent’s favorite Hyatt they’ve ever been to), and countless other high-end Hyatt hotels
The exterior and reading nook within the lobby of the Andaz Prague and views of the city from the Prague Castle. Fun fact, I recently learned my great-uncle liberated Prague from the Nazis as part of a special Czech brigade during WWII! Between 8 and 15 nights at more budget friendly Hyatt hotels
4 roundtrip, direct flights (8 flights total) on Southwest between Chicago and Los Angeles
3 roundtrip flights (6 flights total) on United between San Diego and New York
2 - 3 roundtrip flights on JetBlue between New York/Boston and London
A one-way business class flight from North America to Europe on United (with 20,000 points left over)
The point is, there is basically something for everyone no matter how you like to travel
KLM/Air France Seemingly Restricting (premium) Award Travel
I’ve lauded KLM (and by the transitive property, Air France) as having a pretty incredible program when it comes to using points for their flights, but they seem to have pulled a complete 180-degree turn. At the beginning of 2025 Flying Blue (the name for the frequent flyer program of KLM and Air France) announced they increased the prices for award flights between 20% and 25%.
This is nothing new as hotels and airlines consistently devalue points over the years (think of it as inflation). What really sucks here is that at the same time they have essentially gotten rid of their “saver” flights, aka the flights offered at the cheapest points price possible, at least for business class and premium economy. Economy class seems to still have a decent amount of availability between 18,750 and 25,000 points one-way, which is still a great deal if you don’t mind also paying some cash for the taxes and fees.
Before I started writing this edition, I was working on an old trip report when Kayla and I went to Amsterdam and Prague in 2023. We flew premium economy to Amsterdam, and business class back to San Francisco from Prague, both on KLM. Thanks to an Amex transfer bonus, the total points cost between the both of us was 180,000 points (90,000 points per person). This sounds like a lot of points, and it is, but when you consider that to book these same flights with cash it would have been around $5,000 each, I’d say we got a steal.
In that trip report, I wanted to talk about how incredible both of our flights were and how KLM (and Air France) make premium flying more attainable for those of us who don’t have $5,000 to shell out on a single roundtrip itinerary. But given the recent changes and how some bloggers are finding only 19 total business class saver seats for the entire year, that felt way too dishonest. I still will probably write all about our experience, but with a big caveat about how prices and availability have changed and doing the same trip again might mean flying in economy or maybe premium economy if you’re lucky.
Denver
I spent three nights in Denver and Golden, CO and don’t have much to report other than the wedding I went to was lovely and my travel costs amounted to a total of $21.2 (for a train ticket from the airport to my first hotel and the taxes/fees on my flights).
I flew in economy on United and because I have a United credit card, I had access to some saver level economy seats. I could also check my bag for free which saved me about $60. The total cost for the flights was 26,200 points (and $11.20 for taxes) roundtrip. The cash price for the flights was somewhere around $320 and while I could have made it cheaper (using either cash or points), I didn’t want to fly home at 8:00 am after a wedding.
After a $10 train ticket to get from the Denver Airport to downtown, I spent one night at the Grand Hyatt Denver and it actually exceeded my expectations. For 15,000 points per night (which I would value at $255), I thought the hotel punched above it’s points price and would recommend it to anyone who wants a mid-range hotel in the Denver area. I was upgraded to a “corner room” which had a nice desk, large lounging chair, and plenty of room for two people (even though I was alone). My one complaint is that they use barn doors for their bathroom, which, just why? Their fitness center was above average with plenty of treadmills, a few Pelotons, and a decent amount of weight machines.
The next two nights I spent at the Denver Marriott West (in Golden, CO) which was okay, but definitely not close to as nice as the Grand Hyatt. It did only cost 20,000 Marriott points per night (which I value at $160) so it was nice to not have to spend any real cash on a hotel I didn’t love.
Because my flight home didn’t leave until 1:00 pm, and I carpooled with family who had earlier flights, I had about three hours to kill. I got to check out the Amex Centurion Lounge at DEN thanks to my Platinum card so at least I had a comfortable place to eat and drink for “free” and study while I waited for my flight. The food was actually pretty good for an airport lounge and I wouldn’t have been upset had I actually had to pay for it. I did have to wait about 15 minutes to get in and it was packed, but I’d take free food and coffee at a packed lounge than sitting at an empty gate any day.
All in all, even with mixed hotel experiences, you can’t beat a 3-day trip that costs less than $25 for flights and accommodations!
What’s Next?
Next month I’ll be reviewing the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills for my two-night stay, but before that I’d love to answer any questions you all have. Literally anything relating to points and miles, credit cards, flights, hotels, and everything in between. Feel free to leave a comment down below!
Great content! Go Hyatt!! :)
Love this. Lots of great tips as always.