The Chase trifecta: What it is and how to maximize it

A rewards credit card allows you to earn cash back or points on your regular purchases and bills. Provided you avoid debt and never pay any interest charges, those rewards can be considered “free” money.

One of the best ways to maximize your rewards earning potential, however, involves using a combination of rewards credit cards from one issuer to optimize your rewards earning and redemption. With a good credit card combo, your credit cards will complement each other’s features, benefits and earning rates.

One such combination consists of Chase credit cards and is known among rewards card enthusiasts as the “Chase trifecta.” This trio of rewards credit cards gives consumers the chance to maximize points on all their spending, and then pool their rewards for better redemptions and ultimate convenience.

What is the Chase trifecta?

The Chase trifecta is a multi-card strategy that can help you earn better-than-average returns on regular purchases and exceptional travel perks and protections. Importantly, you can pool your rewards into a single account to score a superior selection of travel redemption options.

The Chase trifecta strategy requires you to have three different Chase credit cards, hence the name. For the trifecta to work, you also need to make sure you’re using the right card for different types of purchases. Not every cardholder needs that kind of complexity, but if you’re willing, the pros can easily outweigh the cons.

Which cards are part of the Chase trifecta?

When it comes to building your Chase trifecta, you have a few variations to choose from. The combination you go with depends on what you need out of your rewards credit cards. A common combo for personal credit card users includes these three cards: 

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® 
• Chase Freedom Unlimited®
• The Chase Freedom Flex®* 

If you’re a business owner, you can incorporate a Chase business credit card as part of your trifecta. That might look like this:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• Chase Freedom Unlimited®
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card

You can build out a version of the trifecta that fits your needs, but a key component is one of the Sapphire cards or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, which you’ll need for access to Chase’s transfer partners. 

Should you swap out the Chase Sapphire Preferred bonus for the Chase Sapphire Reserve?

While the Chase Sapphire Reserve is sometimes included in the Chase trifecta due to its bonus rewards on travel and its exceptional travel perks, there are plenty of arguments in favor of swapping this card out for the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

For example, some cardholders who travel infrequently may not care about benefits like airport lounge membership or fee credits for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. As a result, they could switch to the Chase Sapphire Preferred and pay $95 per year instead of the $550 annual fee on the Sapphire Reserve.

It’s also worth highlighting that the Preferred has the same sign-up bonus as the Reserve and offers up to $50 annually for a hotel stay booked through Chase Travel, plus a 10 percent anniversary point bonus of the amount of points you earned in the previous year. Further, many of the card’s additional bonus rewards categories cater to lifestyle spending, including select streaming services, online grocery, dining and travel.

Both the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Chase Sapphire Preferred can work well as part of the Chase trifecta, but keep in mind you can only be the primary cardholder on one or the other.

We suggest opting for the Sapphire Reserve if you’re a frequent traveler who wants VIP perks like airport lounge access and Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership.

If you don’t travel that often, however, the Sapphire Preferred’s bonus, rewards structure and perks make this card even more appealing.

Tips on maximizing the Chase trifecta

To get the most out of your Chase trifecta, you need to use your Chase cards strategically. Here’s how you can do it.

• Maximize the Freedom categories
  

  Whether you have one Chase Freedom card or both in your Chase trifecta, make sure you use them for the right kind of spending. For example, you can use either of them to pay for drugstore purchases and earn 3 percent cash back.

  If you have the Chase Freedom Flex, activate your rotating categories every quarter so you can earn 5 percent back on up to $1,500 in purchases, then 1 percent and make a point to use the card when making eligible purchases.

• Book paid travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards with the right card
  

  Both Freedom cards as well as Sapphire Preferred offer 5 percent cash back when booking travel through Chase Travel, making any of these cards a great choice for maximizing points on paid travel accommodations.

  If you carry Sapphire Reserve, use it to book travel through the portal to earn 10X points on rental cars and hotels (and 5X points on flights).

• Use Chase Sapphire Reserve when paying for other types of travel
  

  Speaking of Sapphire Reserve, the travel category on Chase Sapphire Reserve is rather broad, allowing you to earn 3X points on many types of general travel expenses, from hotels to tolls to parking garages.

  But the 10X total points on hotel stays and car rentals along with the 5X total points on air travel through Ultimate Rewards means you should book travel through the Chase portal when possible.

  With this in mind, we recommend using the Sapphire Reserve for all travel expenses outside of the travel you book through Ultimate Rewards.

• Pool all your points in your Sapphire account before you redeem for travel
  

  Before you redeem your points, pool them in your Sapphire account. If you have a Sapphire Reserve, you’ll enjoy 50 percent more for your points when you use them to book airfare, hotels, rental cars, activities and more through Chase Travel. Even if you only have Sapphire Preferred, you still enjoy a 25 percent boost on your rewards value when booking travel through the Chase portal.

  To transfer points to travel partners, you’ll still want to pool them in your Sapphire Reserve account, Sapphire Preferred account or Ink Business Preferred account. All three of these cards allow you to transfer points at a 1:1 transfer ratio to popular airline and hotel programs, such as Southwest Rapid Rewards, JetBlue, British Airways, Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt.

• Use Chase Sapphire Reserve travel perks
  

  One of the reasons the Chase Sapphire Reserve is so widely popular despite the $550 annual fee is its travel perks.

  For instance, the $300 annual travel credit is good for any travel purchase and is automatically applied to your account as you make travel-related purchases throughout the year.

  Plus, the Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership that comes with this card is worth $429 and provides access to more than 1,300 airport lounges around the world. This access also comes with free food, drinks and Wi-Fi, along with an elevated level of comfort when compared to the busy airport terminal.

  Finally, make sure to take advantage of the credit toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck (up to $100) if you choose this card for your trifecta. These memberships can sometimes save you time and stress by letting you skip past security lines.

• Take advantage of bonus categories with the Ink Business Preferred
  

  The Ink Business Preferred offers 3X points on up to $150,000 spent each year on travel, shipping, internet, cable and phone services and select online advertising (then 1X points). You’ll also earn 1X points on all other business expenses charged to your card.

• Use the Chase Freedom Unlimited for all non-bonus spending
  

  The Chase Freedom Unlimited (or the Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card if you’re doing a business version of the trifecta) is the card that earns more than 1X points on non-bonus spending, so you’ll want to use this card for all your regular purchases that don’t qualify for extra points.

• Consider swapping one or more cards for the Chase Sapphire Preferred
  

  The Chase trifecta can work with any of the card combinations listed above. However, the Sapphire Preferred card’s current bonuses make it a serious contender for spending categories most people tend to use a lot these days: dining (including eligible delivery services), travel, online grocery, select streaming services and travel.

  Realistically, it’s a good substitute for the Sapphire Reserve but could also replace one or more of your Chase Freedom Cards, depending on your spending habits and tolerance for annual fees. Check out this comparison between the Chase Freedom Flex and Sapphire Preferred to explore this option further.

  Remember, though, that you can’t have both Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve at the same time.

Who is the Chase trifecta for?

The Chase trifecta provides an excellent card strategy for consumers who don’t mind juggling a few rewards credit cards to optimize rewards and reach their goals. With three different cards and their unique earning rates and perks, you can make the most of what Chase has to offer and maximize rewards on each dollar you spend.

This combination of cards is also ideal for people who love to earn points they can pool together in one account. After all, carrying three Chase cards that let you pool points together is more convenient than having several rewards cards and currencies spread across multiple loyalty program accounts.

The Chase trifecta is also an excellent choice for people who want access to Chase transfer partners, which are different from those offered through other travel programs like American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou® Rewards.

The full list of Chase transfer partners, all of which are offered at a 1:1 transfer ratio, includes:

• Aer Lingus
• Air France / KLM Flying Blue
• Air Canada / Aeroplan
• British Airways
• Emirates
• Iberia
• IHG Rewards Club
• JetBlue
• Marriott Bonvoy
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Southwest Rapid Rewards
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic
• World of Hyatt

If these transfer partners don’t appeal to you, you might want to consider another flexible rewards program, and perhaps even another trifecta.

American Express credit cards, for instance, come with different transfer partners, earning structures and cardholder perks, so it’s worth it to compare these options to see how they would work for your spending and travel goals.

How to get the Chase trifecta

The credit cards in the Chase trifecta are targeted toward consumers with good to excellent credit. If your credit could use some work, you might want to wait before starting to build your Chase cards combo.

It also might take a while to collect the full trifecta. Chase limits the number of new cards anyone can get within 24 months with its 5/24 rule. If you’ve opened five cards from any issuers in the last 24 months, Chase won’t approve your application. For that reason, it’s best to space out new credit card applications to qualify for all three cards.

Ideally, you should wait a minimum of 90 days before you apply for another credit card. It’s also important to remember that a credit card application triggers a hard inquiry on your credit report, which can temporarily ding your credit score.

Also, keep in mind that, when it comes to Chase Sapphire card products, you can only earn the bonus on one of these cards every 48 months. So go for the card with the highest bonus offer first if you’re planning to get the cards back to back.

The bottom line

The Chase trifecta can be a great combination of cards for rewards enthusiasts looking to maximize points and their value with everyday spending while still being able to earn cash back.

But you have to be willing to strategize your card usage to get the most out of the trifecta, which might not be ideal for every cardholder. Additionally, it may take a while to sign up for all three cards due to some of Chase’s policies.

The information about Chase Freedom Flex® has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.