Originally Posted by
EstherS12
Thank you, tom911! I see what you're saying. But wouldn't I do better signing up for a Chase card that will get me Ultimate Rewards instead? I'm not particular to any airline (I think I'd prefer to have the flexibility for flight times, locations, etc). From what I'm reading, it seems like UR is considered rather "liquid" and I can therefore transfer to various airlines.
Depends what you value the signup bonuses between the various cards - does 60,000 miles from an airline (UA is offering that today) outweigh the bonus from whatever Chase card you're looking at? You can always cancel the card come renewal time and switch to something else, or, for that matter, get a couple cards if you can meet the minimum spending on each for the account opening bonus. You don't need to lock yourself into one specific card.
I have a Chase Sapphire Reserve that came with a hefty bonus that is no longer being offered, and keep it because of the travel-related benefits (mostly Priority Pass but also some insurance aspects). There's only one hotel partner I regularly transfer to that I find a good value (Hyatt) - just because they offer redemptions through hotels does not mean the exchange rate is a good value. I will transfer miles to UA if I'm short of what I need for an award ticket there.
Not sure I'd recommend you paying the $450 annual fee for that one as you won't get a lot of value out of it with one trip a year to recoup that fee. I've never looked at their lower price card (Preferred) as it doesn't meet my needs.