Chase Sapphire Preferred - use points then downgrade?

[jeromedawg]

Hey all,

I accumulated a number of points with Chase Sapphire Preferred and had initially signed up to take advantage of the travel bonus point spend ratio (but I don't think I actually ended up using any points for travel, ironically).

In any case, before I downgrade when my annual fee is due in July, is there anything I can and should take advantage for as far as redeeming points? It seems like the only thing to take advantage of is booking a flight, etc somewhere. Also, what would happen if I did book a flight with the points (say in November 2017) and then I downgrade the card in July? Will that screw things up and forfeit the transaction/points?

[Semag]

I transferred my ultimate reward points to United miles 1 for 1.  I can't remember off the top if you get more use from the points by booking a flight directly, but if you transfer them to a fequent flyer account you can keep them to use directly with that airline.

When I went on my Honeymoon I paid my property taxes for the year using a Chase Sapphire Preferred & a United Mileage Plus card.  This got me 100,000 miles on United (and I had some more through work). My wife and I booked saver tickets to Europe for 60,000 each round trip. 

[Nothlit]

You could just redeem the points for cash at 1 cent per point. This isn't the absolute best value, but if you aren't likely to use them for anything else, it's certainly not a bad option. I definitely wouldn't go inventing a vacation just to get the extra value out of the points. :)

To book travel with points, you can either transfer the points to a partner as Semag suggested, or you can book directly through Chase's Ultimate Rewards portal (valued at 1.25 cents per point for CSP). Either way, it is totally fine to make the transfer or redemption and then downgrade or cancel the card. It won't affect your booking.

[LostGirl]

I think there are free Chase cards that you can open and still access the rewards points as well. You would lose the travel bonus but still have the points. 

And if you book the flights now the miles are deducted now, no issues with cancelling the card before you travel. 

[jeromedawg]

Thanks all. We *may* decide to fly in the near future so I suppose I could try to use points for that. However, with an almost-2yr old and newborn, I think we may shy away from planes for a while... traveling with our first on planes has generally been an OK experience with the exception of one time where he was bawling the entire time (and this was a 2-3 hour flight from LA to Seattle). It was awful, and I don't want to potentially relive that with two young ones.

In any case, it's too bad we can't purchase airline GCs at a discounted rate :) I'll probably just convert down the card and then keep the points as-is. I've cashed them out before and it has felt like a 'waste' that I regretted not using them for travel but it's true I wouldn't have anything better to spend them on [at the time]