We’re big fans of the free stuff around here. Free air? Free hotel? Free money? All of the above? Absolutely. But because of a new promotion, we’re going back to one of our old favorites; the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card (For business owners, the Chase Ink Unlimited is still a great choice.).

We’ve talked about the card in the past and tend to recommend it when they offer more than 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to sign up.

Well, time to take notice. A few days ago, Chase announced that they are upping the game on the Sapphire Preferred Card with a limited-time only promotion. The bonus is a whopping 80,000 points, one of the highest that we’ve ever seen.

Do you like Las Vegas luxury? Good, because those points can also get you as many as four free nights at Aria, Bellagio and Delano. And if you don’t want the luxury properties? Grab up to nine nights at the other MGM properties.

Added bonus: Be sure to read the rental card details. They’ll also save you a fortune at the airport, or anywhere else you rent a car.

$1,000 Credit Card Bonus to Sign up

One of the things that I love about Chase is the huge rewards that they give you when you sign up for a credit card. Such is the case with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. They’re currently running an all-time high credit card bonus, offering 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

What can all of those points get you? How about:

• $800 in cash. One UR points is worth a penny. Treat yourself and your favorite traveling companion to a Las Vegas buffet and have plenty left over for the tables.
• $1,000 in travel. Hopefully, you’ll be doing some traveling soon, so if you use those points to pay for travel through the Chase travel portal, they’ll give you a 25% bonus in value.
• Exchange to an airline or hotel. You have ten airline partners and three hotel partners to choose from. In the US, the airlines include Southwest, JetBlue and United. Outside the country? British Airways, Singapore and Air France/KLM are on the list. Most points exchange 1:1.
• Use the “Southwest loophole” to your benefit. Southwest points have a cash value of 1.4-1.6 cents each (It rarely varies more than 0.1 cents either way.). In other words, 10,000 points will buy you a ticket on a flight that costs around $150. That means that 80,000 UR points will translate to over $1,200 in Southwest travel.

Free Hotel Stays in Las Vegas: 4 Nights at Aria, anyone?

The best play with the sign-up bonus may be one that you wouldn’t think of right away: Transfer them to hotel points, specifically Hyatt. Why? Because Hyatt has a partnership with MGM, so you can use those World of Hyatt points at almost any MGM property. Even better, you can book them right on Hyatt’s website.

Weekends – Weekends – Weekends

This feature is particularly useful on the weekends, when hotel prices soar. Just for the fun of it, I priced October 8-12. I picked that time because it’s normally when I go to Las Vegas, given how nice the weather is.

Here’s what I got, both in cash and points:

• Bellagio ($400/night), Delano ($409/night) and Aria ($451 per night): Available for 21,000 Hyatt points per night.
• The Signature, Vdara, Mandalay Bay and NoMad (rooms $200-400/night): Available for 17,000 points per night.
• New York – New York, MGM Grand, Park MGM ($200-240/night): Available for 12,000 points per night.
• Luxor, Excalibur, Hyatt Place ($50-200/night): 9,000 points per night.

What to Know When Using Hyatt Points in Las Vegas:

• Sorry, you still have to pay resort fees unless you are staying at an actual Hyatt property. Just another reason we hate resort fees.
• The least expensive rates are “off-peak,” which, in Las Vegas, generally means Sunday through Thursday. If you want to include Friday and Saturday nights, you can probably max out at three nights at the luxury properties. On a dollar per point basis, though, that might be an even better deal than mid-week.
• Hyatt also offers “cash and points” rates, which cost you half the amount of points plus a co-pay. These rates could offer anywhere from poor to extremely good value, based on what how the hotel is pricing the room.

Don’t Underestimate the Huge Rental Car Insurance Benefit

If you ever rent cars, this alone is worth having the card: Primary rental car CDW/LDW (collision damage waiver) insurance when you book with the card. With primary coverage, if there’s an accident, Chase will handle it. You do NOT need to go through your own insurance company first or, for that matter, buy the expensive stuff through the rental car company. This benefit is virtually non-existent outside the Chase family. Normally, a credit card gives secondary coverage.

Just about every type of car is covered, although there a few exceptions, such as for luxury cars. Also, the CDW only covers the vehicle itself. You’ll want to make sure to have liability coverage for injury to others.

People are back on the roads and frankly, they’re driving like lunatics. We hope you never need to use this benefit but, if you do, it will save you a lot of time and money.

Bonus Points and Cash on Purchases

Most purchases on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card will earn you a point per dollar spent. Some are even better, though.

• Receive 5X points on travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards, or 2X points on all other travel services.
• Dining earns 3X points.
• 3X points on select streaming services and online grocery purchases.
• Riding Lyft? That’s worth five points per dollar spent on rides through March 31, 2025.
• Each card “anniversary” will get you a 10% bonus through Ultimate Rewards
• Do you like DoorDash? Good, you’ll get a year of their premium DashPass services.
• Earn a statement credit for hotel accommodation purchases made through the Ultimate Rewards program, up to an annual maximum accumulation of $50.

Any Negatives?

A couple, but none of them is a big one.

• There’s a $95 annual fee. Some companies waive the fee the first year, but the benefits are simply too strong on this card for Chase to do so.
• You must not have either a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve at the time of application, and you must not have received a bonus on either card within the last 48 months.

The post Up To Four Free Nights At Aria, Bellagio Or Delano Las Vegas With The Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card appeared first on TravelZork.

This content was originally published here.