Why the Chase Sapphire Preferred is My Go To Travel Credit Card

I've said this before and I'll say it again - if you don't currently have a travel credit card for accumulating points so that you can travel for free, you're seriously missing out on some of the best travel perks out there. This doesn't mean you need to go crazy by opening a dozen credit cards - you really just need one that meets your needs. People ask me all the time which card I suggest and the answer is usually the same - The Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Right now Chase is offering the best bonus point deal I've ever seen - 50,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in 3 months PLUS if you add an additional card (like giving a card to your spouse on the same account), you get an additional 5,000 bonus points once they make their first purchase. That's nearly $700 in free travel points and a much larger bonus offer than I've ever seen (usually it's 40,000 points plus 5,000 for the additional card at most and that's the deal I got years ago when I first signed up).  So if you've been thinking about getting a travel credit card, do it now before this deal disappears. 

Here's a link to sign up: 

Earn 50,000 bonus points with Chase Sapphire Preferred

Here's a list of reasons why the Chase Sapphire Preferred is My Absolute Favorite Credit Card:

1. No Foreign Transaction Fees

When traveling abroad you can pay upwards of 5% on international purchases, but with the Chase Sapphire you don't pay any foreign transaction fees. 

2. Double Points on Travel Purchases and Restaurants

Most credit cards give you 1 point for every dollar you spend, but the Chase Sapphire gives you double points on travel purchases such as airline tickets, hotels and rental cars as well as any restaurants you eat at. This means that you accumulate points much faster for more free travel!

3. Points Transfer 1:1 to Many Travel Partners

You might be wondering how you use these points for travel. One way is to transfer the points to your favorite hotel chain or airline to purchase travel. For example - I often fly with Southwest, so when I fly to New York which costs about 20,000 points roundtrip, I will transfer 20,000 points from my Chase Sapphire account directly to my Southwest account. However, I also have other options like if I'm taking an international flight I can transfer my points to British Airways, United, Virgin Atlantic or a few others. If I would rather use points for free hotel stays, I can transfer them to partners like Marriott, Hyatt or IHG. This is one of my favorite parts about having the Chase Sapphire card, I have choices for how to use my points. Many other travel credit cards devalue points so rather than being 1 point for 1 point in transfer, they can be worth much less like 2 points for 1, which can get really frustrating. 

4. Book Travel Directly with Chase and Get 20% Off

Chase has its own travel portal - think Chase's own Expedia. Prices are the same as any of the competitor travel sites like Travelocity or Expedia (I've checked), but if you book your travel through Chase you get 20% off of the points needed. Last year I flew to Spain to meet my husband using points - the flight would have cost me $700, but since I used points through the Chase travel portal it only cost me $560 in points! 

5. Access to Exclusive Experiences

Chase provides its cardholders exclusive offers that are available to members only. For example - last year I used my points to sit front row at the Oscars Red Carpet event in Los Angeles, watching every A list celeb walk by in their gorgeous gowns, even getting a selfie with John Stamos! Yes, Uncle Jesse is a major hunk and looks even better in person. 

6. Fraud Monitoring and Protection is Stellar

Unfortunately, credit card fraud is common, no matter how careful you are. Often, hackers don't even need your card - they just run random numbers through payment systems until one works. I've had my credit cards used fraudulently a handful of times and Chase has always been on top of it. I either get a call right away from them or if I notice something funny I call them and it's taken care of immediately without any hassle on my part. I've always been extremely impressed with Chase's customer service and I have great confidence that I am protected if anything were to happen. 

sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card today

If you're wondering how you can spend $4,000 in 3 months, let me tell you it's not that hard. I end up putting everything on my card the moment I get it - gas, groceries, movie tickets, anything! Just your daily purchases add up quick. But if I'm still in need of a few hundred dollars at the end, I just buy myself some gift cards to places I always go, like Target or my favorite gas station. This way I'm not wasting money and I will definitely use up the gift cards sooner than later. 

BE WARNED: It's important to clearly state that you should not consider opening a new credit card if you are currently in debt or are unable to quickly pay off your entire balance. The benefits of credit cards can only be leveraged if you manage your money successfully - trust me. 

Here's some additional posts that I've done in the past about Travel Credit Cards and Travel Hacking if you're interested. But if you have any questions, please let me know!

TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS

Is Chivalry Dead or Should I Just Always Check My Bag?

Yesterday I was on a flight to San Jose and decided to bring a small carry on suitcase only, packed with all of the essentials  needed for a 6 day trip, including my camera and laptop (ok and with all 6 seasons of Dawson's Creek... for a friend).  Even though it was a fairly small suitcase, it was pretty heavy especially considering I'm 5'1" with the arm muscles of a 10 year old chess player.  Now, normally my husband is with me to do all of the heavy lifting, but I was flying solo this trip - literally.  So I decided to ask for a little help; flash a nice smile at a tall guy sitting in the isle and ask him to kindly assist me with putting my bag in the overhead compartment. Easy, right?

So that's what I did - there was an older gentleman (mid to late 60s) who was over 6 feet in the isle with an open window seat. I asked if I could sit next to him and if he wouldn't mind helping me lift my bag, it was a little heavy for me. He kind of look at me said, "I've got a bad back, if it's that heavy you should consider checking it next time."  I was seriously taken back. I mean, I get not being able to help me, no big deal. But he was seriously frustrated that I even asked for his help and decided I needed some advice for future traveling. Of course, there are plenty of other people around that could help me out- that couldn't possibly be an option?  I asked one of the other four guys sitting in close proximity who were sitting and staring at me in the aisle (yes I still had to ask, no one just offered to help even though they were all seeing this interaction) and one finally helped me with my little bag that was actually so small it had no problem getting into the slot.  Then unfortunately, I had to take my window seat next to the angry old man with his stuff sprawled out all over the middle seat. I really wanted to say "If you needed that much room, you should have checked a bag," but luckily an hour of Adele on repeat calmed me down. 

PS I also had a guy blatantly steal my parking spot in downtown San Diego earlier in the week - literally as I was backing into the spot on the street, he tightly pulled in behind me and said he was there first... clearly not the case. Unfortunately, I didn't have Adele with me and had a few choice words for him after following him into a coffee shop. So maybe I'm a little sensitive. Or maybe I attract mean people, who knows?

Anyway, is this what we've come to? Help yourself or get no help at all? Was I wrong for asking? Is he right and if my bag is so heavy that I can't handle it on my own I should have checked it? Maybe I live in a misguided world and am spoiled because my husband is always offering to help anyone he sees; opening doors, carrying strollers up and down stairs, will stop the car just to guide someone out of a tight parking spot and of course lifts bags into overhead compartments for EVERYONE who walks by his seat. Yes sometimes I roll my eyes he is so helpful, but man I wished that same kind of guy was there today. 

So my question is- is chivalry really dead? Is kindness and courtesy a thing of the past? And are we too concerned with our witty Facebook posts and up-to-the-second Twitter feed that we don't have time for real people anymore? In all honesty, I have to ask myself these very questions - maybe I'm just as much of the problem as anyone else and that makes me sad. 

I'd love to know your thoughts. If you've got your own story or opinions on the matter, please share!

Wishing you happy and helpful travels ahead :)

Osteria Francescana - The Ultimate Culinary Experience

 

Let me start out by saying that if you haven't watched Chef's Table on Netflix - you need to. Seriously, stop reading and just go. The series takes you through the life and culinary journeys of the most critically acclaimed chefs in the world, including Chef Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana (Season 1, Episode 1).  After simply falling in love with Chef Bottura and the unique passion he brings to transforming traditional Italian food in April of 2015, my husband and I started planning our trip to Italy to visit this three Michelin Star, number two rated restaurant in the world to taste it for ourselves. 

CHECK OUT MY COMPLETE TRAVEL GUIDE TO MODENA HERE

 

THE OVERLY DRAMATIC STORY OF HOW I SNAGGED ONE OF THE RAREST RESERVATIONS IN THE WORLD

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As you can imagine, reservations are not that easy to come by.  With only 12 tables for lunch and 12 tables for dinner - you need to be on your game to score one of these coveted spots. Reservations open up 3 months in advance (example: bookings for the entire month of July will open up on April 1st) and can be made online or you can try calling.  I had already booked our flights and hotel stay for Modena, so I was determined to get a reservation during one of the 3 days I had in town - lunch or dinner didn't matter to me.

Here's what happened:

• I set calendar reminders for my husband and I for 12:01 am on August 1st Italian time (to make November reservations). 
• Unfortunately, unlike many high end restaurants in the US that give you an exact time for when the reservation system opens up, this is Italy and it could be at any point so I needed to leave my schedule open to try for a while.
• 12:01 am - Once the timer went off, my husband and I went to work, clicking and clicking.  And for a while we tried... and tried... literally clicking every 5-10 minutes to refresh the site until November reservations opened up. I clicked for 9 hours - until just after midnight my time.  At that point I was exhausted and figured that it could be hours, if not days until it opened up - so I went to sleep with the intention of trying again in the morning.  I also knew that I would be in Italy for over 2 weeks so I had plenty of dates that I could make work even if my preferred dates happened to get booked. Worst case scenario, I wake up in the morning and we have to make reservations for another day and just drive from Florence to Modena for dinner - it would be worth it. No big deal; time for bed.
• 4am - I woke up in a panic.  Holy crap, what have I done? What was I thinking going to sleep??? This is the number 2 restaurant in the world, the worst case scenario is that I don't get a reservation and miss my chance completely even though I've already booked our entire trip around this one meal!!! So I got my ass out of bed.
• 4:05 am  - I stumble into the living room in the dark, open up my laptop - blinded by the glow of the screen - and hit refresh on the reservation site... Only to find that my biggest fear had come true; the entire month of November was booked solid for both lunch and dinner.  Sometime between the time I went to sleep at midnight to the time I woke up at 4am every single table had been reserved. How is that even possible?
• So what did I do? I started crying. Not something I'm proud of and believe me, I get that there are way more important things going on in the world, but in my world at the moment this was catastrophic. And come on, I'm a luxury travel blogger, what do you want from me?!? My husband loves to tell the story of how he woke up at 5am, wondered why I wasn't in bed and found me in the dark, tears streaming down my face staring at my computer (for some reason he forgets to tell the part about how he laughed, patted me on the head and went back to bed). 
• Through my tears, I frantically put myself on the waiting list for every single day I would be in Italy - basically putting in the notes that I was willing to come any day, any time, just tell me when! I'm sure they could smell my desperation and the pathetic tremble in my voice. 
• So I waited... and waited... basically planning my last resort of showing up at the front door of the restaurant for lunch and dinner each day I was in Modena until they felt sorry for me (or annoyed, I didn't really care about the details) and finally just let me sit in the corner of the kitchen.
• 3 days later I got the email I had been hoping for - I was in! They had a cancellation and they were able to get me in for lunch on one of the days we were actually in Modena - hallelujah! I happened to be in my office, in a meeting when I got the email and screamed out loud.   All the anticipation and tears and anxiety had paid off, we were set.  We were later told by Lara (Chef Bottura's wife) that they often get people booking several spots initially then cancelling, so it's always a good idea to put your name on the waitlist because they are often able to fit people in. 

 

THE MEAL

Everything about the meal was superb.  We were warmly greeted by Lara, wife of Chef Bottura, and she was just as lovely and engaging as you would expect.  We sat in one of two small and simply decorated dining rooms with only 5 other tables.  There are two tasting menu options - Traditional, based on the dishes he is known for and Sensations, his newer culinary experiments. I'm not sure if this is always the case, but we had the option of a combination of the two menus, highlighting the best of both in roughly 15 courses - which is of course the one we ordered. 

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Over the course of our three hour lunch our senses were challenged unlike ever before as we witnessed the art of food at the highest level. With every single dish, we were surprised by the ingenious flavor pairings, taking in the magnificent colors and textures in each creation. What Osteria Francescana brings to the world of food is masterful.  To provide context - we recently ate at the #5 rated restaurant in the world in New York City and it doesn't hold a candle to what Chef Bottura and his team are presenting at Osteria Francescana.  At the end of our meal, we were lucky enough to get a private tour of the kitchen to meet the artists behind each dish, including Chef Taka who is the creator of the famous dessert - Oops, I Dropped the Lemon Tart! The staff were all so kind and gracious, even asking if they could take a group photo with us - my heart nearly exploded with joy as you can see from the gitty grin I have plastered on my face in the picture.  Unfortunately, Chef Bottura's train was delayed from Milan and we were unable to meet him - our only regret of the entire experience. We dream about the day we will return, fondly looking back at the memories we made as we ate the best meal of our lives. 

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IMPORTANT DETAILS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

• Confirming Your Reservation: You have to confirm your reservation either via email or by phone 48 hours prior to your reservation date. If you do not do this, you will lose your table. The easiest thing to do is to ask your concierge at the hotel to call and confirm for you - just don't forget!
• Parking: We struggled with this a bit ourselves, so please read carefully so you don't make the same mistakes we did.
  •  The city center does not allow for cars to drive through and many streets are actually restricted for use other than by special vehicles, so obey your GPS because you can get a ticket if you're not careful. We made the mistake of making a wrong turn and luckily a kind Italian gentleman flagged us down and helped us out.  Because of this, you can't park in front of the restaurant,  you'll need to park on or near Viale Vittorio Veneto 59 and walk about 3-5 minutes to Osteria Francescana.  This is a very safe street (photos below) so definitely park here if you can.
  • Here's where it's even trickier - you'll need to pay for parking at one of the parking meter machines ON the street you are parked on (not on a parallel one like I did the first time, you can only use machines ON the street you are parked on).  The machines are there, you may just have to walk up and down the street a bit to find them. You can only use cash or debit cards, not credit cards, which you would not be able to understand unless you can read in Italian so I suggest bringing coins.  
  • Please keep in mind that this is a very traditional Italian area so we found it hard to find anyone in the vacinity of where we parked that spoke English - but if you need change there is a small convenience store that you can pop into.  
  • Finally, the meter says something in Italian about 1pm - 2pm being free, confusing us even more. I asked a local and they explained that the hours you pay for take this into account so if you arrive at 12pm, pay for 4 hours, you are actually covered until 5pm since it includes the additional free hour of parking. This probably only matters if you are coming for lunch, but it's important to note just in case.  I've included a GoogleMap below to explain what I'm talking about. 
• Attire: Osteria Francescana is a fine dining restaurant, so you'll want to dress accordingly.  For our lunch reservations, I wore a simple black dress with heels and my husband wore slacks and a blazer - smart business attire. This seemed to be on par with the other diners. 
• Cost: You can expect to pay around $500 per couple for the tasting menu, before tip and alcohol. With a wine pairing, it's another $150 per person. Of course, you can always order a la carte, but I would only suggest this if you were planning on returning - otherwise you'll miss the whole experience.  Also, it is customary to tip at fine dining restaurants throughout Europe - 10-15% is sufficient. 
• Cameras: They are a bit strict about this... if you simply have a point and shoot or phone camera, that seems to be just fine; however, anything larger needs to be approved ahead of time. I had emailed about my camera (a basic DSLR, nothing too fancy) and was told it would be fine as long as it's not professional gear - no tri-pods, flash, bulky lenses, etc. However, when I arrived, I was asked by the manager not use my camera - I'm assuming he felt it looked professional.  I assured him that there would be no tools and I would be discrete and was given permission... kind of.  Of course, this made me nervous about it the entire time, so I didn't get the photos I wanted. Just keep this in mind when you go, but I did see other people at the tables around us taking photos with their smaller, personal cameras with no problem.  I do realize that this is to ensure that others dining are not bothered and the experience of the meal is not ruined - but this is one of those once in a lifetime meals so I had to do what I had to do. 

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For even more fun photos and info on this beautiful city, 

DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT MY COMPLETE TRAVEL GUIDE TO MODENA HERE

Modena, Italy