![]() ![]() Why did we choose Chase Sapphire Preferred? We felt this was the best credit card for traveling internationally. We finally settled on the Chase Sapphire Preferred as our card of choice and could not be happier. So I spent countless hours researching the web, travel blogger recommendations and credit card fine print. We wanted a no foreign transaction fee credit card. Everything we purchase for a year and 3% going to Chase for the heck of it? Just think, if we spent only $10,000 in a year we would be giving Chase $300 from our pockets for no valid reason. Well as you can imagine, this would add up for us in no time. This fee had nothing to do with the exchange rate, but rather a fee for just have a transaction in a foreign place. That means every single time we would use it out of the USA, an extra 3% would be “gifted” to Chase, just because. Wouldn’t you know it, there was a 3% foreign transaction fee. Once we decided to move to Spain, we took a very close look at the fine print of our terms. For over 15 years we used the Chase United Mileage Plus Card for everything. Next you need to keep track of any fees or hidden fees that may apply to your card. This is how we earned enough miles to get a family of 4 to/from Spain using airline points. So you have to inspect to know what to expect! This is how we have lived for too many years to count. We know where our money is going and can view it each month on our statement or daily on-line. Tip #2 Keep track of everything you spend, so you know where to adjust your spending for the next month / future. We don’t make any extra purchases, just to get the points. We buy all of our groceries, gas, clothing etc.with the credit card. Again, we don’t make that purchase in the first place if we can’t pay in cash for it today. We live by the rule of tip #1 and we also use our Credit Card for any and every purchase we can. In order to do this, you must use the credit card. We like to earn “points” on our credit cards for the freebies (Flights, hotels, cash, etc.). Secondly you need to understand how we have functioned as a family over the past 16 years. A finance charge is money you are just throwing away to the credit card company, so why are you doing that? If you can’t pay cash for it today, then you need to wait. By doing this, you will have ZERO finance or interest fees. You must know the dates of your billing cycle and pay your credit card IN FULL within a few days after your statement date. Tip #1 Don’t ever buy anything on a credit card you don’t have the cash in hand to pay for now. ![]() ![]() Look out, you are going to get some extra bonus bits of advice from me to help answer some frequently asked questions and hopefully save you some money. I have not paid a finance charge on a credit card in nearly 20 years! I don’t like to pay full price, I don’t like finance charges, I don’t like fees and I certainly don’t like those hidden fees (in the small print). You will just need to take that info and absorb it into your plethora of data and research and choose what works best for you.įirst let me start by reminding you that I am a frugal one. We can’t advise you on which one to choose, but we can tell you what we chose and our reasons. When planning our move abroad, to live in Spain, we researched many travel credit cards and felt that the Chase Sapphire Preferred was the best fit for us and our planned lifestyle, with no foreign transaction fees!Ī very popular question is about obtaining a credit card and which one to choose. ![]()
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