Why the Chase Sapphire Preferred should be your 1st card out of college

09.08.2024 - 19:40 / thepointsguy.com / Chase Sapphire-Preferred

To recent grads: Congratulations! Graduating from college is a huge milestone, and your hard work and efforts should be celebrated.

Whether you're jumping into your first job or embarking on a post-grad trip, it can feel overwhelming to launch into adulthood.

Don't fret — there are tools to make this transition easier. A significant step into adulthood is opening your first credit card. Perhaps you're ahead of the game and have been a proud owner of a student card throughout your four years as an undergrad. Or you may be shopping around for your first "adult" credit card.

Either way, we firmly believe the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card should be every graduate's first credit card. Here's why.

For a card with a (reasonable) $95 annual fee, you're looking at 60,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. TPG's August 2024 valuations put Ultimate Rewards points at 2.05 cents each, meaning that this sign-up bonus is worth a whopping $1,230.

But before you get too excited, ensure you can manage the spending requirement to get the bonus. It works out to about $1,334 in monthly spending for your first three months, which you can easily hit if you're about to spend a solid chunk on moving expenses and a professional wardrobe for your launch into adulthood. Still, make sure you don't charge more than you can afford to pay off, no matter how good the bonus is.

Related: Not just for the established elite: TPG millennials and Gen Z staff weigh in on their experience with premier rewards credit cards

If you want to learn about the world of points and miles, you've come to the right place. Here at TPG, we have a plethora of resources to get you started — including our beginner's guide and our list of best first credit cards.

One of the things you'll see in these guides is that Chase Sapphire Preferred is always at the top of the list. It's a beginner-friendly card that will ease you into "travel hacking" or learning how to use your credit card rewards to unlock free flights or hotel stays. There are many redemption options with this card, but you'll find the most value as a travel rewards card by using your points for travel.

To break it down in simple terms, you have two options for booking travel with this card. First, you can book through Chase Travel℠ at a 25% points bonus or a rate of 1.25 cents each. For example, 10,000 points translates to a $125 value in travel. You can book a variety of travel on this portal, including flights, hotels, car rentals and cruises.

Once you get comfortable booking travel through the portal, you can dip your toes into transferring your points to loyalty programs. Chase lets you move your points at a 1:1 rate to its airline and