We all know the Chase Sapphire Preferred gets double points on all travel and dining, but a very cool perk was that you got triple points on dining on the first Friday of each month. This morning, View From the Wing reported that the first Friday bonus will be discontinued in 2016. Here is a link to the original post.
Chase’s online disclosures note each date in 2015 in which this benefit will be valid, but with no mention of the future. I called Chase to follow up on Gary’s post, and they confirmed that this benefit was put out on a year-by-year basis, and that as of now, it would not be renewed in 2016. The representative with whom I spoke also said they may be replacing it with a different promotion, but he didn’t have any knowledge of what that may be just yet.
I agree with Gary that this was a really cool extra perk, but its elimination will not change my spending habits or usage of the card. I will continue to keep the card, and to alternate between the Chase Sapphire Preferred, American Express® Gold Card, and Chase Freedom (when it has the 5x for restaurants) for my dining-out spending.
Did you make an extra effort to go out on the first Friday and use your Sapphire Preferred to pay? Will this notice change your spending habits at all?
Michael Prodanovich is a contributor to Point Me to the Plane, and author of The Ultimate Guide to Free Travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
1 comment
I rarely go out to eat (unless I am dining out for business) but when I would, I would pretty much only go out on the first Friday of the month, just for this CSP benefit. Will it affect the amount of points I earn greatly, no not really. But it’s just one more benefit that CSP has taken away and not given too much back. While it’s great that they give Primary Car Renters insurance, it is available on other Chase Cards that I use and I assume others will follow suit soon (looking at your Citi). I still enjoy the card, but the arguments to keep are getting harder and harder to justify. I really hope they start giving more incentives to earn points.
Once United or Hyatt de-evaluate again (it’s inevitable) the card, in my opinion, is not going to be worth much at all.