Chase Checking Account + Freedom Credit Card + Exclusives Program = more points!

For those who wonder (like me) where it makes sense to use Freedom card over Sapphire Preferred to maximize points earning. I did some playing around in Excel and have the strategy figured out.

You need to have:

Chase Total Checking with Exclusives program (this gives you the Freedom bonus points)
     - In my case I am parking $1,500.00 in the account to avoid the monthly $12 fee
Chase Freedom Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Now the math:

Chase Freedom ($amount x 1.1) + 10 = points earned
Sapphire ($amount x 2.14) = points earned. (the 2.14 factors in the annual bonus)

This ONLY applies to Dining and Travel charges. Any other transaction should go to Freedom since $amount x 1.1 + 10 extra is more than $amount x 1.07 (this factors in annual bonus).

It worked out quite simply:

Any transaction in the Dining or Travel category $10 or under yields more points on Freedom. $11 and above earns more on Sapphire Preferred. All other categories earn more on Freedom. Period.

This may not sound like a lot of points to worry about but 10 extra points per transaction can add up fast if you have a lot of separate small charges. Great examples: coffee on the run, 1 day of cheap parking, short taxi ride, cheap burger/fast food, etc. All of those earn a lot more points on Freedom.

Summary of points earned dollar-by-dollar:

As you can see above you break even at roughly $10 in charges. At $10 you can use either card but I would use Freedom as you get all the points quicker instead of waiting up to a year for the Sapphire Bonus.

Happy Points Earning!