The Best Travel Portals: Chase vs. Amex vs. Capital One

Should you book travel through your credit card’s portal or directly? Here’s how the major portals compare.

Chase Travel

Point values:

• Sapphire Preferred: 1.25¢/point
• Sapphire Reserve: 1.5¢/point

Strengths: Best point value, decent selection

Weaknesses: Interface isn’t the smoothest

Verdict: Worth using for the 1.5¢ Reserve rate

Capital One Travel

Point values: 1¢/mile (but earn 5-10X on bookings)

Strengths: Clean interface, competitive prices, good earning

Weaknesses: Transfer often beats portal

Verdict: Good fallback, but transfers usually win

The Bottom Line

Chase Travel with Sapphire Reserve offers the best portal value at 1.5¢/point. But transfers often beat all portals for premium redemptions. Use portals for convenience, transfers for maximum value.