Here's What Happened When I Opened the Chase Trifecta in Less Than 2 Weeks

I've never been a big credit card rewards person. But I recently decided to get started with travel rewards credit cards, because I love travel and I want banks to give me a cut of my credit card processing fees. While doing my research, I heard a lot of good things about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, and learned about the concept of the Chase Trifecta.

"Why stop at applying for one credit card when I can apply for all three credit cards?" I said to myself, cackling like a cartoon villain. "I shall use the Trifecta's combined powers to multiply my credit card reward points! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-haaaaa!"

As if in a fever dream, I excitedly (compulsively?) applied for three Chase credit cards in nine days. I don't usually do stuff like this! I'm frugal, I'm responsible, and I have excellent credit. But I was so intrigued about opening the Chase Trifecta that I went a little overboard.

Here's what happened to my credit score -- and what you can learn from my story.

What is the Chase Trifecta?

Chase credit cards are some of the best rewards cards, and reward points enthusiasts have come up with a concept called the Chase Trifecta. This is a strategy where (if you qualify) you can open three Chase credit card accounts, and use all three cards' unique benefits to maximize your reward points.

This plan works because Chase has a great feature that not all credit card companies offer: you can transfer points between your multiple Chase credit cards. Instead of using points on a cash back card to get a statement credit, you can transfer those points to your Chase travel rewards card, and use the points to buy travel. Chase travel rewards points are often worth more than money -- especially if you have the right Chase travel rewards credit card.

Trifecta-eligible cards include Chase Freedom Flex℠, Chase Freedom Unlimited®, and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. In a nine-day whirlwind of activity, I got approved for all three.

How to use the Chase Trifecta

Why do you need three credit cards? Because each card offers different overlapping benefits. Here's why I decided to open each of my three Chase Trifecta cards.

1. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

This was the big prize, the Chase Trifecta card that I absolutely had to have. That's because this card has a welcome offer of 75,000 bonus points. It also serves as the "home base" card for using Chase Ultimate Rewards points to buy airline tickets and hotel stays on Chase Travel.

Here were the most important benefits that made me want to apply for this card:

• 75,000 bonus points if you spend $4,000 within 3 months
• 5X points on Chase Travel purchases
• 3X points on restaurants and restaurant delivery
• 3X points on online grocery purchases (with some exceptions like Target, Walmart, etc.)
• 2X points on other travel

The really important thing about this card, aside from the welcome offer, was the 25% extra value when redeeming points to book travel. Those 75,000 bonus points are worth $900 if I use the points to book travel through Chase Travel. All of those everyday multipliers on spending are worth 25% more if I use the points for travel -- every $100 grocery bill is worth $3.75 of travel.

2. Chase Freedom Unlimited®

The Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase, 3% at restaurants and drugstores, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases. But you don't have to use these points for cash back, you can transfer the points to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and use them for travel. That makes the points worth "more" in travel than they're worth in cash; every 1.5% I earn on this card is actually worth (thanks to that 25% extra value multiplier) 1.875% for travel.

I'm also getting a welcome offer on this card: Earn an extra 1.5% on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) — worth up to $300 cash back. That's 6.5% on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 4.5% on dining and drugstores, and 3% on all other purchases.

3. Chase Freedom Flex℠

The Chase Freedom Flex℠ is a fun card because it offers 5% bonus cash back on rotating categories each quarter. When the bonus category was groceries, every time I spent $100 on groceries, I got the equivalent of $6.25 of future travel rewards. I also got a $200 bonus for spending $500 within the first 3 months.

Here's an example of how to use the Chase Trifecta to maximize rewards:

• When the Chase Freedom Flex℠ is offering a 5% bonus on groceries, buy all your groceries with that card.
• Re-route your everyday spending through the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to earn the 75,000 bonus points welcome offer before the deadline of 3 months. I'm using this card to pay for auto insurance, utilities, health insurance premium, and other monthly bills.
• The Chase Freedom Unlimited® pays 3% rewards on every purchase (up to $20,000 in one year), so I'm using it for other non-bonus spending, like paying my taxes. I'm turning taxes into travel!

Bottom line

Opening the Chase Trifecta in nine days caused my FICO® Score to go down by (only) about seven points. But not everyone can afford to take a hit to their credit score, so be cautious when applying for new credit cards. And keep in mind that to get the best deal from travel rewards credit cards, you need to be careful not to overspend, and avoid carrying a balance.