So if you’ve done everything right, after one year your miles should look like this (I made some basic assumptions):
Chase Freedom Unlimited
Sign up bonus: 20,000 points
$3000 spend at an average of 3x: 9,000 points
Chase Freedom Flex
Sign up bonus: 20,000 points
$3,000 spend at 5x: 15,000 points*
Chase Sapphire Preferred
Sign up bonus: 80,000 points
$4000 spend at 2x: 8,000 points
Total money spent on credit cards: $13,000
Total fees spent on credit cards: $95
Total points earned: 152,000 points
Obviously you can increase these points by any number of ways including 2 player mode, spending more, going beyond just three credit cards, etc. I wanted to make this easy for the average person to reach and I think $13,000 in annual spending should be doable for the average person.
*This assume you got the Freedom Flex at about the six month mark so you could only take advantage of 2 quarterly bonuses. For this reason, some may suggest you start with this card so that you can get the quarterly bonuses right away. At the end of one year, you’d have an extra 15,000 miles. However, this card is a little more technical and it is not a good everyday card so I went with the Freedom Unlimited first. You can go in whatever route you are comfortable with but I’m assuming the reader wants baby steps and I think the Freedom Unlimited is a little easier to start with.