There are a ton of rewards credit cards available, but if you're just getting started with collecting points and miles, you should open the Chase Sapphire Preferred as your first card. 4,000 in the first three months. When I finished graduate school and started working (again), I decided that I wanted to open a new credit card in order to earn better rewards.

At the time, I was still using my student credit card from college, which earned 1% cash back on purchases. It had a tiny credit limit, although that was okay since I never carried a balance, and no benefits that I knew of. I did some research and opened a Capital One card that earned 2x miles/dollar spent on everything.

It seemed like a great card, but as I started reading more and diving into the world of credit card rewards and "travel hacking," I learned that it wasn't actually the best option out there. As I kept researching, I found out more about transferable points, which are the most useful type of credit card point. That's because there are a few different ways you can use them, some of which can provide a higher value.

For example, the starter card I kept seeing discussed was the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Keep in mind that we're focusing on rewards, not things like interest rates. That's because interest and late fees far outweigh the value of any rewards you earn. Earn rewards on everyday spending quickly. The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 2x points per dollar spent on travel and dining, and 1x point per dollar on everything else.

Travel and dining are defined broadly — travel includes everything from taxis, subways, parking, tolls, and Uber to things like airfare, hotels, cruises, and Airbnb, while dining includes restaurants, bars, coffee shops, fast-food restaurants, most bakeries, and more. Use points how you want, and get a great value no matter what. The Sapphire Preferred earns Chase's in-house rewards currency, known as Ultimate Rewards (UR) points, which can be redeemed any of a few different ways. The easiest option is to simply redeem them for cash or gift cards.

100. You can get the cash as a statement credit or direct deposited to your linked checking account. Another option, which gets you more value for your points, is to use them to book travel through the Ultimate Rewards travel website. It works like any other online travel agency, such as Priceline or Expedia.

You can search for flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages, or more. When you book travel through Chase and use points, you'll get a 25% bonus, making each point worth 1.25 cents. 625. If the trip you want to book costs more points than you have, you can always pay the difference.

My favorite way to use points is the third option: transferring them to Chase's travel partners, including nine airline frequent flyer programs and four hotel loyalty programs. While this is more complicated, you can generally get more value by booking frequent flyer award tickets than you can by using your points as cash or through Chase.

You can even book flights in business or first class for fewer points than it would cost if you used them as cash or through Chase's website to buy the flights. You can read more about why transferable points are so valuable. The annual fee is waived the first year — but after that, it stays low. While there are other cards, like Chase's Sapphire Reserve, that offer slightly higher rewards earning, or more benefits, they also come with higher annual fees. 95, but it's waived the first year.

Even without getting the sign-up bonus the second year, it's easy to negate the cost of the annual fee because of the rewards you earn and the card's other benefits. Get a huge sign-up bonus when you open the card. 4,000 in the first three months, plus an extra 5,000 points when you add an authorized user to your account and they make a single purchase within the same timeframe.