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Plenty of new travel rewards cards have hit the market in recent years. However, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card remains our go-to credit card when asked for recommendations.
The card features a great signup bonus, affordable annual fee, and rewarding travel and dining bonus categories. Plus, you gain access to the best travel protection benefits of any card at its price point. Even better, Chase made some great changes to the card in August 2021 — including improved earning rates, a 10% anniversary points bonus, and a $50 hotel credit.
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
- Enjoy benefits such as a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining and 2x on all other travel purchases, plus more.
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024.
- 5X points on Lyft rides through March 2022
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
Sapphire Preferred highlights include:
- The card currently offers a 60,000-point signup bonus—worth a minimum of $750 towards travel
- Earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards; 3x points on dining (including eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out), select streaming services, and online grocery purchases.
- Primary rental car coverage for rentals worldwide
- Trip delay cover of up to $300 for delays of 12+ hours
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance of up to $10,000 per covered trip
- Baggage delay and lost luggage protection
- Create a killer Ultimate Rewards combo of cards by combining points from multiple cards
Here’s the link to apply for the 60,000 point offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Or, read on for our full review and find out why so many points and miles fans have this card in their wallet.
Signup Bonus and Earning Potential
As a new Sapphire Preferred cardmember, you’ll earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Chase Ultimate Rewards are probably the most valuable points you can earn, and this bonus gives you a nice head start on planning your next trip.
When you swipe the Sapphire Preferred for purchases, you'll earn 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining, and 2x on all other travel purchases.
Improvements made as of August 16, 2021 include:
- 5X Ultimate Rewards points on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 3X points on dining (including eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out)
- 3X points on select streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
Even better, Ultimate Rewards are a valuable points currency you can transfer to 14 different airline and hotel partners. Plus, Chase also offers a broad definition of the travel and dining categories. So, you can earn bonus points on purchases that may not be included by other card issuers.
This is how Chase defines a travel purchase:
“Merchants in the travel category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, campgrounds, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages.”
And dining is defined as:
“…merchants whose primary business is sit-down or eat-in dining, including fast-food restaurants as well as fine dining establishments.”
Redeeming Ultimate Rewards Points
You have several options when it comes to redeeming Ultimate Rewards points earned with the Sapphire Preferred. But, we recommend redeeming your points towards travel if you want to maximize your return on spending. Rather than list all the redemption options, we’ll focus on the two options that return the best value for your points. Redeeming points for a fixed value via the Chase Travel Portal, or transferring points to airline and hotel partners.
Book With No Blackout Dates Through the Travel Portal
You can redeem Ultimate Rewards points earned with your Sapphire Preferred for a fixed value of 1.25¢ per point towards travel via the Chase Travel Portal. This includes purchasing flights, booking hotel stays, car rentals, and cruises, plus redeeming points for a variety of activities and tours.
Redeeming points for a fixed-value through the travel portal works best for cheap economy airfare—especially when it's hard to find saver-level award space for your trip. Another good reason to book through the travel portal is to pursue elite status. Flights booked through the travel portal code as revenue flights and earn both redeemable miles and elite status credits.
Extract More Value with Chase Transfer Partners
By far, the most valuable use of Ultimate Rewards points is transferring them to airline and hotel partners. Particularly when booking premium-cabin airline awards or luxury hotel redemptions. While you can redeem Ultimate Rewards points for a fixed value of 1.25¢ through the travel portal, you can achieve a much higher value when you transfer to one of 14 Chase Ultimate Rewards partners.
| Partner Program | Time for Points to Transfer |
|---|---|
| Aer Lingus AerClub (Avios) | Instantly |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Instantly |
| Air France/KLM Flying Blue | Instantly |
| British Airways Executive Club (Avios) | Instantly |
| Emirates Skywards | Instantly |
| Iberia Plus (Avios) | Instantly |
| JetBlue TrueBlue | Instantly |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 17 hours |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | Instantly |
| United MileagePlus | Instantly |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | Instantly |
| World of Hyatt | Instantly |
| IHG One Rewards | 5 hours |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1 day |
For example, you could transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to the World of Hyatt hotel rewards program at a 1:1 ratio for a stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney. This is a bucket list property for many points and miles fans. But, at an average base room rate of $855 per night, it’s hard to justify the expense of staying at such an aspirational property when paying cash.
If you redeem 30,000 Hyatt points transferred from your Ultimate Rewards account, you get a return of ~2.9¢ per point for your UR points. Booking the same property through the Chase Travel Portal at 1.25¢ per point would set you back 68,400 points!
Another high-value use of Ultimate Rewards points is transferring them to airline partners for premium cabin award redemptions. Redeeming airline miles for long-haul business- and first-class experiences yields the highest return from your Ultimate Rewards points, typically providing returns of around 4-5¢ per point, all the way up to ~13¢ per point for top-tier redemptions.
Want more information on Chase travel partners? Check out our comprehensive guide to Ultimate Rewards transfer partners for a detailed breakdown of each partner.
Travel and Purchase Protection Benefits
The Sapphire Preferred ranks #1 on our list of best cards for travel protection. It features an extensive mix of travel insurance policies and purchase protection benefits — all for an annual fee that's not going to break the bank.
We’ve summarised the most valuable perks in the table below, but recommend you check out the Sapphire Preferred Benefits Guide for a detailed breakdown of Sapphire Preferred benefits.
| Sapphire Preferred Benefits | Summary |
|---|---|
| Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver | Decline the rental company's collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card. Coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the vehicle for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad. |
| Purchase Protection | Covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account. |
| Extended Warranty Protection | Extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer's warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less. |
| Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption | Trip Cancellation insurance reimburses you or your Immediate Family Members for up to ten thousand ($10,000.00) dollars per person for each Covered Trip (up to $20k/trip & $40k/year) if a Covered Loss prevents you or your Immediate Family Members from traveling on or before the departure date and results in cancellation of the travel arrangements. |
| Lost Luggage | If you or your immediate family members' checked or carry-on bags are damaged or lost by the carrier, you're covered up to $3,000 per passenger. |
| Trip Delay Reimbursement | If your common carrier travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket. |
| Baggage Delay | Reimburses you for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for baggage delays over 6 hours by passenger carrier up to $100 a day for 5 days. |
| Travel Accident Insurance | When you pay for your air, bus, train or cruise transportation with your card, you are eligible to receive accidental death or dismemberment coverage of up to $500,000. |
| Travel and Emergency Assistance Services | If you run into a problem away from home, call the Benefit Administrator for legal and medical referrals or other travel and emergency assistance. (You will be responsible for the cost of any goods or services obtained.) |
Should you get the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve?
One of the most common questions we field for the Sapphire cards is whether folks should get the Sapphire Preferred, or, its ultra-premium stablemate, the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. The reality is, there is no one right answer.
Are you just starting on your points and miles journey? We recommend starting with the Sapphire Preferred. The Sapphire Preferred features a high-value signup bonus, a lower annual fee, and many of the same travel protection benefits as its more expensive sibling. Plus, there is no charge to add authorized user accounts to your card.
If you travel enough that you’ll take full advantage of all the benefits and travel credits offered on the Sapphire Reserve, you may be better off holding that card over the long term. However, we typically recommend points and miles fans start with the Sapphire Preferred. You can always upgrade to the Sapphire Reserve at a later date if you can maximize the benefits.
Partner with Other Ultimate Rewards Earning Cards
While the Sapphire Preferred is a great standalone rewards card, you can supercharge your points earning by pairing it up with other Ultimate Rewards earning cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and the Chase Freedom Unlimited®.
You can combine points earned across the entire range of Chase Ultimate Rewards cards, including the three Ink business cards. Each card features different bonus categories, allowing you to create an excellent Ultimate Rewards combo of cards and build a massive balance of rewards points without increasing your monthly spending.
In addition to the Sapphire Preferred, you can earn Ultimate Rewards points with the following cards:
- Chase Freedom Flex℠
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
You can’t transfer Ultimate Rewards earned from the Freedom cards, or either of the no-annual-fee Ink cards to travel partners unless you also hold a Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Preferred.
Application Restrictions
We recommend applying for Chase cards early in your application strategy as Chase cards feature some of the harshest application restrictions of any card issuer.
The first is the 5/24 policy, which affects all Chase cards. If you’ve been approved for 5 or more credit cards (from any card issuer) in the previous 24 months, you won’t get approved for a new Chase credit card.
In addition to the 5/24 policy, the Sapphire family of cards is subject to supplementary rules restricting applicants to one signup bonus/new Sapphire card every 48 months.
“This product is available to you if you do not have any Sapphire card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for any Sapphire card in the past 48 months.”
Our Take
The 60,000-point signup bonus on the Sapphire Preferred is a fantastic starting point (pun intended). But, there is so much more to this card. The 25% bonus on travel booked through the Ultimate Rewards portal and the flexibility to choose between top travel partners make Chase points extremely valuable and highly regarded by award-travel fans.
The Sapphire Preferred also features some of the best travel protection benefits of any card in its class. Plus, you’ll pay no foreign transaction fees when making purchases overseas.
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
- Enjoy benefits such as a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit, 5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining and 2x on all other travel purchases, plus more.
- Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024.
- 5X points on Lyft rides through March 2022
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
I applied for this card, make a wish.
Holding onto the CSP was a good play, as I was anticipating a refresh on the Sapphires after the updates on the Freedom cards last fall. This card was worth having before, now it’s cemented its “keeper” status for as long as I’m able to travel.
What’s funny is – Priority Pass aside because it’s worthless nowadays – the CSP is now the power card and the CSR has been neutered.
This is a really competitive top-tier rewards card. It’s challenging to get approved with Chase’s card application limitations though.
For those that want the Sapphire Reserve, makes sense to apply for the Proffered (for the bonus) and then convert the card later down the line. Best of both worlds!
It’d be helpful if you gave details on the “select” streaming services that are included.
Honestly, the Preferred is probably the better value at this point — at least for 90% of us.
I would get this card for the sign up bonus. However the annual fee is still high if you do not travel much and could use all of the other card benefits like primary insurance on car rentals.
Time to dump my reserve card since I haven’t used a lounge in over a year and they keep increase the benefits of the preferred.
All the transfers should be completed immediately, nowadays, in my opinion.
The 10% Anniversary bonus is a big plus – these are nice enhancements that will keep AMEX hopping trying to keep up and restores the CSP to relevance in the day to day shopping mix with the enhanced bonus categories
The pay yourself back feature has been a godsend since I can sometimes rack up more points than I know what to do with.
I stayed with the sapphire preffered based on this calculation
This means that if you spend at least $8,650 on travel and dining purchases in a year, you’re better off going with the Chase Sapphire Reserve in terms of award earning. This breaks out to at least an average of $721 in spending per month.
Well now dining is the same earn and travel is only one UR point more. With a $250 net fee compared to $45 net AF. That doesn’t even factor the anniversary points making the CSP 3.3x on dining and 2.2x on travel so it earns 0.3x more on dining and only 0.8x less on travel. Chase just completely and utterly neutered the CSR.
Original CSR user and received the 100k years when it first came out. Just applied with a referral so we will get 120k this time.
Don’t underestimate the rental car coverage: Primary rental car coverage for rentals worldwide. Key words: primary and worldwide. That gives me peace of mind and has saved me money in a couple of instances.
One of the best cards around. Prefer to book flights on my own and not through their portal though.
Very helpful article. It’s been a while since I’ve tried to use points to book airline tickets. Even before the pandemic, I had gotten rather disillusioned about the low availability of award travel on flights I might actually want to take. What’s your sense of how easy it would be to actually use points for tickets (as opposed to using them for upgrades to premium cabins)?
I love my Chase Sapphire card. They have also been great about adding additional features and bonuses given they know we aren’t traveling as much and the travel benefits aren’t as useful.
I’ve had the Sapphire Reserve since its inception. If I downgraded to another Chase card, how long would it be before I can apply for the Preferred? I would want to go back to the Reserve as soon as possible for the travel insurance and Priority Pass. How long would I have to keep the Preferred?
Thanks for the information. Would one be able to redeem points (through Chase Ultimate Rewards for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card) for travel booked through OTAs, like Priceline/Expedia? If so, how does that work?
Unfortunately, Chase requires you to book through the travel portal. The only option to redeem points for another OTA purchase would be to redeem for a statement credit, but the rate is 1 cent per point, which probably isn’t worth it. The Capital One Venture card (full review) does offer the ability to redeem points for any travel purchase. The Barclay Arrival Plus as well, but that card is no longer open to new applications.