AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Offers for the Chase Freedom Flex℠ are not available through this site. Some offers may have expired. Please see our card marketplace for available offers
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees) is one of our favorite travel rewards cards; it's a near-perfect option for beginners and seasoned travelers alike. It's got a great mix of benefits, carries a modest $95 annual fee, and currently offers new applicants a great 60,000-point welcome bonus. What could be better than that?
Here's everything you need to know about the Sapphire Preferred to help you decide if it's worth adding to your wallet.
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
- Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase Travel℠
- 10% anniversary points boost - each account anniversary you'll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 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
Page Contents
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Pros
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Cons
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Welcome Offer
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Benefits
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Earning Rates
- Redeeming Points With the Chase Sapphire Preferred
- Application Restrictions
- Card That Compete With the Chase Sapphire Preferred
- Our Take
Chase Sapphire Preferred Pros
- 60,000-point welcome bonus.
- Ability to transfer Ultimate Rewards to travel partners — or redeem for travel in the Chase Travel℠ portal with a 25% bonus.
- Competitive earning categories on travel and dining.
- Excellent trip delay, cancellation, and interruption insurance.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Cons
- Subject to Chase's 5/24 policy — and other Sapphire card family restrictions.
- Has an annual fee.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Welcome Offer
As a new applicant for the Sapphire Preferred, you can earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
The value of this welcome bonus depends on how you redeem your stash of Ultimate Rewards points. But on average, AwardWallet users extract 1.94¢ per point on redemptions through transfer partners. That makes the bonus worth over $1,158 towards award travel!
Related: Chase Credit Card Offer History: Best-Ever Offers and When You Should Apply
Chase Sapphire Preferred Benefits
Given that the Sapphire Preferred imposes just a $95, it's got a fantastic mix of benefits. Here's an overview of what's available to cardholders:
$50 annual hotel credit
When you use your card to book a hotel through the Chase Travel℠ portal, you’ll get a $50 statement credit once per year. This benefit presents an easy way to recoup over half of the card's annual fee every 12 months.
Note that the $50 in hotel purchases that get credited won’t earn rewards points. The credit typically shows up within two billing cycles after your booking.
10% anniversary bonus points
Each cardmember year, you'll earn a 10% bonus on the points you’ve accumulated from purchases over the past year. The bonus is calculated at a base rate of 1 point per $1 spent, so if you spend $20,000 on your card during your cardmember year, you'll collect 2,000 bonus points.
Travel and purchase protection benefits
The Sapphire Preferred ranks high 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 summarized the most valuable perks in the table below, but we 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 $60,000 for 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 per trip. |
| 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.) |
Complimentary DoorDash DashPass — and other savings
You will receive at least 12 months of free DashPass you can use on DoorDash and Caviar if you activate the membership by December 31, 2027. In addition, you can also save $10 per month on a non-restaurant DoorDash order.
DoorDash DashPass normally costs $9.99 monthly and offers free delivery for restaurant orders over $12. To receive these benefits, you must first add the Sapphire Preferred as a default payment in the DoorDash app and click the DashPass activation button.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Earning Rates
When you swipe the Sapphire Preferred for purchases, you'll earn as follows:
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 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
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. Chase defines a travel purchase as:
“Merchants in this category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages.”
And dining is defined as:
“Sit-down or eat-in dining, including fast food restaurants and fine dining establishments.”
5X points on qualifying Lyft rides through September 2027
Through September 30, 2027, cardholders will earn an additional 3X points for each $1 spent when using the card for qualifying Lyft products and services purchased through the Lyft app, boosting the total earnings on Lyft rides to 5x points.
Related: All of the Lyft Benefits Available Through Credit Cards
5X on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases through December 2027
Cardholders earn 5X points for each $1 spent on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027 — up to 25,000 points.
Redeeming Points With the Chase Sapphire Preferred
You can redeem Ultimate Rewards points earned with the Sapphire Preferred in several ways. We recommend redeeming your points towards travel if you want to maximize your return on spending.
Rather than list all the redemption options, let's focus on the two options that return the best value for your points: redeeming points for a fixed value via the Chase Travel Portal and transferring points to airline and hotel partners.
Related: 20+ Different Ways To Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards
Book through the Chase Travel℠ Portal
You can redeem Ultimate Rewards points from 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 Chase 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, meaning they earn both redeemable miles and elite status credits.
Booking travel through the portal is also convenient when you want to use points to pay for tickets to Disney, book a guided city tour, or pay for a ride from the airport to your hotel. You can find these in the portal, available for points redemptions.
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 transfer partners. You can transfer points to the following partners:
For example, you could transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to World of Hyatt at a 1:1 ratio and take advantage of the program's favorable award chart. From a couple of nights in luxurious suites to several nights at budget-friendly properties, you have a lot of options here.
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.
In recent AwardWallet user redemptions, travelers have yielded an average of 3.03¢ per point for business- and first-class redemptions. However, by maximizing Ultimate Rewards points, you can get returns of around 4¢ to 5¢ per point — all the way up to over 10¢ per point for top-tier redemptions.
Related: Do Chase Points Expire?
Application Restrictions
We recommend applying for Chase cards early in your application strategy, as Chase cards feature some of the strictest application restrictions of any card issuer.
The first is the 5/24 policy, which affects all Chase cards. If you’ve been approved for five or more credit cards (from any card issuer) in the previous 24 months, you won’t get approved for a new Chase credit card — even if you've now closed some of those other cards.
In addition to the 5/24 policy, the Sapphire family of cards is subject to supplementary rules restricting applicants to one sign-up bonus on a 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.”
Don't qualify for the Sapphire Preferred due to 5/24? Check out our Sapphire Preferred vs American Express® Gold Card post for a great alternative.
Lastly, know that Chase is unlikely to approve you for more than two cards in a 30-day period.
Card That Compete With the Chase Sapphire Preferred
It's hard to deny the value unlockable with the Sapphire Preferred. But if you're ineligible to apply or want to consider other options to make a more informed decision, here are some of the top options to weigh:
- If you want a Chase rewards card without an annual fee, consider the Chase Freedom Flex℠. You'll earn 5% cash back in rotating quarterly bonus categories and on travel booked through Ultimate Rewards, plus 3% on dining and drugstore purchases. While you can't transfer earned points to Chase travel partners unless you have another card to pair with this one, you can redeem your earnings for cash back or in the travel portal. Learn more in our full Chase Freedom Flex review.
- If you want Chase points plus more perks, check out the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. For a $550 annual fee, you'll get top-of-the-line insurance benefits, airport lounge access, higher earning rates, increased value on points in the travel portal, and a $300 annual travel credit. You'll also enjoy reimbursement for your application fee to Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS once every four years. Our full Chase Sapphire Reserve review has more information.
- If you want a more rewarding everyday spending card (or if you're over 5/24), the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers some similarities in terms of earning power, welcome bonus, list of travel partners, and annual credits for a $95 annual fee. The Capital One Venture is one of the best cards for everyday spending and also offers some travel protection benefits, but these aren't quite as good as the Sapphire Preferred. Read our full Capital One Venture review to learn more.
- Earn 5% on up to $1,500 on combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate
- Earn 5% on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Earn 3% on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services
- Earn 3% on drugstore purchases
- Earn 1% on all other purchases
- 10X points on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 10X points on Chase Dining (including prepaid reservations and prepaid takeout purchased through Chase)
- 5X points on airfare purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on all other travel
- 3X points on dining at restaurants
- 1X points on all other purchases
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per dollar on all other purchases
Related: Should You Get the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Sapphire Reserve?
Our Take
We've said it before, and we'll say it again. The Sapphire Preferred is one of our favorite travel cards. And the incredible 60,000-point welcome bonus is just the start; there's so much more to this card.
The 25% bonus on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ 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, get an annual hotel spending credit, and earn in popular spending categories. There's a reason why we consistently rank the Chase Sapphire Preferred as the best beginner's card for award travel.
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
- Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase Travel℠
- 10% anniversary points boost - each account anniversary you'll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year.
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 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
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), and Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
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.
