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The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is easily one of the best personal travel rewards credit cards out there. Its solid signup bonus, valuable Ultimate Rewards points, and great travel perks make it hard to beat. If you're new to maximizing miles and points credit cards for free travel, this card is a great place to start. Let's dig into the reasons why!
Why the Sapphire Preferred is Worth Applying for
Here are some reasons why the Sapphire Preferred should be one of the first cards you apply for if you're looking to earn travel rewards.
Difficulty Receiving Approvals for Chase Credit Cards
If you're just getting started earning points and miles, Ultimate Rewards points are a wise choice, not only because of their value, but also because of difficulties applicants have getting approved on new Chase credit card accounts. Chase restricts approvals of its rewards cards to folks under 5/24, so if you have been approved for 5 or more credit cards in the last 24 months, you won't be approved for a new Chase rewards card. Grabbing this card first helps eliminate that potential challenge down the road.
Great Signup Bonus
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is widely touted as the best personal travel rewards card because of its many great benefits. Those great benefits start with a lucrative signup bonus. Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. The annual fee is $95.
Earn Valuable Ultimate Rewards Points
Let's talk about the value of Ultimate Rewards points. Ultimate Rewards points are known for their flexibility, as they can be used in a variety of ways. You can redeem them for statement credits, merchandise, gift cards, and of course, travel. For a full list of options, check out our post on 19 different ways to redeem Ultimate Rewards points.
To redeem your Ultimate Rewards points for travel, you can go a couple of ways. First, you can redeem them for flights, cruises, car rentals, and/or hotels through the Ultimate Rewards online portal. You can redeem 50,000 UR points for $625 when redeeming this way. That's because you get a 20% discount on travel booked through the UR website! This can be a good option for domestic flights, car rentals, and cruises.
The other route, and arguably the best way to redeem your Ultimate Rewards points, is to transfer them to travel partners. Ultimate Rewards transfer partners include Southwest, United, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Flying Blue, Hyatt, Marriott, and IHG.
You can see all of the Ultimate Rewards transfer partners here.
Having the option to transfer your points to travel partners is extremely valuable, as it gives you more flexibility with your points, and the ability to redeem them at a higher value, especially for international flights.
Here are some examples of how you can redeem your Ultimate Rewards points by transferring them out to airline partners.
British Airways Avios
British Airways Avios is an attractive option for short-haul domestic flights on American Airlines. You can use your Avios miles for American Airlines flights since they are both in the OneWorld alliance. British Airways has a distance-based award chart, and award flights start at just 4,500 Avios one way! You can also use your Avios for international short-haul flights. It's worth mentioning that the British Airways Visa Signature® Card has a nice offer as well. It's a great card to get if you already have the Sapphire Preferred.
United MileagePlus
The United MileagePlus program can make your dream trip to Europe a reality. Round-trip economy tickets are only 60,000 United miles. You can fly any airline in the Star Alliance with your United miles. You can also fly business class on United metal for just 110,00 miles round-trip.
Singapore Krisflyer
Singapore Airlines is a terrific airline to fly, especially in their premium cabins. Business Class one-way awards from Houston to Moscow are only 48,875 miles, and you can fly their prestigious Suites Class from NYC-FRA for only 57,375 Krisflyer miles! Singapore Airlines is also a part of Star Alliance, so you can use your miles for any airline in the alliance, like United.
You can also transfer your Ultimate Rewards points out to hotel partners like Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott. The options with the UR program are strong!
All Ultimate Rewards transfers to their travel partners are instant and are done at a 1:1 ratio. You will need to be a member of the loyalty program you're transferring points to, but those memberships are free and easy to set up.
Sapphire Preferred Travel Benefits
The perks and benefits keep coming with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. There are no foreign transaction fees and it has chip and signature technology, making it an easy and smart choice for international use.
Other travel benefits include primary CDW on car rentals, up to $10,000 trip cancellation/interruption insurance, travel accident insurance up to $500,000, luggage reimbursement up to $3,000 per passenger, $500 in eligible delayed expenses, and extended warranty on purchases. You can see more about these travel benefits here.
The main benefits here are the primary CDW insurance on car rentals, no foreign transaction fees, and chip and signature technology. Hopefully, you would never need to file a claim for the other benefits, but it is good to know they are there!
Conclusion
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a no-brainer if you're looking for a great travel rewards card. The 60,000 signup bonus is very competitive with other top travel rewards cards, and it comes packed with travel benefits and perks that make it extremely attractive for any traveler.
If you don't have more than 5 credit card applications approved in the last 24 months, and you're interested in the Sapphire Preferred, you should apply for this card while you can.
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What is the yearly fee?
The $95 annual fee is waived for the first year.
$0 for the first year, and then the annual fee is $95.
The email states 80,000 miles but the add states 40,000. WillI be able to use the miles with my Aadvantage miles?
The 80,000 point offer is for the Marriott Rewards Premier card, and you can find it on this page: https://awardwallet.com/blog/80000-bonus-on-the-chase-marriott-premier-rewards-card/
Can the 80,000 points from the Marriott Premier card bonus once acquired be used for airline flight also?
Yes, you can use your Marriott points for hotel & air packages.
Would it be worth a try if I already have over 5 apps in the last 24 months? Not to sound greedy, but just curious how bad the (Chase) denial would be. Thanks!
Sorry there’s no way to guarantee.
I already have the Chase Sapphire (*not preferred*, this is the one I downgraded to a couple years ago after having the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
If I apply for this now, will I get the bonus? Is there any way to know ahead of time?
It’s needs to be 24 months from the last time you received a sign-up bonus on the Sapphire Preferred, your credit score must be in good/great condition, and you must have applied for less than 5 credit cards in the same time period. Sorry there’s no way to know for sure if you will get guaranteed.
Do you know if a balance transfer counts towards the minimum purchase requirement in the first 3 months?
Btw you could add that spending $4000 will net you 4000 extra points minimum anyway, so it’s a 44.000 points sign-up bonus – unless of course the balance transfer counts, in which case no extra 4k.
Unfortunately, balance transfers won’t count towards the minimum spending requirement.
Can I transfer the 40,000 miles immediately once I receive them to my United Mileage account?
Yes, Ultimate Rewards points transfer immediately into United.
When you say 5 credit cards in the past year do you mean any cards or just Chase cards?
It’s actually 5 cards in the past 24 months from any bank.
Is this card better/worse/equal to the Chase Ink Plus business card for the airline rewards?
Hi! How does this compare to the Citi Thank You Premier card?
They are very similar, and both have worth having for different reasons.
Do the ultimate reward points expire someday? Do they expire after they are transferred to airline miles or hotel points?
Once they are transferred out to an airline/hotel the expiration date will be tied to that specific program.
Does anyone know when this offer (especially with the 40,000 miles bonus) will expire??
This offer has been around for a few years, so I don’t believe it’s going anywhere.
If my wife already has a Chase Sapphire Preferred and we have joint bank accounts, can I apply for one too?
Yes, you can both hold the card.
I don’t recall how many credit card applications I have in the last 24 months. How could I check this? Thanks.
Just check your 3-bureau credit report for applications over the last 2 years.
Do the points expire? And if so when?
Not as long as you hold the card, and keep it open. You can always transfer the points out to a partner though.
Can the 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points be transferred to SW Rapid Rewards and count toward qualifying for the Companion Pass tier?
Hi. I’m in Canada. Am I able to apply and convert points to BA Avios to be used on AA or BA? Thanks.
Sorry this is for US residents.
If my wife also applies for this card and receives the points can these be transferred to my United Mileage Plus account? I guess this question applies to any card points, but do they know (or care) where the points get transferred to?
Yes, she can!
Thanks for the reply, Joe. I didn’t get notified of your reply.
Is there a recommended method to obtain all 3 credit bureau reports? Thank you.
use http://www.annualcreditreport.com to obtain your 3 credit reports. You get them one time a year for free every year.
I hesitated to get this card be cause I don’t like AF. But so far the benefits have been well worth it!
I really want this card, but I am over the 5/24 hour rule 🙁
You might want to consider going into a Chase branch and speaking with a personal banker. Ask them if there are any offers for which you’re pre-approved. If you are, you stand a chance of receiving approval even if over 5/24.
I would recommend getting the Reserve card as well. More up front points. It has a $450 annual fee but you get $300 of that back in travel credits, plus it has perks that the Sapphire Preferred doesn’t have.
Yeah, the Reserve was great while it had the 100K point sign up bonus. U can use the $300 travel credit once per calendar year, which means u can use it twice before you pay your renewal fee or cancel.
FYI, both CIP AND CIU have the chase offer now. It used to be only for the personal cards. Just notice it today, so it happens very recently.