Chase Sapphire Preferred Benefits: 9 Perks That Make the Card Worth It

Amazing rental car & travel protection

You already know the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a solid option for travelers. After all, it has been the most well-known and well-rounded travel rewards credit card for the past decade! But is it worth the $95 annual fee for you specifically? In this post I’ll break down the benefits that actually matter and show you exactly how they add up. By the end of this, you’ll know whether this card makes sense for your wallet.

For a full review of the card, check out our Chase Sapphire Preferred review. Looking for the current welcome offer? See our Chase Sapphire Preferred bonus page. And if you’re torn between the Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve®, we’ve got a head-to-head comparison for that too.

1. Strong rewards earning rates

The Sapphire Preferred earns points at rates that compete with cards costing much more. And in categories that I personally find really valuable:

• 5x Ultimate Rewards points on travel booked through Chase Travel℠
• 3x Ultimate Rewards points on dining
• 3x Ultimate Rewards points on online grocery stores (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
• 3x Ultimate Rewards points on select streaming services
• 2x Ultimate Rewards points on all other travel purchases
• 1x Ultimate Rewards points on all other purchases

Those streaming services include Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Netflix, Sling, Vudu, Fubo TV, Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube TV. If you’re paying for any of these, you’re earning 3x just by using your Sapphire Preferred. Same goes for grocery delivery from services like Instacart (just not the big box retailers).

If you maximize these bonus categories correctly, points will rack up quickly.

2. 10% Anniversary bonus points

This is a cool perk you won’t find on most cards, including the pricier Sapphire Reserve. Every account anniversary year you’ll receive bonus points equal to 10% of the amount that you spent on the card in the prior year. So if you spend $30,000 on the card, that’s an extra 3,000 points deposited into your account automatically!

In this era of opt-in benefits, it’s nice to know there’s no registration required. Just spend on the card like normal, and you’ll see the bonus post shortly after your account anniversary. You can track your progress in the Ultimate Rewards section under “Reward details” and then “Rewards activity,” where you’ll see your earned anniversary bonus for both the current and previous periods.

When you factor this in, your effective earning rates become:

• 3.3x on dining
• 2.2x on travel
• 1.1x on everyday spending.

This actually makes the Sapphire Preferred more rewarding than the Sapphire Reserve for dining and non-bonused purchases.

3. Flexible points redemptions

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers extremely flexible rewards points. The card earns Ultimate Rewards points, which are valuable because you have options.

While you could use these points toward the cost of a travel purchase through the Chase Travel portal, getting a baseline of 1¢ per point, you can do even better. My favorite way to redeem these points is to transfer them at a 1:1 ratio to Chase’s excellent collection of airline and hotel partners.

This is a way to get outsized value, whether you’re transferring points to World of Hyatt for a redemption at a five-star Park Hyatt, or are transferring points to Air Canada Aeroplan for a first or business class award on a partner airline.

When you use your rewards this way, you can get way more than one cent of value per point. For example, you could redeem 35,000 to 45,000 points per night for a stay at the all-inclusive Ventana Big Sur, where a paid night would cost well over $2,000. That’s over four cents of value per Ultimate Rewards point.

Prefer simplicity? Use Points Boost to redeem through Chase Travel at 1.25-1.75 cents per point on select flights. Or if you need a hotel, get 1.5 cents per point for bookings with The Edit by Chase Travel℠.

“Ultimately”, you’ll never do worse than 1 cent per point. Strategically using transfer partners often gets you 4-12 cents per point. Again, with the Sapphire Preferred, you have options.

4. $50 annual hotel credit

Each cardmember year, you get a $50 statement credit for hotel stays booked through Chase Travel. There’s no minimum spending required, so if you booked a $50 hotel you could get $50 back. This benefit kicks in during your first year with the card and resets each anniversary.

To use it, just log into Chase Travel, search for hotels, and pay with your card (use cash, not points, to get the credit). The statement credit posts automatically. Used strategically, that will more than recoup half of the annual fee right there.

My recommendation? Use the credit for an independent hotel where you’re not giving up loyalty points or elite benefits anyway, or that airport hotel stay where you wouldn’t value any extra perks.

5. Primary rental car insurance

This is one of the most valuable benefits on the card, and I mean that literally. The Sapphire Preferred offers primary collision damage waiver (CDW) coverage both in the US and abroad. Primary means you can use this coverage without filing a claim with your personal auto insurance first. Just decline the rental company’s expensive CDW and pay with your Sapphire Preferred.

What does this mean in practice? Coverage extends to most private passenger automobiles, minivans, SUVs, and even most luxury vehicles (though “expensive and exotic” cars are excluded). Authorized users are eligible for this benefit too, and as long as you’re paying for the rental. In fact, anyone authorized under the rental agreement is covered while driving.

The rental car protection has literally saved me over $10,000. I was rear-ended in a rental car once, and while thankfully no one was injured, the damage was significant. The claim was covered in full.

This benefit alone can justify the annual fee many times over if you ever need it.

6. Trip cancellation and interruption insurance

Along the same lines, life happens! If you need to cancel or cut short a trip due to a covered reason (illness, injury, severe weather, and more), the Sapphire Preferred covers up to $10,000 per person for prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses. This includes things like hotel bookings, tours, and flights you can’t get refunded otherwise.

Here’s a real-life example. A reader shared they used this benefit after their cardiologist diagnosed a serious heart condition and ordered them not to travel. They had booked a cruise costing over $17,000 and thought they’d be out the money. After filing a claim with Card Benefit Services, they received the maximum $10,000 payout.

These are things we often don’t think about. And of course we hope that our travels will go smoothly, but that doesn’t always happen.

7. Trip delay reimbursement

When your flight is delayed 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you can get up to $500 per traveler reimbursed for reasonable expenses like hotels, meals, and toiletries. You’ll need to request a “Common Carrier Statement” from your airline (most provide this via their website), then submit your claim through the Chase Benefit Administrator.

I’ve used this multiple times. Most recently, a flight from BOS back to MIA was cancelled due to weather, so we spent the night at the airport Hyatt Regency. I submitted my claim, including the airline statement (which came via email within hours of requesting it), and got reimbursed. I’ve also received reimbursement for lodging, subway tickets, taxi fare, and meals after a flight was cancelled.

The process can take a few weeks to a few months, but it works.

8. Lost luggage reimbursement

Before I had kids I rarely checked bags. Suffice it to say I think of luggage (and packing generally) very differently nowadays.

If your checked or carry-on bags are lost or damaged by the carrier, you’re covered for up to $3,000 per covered traveler. This is on top of whatever the airline pays, and covers the actual value of your belongings. So if you have to replace a high-end stroller at the start of your vacation, the Sapphire Preferred has you covered. Knowing we have up to $12k in replacement-value coverage when we travel as a family of four gives incredible peace of mind.

For baggage delay, Chase covers essential items, though the coverage is more limited than for lost bags. The full details will be in your cardholder agreement.

9. Everyday perks

I’m cheating a bit here, because these card benefits are all great individually as well.

DoorDash DashPass

The Sapphire Preferred includes complimentary DoorDash DashPass through December 31, 2027. With DashPass, you pay $0 delivery fees on eligible orders of at least $12 from restaurants or $25 from grocery stores. You also get one $10 monthly promo credit for non-restaurant orders (grocery, convenience stores), which adds up to $120 per year.

With our schedules, our household orders a lot of food delivery. As one OMAAT commenter put it, the monthly $10 DoorDash credit for grocery and convenience store purchases “more than covers the annual fee.”

Extended Warranty Protection

When you buy something with your Sapphire Preferred, the manufacturer’s US warranty is extended by one additional year on eligible warranties of up to three years. I use this rather than purchasing AppleCare for devices nowadays, because it’s so easy to use.

Coverage is up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per year. My experience filing claims has always been seamless and straightforward, with no lengthy negotiations about what was covered.

Purchase Protection

I’ve never needed this myself, but it’s nice to know it’s there. Eligible items are protected for up to 120 days against damage or theft. If something breaks or gets stolen shortly after you buy it, you can file a claim through the Chase Benefit Administrator for reimbursement. That’s the same group that handles the other benefit claims, and they’ve consistently been easy to work with.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Use the card abroad without worrying about the 3% foreign transaction fees that many cards charge. Combined with the primary rental car coverage and 3.3x on dining, this makes the Sapphire Preferred an excellent travel companion.

Free Authorized Users

The Sapphire Preferred lets you add authorized users at no extra cost. The biggest reason to do this in my opinion is for the primary rental car coverage benefit.

Generally I recommend each adult in a household apply for cards separately to best take advantage of welcome bonuses. But being an authorized user now won’t prevent you from earning a welcome bonus on a card later on. And sometimes it’s convenient to share an account with a family member.

Bottom line: is the Sapphire Preferred worth it?

Here’s how I look at the math:

• The annual fee is $95.
• The hotel credit gives you $50 back immediately if you use it
• The DoorDash credits are worth up to $120 per year
• The 10% anniversary bonus adds points on top of everything you spend
• And the travel insurance and rental car coverage can save you thousands if you ever need them

If you travel at all, use food delivery, or want flexible points that transfer to great partners, the Sapphire Preferred more than pays for itself. It’s a phenomenal card. There’s not a single better travel starter card out there. For that matter, it’s a card that even many who are experienced in miles & points love, given that the card’s value is hard to beat.

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