There’s a lot to love about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review). One of the awesome perks of the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards hotel credit, so in this post, I wanted to take a closer look at how that works. This might be especially interesting to people at the moment, in light of the increased bonus available on the card.
In this post:
What is the Sapphire Preferred $50 hotel credit?
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards hotel credit. The concept is that those with the card receive a $50 credit toward a hotel stay annually that’s booked through the Ultimate Rewards portal.
While this is quite straightforward, naturally there are some terms to be aware of:
- A statement credit will automatically be applied to your account when your card is used for hotel accommodation purchases made through the Ultimate Rewards website
- The statement credit will be issued up to an annual maximum of $50, with no minimum spending required
- There’s no registration required, but rather statement credits will post to your account within two days after your purchase posts to your account
- New cardmembers get this benefit their first cardmember year, and in each subsequent year; those who had the Sapphire Preferred before the August 2021 refresh will get their first credit after their next annual fee is due
- For the purposes of this credit, “annual” is defined as the year beginning with your account open date through the first statement date after your account anniversary, and the 12 monthly billing cycles after that each year
How do you redeem the Sapphire Preferred $50 hotel credit?
To redeem your Chase Sapphire Preferred $50 hotel credit, just go to the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel portal. Once you’re logged in, go to the “Travel” section.
Then you’ll see the travel search tool, where you’ll want to select the “Hotels” tab.
Select where and when you’d like to stay, and then click “Search.” On the results page you can filter by price, location, hotel name, star rating, etc.
Once you select a hotel, just go through the booking process. Make sure you choose to pay with cash rather than points, or else you won’t receive the statement credit.
There’s nothing further required to unlock the statement credit — just make sure you charge the purchase to your Chase Sapphire Preferred, and you’ll automatically receive a credit, up to the $50 limit.
Is it worth using the Sapphire Preferred $50 hotel credit?
The upside of using the Chase Sapphire Preferred annual hotel credit is obvious — you can save up to $50 on a hotel stay. So why wouldn’t you want to book through the Chase Travel portal? There are a couple of main downsides:
- Since the Chase Travel portal is an online travel agency, this is considered a third party booking, so you generally won’t earn points or receive elite benefits if you’re staying at a major chain hotel
- While the Chase Travel portal has competitive pricing, in some cases you’ll get better rates when booking directly with a hotel; some hotels have discounts for loyalty program members, AAA members, seniors, etc.
Personally, my strategy for using the Sapphire Preferred hotel credit would be as follows:
- Try to use it for a stay at an independent hotel, where you’re not forgoing points or elite benefits
- Try to use it for a stay that costs as close to $50 as possible, so the opportunity cost is the lowest compared to the rates you may find elsewhere
- In some cases it could still be worth using the credit at a chain hotel; for example, if you have a one night stay at a Hyatt Place that costs $80, it could be worth forgoing elite perks in order to knock $50 off the price
I absolutely think there’s value in this credit, though I also think it’s important to be strategic about how you use it.
Bottom line
The Chase Sapphire Preferred has lots of amazing benefits, and the $50 annual credit is one of them. The card offers a $50 annual hotel statement credit that can be used through the Ultimate Rewards portal. This is a fairly new benefit, so I know there has been some confusion about how it works. Hopefully the above clarifies any questions there may have been.
I’d recommend using the hotel credit strategically, and if used correctly, this should recoup more than half of the annual fee on the card.
What do you make of the Chase Sapphire Preferred hotel credit, and if you’re a cardmember, how do you plan on using it?
Anyone know if it's possible to use my chase travel portal but a friend's preferred card and still get the $50 offer on my friend's card?
Perhaps this is an example of an optimum use case ? booked HIE LHR T4 for $106 pre-paid, which was $5 more than booking pre-paid direct with IHG. Points value on a $100 booking = negligible ! perks I miss out on, as breakfast is included = None ! and I basically get a 40%+ discount by using my $50 chase credit. PS : I had an existing points booking which I cancelled as the points are worth more to me than the $56 it will cost me for this reservation.
Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but does the credit have to go towards a PREPAID hotel stay? For some reason, I thought it had to be on a prepaid stay, and this is what I used the credit for last year. I am wanting to use it on a stay with a cancelation policy.
Does anyone know if the cardholder has to actually be the one checking in? My wife has not used the benefit on her card yet. I already used mine on my card. Can she book using her card and list both of us as guests on the booking but only I show up at check in?? Thanks.
Is it possible to use the $50 credit over two stays, with stay 1 being $20 and separately, stay 2 being $30?
Anyone have an issue using this thing? I booked a hotel last cardmember year. The transaction posted four days before end of the year but the credit took about ten days even though the terms state it I'll post within two. Chase applied the credit to the following cardmember year and refuses to budge. They claim the credit applies to the year in which the credit appears on the statement. I've been round and round...
Anyone have an issue using this thing? I booked a hotel last cardmember year. The transaction posted four days before end of the year but the credit took about ten days even though the terms state it I'll post within two. Chase applied the credit to the following cardmember year and refuses to budge. They claim the credit applies to the year in which the credit appears on the statement. I've been round and round with customer service and am considering a CFPB complaint. It's just $50 but I'd never have booked with chase otherwise.
I may end up in a similar boat - my "card year" expires at the end of the month (October), and I just booked a hotel stay with Chase Travel for November.
Chase Rep says the credit will be my "2023 credit" regardless of when it posts, but I will assume that it is my "2024 credit" if it doesn't post before the end of the month.
Luckily, I have 25+ days for it to hopefully post....
Ummmm, does a measly $50 warrant a whole article? Wow, what a huge benefit. More ridiculous considering most people pay well over $50/month to Chase in interest charges. This site has reviews of $2000/night hotel rooms and $8000 plane rides but also devotes time to $50 annual credits. Odd.
Go play TikTok
I found the credit to be quite hard to use as the portal rarely has best prices and you often end up paying $50+ more than you would have other purchased the hotel night elsewhere.
I have one expiring May 19 and for the past year I haven’t been able tofind a good use for it. I tend to book AAA or government rates so it’s just not worth it. Plus I am going for Hyatt Globalist so trying to book everything through Hyatt directly.
I got my and my husband's credit shortly after getting the cards. When I compared prices on the hotel's website, they were exactly the same as in the portal.
What's even better is that unlike the CSR travel credits, this CSP hotel credit actually allows you to keep the 100 points (2x travel bonus on the $50) for the credited amount.
I had the opposite experience to a couple of comments here. I received a Chase annual hotel credit of $50 on my statement in February and didn't book any hotels through the Chase portal. I just checked the previous 6 months to the credit and I didn't even pay for any hotel with that card. My card anniversary is in August. YMMV
To call it one of the “awesome perks” is a huge overstatement. We have two Preferreds in the family and we have never once have been able to use the $50 credit so far. Because the hotel rates you find on Chase portal are usually higher than elsewhere, and because you’d be giving up points earnings that you’d get on other bookings, it’s usually not worth it financially unless you’re booking a one-night stay in...
To call it one of the “awesome perks” is a huge overstatement. We have two Preferreds in the family and we have never once have been able to use the $50 credit so far. Because the hotel rates you find on Chase portal are usually higher than elsewhere, and because you’d be giving up points earnings that you’d get on other bookings, it’s usually not worth it financially unless you’re booking a one-night stay in a $100 a night hotel. HOWEVER, the much bigger problem is that the hotels I usually want to book don’t even show up on the Chase portal (or Citi portal for that matter).
I have use it one but found out you give up way more than $50 by booking the Chase portal versus direct. Hardly worth the effort.
Cardinal rule of travel: always book DIRECT, unless there is a MAJOR cost savings that is worth a headache about billing errors.
I booked a Holiday Inn and prepaid on Chase Travel. Got my $50 credit a few days later. Nice! Checked into the hotel and swiped my card for the incidentals, which I did not incur. I checked out and asked to a receipt but they said they do not provide receipts for third-party...
Cardinal rule of travel: always book DIRECT, unless there is a MAJOR cost savings that is worth a headache about billing errors.
I booked a Holiday Inn and prepaid on Chase Travel. Got my $50 credit a few days later. Nice! Checked into the hotel and swiped my card for the incidentals, which I did not incur. I checked out and asked to a receipt but they said they do not provide receipts for third-party bookings.
Fine. Except a week later, the incidentals charge stuck on my card. I asked the hotel to refund me and they told me to POUND SAND referring any payment problems to the agency where I had booked.
Yeah that was NOT HAPPENING because it takes 50 hours of waiting on hold to speak to someone at Chase Travel which is not actually operated by Chase. I disputed the charge for incidentals on my card and I am still waiting to hear the outcome. Note that I really did not incur any incidental charges. I did not use the minibar or restaurant, I did not smoke or damage anything in the room. I am the type of traveler who does not leave ANY trash in the room. There is absolutely no possible justification for an incidental charge and in any case the hotel didn't want to give me a receipt.
I'm actually Spire Elite with IHG but because of booking through Chase I cannot avail myself of the IHG hotline for customer service.
SAY NO TO CHASE TRAVEL
Huh? The hotel charged you for incidentals that you didn't include and somehow it's Chase Travel's fault?
This is solved with a phone call to the hotel, "please send me an invoice with the line items you are charging me for."
If they refuse, simply dispute with the credit card company.
I did not fault Chase Travel. But I will not use or recommend Chase Travel because the alternative of direct booking would have saved me this billing dispute.
So far haven't found any good use for it. The hotels I have wanted aren't on the portal, cost over $50 more on the portal, or I'm giving up too much booking through the portal rather than directly. Seems there will be many years I don't use this.
Chase portal has been updated so it's not Expedia anymore, no?