Link: Apply now for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Over the past decade, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review) has probably been the most well-known and well-rounded travel rewards credit card out there. The card has a huge welcome bonus, is rewarding for spending, gets you points that are flexible and valuable, and offers great travel protection. Simply put, it’s one of the easiest to justify travel rewards cards out there.
In this post, I wanted to share eight reasons you should consider getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred. In no particular order…
In this post:
Bonus of 60K Ultimate Rewards points
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is currently offering a welcome bonus of 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 within three months.
That’s a solid bonus with a reasonable spending requirement. At an absolute minimum, 60K Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed for $750 worth of travel through the Chase Travel Portal. However, you can get way more value out of your points than that by transferring them to Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel partners.
Reasonable $95 annual fee
We’ve seen quite a bit of annual fee inflation on credit cards in recent years. The great thing is that the Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to have a $95 annual fee, which is among the most reasonable out there for a premium card. The fee has stayed the same for years, so it’s great to see a card with a low annual fee that’s still incredibly rewarding.
Amazing 2-5x points bonus categories
The Chase Sapphire Preferred has some generous bonus categories, as the rewards structure is as follows:
- 5x Ultimate Rewards points on travel booked through the Chase Travel portal
- 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
If you maximize these bonus categories correctly, points will rack up quickly.
10% anniversary bonus points
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 10% anniversary bonus points. Every account anniversary year you’ll receive bonus points corresponding to 10% of the amount that you spent on the card. So if you spend $20,000 on the card in an anniversary year, you’d earn 2,000 bonus points.
In other words, in the end you’ll earn over 3x Ultimate Rewards points on dining, meaning this card is actually more rewarding than the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review) for those purchases.
Access to Chase Ultimate Rewards travel partners
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers extremely flexible rewards points. Not only can points be redeemed for 1.25 cents each toward the cost of a travel purchase, but they can also be transferred to Chase’s excellent collection of airline and hotel partners, at a 1:1 ratio.
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 1.25 cents 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.
Maximize no annual fee cards
The benefit of having the Chase Sapphire Preferred isn’t just the immediate rewards you get for having the card, but also the potential value of other cards that it unlocks. If you have the Sapphire Preferred, there are four no annual fee cards you can get that will also earn you Ultimate Rewards points, allowing you to supercharge your points earning.
These cards include the following:
- The Chase Freedom FlexSM (review), which offers 5x points in rotating quarterly categories, and 3x points on drugstores
- The Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review), which offers 1.5x points on all purchases, making it one of the best cards for everyday spending
- The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (review), which offers up to 5x points on office supply stores, internet, cable TV, mobile phones, and landlines, and up to 2x points on restaurants and gas stations
- The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (review), which offers 1.5x points on all purchases
Personally, I have all four of these cards, and they allow me to maximize my Ultimate Rewards points.
Amazing rental car & travel protection
One of the great and often overlooked perks of a premium credit card is good travel protection, including rental car coverage. This is something we often don’t think about because we hope that our travels will go smoothly, but that doesn’t always happen. That’s another area where the Chase Sapphire Preferred shines. While you’ll want to check your cardmember agreement for the terms, generally speaking, the card offers:
- Primary collision damage waiver coverage on rental cars
- Travel protection, including for flight delays and cancelations, as well as for delayed or lost baggage
The rental car protection has literally saved me over $10,000 (when I was rear-ended in a car rental once), while collectively I’ve saved thousands of dollars with travel protection as well.
$50 annual hotel credit
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a $50 hotel credit on your account anniversary year. With this, you can receive up to a $50 statement credit when you book a hotel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.
There’s no minimum spending required, so if you booked a $50 hotel you could get $50 back. For many, that will more than recoup half of the annual fee right there.
Bottom line
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is an absolutely phenomenal card. It has a reasonable annual fee, a huge welcome bonus, a generous return on spending, and fantastic perks, including travel coverage.
For more details, read my full review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Not sure why you would have this card if you have the Reserve card. Furthermore, I am also not sure how the annual fee is justified. Sure, it is only $95 but the hotel credit is basically the only benefit except for earning points. While the Reserve card is more expensive there are more benefits that justify that annual fee.
I agree that the $50 is MEH!! and booking thru portals is soo risky! I like that it can get me nights at Hyatt with transfer of points... that is what I like about it..
Need atleast one out of three cards to allow the partner transfers. Only reason I have it.
Chase Sapphire group has really been on top of their game this week. All we are seeing on most travel blogs are why Chase Sapphire cards are worth it. There is one blog on other site that is even touting what they did on the weekend with the 75K bonus they got from the Sapphire card.
Chase must really be hurting from all the devaluation of benefits, culminating with the devaluation of the PP benefit...
Chase Sapphire group has really been on top of their game this week. All we are seeing on most travel blogs are why Chase Sapphire cards are worth it. There is one blog on other site that is even touting what they did on the weekend with the 75K bonus they got from the Sapphire card.
Chase must really be hurting from all the devaluation of benefits, culminating with the devaluation of the PP benefit for CSRs.
Right now there is no compelling reason to apply for Chase Sapphire. I see a bigger SUB coming in the near future.
@Ben - Which card do you think is better, the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Citi Premier Card?
I know you've been an advocate for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, but the Citi Premier offers 3x points on dining, groceries, gas stations, and travel. Wouldn't that make it a more well rounded card (for those of us looking to put our travel spend on that card)?
Are Chase points worth more than Citi points in your opinion?
Prior to the opening of Sapphire Lounges, the Preferred was a better choice than the Reserve for all but the highest spenders. But to say Sapphire Lounges exceed expectations is an understatement. I'd recommend the Reserve for anyone who would use those lounges even just twice a year.
The $50 hotel credit is close to useless. Rates through the Chase portal are more expensive, on average, and you don't earn any points or status benefits....
Prior to the opening of Sapphire Lounges, the Preferred was a better choice than the Reserve for all but the highest spenders. But to say Sapphire Lounges exceed expectations is an understatement. I'd recommend the Reserve for anyone who would use those lounges even just twice a year.
The $50 hotel credit is close to useless. Rates through the Chase portal are more expensive, on average, and you don't earn any points or status benefits. As always, booking a hotel outside a direct channel increases the risk of billing screwups.