You already know the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a solid option for travelers. After all, it has been among 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, especially in light of the recent changes? In this post, I’d like to break down the benefits that actually matter, and show exactly how they add up. By the end of this, hopefully you can decide for yourself if the card makes sense for your wallet.
For what it’s worth, I had the Chase Sapphire Preferred back in the day, around 15 years ago, and it was my introduction into the Chase ecosystem. I held onto it all the way until 2016, when the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (learn more) was introduced, and then switched over to that card.
I first applied and appreciated it for its reasonable annual fee, bonus categories, and travel protection, and loved using it for my dining and travel spending, and even took advantage of the rental car coverage once when I had an accident. So the card proved to be a great companion in my travel wallet, and it’s one that I continue to recommend.
In this post:
Chase Sapphire Preferred value, up front math
Before getting into the individual benefits, here’s the short version, because the math on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is unusually easy:
- The annual fee is $95
- The $100 annual Chase Travel hotel credit is easy to use, as you can book one hotel a year through the travel portal, even if it’s just one night, and that credit can potentially more than offset the annual fee in and of itself
- There’s an up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS credit once every four years, plus a complimentary year of Apple TV
- The monthly DoorDash promo credits add up to $120 per year if you use them, though note that this only works for non-restaurants, so for things like grocery deliveries
- And the travel and rental car protections are essential for any frequent traveler; they might be worth nothing in a smooth year, and worth thousands when things go wrong
On top of that, the current limited time welcome offer is 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 within three months. I value Ultimate Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, so that’s roughly $1,700 of travel from the bonus alone. So the question isn’t really whether the card covers its fee. It’s whether the benefits fit how you actually travel and spend, so let’s go through them.
Where the Sapphire Preferred earns the most
The Chase 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
- 3x Ultimate Rewards points on gas stations and EV charging
- 3x Ultimate Rewards points on vacation home rentals with Airbnb, HomeAway, Homestay.com, Plum Guide, Vrbo, and Vacasa
- 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 points just by using your Sapphire Preferred. Same goes for grocery delivery from services like Instacart (just not the big box retailers).
The gas station and EV charging category was added in June 2026, and it’s especially nice to have a personal Chase Ultimate Rewards card offering bonus points on gas station purchases. Same with vacation rentals — if your trips lean Airbnb or Vrbo rather than hotels, that spending now earns 3x too. If you ask me, this is actually a major advantage over the Chase Sapphire Reserve, as there’s no bonus on gas purchases on that card.
If you maximize these bonus categories correctly, points will rack up quickly.
How I redeem Ultimate Rewards points
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 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 one cent per point, you can do even better. My favorite way to redeem these points is to transfer them to Chase’s excellent collection of airline and hotel partners. Most partners transfer at a 1:1 ratio. The one big exception as of June 2026 is World of Hyatt, where the transfer ratio is 4:3 on this card. This applies to all Chase Ultimate Rewards cards except the Chase Sapphire Reserve (both personal and business).
I won’t sugarcoat the Hyatt change. As I’ve covered in the past, I think transferable points are reaching a negative inflection point, as we’re increasingly seeing non-1:1 transfers. Still, even at 4:3, Hyatt transfers can make sense, and every other partner is unaffected. Also keep in mind that you can always rack up points on the Chase Sapphire Preferred, and as long as you have one version of the Sapphire Reserve, whether it’s personal or business, you can still transfer at a better 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 one cent of value per point. For example, you could redeem 35,000 to 75,000 World of Hyatt points per night for a stay at the Alila Ventana Big Sur, which includes all meals, when a paid night would ordinarily cost well over $2,000. Even at the 4:3 ratio, without access to 1:1 transfers, the math on that works out way better than one cent per point.
Prefer simplicity? You can 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 one cent per point. Strategically using transfer partners often gets you exponentially more value, though. Again, with the Sapphire Preferred, you have options.
The credits, ranked by how easily you’ll use them
Here’s how I’d rank the Chase Sapphire Preferred‘s credits and freebies by how easily you’ll actually capture the value — from the one that’s basically cash to the one you’ll only think about every few years.
$100 annual hotel credit (basically cash)
Each cardmember year, you get a $100 statement credit for hotel stays booked through Chase Travel, doubled from $50 as part of the June 2026 refresh. There’s no minimum spending required, so if you booked a $100 hotel you could get $100 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 even once a year, that single credit more than offsets the annual fee. I also appreciate that this is one annual credit rather than a semi-annual $50 credit, or anything like that.
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. Or just use it any hotel that costs as close to $100 as possible.
DoorDash DashPass membership
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.
Personally, I value a DashPass, and I have a similar perk currently on the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and get a lot of value out of that. Being able to order grocery and convenient store purchases while getting a $10 credit helps with the math on those purchases as well.
One-year Apple TV subscription
New as of June 2026, the Sapphire Preferred comes with a complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year, with activation required by December 31, 2026. It’s another perk that adds a lot of short term value, and since the card already earns 3x on select streaming services, the streaming story here is pretty strong overall.
This would ordinarily cost $99 per year, so in the short term, that could even get you more value than the annual fee. That’s tough to beat, if you ask me. Just remember that the subscription could auto-renew, so if you don’t want to keep it, be sure to cancel.
$120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS credit
New as of June 2026, the Sapphire Preferred offers an up to $120 statement credit that can be used toward Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS, valid once every four years. This is a pretty common perk on premium cards, so it’s cool to also see this on a card with an annual fee of under $100.
If you don’t already have one of these trusted traveler memberships, Global Entry or NEXUS is the membership to ideally get, since it includes TSA PreCheck. And if you already have a membership, you can put the credit toward someone else’s application fee when the renewal cycle allows.
I have a Global Entry membership, and I consistently renew that using the credit card perks, so I’ve never actually paid for it out of pocket. That allows me to breeze through Global Entry and TSA PreCheck.
The protections that pay off when things go wrong
This is the part of the Chase Sapphire Preferred you hope you never use. It’s also where the Preferred quietly earns its fee back many times over the one time something goes sideways.
Primary rental car insurance
This is one of the most valuable benefits on the Sapphire Preferred, 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.
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.
The June 2026 refresh also added emergency evacuation coverage to the card. This makes the card’s travel coverage more well rounded, and puts it closer to being in line with that of the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
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 Boston back to Miami 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 costs, and meals after a flight was cancelled.
The process can take a few weeks to a few months, but it works.
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.
Other everyday perks
I’m cheating a bit here, because these Chase Sapphire Preferred benefits are all great individually as well.
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, when paying with the Sapphire Preferred. 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
You can use the Sapphire Preferred abroad without worrying about the 3% foreign transaction fees that many cards charge. Combined with the primary rental car coverage and 3x points 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.
Where the math breaks down
None of this is a dealbreaker, but a few of the perks of the Chase Sapphire Preferred look better on paper than they play out day to day. Before you apply, it’s worth noting that:
- The DoorDash credits are real, but they come $10 at a time, once a month, and only apply for non-restaurant orders; you can only pocket the full $120 if you’re ordering most months, and from non-restaurants
- The Global Entry credit is up to $120, but only once every four years, and many of us have several cards offering this perk
- There’s no lounge access here, so don’t apply for the card expecting it
- Redemptions are getting a touch trickier too; Hyatt now transfers at 4:3 on this card, and as I noted above, I think transferable points are at a negative inflection point more broadly, though the points are still flexible, though they’re just not as effortlessly rich as they were a couple of years ago.
So, should you get the Sapphire Preferred?
Yes, you should get the Chase Sapphire Preferred if:
- You travel at all and want real travel and rental car protections without paying a premium annual fee
- Your spending hits the bonus categories like dining, streaming, online groceries, and now gas, EV charging, and vacation rentals
- You want transferable points and a card you can keep for years as your Ultimate Rewards hub
Think twice about getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred if:
- Lounge access matters to you; you’ll then want the Sapphire Reserve or another premium card
- World of Hyatt is the centerpiece of your points strategy, as this card now transfers to Hyatt at a 4:3 ratio, while the Sapphire Reserve keeps the 1:1 ratio
- You’re loyal to a single airline or hotel program, where a co-branded card might earn that currency faster
Chase Sapphire Preferred FAQs
Bottom line: is the Sapphire Preferred worth it?
Here’s how I look at the math on the Chase Sapphire Preferred:
- The annual fee is $95.
- The hotel credit gives you $100 back immediately if you use it, and that’s more than the fee itself
- The DoorDash credits are worth up to $120 per year
- The Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit and the year of Apple TV stack even more value on top
- 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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