The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a popular travel rewards card – and for good reason. It offers bonus rewards for travel, dining, online groceries, and streaming with options for redeeming points at an outsized value. New cardholders earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, making it a great card for kick-starting travel rewards.
Add in card benefits such as purchase protection and trip cancellation/interruption insurance, and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a well-rounded travel card with a reasonable annual fee.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card isn’t for everyone. If you want to carry just one card that earns well on everyday purchases, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card might not be your best option, especially if you don’t dine out often, order your groceries online or pay for streaming services. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card also is not a good choice if you plan to carry a balance. Serious globetrotters are likely to find greater value in Chase Sapphire Reserve® or other premium travel cards with greater rewards and benefits.
- Issuer NameChase
- Credit NeededExcellent, Good
- Annual Fee$95
- APR21.49%-28.49% Variable
- Penalty APRUp to 29.99%
- Balance Transfer FeeEither $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
- Cash Advance FeeEither $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.
- Foreign Transaction Fee$0
On Chase’s secure website.
- Travel a few times per year.
- Want to access a generous sign-up bonus to offset an upcoming trip.
- Spend moderately.
Other smart strategies for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card include:
- Timing when you open the card. If you get the card when you need to make a large purchase, it can make it easier to meet the sign-up bonus spending requirement.
- Opting-in for additional benefits. The card comes with complimentary access to DashPass from DoorDash and Instacart+ – but only if you activate those benefits.
- Paying the balance in full. To get the most value out of travel rewards cards, you should avoid paying interest, which can negate your earnings.
- Leveraging travel benefits. From primary auto rental coverage to trip cancellation/interruption insurance included on travel you pay for with the card, you can save on insurance costs when you travel.
Editor’s Take
If you’re ready to make the leap to an annual fee travel credit card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is definitely one of the best and most popular cards out there. You won’t get VIP-level benefits as you will on more premium, higher-fee cards, but there’s still lots of value.
For starters, the signup bonus is one of the most lucrative – that alone can cover your annual fee for more than seven years. But you’ll get everyday, ongoing value from the card as well, including consumer discounts, travel protections and no foreign transaction fee.
Even though the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a travel-focused card, there’s lots of rewards-earning potential beyond just booking trips if you prefer online grocery shopping, dine out often and love streaming services.
However, the annual fee makes the card less worthwhile if you travel infrequently or tend to carry balances. On the flip side, you may decide it’s worth upgrading to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card if you travel often.
Dawn PapandreaContributor
With the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
You can leverage the earning and redeeming structure of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card if you make purchases in bonus-earning categories and choose redemptions that maximize your points value.
The best thing about Chase Ultimate Rewards® is the flexible redemption choices, but using the points wisely can squeeze extra value out of them. For example, points are worth 25% more when redeemed for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
Chase also has travel transfer partners, including United, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, Marriott Bonvoy and World of Hyatt. You can transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio, and depending on which flights or hotel stays you select, your point value can become even higher than 1.25 cents per point.
To boost your earnings, you’ll want to maximize the top earning categories, which include: 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3 points per dollar on dining, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services and 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases.
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