Category: Chase

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I’ve had the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card for over 10 years. I’ve used its points and travel perks to hop all over the world for nearly free.

Case in point: My first award flight was to the Philippines for 40,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points and $5.60. That’s less out-of-pocket than the Grande six-pump Cinnamon Dolce Flat White I nursed while waiting for my flight.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a near-perfect travel credit card for three reasons:

1. You don’t have to know a ton about travel rewards to squeeze lots of trips out of its points.
2. The rewards it earns can be transferred to over a dozen airline and hotel programs. In other words, it’s a good points currency to invest in if you don’t have firm travel plans.
3. Its travel insurance is fantastic. It’s saved me thousands of dollars over the years.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. You can do just about anything with that big of a points stockpile. I’ll show you what I mean — and why the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is worth opening even without this huge bonus.

How do Chase Ultimate Rewards work?

How to earn Chase points

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card comes with 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. That’s 40,000 points higher than its standard offer. It’s been nearly four years since the card has touted a bonus this juicy.

Beyond its welcome bonus, the Chase Sapphire Preferred earns points at the following rates:

• 3 points per dollar on dining (including eligible delivery services)
• 3 points per dollar for online grocery purchases (except for Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
• 3 points per dollar for eligible streaming services
• 2 points per dollar on travel purchases (flights, hotels, Airbnb, rental cars, rideshare services, tolls, etc.)
• 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases

You’ll also earn 5 points per dollar when you book flights, hotel stays, rental cars, etc. through Chase Travel℠ (excluding expenses that are reimbursed by the card’s annual $50 hotel credit — we’ll talk about that in a minute).

How to use Chase points

You’ve got a lot of options when it comes to redeeming Chase points. You can cash them out at a rate of 1 cent per point; you can “buy” flights, hotels, and more through Chase’s proprietary booking platform, Chase Travel℠, at a rate of 1.25 cents per point.

But you’ll typically get the most travel (by far) when you convert points into airline miles and hotel points with Chase’s travel partners.

Here’s a quick look at all the loyalty programs that partner with Chase.

PointsYeah lets you filter your award flights and hotel stays by bank program — giving you a quick and easy look at fun ways to use your Chase points no matter where you’re heading.

With the exception of that frigid white continent to the south, you can get just about anywhere with the current 60,000-point bonus.

PointsYeah also lets you set alerts to help you find inexpensive awards for super popular flights and hotels. I managed to book an $1,800 room at the Park Hyatt New York with 45,000 Chase points thanks to PointsYeah Hotel Alerts.

Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card worth a $95 annual fee?

You’ll pay a $95 membership fee when you open the Chase Sapphire Preferred — and after every cardmember anniversary. But those who book even a couple of trips each year can easily justify the card’s fee.

Let’s take a quick look at the card’s best benefits. If you think these are worth more than $95 per year, the card is worth its annual fee.

Loads of statement credits

The Chase Sapphire Preferred comes with several credits and refunds. With very little effort, you could conceivably save hundreds of dollars per year:

• $50 hotel credit. Each account anniversary year, you’ll get up to $50 in statement credits toward prepaid hotels booked through Chase Travel℠. If you regularly book your hotel stays through an online travel agency, like Expedia or Kayak, you’ll have no trouble using this credit.
• DashPass membership. Get 12 months of free DashPass ($0 delivery fees, exclusive offers, and more) and $10 per month in non-restaurant orders when you activate the offer by Dec 31, 2027. DashPass otherwise costs $9.99 per month, so this is a nice value if you already pay for DoorDash.
• Chase Offers. These are digital coupons and promotions that you can manually add to your card from your online account. Many times you’ll see offers that can save you money on purchases you planned to make anyway, such as gas, wireless services, streaming, etc.

Top-notch travel insurance

The most compelling reason I keep the Chase Sapphire Preferred in my wallet year after year is its travel insurance. Coverage is automatic as long as you pay for your travel with the card. Here are some of the perks you’ll get:

• Primary rental car insurance. Instead of paying the $10+ per day for a rental agency’s in-house insurance plan, the Chase Sapphire Preferred covers you up to $60,000 for theft and collision damage on most cars.

• Trip delay insurance. If your flight is delayed by more than 12 hours (or requires an overnight stay), Chase will reimburse you for up to $500 in “reasonable” expenses — including a hotel night and meals.

• Baggage delay insurance. When your bag is delayed by more than six hours, Chase will give you $100 per day (up to five days) to buy things that you need for your trip. This includes clothes, toiletries, a phone charger, etc.

• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance. You’ll get reimbursed up to $10,000 per covered traveler (max $20,000 per trip) when your nonrefundable travel is canceled or cut short for a qualifying reason (such as inclement weather or injury).

Here’s an amusing/nightmarish anecdote: During a trip to Dublin, United Airlines lost my checked bag for over a week. Because I had paid for my flight with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase reimbursed me for $500 in new clothes. And on the same trip, I ended up scraping my rental car and was charged $2,300 by the rental agency. I sent the bill to Chase — and they cut me a check for the full amount within a few weeks.

No foreign transaction fees

A lot of credit cards will stick you with a 3% fee when you make purchases outside the U.S. That can add up in a hurry, especially if you book expensive hotels or do a lot of shopping.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred waives this ridiculous fee — so it’s a great companion if you’ve got international travel plans.

Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card right for you?

There are a handful of questions you can ask yourself to quickly determine if the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a good match for your wallet. Say yes to any of these and the card is a no-brainer.

Can you make $5,000 in purchases within the next three months? The card’s 60,000-point bonus after spending $5,000 within the first three months is too good to pass up. Again — while the points are best used by transferring to airline and hotel partners, you could simply cash it out for $600. It’s like Chase is giving you a free $600 just to try the card out. That’s crazy.

Do you pay for travel insurance? You know how airlines and hotels often have a travel insurance add-on during checkout? If you typically opt for this coverage, the Chase Sapphire Preferred can save you a lot by giving you similar protections automatically.

Do you travel at least a couple times each year? For those who almost never travel, there are better cards out there with benefits that are more relevant to your lifestyle — such as cash back credit cards.

Do you spend a lot on dining, streaming, or online grocery shopping? The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 3 points per dollar on eligible purchases in these categories. You could easily earn many tens of thousands of points each year from these expenses alone.

Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card easy to get?

The Chase Sapphire Preferred isn’t more difficult to get than most other travel credit cards. Still, there are a few things that will guarantee you an application denial:

• Credit score. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is recommended for those with a credit score of 670 or above. If your credit score isn’t quite there yet, keep exhibiting good credit habits. You’ll get there.
• Chase “5/24 rule”. If you’ve opened five or more credit cards from any bank in the past 24 months (excluding most small business credit cards), you won’t be approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
• Sapphire 48-month rule. If you’ve earned a welcome bonus from a Chase Sapphire card in the past 48 months (including the Sapphire Preferred’s fancy sibling, the Chase Sapphire Reserve®), you aren’t eligible to earn another bonus.
• One Sapphire rule. If you already hold the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve, you’re not eligible to open another Sapphire card and earn the bonus. To open the Chase Sapphire Preferred again, you’ll have to either cancel your current card or downgrade it to a no annual fee Chase Freedom Flex℠ or Chase Freedom Unlimited®.

So yeah, that’s the deal

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of our absolute favorite rewards credit cards. Chase has crammed a lot of great travel benefits inside its thin metal chassis.

And best of all, the card comes with a 60,000 bonus points after meeting minimum spending requirements.

Learn more here.