If you are looking for the most popular Travel Rewards card, your search ends here. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® card is one of the most popular travel rewards cards and their benefits easily pay off their $95 Annual Fee. Their incredible 60,000 points welcome bonus makes this card extremely lucrative.
Pro Tips on Why Sapphire Preferred:
- If you need a starter card, Sapphire Preferred is the best. After 12 months you can convert to Chase Sapphire Reserve.
- Your points will be worth 50% more when you get the Reserve later. So, 60,000 points will be worth $900.
- Sapphire Preferred offers benefits like travel insurance, protection, and others, details are given below. Quite similar to Reserve benefits. Chase Sapphire Reserve Annual Fee is increasing, not the preferred.
- You can transfer to travel partners with Sapphire Preferred at 1:1 point transfer ratio.
- Add Chase Freedom and Chase Freedom Unlimited to earn points at a faster rate. Consolidate all the points to Sapphire.
- NEW – Lyft transactions will earn 5X starting Jan 12th.
- NEW – DashPass free one-year membership, providing free delivery using DoorDash.
- You can get this card sent overnight, details given below.
Ask our Facebook Group with 20,000 members, to learn more and the benefits of the Chase Sapphire Card.
Chase Sapphire Reserve offers premium benefits, but lots of benefits are shared between these two cards. The benefits that Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers many just overlook at it. It is better you know about those benefits before getting this card. We will take a quick look at each of their benefits.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Vs Chase Sapphire Reserve
Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3X on Travel and Dining. You can earn more rewards when you combine or pool your points with Chase Freedom and Chase Freedom Unlimited. Check out the sample rewards calculation table below. Reserve also offers 50% more in Rewards, but it comes with a $550 Annual Fee which includes $300 Travel credits. Reserve offers Priority Lounge access, Global Entry Reimbursement, which makes it a premium Travel Card.
If you are looking for a Premium Travel Card, this is the time to get. Chase has increased the Annual Fee for Reserve to $550 from $450. Chase is also adding some new Lyft and DoorDash benefits for the Chase card users. You can check out the details here.
Check out your potential of how much you can earn using the Chase UR Calculator.
Category/Offers | Chase Sapphire Preferred | Chase Sapphire Reserve |
---|---|---|
Bonus Offer | 60,000 Sign-up Bonus | 50,000 Sign-Up Bonus |
Bonus Offer Worth | $750 | $750 |
Travel | 2X | 3X |
Dining | 2X | 3X |
Annual Fee | $95 | $550 |
Benefits - Partners | 1:1 to Transfer Travel Partner | 1:1 to Transfer Travel Partner |
Rewards | 25% more for Travel Redemption | 50% more for Travel Redemption |
Premium Benefits | None | Priority Pass Benefits |
TSA/Global Entry Credit | None | Yes, $100 Once every 5 years |
Travel and Dining 2X Points
Chase Sapphire Preferred’s biggest benefit is that the card earns 2 points per dollar spent on all travel and dining purchases. Both of these categories are broad, too, so you’ll earn 2x points on purchases at coffee shops, fast food stores, Ubers, Airbnbs, and virtually anything else that fits into these 2 categories.
Your personal value may be more or less than this — for example, if you charge in reimbursable travel and dining purchases for work, you will likely assign this benefit a much higher value.
Airline and Hotel Transfer to Travel Partners
You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned with your Sapphire Preferred to any of Chase’s airline and hotel transfer partners. This includes partners that span all of the 3 major airline alliances, most major hotel chains, and even some interesting non-alliance airlines like Southwest, Emirates, and Virgin Atlantic.
Chase Airline Transfer Partner | Min Transfer | Transfer Ratio (Chase > Airline) |
Transfer Time |
---|---|---|---|
Aer Lingus AerClub | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
British Airways Executive Club | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM | 1,000 | 1:1 | 1 hour |
Emirates Skywards | 1,000 | 1:1 | New, pending reports |
Iberia Plus | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
JetBlue | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1,000 | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
United Airlines MileagePlus | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
These rewards are worth better when redeemed in the right way. For example, you can book a Hyatt Hotel per night that costs $180 by transferring 5000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to the World of Hyatt.
Chase Hotel Transfer Partner | Min Transfer | Transfer Ratio | Transfer Time |
---|---|---|---|
World of Hyatt | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
IHG Rewards Club | 1,000 | 1:1 | 1 day |
Marriott Rewards | 1,000 | 1:1 | 2 days |
Learn some of the top redemptions that you can make with Ultimate Rewards.
Chase Travel Portal Redemption for 25% more Value
Sapphire Preferred cardholders can redeem their points through the Chase Travel Portal at a rate of 1.25 cents per point. This is 0.25 cents per point higher than the Chase Freedom® card and Chase Freedom Unlimited® card, so you’ll be able to redeem fewer points for more travel with the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
You can combine the UR points collected from other Chase cards like Chase Freedom or Chase Freedom Unlimited or Chase Ink Cards during redemption.
Extended Warranty Protection
Purchase Protection
Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption Insurance
If your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.
$0 Foreign Transaction Fees
Pay no foreign transaction fees when you use your card on purchases made outside the United States. For example, if you spend $5,000 internationally, you would avoid $150 in foreign transaction fees.
Card Rental Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
Decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card. Coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the vehicle for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.
Baggage Delay Insurance
Trip Delay Reimbursement
Roadside Dispatch Assistance
Lost Luggage Reimbursement
Travel Accident Insurance
Conclusion
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a solid card, even with its annual fee — especially for points and miles beginners and those new to travel. The new increased 60,000 welcome bonus makes this the best available Travel Rewards Card that has an annual fee of less than $100.
Get this card sent overnight shipping, by calling Chase Customer Service at 1-800-432-3117.
There are certain premium benefits that Sapphire doesn’t offer, but if you are looking for Priority Lounge access, Global Entry Reimbursement, then Chase Sapphire Reserve might be the right card. Otherwise, by hands down Chase Sapphire Preferred is a clear winner.
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