Points, Miles & Credit Cards

Review: The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Matt Ortile

Matt Ortile

September 22, 2023

6 min read

Going has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Going and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses, and recommendations are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of all of the card offers that appear on this page are from advertisers; compensation may affect how and where the cards appear on the site; and Going does not include all card companies are all available card offers.

Table of Contents

Who is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card for?

The card_name is an easy addition to the wallet of any burgeoning points traveler. The solid earning rates on purchases related to food and travel will boost your points-earning without too much effort. The reasonable $95 annual fee is offset by a bevy of benefits that are easy to use on a good day (that hotel credit) and there for you on a bad day (lost luggage).

 

card_name

card_name

Annual fee: annual_fees


Foreign transaction fee: foreign_transaction_fee


Earning rate:

  • Earn 5X points per dollar spent on travel purchased through Chase Travel(SM).
  • Earn 3X points per dollar spent on online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs), dining at restaurants (including eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out).
  • Earn 3X select streaming services. 
  • Earn 2X points per dollar spent on all other eligible travel purchases (like airline tickets and hotel bills).
  • Earn 1X point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.

Recommended credit: credit_score_needed


Welcome offer: bonus_miles_full


Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Chase has some of the best airline and hotel transfer partners among all card issuers
  • Comparatively low annual fee
  • Host of travel protections
  • No foreign transaction fee makes this card perfect for traveling abroad
  • Earns bonus points on several common spending categories

Cons:

  • Lacks many extra travel perks that are common with more premium cards
  • Does not grant you lounge access
Our take

This card's points are valuablely flexible. You can transfer your points to any of its array of airline partners to get where you need to go.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Review

If you’re looking to get your feet wet in the world of credit card points and airline miles, you’ll need a good starter credit card with which to learn the ropes. 

That card should have three things: the annual fee needs to be affordable, whatever that means to you; the shopping categories on which the card offers bonused spending need to match your spending habits; and the points should be transferable to travel partners that you would actually use. 

There are plenty of cards out there that do just that, but there’s one credit card for beginners that stands heads and shoulders above the rest. For points and miles beginners, I recommend the card_name.

Earning points with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The card_name lets you earn multiple Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on eligible purchases that fall into certain "spending categories," many of which are types of things most travelers and non-travelers buy anyway. This makes the card a useful way to earn points for everyday spending, even when you're not on the road. Let's look at those spending categories one by one.

Here are the points you can earn with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card:

  • Earn 5x total points on travel purchased through Chase Travel(SM), excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 Annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit.
  • Earn 2x on other travel purchases.
  • Earn 3x points on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out.
  • Earn 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs).
  • Earn 3x points on select streaming services.
  • Plus, earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.

First, the travel category. You get two points per dollar spent—or “2x”—on travel, such as plane tickets or Airbnb stays. But keep in mind that Chase defines the “travel” category broadly. It counts the obvious (“car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies”) and the less obvious (“buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages”) as travel expenses, so you have the opportunity to earn more points on more everyday purchases.

On top of that, you earn 5x on purchases made using your card through the Chase Travel portal. Paying for flights or hotels through a travel portal with a credit card is a great move if you see a price that’s cheaper or costs the same as if you’d book directly with the airline or hotel. However, I strongly recommend that you only ever pay with actual money in a travel portal; redeeming your credit card points through travel portals will limit the value of your points

Next, the categories that I like to call the “food” categories. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you earn 3x on the following: dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery services) and online groceries (excluding Target®, Walmart® and wholesale clubs). Similarly, “dining” and “restaurants” include establishments like bars, cafés, and fast food joints. That means $2 for a coffee at a diner gets you 6 points, $20 dollars on a fancy cocktail at a bar gets you 60 points, and $100 on groceries delivered gets you 300 points. Just watch all that add up over time as you get rewarded for simply feeding yourself.

There’s also the small but mighty category of “streaming services.” These days, all those TV subscriptions can get expensive. You may as well earn 3x on that Netflix log-in you most certainly do not share with all your family members and friends. And, for a limited time, you’ll earn 5x on qualifying rides through the rideshare service Lyft until March 2025 (as opposed to the usual 2x you’d get on, say, Uber.)

Finally, the Sapphire Preferred offers a 10% points bonus on your card anniversary. What does that mean? After your first year of card membership, and on every anniversary after that, you’ll get bonus points equivalent to 10% of the points you earned in the last twelve months. For example, if you earned 60,000 points in one year, you get 6,000 more points (as a reminder, that’s 10% of 60,000) added to your account on your card anniversary.

Redeeming points with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

There are several ways to use your points, but the best redemption method is to transfer them to one of Chase's airline or hotel partners. 

Chase transfer partners

You can transfer Chase points to these airlines. 

  • Aer Lingus AerClub
  • Air Canada Aeroplan
  • Air France / KLM Flying Blue
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Emirates Skywards
  • Iberia Plus
  • JetBlue TrueBlue
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
  • United MileagePlus
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

All points transfer at a one to one (1:1) ratio, which means that one Chase point is equivalent to one mile or point with all of these loyalty programs, once transferred.

Anecdotally, transfers to all these partners are relatively instantaneous, with one exception: transfers to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer usually take 24 hours to process. 

Chase hotel transfer partners

Chase points transfer at a 1:1 ratio to the following hotel partners.  

  • Choice Privileges
  • Marriott Bonvoy
  • World of Hyatt

Transfers to Choice Privileges and World of Hyatt are instantaneous, but transfers to Marriott take a day or two.

On the whole, transferring points to hotels rarely maximizes the value of your points, with the exception of transfers to World of Hyatt. You’re better off sticking to points transfers to airlines to get the most value out of your points.

Welcome offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The current welcome offer is: bonus_miles_full

This current welcome offer can get you a wide variety of travel experiences. Here are some ideas of what you could do with those points.

  • Take your family to Disney World by transferring points to British Airways Executive Club and booking partner awards for three (3) roundtrip economy tickets on American Airlines between Dallas and Orlando for a total of 54,000 Avios (that’s British’s miles currency) 
  • Fly in comfort and style to see the Eiffel Tower by transferring points to Air France-KLM Flying Blue and booking a one-way award flight from New York to Paris in Air France business class for 55,000 Flying Blue miles
  • Go on a besties vacay to Hawai’i by transferring points to Air Canada Aeroplan and booking partner awards for two (2) roundtrip economy tickets on United between San Francisco and Honolulu for as low as 50,000 Aeroplan miles in total
  • Make a flight or hotel booking through the Chase Travel portal that would cost you $750 dollars (more on this below)

Additional benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

In addition, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card comes with several other perks:

  • Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance: Up to $10,000 reimbursed per person if your trip is cancelled or cut short by sickness, severe weather or other covered situations. 
  • Auto rental collision damage waiver: Primary coverage
  • Baggage delay insurance: Reimburses baggage delays over 6 hours up to $100 a day for five days.
  • Trip delay insurance: Up to $500 per ticket when your carrier is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay. Can include meal and lodging expenses.
  • Extended warranty and purchase protections.
  • DoorDash DashPass membership: waives delivery fees and reduces service fees on eligible DoorDash orders. (Activate by December 31, 2024.)
  • Instacart+ subscription for six months. (Activate by July 31, 2024.)

Chase Travel Portal vs. Transferring points

This is one of the big benefits that Chase loves to advertise: When you hold the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, each of your Chase points are worth 1.25¢ in the Chase Travel portal. Let me give you some context. 

In most travel portals offered by credit card issuers, a credit card point is worth one cent (1¢). They’re essentially offering you a way to use your points as you would cash-back: If you pay off the $2,000 on your credit card bill, you get $20 in cash back, at a rate of one cent earned per dollar paid off (yes, 1¢ multiplied by 2000 is just $20; I triple-checked). So if you have 100,000 credit card points, valued at 1¢ each in a travel portal, you have $1,000 you can use to purchase flights, lodging, or other travel experiences.

However, if you have the card_name, the rate becomes 1.25¢ per point. (With the card_name, the rate becomes 1.5¢ per point.) Otherwise, Chase gives the same valuation of 1¢ per point—the same as all the other card issuers.

Put into practice: Say you want to buy a plane ticket that costs $500. At any other credit card travel portal, that would cost you 50,000 points because each point is worth 1¢. But if you book through the Chase Travel portal and you hold the Preferred, you’d only need 40,000 points because each of your points is worth 1.25¢ (40,000 x $0.0125 = $500).

Again, I cannot emphasize enough that this will rarely get you the bang for your buck you deserve. If you transfer those 40,000 points to an airline loyalty program, you could book flights easily worth more than $500, thus stretching the value of your points.

All that said, there’s at least one other reason to use the Chase Travel portal: the annual travel credit of $50. When you use the Preferred for hotel accommodations purchased through the Chase Travel portal, a statement credit worth $50 will automatically be applied to your account within one or two billing cycles. This effectively reduces the annual fee; just be sure you use the credit every year on a purchase worth at least $50. (For what it’s worth, I like to use the credit to knock $50 off the bill for airport transit hotels, since they’re relatively cheap anyway.)

Alternatives to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card 

If the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card isn't right for you--or you already have it in your wallet--there's a few other options to consider.

Alternatives to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

card_name
card_name
card_name
card_name
card_name
card_name
Annual fee
annual_fees
annual_fees
(See Rates and Fees)
annual_fees
Foreign transaction fees
foreign_transaction_fee
foreign_transaction_fee
foreign_transaction_fee
Earning rate
  • Earn 5x total points on flights when you purchase travel through Chase Travel (SM) after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually
  • Earn 10x total points on hotels (excluding The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection) and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually.
  • Earn 3x points on dining at restaurants, including eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out. 
  • Earn 3x points on other travel worldwide after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually.
  • Earn 1x point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
  • Earn 4X Membership Rewards® Points at Restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S., and earn 4X Membership Rewards® points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1X). 
  • Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com.
  • Earn 2X miles per dollar on every eligible purchase, everyday. 
  • Earn 5X miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
Welcome offer
bonus_miles_full
bonus_miles_full
bonus_miles_full
Our take

The more premium options gets you a credit to use for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS; lounge access; and an annual $300 travel credit.

This card is more rewarding on food-related categories, but less stellar on travel and transit.

This card offers a simpler rewards-earning structure for the same annual fee. 

Card benefits
  • $300 annual travel credit
  • Complimentary access to the Chase Sapphire Lounge by the Club
  • Statement credit of up to $100 once every four years for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck®, or NEXUS.
  • No foreign transaction fees.
  • Points transfer 1:1 to a network of airline and hotel partners. 
  • Trip cancellation/interruption insurance up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses.
  • Trip delay reimbursement up to $500 per ticket if you're delayed more than six hours or require an overnight stay.
  • Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver up to $75,000 for theft and collision damage for rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.
  • Priority Pass Select membership (enrollment required) which gives you access to a network of 1,300+ airport lounges.
  • $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and each month automatically get $10 in Uber Cash for Uber Eats orders or Uber rides in the U.S., totaling up to $120 per year.
  • $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings and earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar and select Shake Shack locations. Enrollment required.
  • Get a $100 experience credit with a minimum two-night stay when you book The Hotel Collection through American Express Travel. Experience credit varies by property.
  • Choose the color that suits your style. Gold or Rose Gold.
  • Points transfer 1:1 to airline and hotel partners
  • $100 statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
  • Auto rental collision damage waiver
  • Extended warranty protection

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

If you’re ready for something a bit more premium—with higher points-earning rates, lounge access, and a bigger $300 travel credit (as well as a much higher annual fee)—then check out the card_name.

Read our review

American Express® Gold Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

If you would prefer to earn American Express Membership Rewards points for food-related purchases, check out the card_name. You could pair it with the Chase Sapphire Preferred: earn more Chase points on travel and streaming, then earn more Amex points on food.

Read our review

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

If you don't spend a lot on food or transit--or just don't care to use cards to maximize points--then the card_name may be a great fit for you. It earns 2X points per dollar on every purchase. Plus, it comes with a statement credit for Global Entry/TSA PreCheck. Not bad for a card with an annual fee of annual_fees.

Going has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Going and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses, and recommendations are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of all of the card offers that appear on this page are from advertisers; compensation may affect how and where the cards appear on the site; and Going does not include all card companies are all available card offers.

Matt Ortile

Matt Ortile

Marketing

Matt Ortile writes the Going With Points newsletter at Going. He is the author of the essay collection The Groom Will Keep His Name, a columnist at Condé Nast Traveler, and working on a novel about a flight attendant. He lives in Brooklyn.

Published September 22, 2023

Last updated March 28, 2024

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