Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Review

Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card Review

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Last updated on April 21, 2023 Comments: 31

There’s a reason why the Chase Sapphire Preferred®️ Card is still around and loved by travel rewards enthusiasts–it has some of the most flexibility out there in terms of how you can earn and redeem points. And if you’re a newbie to the world of credit cards that offer travel rewards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred comes with a pretty low annual fee and a nice sign-up bonus.

With everything this card has going for it, is the Chase Sapphire Preferred the right one for you?

Let’s find out.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Rewards Credit Card Earning Potential

What’s so great about this credit card is their recently modified sign-up bonus–get 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®.

Aside from that, you earn two points for every dollar you spend on dining and travel. These categories are pretty broad–you’d be surprised at what counts towards both these categories. For example, fast food joints, food delivery services and even some bars count towards dining, whereas you can earn 2x points if you use travel-related services like Uber and highway tolls.

For all other purchases, you’ll earn one point for every dollar purchased.

While this doesn’t seem like a lot–after all, there are other rewards programs that offer many perks–the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers other benefits:

  • Trip delay and cancellation insurance: You can get up to $10,000 in trip cancellation insurance and $500 per ticket for trip delay insurance. You’ll also be covered up to $3,000 per person for lost luggage reimbursement and baggage delay insurance for $100 per day in coverage, up to five days.
  • Primary rental car coverage: This perk is pretty rare among credit cards since most of them offer secondary car insurance. In other words, you need to make a claim with another type of primary coverage like your personal auto insurance before the credit card will cover any losses. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can make a claim directly and without using your own auto insurance policy.
  • Purchase and extended warranty protection: You can get extended warranty protection that gives you an additional year of coverage on qualifying purchases if you have a manufacturer’s warranty of three years or less. There’s also purchase protection of up to $50,000 per account and $500 per claim.
  • Flexibility in redemption options: You can redeem rewards for travel (more on this later), cash back or gift cards, though you typically get the best bang for your buck if using points towards travel through the Chase travel portal.

Travel Rewards Program

One of the best perks with the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the value you get when redeeming travel rewards. If you redeem points for travel–cruises, car rentals, airfare and hotels–through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, you get 25% more value, basically 1.5 cents per point. The good news is that you don’t need to worry about finding award space or blackout dates if you redeem points this way–as long as it’s available, you can use your points.

You can also earn rewards with other loyalty programs. For example, if you book a United Airlines flight through Chase’s booking portal, you can earn points on your MileagePlus account. You can also earn points with rental car reservations loyalty programs, but not all hotel programs will offer rewards.

You can transfer points to frequent travel programs at a one to one value. Currently, there are 13 airline and hotel partners:

  • Aer Lingus, AerClub
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM
  • Iberia Plus
  • JetBlue TrueBlue
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®
  • United MileagePlus®
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
  • IHG® Rewards Club
  • Marriott Bonvoy™
  • World of Hyatt®

Transferring to these airline and hotel partners may be better because you can typically get more value for your Ultimate Rewards points. A word of warning though: you’ll need to be prepared to do some digging to figure out which partners are best for certain trips.

Chase Sapphire Preferred APR and Fees

The sad news is that you won’t get a 0% APR with the Chase Sapphire Preferred–both the balance and purchase APR is 21.24% - 28.24% Variable.

Here are some other fees to watch out for:

  • $95 annual fee
  • Up to $39 late payment fee
  • The cash advance APR is 29.99% Variable and you’ll also pay a fee of 5% of the amount withdrawn or $10, whichever is higher

One of the reasons this is a great card for travelers is that there are no foreign transaction fees. This is a fee some issuers charge when you use your credit card in a foreign country because it has to convert U.S. currency to whatever the local currency is where you’re traveling. Other cards typically charge 3% for the privilege, whereas you won’t have to with the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Should You Open A Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card?

You can’t go wrong with this credit card if you’re looking to earn travel rewards and flexibility in rewards redemption options. It’s one of the most popular credit cards for a reason–a huge sign-up bonus, flexible enough for travel enthusiasts and the potential for valuable points redemptions.

It’s also great for those who have excellent credit and spend enough to make up for the $95 annual fee. If you’re just beginning your journey into travel rewards, this is a great card to get your feet wet as you don’t need to worry about more complicated tactics such as signing up for rotating categories. Plus, booking through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards portal is pretty easy to do and there are no blackout dates.

All this to say, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great card to keep in your arsenal.

Learn More About This Bonus Rewards Offer<<

Important Note! The information in this article is believed to be accurate as of the date it was written. Please keep in mind that offers change frequently. Therefore, we can not guarantee the accuracy of the information in this article. Please verify all terms and conditions of any credit or charge card prior to applying.

Article comments

31 comments
Anonymous says:

Paying for credit card is not dumb if the rewards you get outweigh the cost. If you are getting $400 up front and thousands in rewards over the year then $95 is a drop in the bucket. For most people that don’t spend enough to max out the rewards though they should stick with cards without the annual fee. Just depends on the person.

Anonymous says:

I have this credit Card. It’s amazing Well worth the Annual fee. Customer service is amazing and the bonus you get in points pays for the annual fee for the first 4 years anyway.

Anonymous says:

FYI for anyone using the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, in most places it looks like there is a hidden charge of around 0.3% skimmed off the exchange rate.

Anonymous says:

Dont the points transfer 1:1 to Star Alliance airline programs? That kind of makes your point moot. Also the ultimate rewards travel are normal tickets…..not Award seats that have little availability. Big difference.

Anonymous says:

If you want a card to earn miles towards free travel, this card is not the one.

The reason for this is that they use the cost of the ticket as a base amount to figure out how many points you need for a free ticket. They do this by multiplying the cost of the ticket times a fixed number (in my case, 80) to get the number of points you need. A ticket that cost $400 will require 32,000 points. Most standard airline rewards for coach service is 25,000 points. When you look at Business Class (or First), it can get even worse. A Business class ticket from NY to LA costs about $1,800. With the x80 you would need 144,000 Ultimate Rewards points for that ticket. Most airlines in the US have these types of tickets for as little as 50,000 points. Ultimate Rewards does offer a direct airline transfer but only for three airlines, and one is an Asia airline with little use for most travelers. I have not looked at other travel offers like hotels or rental cars to see it this applies. If you want travel points, stick with the Airline cards.

Anonymous says:

This is pretty much the top of line card from chase and people are crying about spending 3k in 3 months. You should be bringing around 120-150k household just to apply for this card. On top of that great credit and 5+ yr credit history in good standing.

I just got my Preferred card in the mail today, surprised to find it made out of some type of metal, (guessing this is chases version of the amex Black) for me they started me off at a avg limit of 15k and 3k cash adv option. Spending the 3k will be extremely easy and looking forward to it. Also the bonus on international spending with no international transaction fees this shall be one of my primary cards. Happy Hunting if you want easy money look into chase freedom and or chase checking account bonus’s

Anonymous says:

If you ever cancel the card, do you lose your miles?

Anonymous says:

I had another question upon reading the terms that were mailed with my sapphire preferred card…the terms state:
“Term: Cash-like Transactions
What It Means: The following transactions will be treated as cash advances: ….making a payment using a third party service”

Does this mean that if I use amazon webpay that I am going to incur the fees:
“Cash Advances: Either $10 or 5% of the the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater” ?

Has anyone used Amazon Webpay with their Sapphire Preferred? If so, were you charged as per the terms above?

Thanks so much in advance for your time, effort, and assistance. It is so greatly appreciated.

Anonymous says:

This is probably my favorite travel card on the market. The monthly spending requirements are a little steep but if you only have one credit card this is an ideal back-up. Remember you only need to spend 1k per month for the first three months so shift the payments you would make with your first credit card over to this one until the 3 month period is up. The points rack up very quickly compared to others cards in the travel industry.

although this might not matter to most people, my personal favorite perk is the zero foreign transaction fees since I spend 6 months/year abroad 🙂

Anonymous says:

Not long after I got the CapitalOne Venture card (no annual fee) so I can get no foreign transaction fee, I’m bombarded by Chase offers. On the same day just recently (July 2011) I get 2 mailings for this Chase Sapphire Preferred card. I open the first one, and it offers me 50,000 points if I spend $750 in 3 months–it’s already better than the $3000 in 3 months requirement with all other bonuses being equal. Then I opened the other envelope, and I see the same brochures, but it offers me 100,000 points for the same $750 in 3 months deal. It seems like a fabulous deal if the high bonus significantly pays for the annual fee starting in the second year. I’m usually very careful not to get suckered into any offers too good to be true, but is Chase just bending backwards for me?

Anonymous says:

Be sure you send chase a message regarding the 100K points, they will honor that offer with the invitation code they sent you.

Anonymous says:

Can you provide the 3-digit code for the deal? I want to see if Chase will match this offer. Thanks in advance. Is there an eligibility date of expiration?

Anonymous says:

I already got my card and started using it. When I activated the card I asked for confirmation of the bonus points in my offer, and was told 100,000 as I expected. The offer code was DT3 and the mail offer I received said it expires 8/30/2011.

Anonymous says:

I called Chase today but they said that only the offer code won’t work. I also have to call the correct ‘policy number’. Can you please list the phone number you called? Thanks.

Anonymous says:

I applied online, but the number in the offer letter is 1-866-814-6960.
See the banner on the offer letter: http://i43.tinypic.com/igf2o0.jpg

Anonymous says:

Okay, I think by ‘policy number’ they meant ‘invitation number’. That’s an applicant-specific 12-digit number, not a phone number, that is associated with the offer to me only (on my letter that number is printed together with the 3-letter ‘offer code’). Obviously, since I’ve already applied, that number is not going to work for you, and so I’m not going to share that. I think getting a good offer depends partly on your credit score.

Anonymous says:

Did chase match your 3 digit code? please let me know. Thanks.

Anonymous says:

I have researched lots of review on this.. Sounds very good… but $3000 for 3 month and $95 / yr….hard in my case, I applied … got turned down.. don’t know the reason yet my credit score 727, but when I home, there was a pre-approved letter (it was for my wife her high score 763), and its looks like its the best deal of all the ones available online. It’s the Regular sapphire (no annual fee), and will only have to spend $750 in 3 month to get 50,000 points valued at $500. So I asked her to apply for it. It showed approved online. now waiting..

Anonymous says:

I’m a regular sapphire cardholder myself, but it’s not as great because you can’t transfer the points to hotel/airline partners like you can with the sapphire preferred. Just something to keep in mind.

Anonymous says:

I was originally turned down as well, but I kept calling and speaking to different representatives until I was approved. I’ve read other cases where this has worked as well if you would like to give it a try.

Anonymous says:

Can’t a person just cancel after three months and then not pay future $95 annual fees?

Anonymous says:

If you don’t care about your credit score…

Anonymous says:

this looks as if it is a good deal, but i just can not get past that $95 annual fee.

Anonymous says:

Usually I don’t like ‘paying’ for a credit card, either. In this case, I plan to take advantage of the bonus to pay down my mortgage.
The hard part, will be spending $3,000 in three months.
I figured that I could put all of my regular expenses, in addition to auto insurance premiums and some condo fees.
Then, I’ll probably cancel the card before being hit with the fee. The everyday perks aren’t worth it.

Anonymous says:

This sounds great but I do love my card so I will keep it

Anonymous says:

Paying for a credit card is a very dumb move. I get 2% cash back, not points but actually cash, using my card and it’s free.

Anonymous says:

Which card is this?

Anonymous says:

I have a similar card, 2% *cash* back, no fee. HSBC, it’s called True Cash Back. Got it as a fluke. When we got our 0% financing on a refrigerator from Best Buy, we clicked on the “notify of any special offers” and this card was the special offer. It had a ridiculously low limit 2k, but we just kept asking for increases and now it’s up to about 6k, but they will not increase any card limits anymore (since ’08). This is our go-to, daily card. We regularly charge 2-3k on it per month.

Anonymous says:

I like the dividend bonus. I’ve not seen anything like that on any other reward program.

Anonymous says:

This sounds like it could be a good deal for someone who travels often or spends that much in 3 months. Being retired, I spend less than 10% of the required amount.

Anonymous says:

Your total expenses (payable by credit cards) are less than $1,200 per year (= $3,000/3 months x 4 quarters x 1/10th)? Where do you live and can I move in?