The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the best entry-level travel credit cards, and with good reason. With a low annual fee of $95, it offers plenty of rewards on different categories, as well as a variety of insurance policies and other benefits.

Its mix of bonus categories, travel-related insurance coverage and high point redemption value when purchasing travel through Chase Travel℠ make it one of the most widely recommended cards for anyone looking to save on their globetrotting.

• Pros and cons
• Overview
• Rewards
• Benefits
• Interest rates and fees
• FAQs
• How we evaluated the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Summary of Money’s Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Review

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card pros and cons

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card overview

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers exceptional value for its $95 annual fee. It has a high reward rate in a variety of bonus categories, including 5x points on travel through Chase Travel ℠ and 3x points on dining, among others.

These rewards, along with ample insurance coverage, no foreign transaction fees and a long list of transfer partners make it an excellent choice for frequent flyers.

However, it does provide everyday benefits for all that time not spent traveling.

It offers 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target®, Walmart® and wholesale clubs) and select streaming services, as well as extended warranty and purchase protection for regular purchases from electronics to household appliances.

Some of the highlights that make the card truly shine include:

• Primary rental car insurance, a benefit mostly offered by much more expensive cards

• 25% additional redemption value when purchasing travel through Chase Travel ℠

• An account anniversary bonus in points equal to 10% of the total spent each year — that is 5,000 points for $50,000 spent, for example.

Unfortunately, the card doesn’t include a statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®, which some competitors currently offer.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card rewards

This card offers some of the best reward rates on the market when it comes to travel, dining and groceries (excluding superstores and wholesale clubs).

How do you earn points with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card?

Like with many other credit cards, you earn points with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® by simply using it, but you get more points when your purchases fall within the following bonus categories:

• 5x points on travel through Chase Travel ℠, except for hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit

• 5x points on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025

• 5x points on Peloton purchases through March 31, 2025

• 3x points on dining, including eligible delivery and takeout

• 3x points on online grocery purchases, excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs

• 3x points on select streaming services, which include Netflix, Hulu, Max, Disney+, Apple TV+ and more

• 1x points on other eligible purchases

You can also combine your Chase Sapphire Preferred® points with points from other Chase cards, such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited® or Chase Freedom Flex®.

Redeeming your points

You can redeem points in a variety of ways. In the Chase Travel portal, you can redeem points for cash (which will be deposited into your bank account), statement credits to help offset your card balance, gift cards or use them for available purchases, including travel booked through the portal. You can also use points on other sites and services, such as PayPal and Amazon.

Points are worth one cent each when redeemed as a statement credit or as a gift card through Chase online portal. However, this value changes when redeemed in other ways. When redeemed for travel through the portal, points have an additional value of 25%, meaning each point is worth 1.25 cents. This translates to a $400 airplane ticket being worth $300 in points, for example.

The points could also be redeemed for more than one cent each, even up to 1.5 cents, on special offers through Chase Travel when used at participating stores.

You can also transfer points to one of their 14 transfer partners at a 1:1 ratio. These include:

Airlines

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

Hotels

• IHG® Rewards Club
• Marriott Bonvoy®
• World of Hyatt®

Note that when you redeem points outside of the Chase proprietary portal, these might be worth less than one cent, depending on the platform and current offers.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card benefits

Insurance and warranties

• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance. Under this policy, you could get reimbursed for hotel, airfare and other costs if a trip is cut short due to covered emergencies, such as inclement weather or illness, up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip.

• Auto rental collision damage waiver. Primary rental car coverage up to the cash value of the car, both in the United States and internationally. Primary rental coverage means that there’s no need to show personal insurance at the front desk and the card’s policy covers damages without the need to file a claim with your auto insurance company. Secondary insurance, which many competitors offer, would only cover what your regular auto insurance wouldn’t.

• Baggage delay insurance. If baggage is delayed over six hours, cardholders can get $100 daily to cover expenses such as clothing and toiletries, for up to five days.

• Trip delay insurance. If a flight is delayed over 12 hours, cardholders can get up to $500 per ticket.

• Purchase protection. Eligible purchases made with the card (with some exclusions such as living creatures, software and medical equipment) are covered for 120 days, with a limit of $500 per claim and $50,000 over the lifespan of your account.

• Extended warranty. Adds a year to the manufacturer’s warranty of a covered item.

Statement credits

• $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit. A statement credit of up to $50 will be awarded for hotel purchases made through Chase Travel each anniversary year. After reaching those $50, hotel expenses paid through the platform will earn 5x points.

• Instacart statement credits. Cardholders can get up to $15 in statement credits each quarter for eligible Instacart purchases done with your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Valid until July 2024.

Other benefits

• Complimentary DashPass subscription. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card currently offers a DashPass membership of at least one year for all cardholders if they activate it before December 31, 2027. DashPass is DoorDash’s premium subscription, which waives delivery fees for orders over $12, among other benefits.

• Complimentary Instacart+ membership. Cardholders get a six-month Instacart+ membership when activated before July 31, 2024. Instacart+ is Instacart’s premium subscription service, worth $9.99 a month or $99 a year. It waives delivery fees on orders over $35 and provides other benefits as well.

• My Chase Plan®. This benefit allows cardholders to pay for purchases of $100 or more in monthly installments without accruing additional interest. It does charge a fixed monthly fee of 1.72% of the total amount, however.

• Anniversary bonus. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers an account anniversary bonus, which equals 10% of your total purchases in points. For example, if you spent $50,000 on the card throughout the entire year, you’ll get a 5,000 point bonus.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card interest rates and fees

How we evaluated the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

In order to review the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, we evaluated the following factors:

• Annual fee. The annual fee is a primary factor in determining the overall value a card can provide. It’s also important when comparing how a particular card stacks up to other cards in the same price range.

• Rewards. We evaluated not just the rate of rewards offered, but the usefulness and diversity of the categories for which they’re offered.

• Insurance. While rewards frequently get the spotlight, insurance coverage is just as, if not more, important. We looked at the different insurance policies offered as well as the level of coverage.

• Additional benefits. Other benefits are also taken into consideration and compared to direct competitors’ offerings. These include benefits such as statement credits, complimentary memberships, lounge access and more.

• Other fees. We looked at relevant fees, including foreign transaction, balance transfer and late fees.

Summary of Money’s Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Review

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a well-rounded, entry-level travel card that offers a variety of ways to accrue points as well as a wide array of insurance policies for almost any travel mishap. At its price point of $95 a year, it offers the highest value in its category.