8 Reasons The Chase Sapphire Preferred Is Worth It

8 Reasons The Chase Sapphire Preferred Is Worth It

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Link: Apply now for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Over the past decade, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review) has probably been the most well-known and well-rounded travel rewards credit card out there. The card has a solid welcome bonus, is rewarding for spending, gets you points that are flexible and valuable, and offers great travel protection. Simply put, it’s one of the easiest to justify travel rewards cards out there.

In this post, I wanted to share eight reasons you should consider getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred. In no particular order…

Bonus of 60K Ultimate Rewards points

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is currently offering a welcome bonus of 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 within three months.

That’s a solid bonus with a reasonable spending requirement. At an absolute minimum, 60K Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed for $750 worth of travel through the Chase Travel Portal. However, you can get way more value out of your points than that by transferring them to Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel partners.

Chase points can be used toward all kinds of awesome travel

Reasonable $95 annual fee

We’ve seen quite a bit of annual fee inflation on credit cards in recent years. The great thing is that the Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to have a $95 annual fee, which is among the most reasonable out there for a premium card. The fee has stayed the same for years, so it’s great to see a card with a low annual fee that’s still incredibly rewarding.

Amazing 2-5x points bonus categories

The Chase Sapphire Preferred has some generous bonus categories, as the rewards structure is as follows:

  • 5x Ultimate Rewards points on travel booked through the Chase Travel portal
  • 3x Ultimate Rewards points on dining
  • 3x Ultimate Rewards points on online grocery stores (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
  • 3x Ultimate Rewards points on select streaming services
  • 2x Ultimate Rewards points on all other travel purchases
  • 1x Ultimate Rewards points on all other purchases

If you maximize these bonus categories correctly, points will rack up quickly.

Earn 3x points on dining with the Sapphire Preferred

10% anniversary bonus points

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 10% anniversary bonus points. Every account anniversary year you’ll receive bonus points corresponding to 10% of the amount that you spent on the card. So if you spend $20,000 on the card in an anniversary year, you’d earn 2,000 bonus points.

In other words, in the end you’ll earn over 3x Ultimate Rewards points on dining, meaning this card is actually more rewarding than the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review) for those purchases.

Access to Chase Ultimate Rewards travel partners

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers extremely flexible rewards points. Not only can points be redeemed for 1.25 cents each toward the cost of a travel purchase, but they can also be transferred to Chase’s excellent collection of airline and hotel partners, at a 1:1 ratio.

This is a way to get outsized value, whether you’re transferring points to World of Hyatt for a redemption at a five star Park Hyatt, or are transferring points to Air Canada Aeroplan for a first or business class award on a partner airline.

When you use your rewards this way, you can get way more than 1.25 cents of value per point. For example, you could redeem 35,000 to 45,000 points per night for a stay at the all-inclusive Ventana Big Sur, where a paid night would cost well over $2,000. That’s over four cents of value per Ultimate Rewards point.

Redeem your Chase points at Alila Ventana Big Sur

Maximize no annual fee cards

The benefit of having the Chase Sapphire Preferred isn’t just the immediate rewards you get for having the card, but also the potential value of other cards that it unlocks. If you have the Sapphire Preferred, there are four no annual fee cards you can get that will also earn you Ultimate Rewards points, allowing you to supercharge your points earning.

These cards include the following:

Personally, I have all four of these cards, and they allow me to maximize my Ultimate Rewards points.

Build a portfolio of Chase cards to maximize points

Amazing rental car & travel protection

One of the great and often overlooked perks of a premium credit card is good travel protection, including rental car coverage. This is something we often don’t think about because we hope that our travels will go smoothly, but that doesn’t always happen. That’s another area where the Chase Sapphire Preferred shines. While you’ll want to check your cardmember agreement for the terms, generally speaking, the card offers:

  • Primary collision damage waiver coverage on rental cars
  • Travel protection, including for flight delays and cancelations, as well as for delayed or lost baggage

The rental car protection has literally saved me over $10,000 (when I was rear-ended in a car rental once), while collectively I’ve saved thousands of dollars with travel protection as well.

Rental car coverage can come in handy

$50 annual hotel credit

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a $50 hotel credit on your account anniversary year. With this, you can receive up to a $50 statement credit when you book a hotel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.

There’s no minimum spending required, so if you booked a $50 hotel you could get $50 back. For many, that will more than recoup half of the annual fee right there.

Receive a $50 annual hotel credit with the Sapphire Preferred

Bottom line

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is an absolutely phenomenal card. It has a reasonable annual fee, a nice welcome bonus, a generous return on spending, and fantastic perks, including travel coverage.

If you’re eligible, this card is absolutely worth picking up. That’s true whether you’re brand new to the points world, or whether you’re a points veteran who doesn’t have this card and is eligible. For more details, read my full review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

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  1. Steven Sabb Guest

    Regarding the Primary car rental coverage. It states in the benefits page that "damage to any other driver's car, injury of anyone or damage to anything is NOT covered."
    I'm confused by this. If you refuse the CDW, it only protects the rental car but not the other car? How can that be?

    1. UA GS @ SFO Guest

      This is a great question. The basic answer is that credit cards do not provide liability insurance, which is legally required in most places.

      Car insurance can get complicated, especially when you're renting. If you are in an accident with another car, at least 3 issues are relevant.

      1. The car you rented is damaged. These damages cost money to fix. Chase Sapphire will pay for these damages.

      2. The car rental company has "loss...

      This is a great question. The basic answer is that credit cards do not provide liability insurance, which is legally required in most places.

      Car insurance can get complicated, especially when you're renting. If you are in an accident with another car, at least 3 issues are relevant.

      1. The car you rented is damaged. These damages cost money to fix. Chase Sapphire will pay for these damages.

      2. The car rental company has "loss of use" of the car. You may be charged a daily fee as long as the car is undergoing repairs. Chase Sapphire does not pay for loss of use.

      3. Somebody else's car/property is damaged, or person(s) are injured. You could be liable for making others whole. Chase Sapphire does not cover your liability. Your personal auto insurance policy will probably cover you, up to the limits that you selected when you bought your policy.

      If you don't own a personal car, and/or you don't have a personal auto insurance policy, then you should always accept the car rental company's "supplemental" or "additional" liability insurance. This is separate from the collision damage waiver.

  2. a380flyer Guest

    Ben are you still holding the reserve? I recently downgraded that and then applied for this (had it previously) using your referral.

    Curious your thoughts on current premium stack right now. I'm holding amex and venture x, downgraded rest

    1. Evan Guest

      How long did you wait after downgrading the CSR to apply for the CSP?

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

380flyer Guest

About 56 hours

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Evan Guest

How long did you wait after downgrading the CSR to apply for the CSP?

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UA GS @ SFO Guest

This is a great question. The basic answer is that <strong>credit cards do not provide <em>liability</em> insurance, which is legally required in most places.</strong> Car insurance can get complicated, especially when you're renting. If you are in an accident with another car, at least 3 issues are relevant. 1. The car you rented is damaged. These damages cost money to fix. Chase Sapphire will pay for these damages. 2. The car rental company has "loss of use" of the car. You may be charged a daily fee as long as the car is undergoing repairs. <strong>Chase Sapphire does not pay for loss of use.</strong> 3. Somebody else's car/property is damaged, or person(s) are injured. You could be liable for making others whole. <strong>Chase Sapphire does not cover your liability.</strong> Your personal auto insurance policy will probably cover you, up to the limits that you selected when you bought your policy. <strong>If you don't own a personal car, and/or you don't have a personal auto insurance policy, then <em>you should always accept the car rental company's "supplemental" or "additional" liability insurance.</em> This is separate from the collision damage waiver.</strong>

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