Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: An essential travel card with best-in-class travel insurance

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The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of Chase’s flagship rewards cards. It offers elevated rewards in useful categories like travel, online grocery, dining, and select streaming services and best-in-class travel insurance protections. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® carries an annual fee of $95.

The card offers rewards of three points per dollar in several categories, including online grocery, select streaming providers, and dining. When you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠, you’ll earn five points per dollar. All other travel earns two points per dollar. Finally, the card also offers increased rewards for Lyft rides (5x) and Peloton purchases.

The Sapphire Preferred features travel insurance benefits like primary rental car insurance, baggage delay insurance and trip delay reimbursement coverage, making it an excellent choice to use for booking travel. Most importantly, the card offers transfers to Chase’s useful suite of travel partners, plus 25% increased value for your rewards when you redeem them for travel through Chase Travel℠.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card at a glance

Here’s what you need to know about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Welcome bonus

For information on historical welcome offers on the Chase Sapphire Preferred and to compare it to other available bonuses, see our database of welcome bonuses.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card rewards

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns Ultimate Rewards® points, which can be redeemed for a variety of cash back and travel rewards. The card offers increased rewards in select categories including travel, dining and grocery store purchases. Details are below.

	5x	Travel purchased through Chase Includes hotels, car rentals, and airfare purchased through Chase Travel℠ Rewards, excluding the $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel credit.
	5x	Lyft Lyft rides through March 31, 2025.
	5x	Peloton Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through March 31, 2025. Maximum 25,000 points. Through March 31, 2025.
	3x	Dining Dining at restaurants, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out.
	3x	Online grocery Online grocery purchases excludes Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs.
	3x	Select streaming Apple Music, Apple TV, Disney+, ESPN+, Fubo TV, Max, Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Paramount+, Peacock, Showtime, SiriusXM, Sling, Spotify, YouTube Premium, YouTube TV and Vudu.
	2x	All other travel purchases Includes airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages.
	1x	All other purchases

Additionally, you’ll receive a “10% reward bonus” at the end of your cardmember year based on the amount you spent on your card in the prior year. If you spend $10,000 on your card in your cardmember year, you will receive 1,000 bonus points. Spending in bonus categories does not increase the amount of the reward bonus you receive.

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you earn Ultimate Rewards® points, which can be redeemed for a variety of cash back, travel, and merchandise rewards. Not all rewards offer great value. Here’s what you need to know about redeeming Ultimate Rewards.

The Ultimate Rewards® points you earn with your card can be transferred between your cards. If you hold multiple cards that earn Ultimate Rewards®, you can earn points on one card and use the enhanced redemption options of another card.

Here are the best Ultimate Rewards® redemption options by card:

	Cards with no annual fee	Premium cards	High-tier premium cards
	Chase Freedom Flex Chase Freedom Unlimited® Ink Business Cash® Ink Business Unlimited®	Chase Sapphire Preferred® Ink Business Preferred®	Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Cash back 1 cent per point
Travel through Chase Travel℠	100% of cash value	125% of cash value	$150 of cash value
Transfers to travel partners See list of transfer partners below.	–
Gift cards 1 cent per point, with occasional sales on select brands

The Ink Business Premier® Credit Card is marketed as an Ultimate Rewards® card, but it doesn’t allow you to transfer points to other cards, so it is not included in this table.

Ultimate Rewards Transfer partners

Point transfers to Ultimate Rewards® transfer partners are widely believed to be the best way to get the most value from your Chase points. When you transfer points to a partner, your Ultimate Rewards® become point in that partner’s loyalty program. You can then redeem your points for awards offered by a partner loyalty program. Point transfers cannot be reversed, so be sure you know what you’re going to use your points for before transferring them.

Here are the airlines and hotels you can transfer to if you hold a premium Ultimate Rewards® credit card:

	Transfer partner	Program highlights
	Air Canada Aeroplan	Easy-to-use Star Alliance awards, with the option to spend extra miles to make flights cancelable.
	Air France-KLM Flying Blue	Great for monthly Flying Blue promo awards.
	Avios Aer Lingus AerClub British Airways Executive Club Iberia Plus	Distance-based programs with good value on shorter flights like USA-Ireland (AerClub) and short-haul flights on Oneworld partners (Executive Club).
	Emirates Skywards	One of the few ways to book Emirates first class with points.
	JetBlue TrueBlue	Reward prices tied to cash prices of tickets, usually around 1.3 cents per point.
	Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	One of the few ways to book Singapore first class tickets with points.
	United MileagePlus	Good value off-peak international economy awards. Generous award change/cancel policies.
	Virgin Atlantic Flying Club	Some opportunities to book good-value premium cabin awards with partners.
	IHG One Rewards	Offers a fourth night free on point redemptions if you hold an IHG-branded credit card, but generally not a good use of Ultimate Rewards® points.
	Marriott Bonvoy	May be a reasonable use if you need just a few points to top off an award, but generally not a good use of Ultimate Rewards® points.
	World of Hyatt	Offers excellent redemption value at some properties due to its award chart.

Redemptions options you shouldn’t use

The table above shows you the best Ultimate Rewards® redemption options. But there are some ways to redeem points that provide less value. Here are the redemption options you should avoid:

• Most gift card redemptions only offer 1 cent per point. You’re not getting any additional value and you’re giving up the flexibility of cash when you redeem for gift cards. Only redeem for gift cards when select brands are on sale.
• Pay with points usually offers less value than 1 cent per point. You can get more value from your points through a cash back redemption.
• Shop with Apple only offers 1 cent per point. If you use your points for cash back and charge your Apple purchases to your card, you can earn rewards for your purchases.
• Chase Dining only offers 1 cent per point. Use your points for cash back instead and get rewards on your dining purchases.

How to apply:

A few notes on applying for Chase cards

• 5/24 rule. Chase generally won’t approve you if your credit report is showing 5 or more new credit card accounts opened in the last 24 months. This rule is knows as the 5/24 rule. If you’re unsure if you are “under 5/24” you should check your 5/24 status before applying for a Chase card. Note that recently this rule seems to have softened, especially for Ink cards. See our coverage about Chase 5/24 for more.
• Only one Sapphire-branded card. You can only hold one Chase Sapphire-branded card at a time. This means you can have either a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or a Chase Sapphire Reserve®, but not both.
• You can get a welcome bonus on a Chase card, even if you’ve had the card previously. How often you can earn a welcome bonus on a Chase card varies by card family.
  • Most cards allow you to earn a welcome bonus if it has been at least 24 months since your last received a welcome bonus on the same card.
  • Chase Sapphire-branded cards, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can only earn a welcome bonus once every 48 months. (We published a separate article to help you determine if you can get a Sapphire welcome bonus.)
  • Marriott cards have their own special rules.
• Chase will match an increased bonus. If you apply for a Chase card and the bank offers a higher bonus within 90 days, you can send Chase a secure message or call them to have your welcome offer matched.
• In-branch offers are sometimes better. Chase sometimes has better credit card welcome offers in-branch than it will publish on its own website or through affiliate networks. Check all channels to make sure you’re getting the best bonus.
• Chase business cards do not report to personal credit reports and do not impact your 5/24 status as long as they are current.

Should you keep the card after the first year?

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card has a $95 annual fee. You should only keep a card after the first year if you receive ongoing value in excess of the card’s annual fee. Here are the benefits that might make this card worth keeping after the first year.

• Increased earnings in bonus categories like travel, dining and online grocery
• Excellent trip delay reimbursement and baggage delay insurance benefits
• Access to airline and hotel transfer partners

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card benefits

Here are the benefits you’ll get when you hold the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

	Consumer insurance benefits Extended warranty protection Purchase protection
	Travel insurance benefits Auto rental collision damage waiver Baggage delay insurance Lost luggage reimbursement Roadside dispatch service Travel accident insurance Trip cancellation and interruption insurance Trip delay reimbursement
	Travel benefits Travel and emergency assistance services
	Statement credits $50 annual statement credit for Ultimate Rewards hotel bookings
	Partner benefits Complimentary six-month Instacart+ subscription 12 months of DoorDash DashPass

Consumer insurance benefits

Extended warranty protection provides additional warranty coverage on items you purchase with your card. Chase extended warranty protection extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.

Purchase protection protects the things you buy with your card from damage or theft for a certain amount of time after you buy them. Chase Sapphire Preferred® purchase protection covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

Travel insurance benefits

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers best-in-class travel insurance benefits.

Auto rental collision damage waiver protects you against damage to or theft of your rental vehicle. For coverage to apply, you need to reserve and pay for your vehicle using your card and decline your car rental company’s collision damage waiver. The coverage provided by your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is primary to your personal auto insurance. It covers rentals up to 31 consecutive days.

Baggage Delay Insurance – Reimburses you for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for baggage delays over 6 hours by passenger carriers up to $100 per day for five days.

Lost luggage reimbursement offers reimbursement if your bags are lost, damaged or stolen while traveling on a common carrier. Coverage is included up to $3,000 per passenger, per trip.

Roadside dispatch service provides a single number that you can use to get connected to local providers for roadside services like towing, lockout service, tire changes, fuel delivery, and more. Services are provided for a pre-negotiated, per-service fee.

Travel accident insurance pays set benefit amounts for loss of life or limb while traveling, as long as you book your common carrier tickets with your card. Chase travel accident insurance provides coverage both while being transported by a common carrier and during your trip.

Trip Cancelation and 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.

Trip delay reimbursement can cover your incidental expenses or a hotel room when your travel is delayed for a covered reason. Chase Sapphire Preferred trip delay insurance covers delays of 12 or delays requiring an overnight stay and up to $500 for each ticket purchased.

Travel benefits

Travel and emergency assistance services can provide local referrals to legal help, medical professionals, transportation providers and many other services. This benefit does not cover the cost of these services; it only provides referrals.

Statement credits

$50 for Chase hotel bookings. Receive up to a $50 statement credit each cardmember year when you book hotel stays through Chase Travel℠.

Partner benefits

Complimentary six-month Instacart+ subscription. Get six months of Instacart+ for free when you enroll by July 31, 2024. After your free trial, your subscription auto-renews as an annual subscription for $99/year (or the then-current regular price.)

DashPass DashPass. Receive 12 months of complimentary access to DashPass when you activate by December 31, 2024.

Frequently asked questions

Advertiser disclosure: Cards and Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Cards and Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers. Compensation may affect how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies or all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card benefits.