Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card 2021 Review

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is a top-notch choice when it comes to travel cards. That’s because it could be a good fit for both points and miles novices and reward maximizing experts.

For a soft-on-the-wallet annual price tag of $95 you’ll earn 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3 points per dollar on dining and 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases and one point per dollar on all other eligible purchases. Plus, through March 2022 you'll earn a total of 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides.

Those are easy-to-digest earnings that someone just dipping their toe in travel rewards is likely to be able to manage. But the card also offers some plush extras that appeal to even more experienced rewards wranglers, like a 25% increase in value when you use your rewards for travel booked through the Chase Travel center and a $50 annual credit on hotel stays purchased through Ultimate Rewards. That’s the kind of reward redemption value that nearly anyone who ever plans a trip beyond their front door can appreciate.

Top it off with the ability to transfer your points to over a dozen travel partners, like United and Hyatt, for potentially even more value and some notable travel protections and insurances, to boot.

Not to be overlooked is Chase’s Pay Yourself Back program, which allows you to redeem your rewards at a 25% increase in value in eligible categories. This means if your travel plans are indefinitely on hold, the Sapphire Preferred’s rewards may still be used at an increased value to offset your everyday spending. Note that the categories may change over time.

Aside from the potential 25% increase in redemption value, there’s another rewards-maximizing trick with this card: If you strategically pair it with another complimentary Ultimate Rewards-earning card, like the Chase Freedom Flex℠ or Chase Freedom Unlimited®, you can combine all of your points together and redeem them at the Sapphire Preferred’s elevated value.

• Annual fee of $95
• A generous welcome offer: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,250 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
• Cardholders earn 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3 points per dollar on dining and 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases and one point per dollar on all other eligible purchases. Plus, through March 2022 you'll earn a total of 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides
• 10% anniversary points bonus
• Annual $50 credit on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel
• Rewards can be redeemed for travel at a 25% increase in value booked through Chase or for eligible categories using the Pay Yourself Back feature
• 1:1 point transfer to select airline and hotel travel partners including United and Hyatt
• Redeem for cash back or gift cards where points are worth 1 cent each
• No foreign transaction fees
• No introductory APR offers

Earning Rewards

The Chase Sapphire Preferred will earn 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3 points per dollar on dining and 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases and one point per dollar on all other eligible purchases. Plus, through March 2022 you'll earn a total of 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides.
Chase has a generous definition of travel. Purchases with 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 will all count.

The Sapphire Preferred also comes with a generous welcome bonus that allows new cardholders to Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,250 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

Redeeming Rewards

Chase’s Ultimate Rewards are one of the most flexible credit currencies available. You can redeem your earnings in any of the following ways:

• Ultimate Rewards travel portal: Chase gives a 25% bonus when you redeem points for travel bookings, giving you an effective value of 1.25 cents per point.
• Pay Yourself Back: Chase gives a 25% bonus when you redeem points for a statement credit towards eligible purchases, giving you an effective value of 1.25 cents per point.
• Transfer to travel partners: You can transfer Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 rate to a number of travel partners, where redemption value will vary.
• Statement credit: When you redeem your points as a statement credit you will get a value of 1 cent per point.
• Gift cards: Gift cards will provide different values for your points depending on the store and the amount of your purchase, typically 1 cent per point or less.
• Pay with Points with Chase Pay: You can use your points to pay for purchases at certain merchants, like Amazon, for a value of 0.8 cents per point.

Rewards Potential

To determine the rewards potential of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card we reviewed the elevated rewards categories and calculated what the average American household might spend in those areas. Forbes Advisor uses data from multiple government agencies in order to determine both baseline income and spending averages across various categories. The 70th percentile of wage earners brings in $100,172 annually and we estimate spending in each category from that number.

Forbes Advisor estimates that a typical U.S. household at this income level spends $3,185 on travel. Of that, we estimate $1,755 can be spent on travel by booking through the Chase Travel Center for 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar, yielding 8,755 points. The remaining travel expenses of $1,430 would earn 2 points per dollar for a gain of 2,860 points and a total travel net gain of 11,435 points.

Our sample household also spends $4,406 on dining, earning 3 points per dollar for a total of 13,218 points. Estimated annual grocery expenditure is $5,687. If we assume half of that is online grocery shopping, that $2,843.50 would snag 8,531 points and the remaining $2,843.50 would snag 2,844 points for a total of 11,375 points earned on grocery spending.

After subtracting travel, dining and grocery expenses, Forbes Advisor estimates that the referenced U.S. household would have $13,132 in spending that could reasonably be put on a credit card. At 1 Ultimate Reward per dollar, that spending would earn 13,132 Ultimate Rewards per year.

This puts the annual earnings of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card at 47,317 Ultimate Rewards, not counting the welcome bonus earned after meeting the minimum spending requirement or any boost in rewards from Lyft spending.

There’s also a 10% anniversary point bonus. Each account anniversary, cardmembers will earn bonus points equal to 10% of total purchases made the previous year. That means, $25,000 in spend will earn an additional 2,500 bonus points.

Rewards earned on the Chase Sapphire Preferred are worth 1.25 cents each when redeemed toward travel or using Pay Yourself Back, and one cent each when redeemed for cash back or a statement credit. Rewards can be worth even more when transferred to Chase travel partners such as United Airlines, Southwest Airlines or Hyatt.

• DoorDash: Get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on orders over $12 for a minimum of one year on qualifying food purchases with DashPass, DoorDash’s subscription service. Must be activated by Dec. 31, 2021.
• Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance: If your trip is canceled or cut short by a covered situation, 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.
• Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver: Decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card. Coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the vehicle for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.
• Purchase Protection: Covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.
• 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.
• Baggage Delay Insurance: Reimburses you for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for baggage delays over 6 hours by passenger carrier up to $100 a day for 5 days.
• Trip Delay Reimbursement: If your common carrier travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket.
• Peloton Get up to $60 back on an eligible Peloton Digital or All-Access Membership. Must be activated by Dec. 31, 2021.

Interest Rates

• Regular APR: 15.99%-22.99% Variable
• Purchase Intro APR: N/A
• Balance Transfer Intro APR: N/A

Fees

• Annual Fee: $95
• Balance Transfer Fee: Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.
• Cash Advance: Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater.
• Foreign Purchase Transaction Fee: $0

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is the higher-end version of the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It carries an annual fee of $550 but it also comes with a slew of perks including a whopping 50% points value boost when booking travel through Chase or using the Pay Yourself Back feature, a $300 annual travel credit, higher rewards on most travel then the Preferred, Priority Pass Select lounge access and a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee credit. For someone who can fully utilize all of the extra benefits, the price tag may be worth it.

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

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card may carry a $95 annual fee like the Sapphire Preferred but it’s a more streamlined option. All purchases earn 2 miles per dollar so there are no categories to track. And, rewards can be redeemed at a penny a point to book travel through the Capital One rewards center or used to cover an eligible travel purchase.

The Venture Card also comes with some of the same valuable travel protections as the Sapphire Preferred, like a TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee credit, transfer partners for your miles and car rental coverage offered through Visa. However, there’s one big difference when it comes to the value of your rewards on the two cards. If you don’t use your earnings on the Venture towards a travel purchase, the value drops to less than one cent per point.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card vs. Savor® Rewards from Capital One®*

The Sapphire Preferred may be a great card for travel, but it also earns strong rewards on dining, too. If your disposable income is spent less on eating and travel and more on dining and doing, the Savor® Rewards from Capital One®* merits a look. You’ll earn unlimited 4% cash back on dining, entertainment and popular streaming services, 3% cash back at grocery stores and 1% on all other purchases Capital One’s definition of entertainment is expansive and includes movie theaters, sports promoters (professional and semi-professional live events), theatrical promoters, amusement parks, tourist attractions, aquariums, zoos, dance halls, record stores, pool halls and bowling alleys.

The annual fee is the same as the Sapphire Preferred’s too: $95. Although it doesn’t have travel transfer partners like the Sapphire Preferred, since it earns straight cash back, you can use your earnings to buy whatever you like.

There’s a reason the Sapphire Preferred earned a top spot on the Forbes Advisor list of best travel cards: The Sapphire Preferred comes stuffed with enough features for a relatively low price that nearly anyone looking to use a credit card to earn travel rewards can see its appeal. If you’re looking for ultra-swanky high-end perks, look to a different card and be prepared to pay the price. But for anyone seeking a comfortable way to accrue earnings they can use towards future trips, look no further than the Sapphire Preferred.