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The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is quite possibly one of the most popular travel credit cards for people just starting to dip their toes into travel rewards. If you don’t already have the card, now might be the time to apply.
This is because new card members can currently earn a 60,000 bonus points on the Chase Sapphire Preferred by spending $4,000 on the card within the first three months of opening the account. Although we’ve seen slightly better offers in the past, this is still a great way to increase your rewards balance quickly.
In fact, this bonus can be redeemed to book at least $750 worth of travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. And if you leverage Chase’s various transfer airline and hotel partners, you can get more value by redeeming for first- and business-class airfare or luxury hotel stays.
But the sign-up bonus isn’t the only reason to get one of our favorite travel credit cards for beginners. Let’s look at five benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred to see why it may deserve a place in your wallet.
1. The 60,000-point sign-up bonus
The Chase Sapphire Preferred’s current 60,000-point sign-up bonus is the normal offer that you’ll typically see. And while you can hold out to possibly earn a higher bonus, there’s no saying when an increased offer will come around again.
There are a slew of ways to redeem those points too. You could redeem those 60,000 points for almost a three-night stay at the luxurious Grand Hyatt Baha Mar in the Bahamas during off-peak dates. Or, if you’d prefer to use your points for air travel, 60,000 points can often score you a round-trip ticket to Europe.
Best of all, points earned with the Chase Sapphire Preferred never expire as long as you keep the card open. So you can travel now or save your points now for a much-needed vacation down the road.
Click here to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred with a 60,000-point bonus.
2. Great transfer partners
One of the best aspects of the Chase Sapphire Preferred is its ability to transfer your points to any of the 14 airline and hotel loyalty programs that are partners with Chase Ultimate Rewards.
View this interactive content on CNN.comPoints transfer from the Sapphire Preferred to all of these programs at a 1-to-1 ratio, meaning for every 1,000 points you transfer, you’ll get 1,000 points or miles in the airline or hotel program.
While transferring points and utilizing a partner program takes some time and research, it allows you to get potentially much more value for your points by booking luxury travel such as first- or business-class flights or a resort stay in an exotic destination.
For example, you can transfer 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United MileagePlus to book a one-way business-class ticket to Europe on many dates. These tickets can often cost thousands of dollars if you were to pay out of pocket.
Or, you can transfer points to British Airways Avios to book short-haul domestic flights on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines for as little as 7,500 points one-way. This is often far cheaper than what you’ll find through the Chase travel portal.
If you prefer simplicity when booking your travel itineraries, you can also redeem your points directly through Chase’s travel portal and get 1.25 cents apiece. In other words, the 60,000-point bonus is worth $750 toward travel. While this is less value than what you can potentially get by transferring points to partners, for many, it’s an easier way to use your points.
But if you’re willing to strategize a bit and be flexible, you can come up with some pretty amazing travel itineraries by transferring points to a partner program.
3. Bonus categories and credits
The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 2 points for every dollar you spend on travel (or 5 total points if purchased through Ultimate Rewards), 3 points on dining, select streaming services and select online grocery purchases and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.
Better yet, frequent Lyft riders will also enjoy earning 5 points per dollar on all Lyft purchases through March 2025. This includes all types of Lyft rides, from shared economy rides to high-end Lux rides. This bonus category alone can add up over time on rides to the airport and around town.
These are a pretty ideal set of bonus categories, plus many food delivery services also count as “dining” on the Preferred. Likewise, the travel bonus category is broad and often includes things like public transportation, tolls and parking in addition to airfare, hotels and other more traditional travel purchases.
You’ll also get up to $50 in credit for hotel bookings when you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred and book a hotel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. If you can take advantage of this credit each year, you’re effectively cutting the $95 annual fee in half even before using any of the card’s other perks.
Plus, the Chase Sapphire Preferred has two other interesting benefits. Right now, Sapphire Preferred card holders get a complimentary DoorDash DashPass membership for a minimum of 12 months as long as you activate it by Dec. 31, 2024. DashPass offers $0 delivery fees, a 5% credit back on pickup orders and other benefits.
Through March 31, 2025, Sapphire Preferred card holders earn 10 total points for every dollar you spend on each Peloton Bike, Tread, Row and Guide purchase over $250, with a maximum of 50,000 total points. That’s a nice bonus if you’re looking to purchase new Peloton exercise equipment this year.
4. Pairing the Sapphire Preferred with other Chase credit cards
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of several credit cards that are part of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, and if you have more than one of these cards, you can pool the points from all of them together into one big pot of points.
For example, the Chase Freedom Flex℠ is advertised as a cash back credit card, but the cash back it earns is actually issued in points. So even though the Freedom Flex is designed to earn 5% cash back on a set of bonus categories that rotate each quarter, it technically earns 5 points per dollar in those categories.
Now, if you only have the Freedom Flex, the most you can get for your points is 1 cent apiece (which is how 5 points equals 5% cash back). But by also having the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can move your points from the Freedom Flex to the Sapphire Preferred and redeem them at a higher 1.25 cents per point for travel.
You can even transfer your pooled points to any of Chase’s airline and hotel partners, but only if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card as well. When combining one of these cards with a Freedom Flex, you can further maximize your everyday spending.
Earn extra rewards for travel by getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
5. Travel benefits
Having a credit card with strong travel benefits can come in handy when you’re ready to hit the road, and fortunately, the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a ton of ways to not only save money but protect you in an unfortunate travel delay or cancellation situation.
When you use the Sapphire Preferred to pay for your travel, you’ll have baked-in trip cancellation insurance, baggage delay insurance and primary auto rental insurance. Plus, you’ll pay no foreign transaction fees when spending money abroad. But our favorite travel benefit is trip delay protection.
Thanks to the trip delay coverage on the Chase Sapphire Preferred, if your flight is delayed by 12 or more hours or requires an overnight stay, you can be reimbursed for up to $500 in reasonable out-of-pocket expenses for each family member booked on the reservation. Reasonable expenses include lodging, meals, transportation and other necessary charges.
Even better, you’re covered even if you only pay for a portion of your flight with your Chase Sapphire Preferred. This means if you’re using airline miles to book an award ticket, as long as you pay for the taxes and fees on that award with your Sapphire Preferred, you’re eligible for the full trip delay protection coverage.
Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred right for you?
Even putting the high 60,000-point sign-up bonus offer aside, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a top contender when it comes to travel credit cards. This is thanks to its great bonus categories, valuable transfer partners and various travel benefits. You can also get at least $750 in value when redeeming the points for travel, and much more if you leverage Chase’s transfer partners.
Apply now for the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card with an 60,000-point bonus.
Find out which cards CNN Underscored chose as our favorite travel credit cards currently available.
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