Once upon a time, the Chase Sapphire Preferred was the darling of the miles and points universe. It earned valuable Ultimate Rewards points with bonus points for spending on travel and dining, and for a while, it was the default starter card. Then the Sapphire Reserve showed up and stole the spotlight with richer perks and a bigger bonus in the same core categories.
Fast-forward to 2025, and things have shifted again. The Sapphire Reserve now has a much higher annual fee and a more complicated package of credits, while the Sapphire Preferred has quietly become the “just enough” travel card for a lot of people—solid bonus categories, strong protections, and a much more reasonable fee. You can even hold both Sapphire cards now, but if you don’t want to juggle a premium annual fee every year, the Sapphire Preferred is still a very strong contender.
CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED
If you sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred (or the Sapphire Reserve) using our referral link, you can earn 125,000 bonus points with Sapphire Reserve® or 75,000 bonus points with Sapphire Preferred®. We’d appreciate it, as we receive bonus Ultimate Rewards points for everyone who gets the card. Thanks!
Annual Fee
$95 per year.
Sign Up Benefits
The current public/referral offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred is:
Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
A few important eligibility notes:
- Sapphire “once per card” rules: Chase’s fine print now says the new cardmember bonus may not be available if you currently have this specific Sapphire card, previously held it, or already received a new cardmember bonus for it. In practice, that means you generally shouldn’t count on getting the welcome bonus on the Sapphire Preferred more than once per lifetime, even though there are still scattered data points of people getting it again.
- You can hold multiple Sapphires now: Chase now allows you to have both the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve at the same time. Bonus eligibility is handled separately via those newer, more flexible (and slightly vague) rules and the on-screen pop-up.
- 5/24 still applies: You’ll almost certainly still need to be under Chase’s unpublished “5 cards in 24 months” rule to get approved.
As always with Chase, read the terms on the application page and pay attention if you get a pop-up saying you’re not eligible for a bonus before you hit “submit.”
Spending Bonus Categories
The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns bonus points in the following categories:
- 5x points on travel purchases made through Chase Travel℠ (flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, activities and tours), excluding hotel purchases that already trigger the $50 hotel credit.
- 3x points on dining at restaurants worldwide, including eligible delivery services and takeout.
- 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs); this includes online pickup/delivery from grocery stores and many meal kit services.
- 3x points on select streaming services.
- 2x points on other travel purchases (airfare, hotels, taxis, trains, buses, tolls, parking, cruises, etc.) that aren’t booked through Chase Travel at 5x.
- 1x point per dollar on all other purchases.
This is a big step up from the old 2x-only days and keeps the Sapphire Preferred competitive with cards like the Amex Gold in many real-world spending scenarios, especially if you value travel protections and transfer partners.
Limited-Time & Partner Benefits
These are the “extra” perks currently tied to the card that are subject to end dates and partnership agreements:
- 5x total points on Lyft rides through September 30, 2027. That’s 3 extra points on top of the usual 2x for travel. Qualifying rides include rideshare, bike/scooter rentals, and certain Lyft subscriptions.
- Complimentary DashPass through December 31, 2027 (or at least 12 months from activation) plus a $10 monthly credit for eligible non-restaurant orders (grocery, convenience, etc.) while enrolled. That’s up to $120 a year in statement credits if you actually use it.
There are occasionally other partnership goodies that come and go, but these are the big ones right now.
10% Anniversary Point Boost
Every year on your account anniversary, you receive a 10% bonus on your total purchases from the prior cardmember year.
So, if you spent $25,000 on the card, you’ll get an extra 2,500 Ultimate Rewards points dropped into your account, on top of what you earned from categories and base earning.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
As you’d hope from a card marketed to travelers, the Chase Sapphire Preferred does not charge foreign transaction fees, so you can use it abroad without that annoying ~3% surcharge.
$50 Annual Hotel Credit
You get up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays purchased through Chase Travel.
A few practical notes from a points-and-miles perspective:
- Because you’re booking through Chase’s portal, you generally won’t earn hotel loyalty points or elite-night credit, and elite benefits may not be honored.
- I’d use this most often for independent hotels or properties where I don’t care about the chain’s loyalty program—as long as the price is the same (or very close) to what I’d pay booking direct.
Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver (CDW)
This is still one of the best “hidden” perks on the card:
- The Sapphire Preferred’s auto rental coverage is primary in most cases in the U.S. and abroad.
- It covers theft, collision damage, valid loss-of-use charges, certain administrative fees, and towing, up to $60,000 for most rental vehicles with an MSRP of $125,000 or less.
- Rental periods up to 31 consecutive days are covered.
In plain English: if you get into an accident in a covered rental car and you declined the rental agency’s CDW/LDW, you can use this benefit before involving your personal auto insurance. For frequent renters, this benefit alone can justify keeping the card.
Visa Signature Hotels
Because the Sapphire Preferred is a Visa Signature card, you get access to the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection. Typical benefits when you book through that site include:
- Best available rate guarantee
- Complimentary room upgrade (when available)
- Free Wi-Fi
- Daily breakfast for two
- $25 food & beverage or spa credit (varies by property)
- Late checkout (when available)
We’ve used this program before—most memorably for a stay at the Waldorf=Astoria in Manhattan—and the extra perks plus competitive rates made it a very good deal.
Points Are More Valuable for Travel With Points Boost
Chase now uses a feature called Points Boost for select hotels and flights. Here’s how it works:
- Your points are generally worth at least 1¢ each toward travel through Chase Travel.
- With Points Boost, your points can be worth:
- Up to 1.5x on thousands of top-booked hotels and flights with select airlines, and
- Up to 1.75x on premium-cabin tickets with select airlines.
- Eligible options are clearly marked “Points Boost” in the Chase Travel search results, so you can see where you’re getting the better value.
You’re not locking yourself into one fixed redemption rate anymore—you’re hunting for those “booster” redemptions where your points stretch further.
Chase Ultimate Rewards Can Be Transferred to Other Programs at a 1:1 Value.
This is still the real magic of the Sapphire Preferred: the ability to move your Ultimate Rewards points to airline and hotel partners at a 1:1 ratio and cherry-pick the best deals.
Chase’s line-up now includes 10 airlines and 3 hotel programs:
- Aer Lingus AerClub (Avios)
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- British Airways Executive Club (Avios)
- Iberia Plus (Avios)
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- IHG One Rewards
- Marriott Bonvoy
- World of Hyatt
Transfers are generally 1:1 in 1,000-point increments and are usually instant (though a few partners can take up to a day or two).
We’ve used Ultimate Rewards this way for years—for example:
- Transferring to United and booking partner business-class awards (like Aer Lingus with lie-flat seats), and
- Moving points to World of Hyatt to book high-value stays, such as at Great Scotland Yard and other favorites, where cash rates would have been higher.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Chase Sapphire Preferred has gone through several evolutions, but in late 2025 it’s still one of the best “first serious travel card” options out there:
- A very strong welcome offer (especially via referral) for a $95 card.
- Useful 3x categories on dining, online groceries and streaming, plus 5x on travel via Chase Travel.
- Genuinely valuable perks like primary rental-car coverage, solid travel protections, the Visa Signature hotel program, and the $50 hotel credit.
- Transfer access to a deep bench of airline and hotel partners.
If you’re just starting out, this is a great entry-level card to build a flexible points balance you can use for flights and hotels. If you’re more advanced, it’s still a sensible “anchor” Ultimate Rewards card—especially if you don’t want to justify the Sapphire Reserve’s much higher annual fee every year.
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