As I wrote in How Did I Choose My First Credit Card?, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the best transferable points cards around. In fact, I believe this is the first card you should get if you’re new to traveling on points. But why does it rate as my #1 card? Quite simply – flexibility!

Who is this card for?

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is for anyone who wants to collect the most flexible travel rewards points, Chase Ultimate Rewards®. With 3x points on dining and groceries, 2x points on travel, no foreign transaction fees, and worldwide VISA acceptance, this card as broad appeal. If you’re just starting out in the travel points game, the low annual fee is waived for the first year, which makes this the perfect starter card.

You can apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card here.

Card Features

Bonus Offer

You’ll earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months. 

Annual Fee

The $95 annual fee is waived the first year, meaning you have a full 12 months to explore this card’s perks and benefits.

Earning Rates

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is geared towards earning bonuses on travel and dining expenses.

• 5x points per $1 spent on travel purchased through the Chase Travel Portal
• 3x points per $1 spent on dining
• 3x points per $1 spent on online groceries
• 3x points per $1 spent on select streaming services
• 2x points per $1 spent on other travel
• 1x points per $1 on all other spending

The nice thing about the travel category is how broad it is. You can earn bonus points even if you aren’t actually traveling. Bonus points are earned on passenger trains, taxis, limos, Uber, Lyft, highway tolls, parking lots, garages and more.

$50 Hotel Credit

Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays purchased through the Chase Travel Portal. Note that the credit will not apply if booked directly with hotels, but the statement credit is applied automatically.

Cardmember Anniversary Bonus

Chase will award cardholders an annual point bonus worth 10% of the total purchases for the year. For example, if you spend $25,000 on purchases with the card, you’ll get 2,500 bonus points after your account anniversary year.

Redeeming Points

The flexibility of Chase Ultimate Rewards® points are evident when redeeming them for travel. Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through the Chase travel portal. For example, 50,000 points are worth $625 towards travel. There are no blackout dates, so if there’s an open seat on the flight you want or an available room at a hotel, you can pay for it with points.

Points never expire and there are no limits.

The travel portal isn’t your only option, however. You can often get even greater value by transferring points to any of Chase’s 14 travel partners and really maximize your points!

You can transfer points to participating frequent travel programs at full 1:1 value – that means 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points equals 1,000 partner miles/points.

For more information on Chase’s flexible points program, check out The Complete Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

Card Benefits

Lyft Rides

Earn 5x points on Lyft rides when you pay with your card through March 2025.

DoorDash Delivery

Get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees for one year, with a complimentary DashPass subscription from DoorDash. DashPass normally costs $9.99 per month.

Complimentary Instacart+ Membership

Receive one complimentary Instacart+ membership per eligible card account for 6 months when the membership is activated on http://www.instacart.com/chase with an eligible card between 6/15/2022 and 7/31/2024.

Primary Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver (CDW)

The vast majority of credit cards offer some type of coverage when it comes to auto rentals. However, there are two different coverage categories (primary and secondary) and knowing the difference is key. Secondary coverage is what most credit cards offer and it applies after your own personal auto insurance policy. Typically it means that your auto insurer pays the claim, but the card will reimburse your deductible and potentially other costs not covered by your personal policy.

Primary coverage, however, applies before your own personal auto insurance policy and will cover full damages due to collision or theft of most rental cars. That means you can avoid paying a deductible and potentially seeing your premiums rise.

There are only six consumer credit cards that offer primary auto rental CDW coverage:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred®
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• United℠ Explorer Card
• United Quest Card
• United Club Infinite Card
• Capital One Venture X Card

There are also five business credit cards that offer this as well. You’ll only be covered by primary insurance while renting for business purposes, renting outside your country of residence for personal reasons or if you do not have automobile insurance:

• Chase Ink Business Preferred® Card
• Chase Ink Business Cash® Card
• Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Card
• United Club℠ Business Card (only when renting for business purposes)
• United Business℠ Card (only when renting for business purposes)

Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance

If your trip can’t start, is cut short or interrupted by sickness, severe weather or other covered situations, you can be reimbursed for prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses up to $10,000 per covered trip.

Baggage Delay Insurance

If you experience baggage delays over 6 hours by passenger carrier, you can be reimbursed for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing, 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 non-reimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket.

Lost Luggage Reimbursement

Up to $3,000 per person (up to $500 per person for jewelry, watches, cameras, video recorders and other electronic equipment).

No Foreign Transaction Fees

For those who travel internationally, this card does not charge foreign transaction fees.

Roadside Dispatch

For a $59.95 flat fee, this program provides common services like towing, tire changing, jump starts and more. This benefit can be a real lifesaver and may be cheaper than a similar benefit offered by your auto insurance.

Purchase Protection

This benefit covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account. As always, make sure you read the fine print for benefit terms and conditions. But you’ll sleep easy knowing your new, big purchases are covered.

Extended Warranty Protection

With this benefit, you can extend the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by one additional year. This applies to eligible warranties of three years or less.

Who should look for another card?

I’m honestly not sure I can recommend looking elsewhere, especially for beginners. While the vast majority of people can find great value from this card, there are a few reasons why you might want to consider another card. Those who already earn transferrable points through American Express or Citi may want to continue in those programs. Also, people who’d rather earn rewards exclusively from one airline or hotel chain might be better off spending on one airline or hotel-branded card. Finally, those whose spending doesn’t justify the annual fee may want to focus on credit card without one.

Bottom Line

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card a great choice for those wanting to get started or get more value from the travel points game. I’ll say it again – it’s hard to find another travel rewards program that gives you more value and flexibility than Chase Ultimate Rewards®. From the Chase travel portal to the hotel and airline transfer partners, there are just so many ways to redeem your points.

While your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card may be your go to credit card, you can get even more value by pairing it with another card that can fill in the holes in your card portfolio. For example, you might want to consider getting a no annual fee card like the Chase Freedom Flex℠ card. This way, you can maximize the rotating categories that earn up to 5% back, and put everything else on your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Another option is pairing it with the Chase Freedom® Unlimited, which earns 1.5% on all purchases.

Since all of these cards are in the Chase Ultimate Rewards® program, you can transfer the points to your CSP account and get 25% more value when redeeming through the Chase travel portal. In almost every case, the more points you have in one place, the easier it is to maximize them.

Bottom line is this card is a no-brainer for anyone who wants some flexibility in how they redeem their points.

Apply here for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.