Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card Review 2023

Right now, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is offering a welcome bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a top-notch choice when it comes to travel cards. That’s because it could be a natural 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, select streaming services, and online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs), 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.

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 Chase 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.

In addition, Chase’s Pay Yourself Back program allows you to redeem your rewards in eligible categories as a statement credit, potentially for increased value. Currently, though, the only category receiving the increased 25% redemption values are charitable donations. Note however 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 complementary 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.

And finally, Chase provides a 10% rebate on your purchases as a cherry on top of the sundae. Note that this rebate is on purchases, not points earned. So if you spend $25,000 on your card in a year, you’ll receive a 2,500-point bonus at your card anniversary.

Related: Best Credit Cards 2023

• Annual fee of $95
• A generous welcome bonus: 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
• Cardholders earn 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3 points per dollar on dining, select streaming services, and online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs), 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases
• 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 to 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

Related: Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Worth It?

As one of the market’s best mid-tier all-around credit cards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred ranks highly on lists of the best credit cards for various uses across our site.

• The Best Credit Cards
• The Best Travel Credit Cards
• The Best Ultimate Rewards-Earning Credit Cards
• The Best Chase Credit Cards
• The Best Credit Cards For Vacation Rentals
• The Best Airline Credit Cards
• The Best Metal Credit Cards 
• The Best Credit Cards For Road Trips
• The Best Credit Cards For Excellent Credit
• The Best Visa Credit Cards
• The Best Credit Cards for Food Delivery Services
• The Best Credit Cards for Cruises
• The Best Hotel Credit Cards

Earning Rewards

The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 5 points per dollar on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3 points per dollar on dining, select streaming services, and online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs), 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.

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 strong welcome bonus that allows new cardholders to earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

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 through Chase with your Sapphire Preferred account, 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 to 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: You can use your points to pay for purchases at certain merchants, like Amazon, for a value of about 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 $116,000 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 $6,044 on travel. Of that, we estimate $4,458 can be spent on travel by booking through the Chase Travel Center for 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar, yielding 22,290 points. The remaining travel expenses of $1,586 would earn 2 points per dollar for a gain of 3,172 points and a total travel net gain of 25,462 points.

Our sample household also spends $3,856 on dining, earning 3 points per dollar for a total of 11,568 points. Estimated annual grocery expenditure is $6,692. If we assume half of that is online grocery shopping, that $3,346 would snag 10,038 points and the remaining $3,346 would earn 3,346 points for a total of 13,384 points earned on grocery spending.

An additional estimated $732 spent on streaming services would also earn 3 points per dollar, for a total of 2,196 points.

After subtracting travel, dining, grocery and streaming expenses, Forbes Advisor estimates that the referenced U.S. household would have $18,853 remaining in spending that could reasonably be put on a credit card. At 1 Ultimate Reward point per dollar, that spending would earn 18,853 Ultimate Rewards per year.

This puts the annual earnings of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card at 71,463. 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® Card are worth 1.25 cents each when redeemed through Chase toward travel 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.

Related: How To Find the Best Chase Sapphire Preferred Bonus Offer

The Chase Sapphire Preferred’s benefit package helps it snag top spots on many lists of the best credit cards across publications. Its collection of travel and purchase protections, access benefits and more help it achieve a particularly valuable offer for an under-$100 annual fee.

• 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 six 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.

Read More: Chase Sapphire Preferred Benefits

Chase Sapphire Preferred Travel Benefits

Perhaps overlooked by many casual users, the Chase Sapphire’s 1:1 points transfer opportunities with over a dozen loyalty program partners can offer some of the most valuable redemptions. Cardholders have the power to turn their Ultimate Reward points into miles or points with their favorite airline or hotel partner and book deals that are only available from those programs.

Among the Sapphire Preferred’s other benefits are numerous travel protections including trip cancellation and interruption insurance with coverage for trips cut short or canceled due to illness, severe weather and other covered situations. The card also provides a primary auto rental collision damage waiver, baggage insurance and trip delay reimbursement.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Hotel Benefits

In addition to the card’s bonus rewards on hotels booked through Chase Travel and access to Chase Travel’s property options, Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders also receive a $50 hotel stay statement credit each year toward stays booked through the portal.

The card’s 1:1 points transfer to hotel partner loyalty programs includes opportunities to transfer points to Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt and the IHG Rewards Club.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Lyft Benefits

Among Chase’s list of partner benefits are special Lyft rewards. Through March 31, 2025, cardholders earn 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides. Other partner benefits include a complimentary DoorDash DashPass subscription, $10 in monthly statement credits for GoPuff through December 2023 and a 6-month complimentary Instacart+ subscription plus up to $15 in statement credits each quarter for Instacart+ members through July 2024.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Authorized User Fee

If you’re looking to add an authorized user to your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you’re in luck. Not only does Chase allow you to do that, there’s no fee for Preferred authorized users.

You’ll get all the points and benefits from your authorized using the card and there’s no credit check. If whomever you’re giving a card to needs to build credit, having them on your account as an authorized user means that Chase will report this to the credit agencies, which can allow them to build their credit.

Adding an authorized user is easy. Simply log into your account and choose “Account services” from the “More” menu on chase.com or choose “Manage account” on the Chase Mobile app, then “Add an authorized user.”

There’s no cost for your authorized user with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card but you will be responsible for any and all charges that the user makes. Since you’re sharing the same card, you can’t set limits and if you want to remove the authorized user, you’ll need to close the account number and get a new number.

You don’t need to worry about security though. Since authorized users don’t have digital access to your account, they won’t be able to change your account information or account password.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Cash Advance Fee

If you’re in a bind, it may seem like a convenient option to pull cash out of your credit card, but cash advances are an expensive way to access funds. Not only will you have to repay the cash advance, but the fees are high and the interest rates that come with them as well are steep.

The Sapphire Preferred charges Either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, whichever is greater., and the interest rate for cash advances is higher than we can recommend. On top of that, there’s no grace period on cash advances so interest begins accruing the day you make the transaction. This all adds up to paying a pretty hefty sum just to get a couple hundred dollars of emergency cash.

One of the best ways to maximize your Chase Sapphire Preferred rewards is to redeem them for travel. This is due to the potential outsized value that you can receive from making a 1:1 points transfer as well as the 25% increase in value for redeeming points through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Thanks to these opportunities, travel redemptions can help you yield the most value from the rewards that you earn.

Remember too, that travel credit cards aren’t just about the rewards; The benefits can be much more useful than just the points, especially when it comes to travel protections. Protections like trip interruption or cancellation insurance can not only provide peace of mind but also save you thousands of dollars in lost reservations. Maximize your benefits by ensuring that you book travel on your card to access these built-in coverages.

Pairing the Chase Sapphire Preferred with another Ultimate Rewards-earning card allows you to combine points for their best usage. Cards that pair well with the Sapphire Preferred include:

• Chase Freedom Flex℠*
• Chase Freedom Unlimited®
• Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
• Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

Transfer Partners

The Chase Sapphire Preferred permits cardholders to transfer points 1:1 to a number of loyalty program partners, including popular airline and hotel programs. These include:

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France/KLM Flying Blue
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards
• Iberia Plus
• IHG Rewards Club
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Marriott Bonvoy
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• World of Hyatt

Don’t bend your financial situation or plans to work for a credit card. Instead, make your card work for you. This starts by carefully considering whether the card is the best for you. It’s easy to be excited by flashing statement credit offers and big welcome bonuses, but it’s important to select a card with the right extras so you can truly maximize the value you receive from the card.

This dire warning made, consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred a mid-level upgrade into the Chase Sapphire and Chase Ultimate Rewards programs. The card’s balance of an annual fee against rewards and benefits is difficult to match, but the real value in this card may lie in the access it unlocks to Chase Travel and the flexibility of Chase Ultimate Rewards.

If you plan to spend a significant period of time accruing points before spending them, consider a different Chase Ultimate Rewards-earning card without an annual fee before upgrading to the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

On the other hand, if you’re ready to spend big to earn big and redeem even bigger, consider the Chase Sapphire Reserve® with its higher annual fee and 50% increase in redemption value of Chase Ultimate Rewards.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve both offer incentives to gain more value by redeeming rewards on travel, but at the cost of annual fees. It’s important to balance these considerations against how you earn and spend your points.

Interest Rates

• Regular APR: 21.24% - 28.24% 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® Card. 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, a $300 annual travel credit, higher rewards on most travel than 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.

Read our in-depth comparison of Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Reserve.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card vs. American Express® Gold Card

The American Express® Gold Card (Terms apply, see rates & fees) offers solid value for most travelers. The earnings rate of 4 Membership Rewards® points per dollar at restaurants, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S., 4 Membership Rewards® points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1 point per dollar), 3 Membership Rewards® points per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express travel and 1 point per dollar on other eligible purchases is among the highest in the industry and Membership Rewards are flexible and easy to redeem.

Ultimately, which card is better for you will depend on your personal spending habits. If your biggest expenses are mainly on groceries, dining out and takeout, then the Amex Gold may be worth the higher price tag over the Sapphire Preferred Card. But someone who spends a lot on getting around may fare better with the Sapphire Preferred.

Read our in-depth comparison of Amex Gold vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card vs. Chase Freedom Unlimited®

The no-annual-fee Chase Freedom Unlimited® notches above-average earnings with 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3% cash back on eligible dining and drugstores and 1.5% on all other purchases, making it an ideal choice as an everyday card. But the card’s real superpower comes from pairing it with a premium Chase Ultimate Rewards®-earning card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Use the Freedom Unlimited for all spending that isn’t a bonus category on the Sapphire Preferred and pool all your rewards together to take advantage of Sapphire Preferred’s 25% points boost on travel.

Read our in-depth comparison of Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Freedom Unlimited.

There’s a reason the Sapphire Preferred earned a spot on the Forbes Advisor list of best travel cards: The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card 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 at 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.

Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors including:

• Annual fees
• Welcome bonus offers
• Ongoing earning rates
• Value of individual points of miles
• Included travel or merchant credits
• Additional cardholder benefits

Forbes Advisor rates cards both as stand-alone products (the card rating on the review) and compared to others in a specific use case (the card rating you see on a specific “Best” list). The rating for each card changes on different “Best” lists according to how a person looking for a card in that category may value certain card features.

For instance, a card that might be considered mediocre on a list of rewards cards could be the top card on a list of rewards cards with no annual fee. That’s because the card might offer limited features compared to other rewards cards, but after we remove cards that charge an annual fee, it’s the best card that remains.

Forbes Advisor uses data from multiple government agencies to determine how much a typical cardholder might spend. We use the same numbers for cards in the same category to make sure we are comparing cards the same way. The bonus categories for spending included with each card are factored into our determination of how many rewards a cardholder could expect to earn if they use the card as a consumer normally would.

To learn more about our rating and review methodology and editorial process, check out our guide on How Forbes Advisor Rates Credit Cards.

To view rates and fees for the American Express® Gold Card please visit this page.