Chase Sapphire Preferred Review: Powerful Travel Rewards

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The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the most popular and powerful travel rewards credit cards on the market. It offers a combination of lucrative rewards, travel perks, and flexibility that appeals to frequent travelers and everyday spenders alike. 

My wife and I are both long-time cardholders. Earning points from bonuses and spending helped our family of five book these roundtrip tickets at no cost (except taxes and fees):

• Washington D.C. to San Francisco (twice)
• Washington D.C. to London
• Washington D.C. to Amsterdam, Paris to Washington D.C.

The card has saved us thousands over the years and given our kids unforgettable experiences.

In this Chase Sapphire Preferred review, I’ll break down the key card features, including the introductory offer, earning potential, travel credits, point redemption options, and travel insurance benefits.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the credit card our family prioritizes because of the valuable travel rewards. If you’re looking for a primary spending card to support your travel ambitions, this card is it.

On top of the travel perks, here are all the reasons I love this card. 

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A Generous Introductory Offer

One of the standout features of the Chase Sapphire Preferred is its impressive introductory offer.

New cardholders can earn 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® points after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

For perspective, those 60,000 points are worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel℠ (a Chase website accessible through your online card account), thanks to the card’s 25% redemption bonus for travel purchases.

Alternatively, you can transfer these points to Chase’s travel partners. This is how our family saved on the California and Europe flights — we transferred points to United, Virgin Atlantic, and Air France/KLM (Flying Blue).

Other partners include multiple global airlines and hotel chains, potentially unlocking even greater value depending on your preferences.

This sign-up bonus alone makes the card a compelling choice for anyone looking to maximize travel rewards. But spending earns you even more.

Earn Rate: Flexible Rewards for Everyday Spending

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers a competitive earn rate across various spending categories, making it a versatile card for both travel and everyday purchases.

Here’s how the earn rate breaks down. Spending earns cardholders:

• 3x points on dining, including restaurants, takeout, and eligible delivery services
• 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
• 3x points on select streaming services
• 2x points on all other travel purchases
• 1x point on all other purchases

This structure allows cardholders to earn points quickly, especially for high spenders and foodies.

The 3x points on dining and streaming services appeal to those who enjoy eating out or subscribing to entertainment platforms.

We don’t eat out much. Our family’s spending strategy doubles because we use two Chase Sapphire Preferred cards.

One is for every day spending in my wife’s name. The other is for recurring expenses and subscriptions, and is in my name.

Individuals can combine Chase Ultimate Rewards points between multiple Chase credit cards (e.g., personal and business).

Members of the same household can combine their Chase Ultimate Rewards points as well, but you can only combine rewards points with one person, and they must share your address.

My wife and I just combined rewards points to buy our Spring Break 2026 tickets to Europe!

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$50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit

Another valuable perk of the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the $50 annual Chase Travel℠ hotel credit. This statement credit is automatically applied to your account annually on hotel purchases made using your card through Chase Travel.

While $50 may not seem like a huge amount, it effectively reduces the card’s annual fee of $95, bringing the net cost of the card down to $45 for cardholders who take advantage of this benefit.

For frequent travelers, this credit is a nice bonus that can help offset the cost of a hotel stay.

This credit is not applied to purchases made directly with the hotel. For example, if you use your Chase Sapphire Preferred to pay for your Hyatt bill while at the desk, you won’t receive the $50 hotel credit.

Rather, if you book the Hyatt hotel through Chase Travel℠, then you should receive the $50 in a few weeks as a statement credit. 

Redeeming Points Through Chase Travel℠

Chase Ultimate Rewards® points are known for their flexibility, and the Chase Sapphire Preferred enhances their value when redeemed through the Chase Travel℠ portal.

The portal works just like a normal website for booking travel; you can only use points instead of dollars (or combine the two if you don’t have enough points).

When you use your points to book travel through the portal, they are worth 25% more, meaning 10,000 points are worth $125 instead of $100.

The portal allows you to book flights, hotels, car rentals, and more, making it a one-stop shop for travel planning.

Transferring Points: Unlocking Maximum Value

One of the most powerful features of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the ability to transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards® points to various travel partners at a 1:1 baseline ratio.

This means that for every 1,000 Chase points you transfer, you’ll receive 1,000 points or miles in the partner’s loyalty program (assuming there’s no transfer bonus).

This feature is ideal for travelers who want to maximize the value of their points by leveraging airline and hotel loyalty programs.

Chase has partnered with several leading airlines and hotel chains, giving cardholders access to a wide range of redemption options (and epic destinations to choose from).

Here’s a list of Chase’s current transfer partners:

Airline Partners

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

Hotel Partners

• IHG One Rewards
• Marriott Bonvoy
• World of Hyatt

Our family has transferred points to both airlines and hotels, supplementing points to programs where we already had a point balance.

Maximizing Value with Transfer Bonuses

It’s worth researching the best redemption options for your travel plans to get the most out of your points. For example:

• Use award search tools and specialty websites to identify high-value redemption opportunities.
• Look for promotions or bonus offers from Chase’s transfer partners, which can sometimes provide additional value (e.g., 30% bonus on transferred points).

Multiple bonus transfers have allowed us to save points when transferring to partners, lowering travel costs.

For example, we needed 120,000 points to book our roundtrip flight to London on Virgin Atlantic in Economy class.

The month we booked, there was a 40% transfer bonus (1:1.4) so we only had to transfer 86,000 points to get to 120,000 points (86,000 X 1.4)!

Incredible savings. Now we’re taking our kids to England and Scotland for the best summer vacation ever.

The transfer bonuses change frequently. Log in to your account to see the latest. These bonuses often start on the first day of the month.

Travel Insurance Benefits: Peace of Mind While Traveling

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is well-regarded for its travel insurance benefits, which provide cardholders with peace of mind when booking trips. These benefits include:

• Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance: If your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather, or other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per covered traveler and $20,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.
• Primary 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 $60,000 for theft and collision damage for most rental vehicles with an MSRP of $125,000 or less. We’ll utilize this in Scotland.
• Travel Delay Reimbursement: If your common carrier travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per covered traveler.
• Baggage Delay Insurance: Reimburses you up to $100 a day for up to 5 days for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing when baggage is delayed over 6 hours.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Review: Final Thoughts

This card is a well-rounded travel rewards card that offers significant value for its $95 annual fee.

My family has benefited tremendously, having already traveled coast-to-coast twice and two European trips in the pipeline.

The only dollar cost for us was taxes and fees, which, admittedly, can get high when traveling to Europe. However, the low total cost is still well worth it when travel rewards pay for the bulk of the tickets.

Otherwise, the cost would be too high for a family of five, and we’d be stuck vacationing on the New Jersey shore again.

The generous sign-up bonus, competitive earn rate, $50 annual hotel credit, flexible redemption options, and comprehensive travel insurance benefits make it easy to see why this card is a favorite among travelers.

If you spend heavily in travel, dining, or streaming categories and want a card that offers both rewards and protection, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is worth considering.

The combination of perks and flexibility makes it a strong contender in the travel rewards space and a family favorite.

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