Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card Review

Who Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Good For?

With its earning potential, perks and redemption possibilities, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card along with super-premium Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card is the preeminent travel card on the market.

Chase Sapphire Preferred’s earning potential—double points on food and travel—is something that other cards can match. But when paired with Chase’s Ultimate Rewards program, which offers instantaneous point transfers to a host of airlines, hotels and other transportation partners, and a 20 percent discount on travel booked directly through the Chase portal, this card is hard to beat.

Sign-up Bonus:

The typical sign-up bonus associated with this card is 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in three months, and an additional 5,000 points for adding an authorized user who makes a purchase within the first three months.

Points Earned:

• 2 points per dollar on travel, including flights, hotels, cruises, rental cars, trains, taxis and tolls
• 2 points per dollar on dining
• 1 point per dollar on everything else

What Do Your Chase Ultimate Reward Points Get You?

Though Chase has dramatically fewer airline transfer partners than its main competitors—American Express Membership Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest and even the growing Citi ThankYou Rewards and Diners Club Rewards—the partners it does have cover everything you might need.

Chase Ultimate Rewards gives you access to the main three alliances—SkyTeam through Korean Air, Star Alliance through United and oneworld through British Airways—as well as regional domestic locations through Southwest, the Virgin network through Virgin Atlantic, and Singapore Airlines famous suites, which can only be booked directly through Singapore.

One of the particular perks of Chase Ultimate Rewards is that it is now the only credit card program that transfers 1:1 to United, which allows you to book awards not only domestically but on luxurious Star Alliance partners. Additionally, when you redeem points for travel through Korean Air, you gain access to SkyTeam first class award space, which isn’t possible using Delta miles.

If you want to use points on other airlines, you still have the option to use your Chase points like cash on any flight on any airline through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal for a 20 percent discount on the cash fare. If you don’t have enough points in your account, you can even pay with some points and some cash and still get the 20 percent discount.

Usage Perks:

• No foreign transaction fees
• Chip and signature technology
• 20 percent discount when redeeming points directly for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Points transfer to partners instantaneously
• Option to pay with a combination of points and cash through Chase Ultimate Rewards

Usage Quirks:

• No bonus points available for transfers to airlines (like the Starwood Preferred Guest with its perennial 25 percent bonus or American Express Membership Rewards’ monthly featured partner.)
• Fewer transfer partners than most reward credit cards

How Far Do Your Points Dollars Go?

Using your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for cash flights, the return is simple: You are getting a 1.20 cent-per-dollar value, or 2.4 cents per dollar charged to the card if you use it only for the travel and dining double points categories.

When you transfer points to partners, the value depends on the partner and the usage of the miles, but you can get a return of anywhere from 1.4 cents per mile for a domestic flight on United or Southwest, which would typically run in the $300 to $400 range, to 4 to 5 cents per mile when you redeem for upper class, long-haul flights.

Additional Cardholder Benefits:

• Priority Club lounge access
• Access to special travel opportunities and events by bidding with points
• Travel emergency assistance line
• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
• Primary auto rental collision damage waiver insurance
• Travel accident insurance
• Lost luggage reimbursement
• Baggage delay insurance
• Trip delay reimbursement
• Purchase protection
• Extended warranty protection
• Price protection
• Return protection