Why the Chase Sapphire Preferred Should be Your First Travel Rewards Credit Card
Jumping into the credit card travel reward game can be overwhelming. Let us tell you why we think the Chase Sapphire Preferred is an ideal starter card for anyone getting started on this journey.
Jessica Savic
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card
As you start your journey with credit card applications, you will begin to understand the nuances of the various bank rules and applications. Chase has an unwritten rule, called the 5/24 rule, that you will only be approved for their credit cards if you have opened 5 or fewer new credit cards (from any issuer) in any 24-month period. Because of the restrictions of this rule, we recommend starting with Chase cards in general and specifically with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
Annual Fee
While there are many zero-dollar annual fee cards available, the Chase Sapphire Preferred does come with a $95 annual fee. This fee is offset however by a $50 annual travel credit that can be used through the Chase portal for hotel stays, effectively making the annual fee $45/year.
Sign-up Bonus
The standard sign-up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card is 60,000 bonus points after spending $4000 in the first 3 months from account opening. One of the main reasons we love Chase is that these points are a transferrable currency to multiple hotels and airlines, expanding your options for redeeming the points you’ve earned.
Awesome Benefits of the Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred has some great benefits, especially considering the relatively low annual fee charged for this card. We’ve highlighted the main benefits of this card and why we keep this card in our wallet year after year.
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit
- 5x points earned on Hotels and Car Rentals booked through Chase Travel portal
- 3x points earned on all Dining
- 3x points earned on Online Grocery orders
- $10/month Door Dash credit
- 10% Anniversary points boost each year
- No foreign transaction fees
- Travel protection when paying for travel with this card, including baggage-delay insurance, trip-delay insurance, and interruption insurance
- Primary rental car insurance when paying with this card
- Extended Warranty benefits – extends a manufacturer’s U.S. warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less
- Purchase Protection – covers an eligible new purchase for 120 days from the date of purchase against damage or theft up to $500 per item
Transfer Partners
You’ve earned your Chase Ultimate Reward points, now what? You are ready to book your adventures! In order to redeem your Chase Ultimate Reward points to transfer partners such as hotels or airlines, you must have one of the following cards: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve, or the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card. The Chase Sapphire Reserve has a hefty $550 annual fee and not everybody is ready to apply for a business card immediately, again one of the reasons we recommend starting with the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Chase has a wide selection of hotel and airline partners available to transfer your points to. Chase also frequently offers transfer bonuses to their hotel and airline partners, enabling you to make your points go even further!
Airline Transfer Partners
- Aer Lingus
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- British Airways
- Emirates
- Flying Blue – Air France & KLM
- Iberia
- JetBlue
- Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer
- Southwest Airlines
- United Airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
Hotel Transfer Partners
- IHG Hotels & Resorts
- Marriott Bonvoy
- World of Hyatt
Bonus Opportunities
You are eligible for the sign-up bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card 48 months after you earned a previous bonus. This means once you hit 48 months after your current bonus, you can downgrade the card (for example to one of the Chase Freedom cards), then reapply and earn another sign-up bonus.
Are you ready to apply? Click here for Chase Sapphire Preferred Application
