Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card review: The best travel rewards card for less than $100

The Sapphire Preferred is hard to beat if you’re looking for a cost-effective travel card. Its travel perks, annual credits and bonus points are impressive for a card in its class and can easily justify the annual fee. Perhaps even more appealing is the diverse selection of bonus categories and redemption options, plus the remarkably high redemption values that can fuel your next trip.

Welcome offer: Solid additional value

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred current welcome offer, new cardholders can earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. According to Bankrate's valuations, those points can be worth around $1,200 at a value of about 2.0 cents per point. While a downgrade from its previous welcome offer which offered up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel purchases in the first year in addition to 60,000 bonus points, this offer still adds exceptional first-year value to this card.

Rewards: Outstanding travel value

The Sapphire Preferred card’s rewards program is a powerhouse, offering impressive rewards rates in more travel-related categories than many competing cards. It offers rewards in plenty of popular everyday categories that may be difficult to find on typical travel cards, including dining, select streaming services and online grocery purchases (excluding wholesale clubs and superstores like Target and Walmart). 

However, this card’s biggest strength is the value of Chase Ultimate Rewards points on certain redemption options. Your points are worth 25 percent more (1.25 cents per point) when booking travel through Chase Travel. You can also pool points from other Ultimate Rewards and cash back cards, giving the same boost to all your Chase cards. Chase also features an impressive list of 1:1 airline and hotel transfer partners, raising the value to about 2.0 cents  per point, according to our most recent valuation. However, the right redemption can provide even further value.

Even this card’s non-travel redemptions can provide value and versatility. You can redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 1 cent apiece for cash back, statement credits, gift cards, merchandise (including Apple product purchases), Chase Experience events and Chase Dining purchases. You can also use your points at the checkout screen on Amazon.com and PayPal for a lower value (0.8 cents apiece). There’s no cap on the number of points you can receive, so the Sapphire Preferred has solid potential as your primary credit card.

Perks: High-caliber benefits for its card tier

In addition to its stand-out rewards, the Sapphire Preferred’s benefits include valuable perks that provide excellent value for its annual fee. For example, the stellar travel insurance you’ll receive with the Sapphire Preferred includes trip cancellation and interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement and baggage delay insurance that match those usually found among premium travel cards with higher annual fees.

Two of the most valuable perks of the Sapphire Preferred are its recurring bonuses. You’ll get up to $50 back each year in statement credits for hotel stays you purchase through Chase Travel. You’ll also get an eye-catching 10 percent points bonus on your total combined spending from the previous year, automatically added to your rewards balance each account anniversary. These two yearly benefits can nearly offset the annual fee before factoring in your rewards spending.

Chase also stacks on additional, limited-time partner perks so that your first few years with the card are especially lucrative. Although these partner perks won’t last forever, you can also rack up statement credits and bonus points from the Sapphire Preferred’s Lyft and DoorDash benefits that could be worth close to $200 or more.

The Sapphire Preferred is an excellent rewards card whether you are an experienced travel rewards strategist or new to cards. However, you may need convincing if you’re wary of annual fees.

Rates and fees: Annual fee may discourage newcomers

The Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee, which may appear intimidating if you only travel occasionally and you’re looking for your first travel card. However, this price tag is low compared to the perks and rewards the card offers. The annual account anniversary bonus points and credits can potentially offset the annual fee alone, but the fee also isn’t too difficult to offset through your standard rewards spending.

The rewards and perk value can be difficult to find among no-annual-fee travel cards, so the Sapphire Preferred card's annual fee can be well worth it. No-annual-fee competitors also typically have lower rewards rates than the Preferred card and no yearly credits or notable travel perks.

The other rates and fees are typical for travel cards — there are no foreign transaction fees to worry about while you’re abroad and the ongoing APR is only slightly higher than the average current credit card interest rate.

Bankrate credit cards editor Nouri Zarrugh loves the flexibility that comes with the Sapphire Preferred:

"This was my first mid-tier travel card and it was a great starting point thanks to its practical bonus categories and flexible redemption. I especially love that — though I can get more value by redeeming points for travel — I have the option to get at least 1 cent per point for cash back."

—  Nouri Zarrugh, Senior Editor, Credit Cards

Other Chase credit cards are your best pairing option because of their complementary reward categories and the ability to pool your earned rewards onto one card. Although the Sapphire Preferred is not part of the traditional Chase trifecta, this card’s fantastic reward opportunities and redemption values make pairing the Chase Sapphire Preferred with the Chase Freedom Unlimited® and/or Chase Freedom Flex® one of the best combinations available. 

Just keep Chase’s 5/24 rule in mind as you search for cards to pair with the Sapphire Preferred: You may not be eligible to open a Chase credit card if you’ve already opened five or more credit cards (no matter the issuer) in the past 24 months.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a flexible and valuable rewards card that can suit several cardholders. Here’s who’s most likely to squeeze the most value from the card.