What Purchases Count as Travel on the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Ink Business Preferred Cards?

BY 

Katie Seemann

- UPDATED: October 28, 2020

1. Credit Cards  / 
2. Strategies & Guides

Full Disclosure: We may receive financial compensation when you click on links and are approved for credit card products from our advertising partners. Opinions and product recommendations on this site are ours alone, and have not been influenced, reviewed or approved by the issuer. Please see our Advertiser Disclosure for more details!

So, you just received your shiny new credit card, and you can’t wait to use it to start earning points. You see that your card offers bonus points for “travel” purchases. That’s great, but how do you know exactly what counts as “travel?”

Does this scenario sound familiar? Most readers have likely questioned whether or not a purchase will count towards a specific category at some point. Even the most seasoned points and miles enthusiasts can question a purchase every now and then.

The bad news is that each type of credit card can be a little different — what counts as travel on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card may not count as travel on the Citi Prestige® Card. The good news is that we’ve already sorted all of it out, so you can easily determine if a purchase will earn bonus points or not.

In this post, we’re focusing on what counts as a travel purchase on 2 of the most popular cards available: the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card.

These 2 cards are favorites among points enthusiasts, partly because of their ability to earn lots of Chase Ultimate Rewards points through their generous bonus categories.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of what purchases count as travel on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, let’s take a quick peek at some of the benefits offered this popular card.

Credit Card

Benefits & Info

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Apply Now (at Chase's secure site)

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. Earn 2x points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide, eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out Earn 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases. Get unlimited DoorDash deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on orders over $12 for a minimum of one year on qualifying food purchases with DashPass, DoorDash's subscription service. Activate by 12/31/21. Good to Excellent Credit Recommended (670-850) Annual Fee: $95 Must Reads: For more info on the Chase Sapphire Preferred, see our thoughts on its benefits, travel insurance coverage, and credit score requirements. Take a look here for our full review.

Chase Ink Business Preferred Card

The next card we’re discussing in this post is the Ink Business Preferred card, one of the best all-around business credit cards out there. Here are the highlights:

CHASE CARD

BENEFITS & INFO

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card Apply Now (at Chase's secure site)

Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases—with no limit to the amount you can earn 25% more value when redeeming points through Ultimate Rewards® travel Annual Fee: $95 Must Reads: For more info on the Ink Business Preferred, see our guides on its benefits, 7 things to do as a new cardholder, and our full review. This is our favorite of Chase's business credit cards.

What Counts as Travel on Chase Credit Cards

According to Chase, the following purchases DO count as a travel:

• Airlines
• Hotels
• Motels
• Timeshares
• Car rental agencies
• Cruise lines
• Travel agencies
• Discount travel sites
• Campgrounds
• Passenger trains
• Buses
• Taxis
• Limousines
• Ferries
• Toll bridges and highways
• Parking lots and garages

Here are some additional charges that count as travel, based on experience and crowdsourced data:

• Southwest Airlines EarlyBird Check-In fees
• Uber and Lyft rides (excluding Uber Eats)
• Online travel agencies like Priceline, Expedia, Orbitz, etc.
• Payments to travel vendors (like a hotel) paid through PayPal via a credit card
• Any items purchased on a cruise ship that are charged to your room (including big-ticket items like artwork purchased during the onboard auctions)

What Doesn’t Count as Travel

According to Chase, the following types of purchases do NOT count as travel:

• Real estate agents
• Educational merchants arranging travel
• Inflight goods and services
• Onboard cruise line goods and services
• Sightseeing activities
• Excursions
• Tourist attractions
• Boat rentals
• Merchants within hotels and airports
• Merchants that rent vehicles for the purpose of hauling
• Gift cards (unless the merchant is set up to count as travel)
• Points and miles (unless the merchant is set up to count as travel)

You’ll notice that gas stations, while essential for travel, don’t code as travel. Another tricky one is Uber Eats. It used to count as a travel purchase, but now it counts as dining.

How Rewards Categories are Determined

Every card network (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, etc.) assigns codes to each merchant within the network. Merchant codes are assigned according to the merchant’s primary category of goods and services. Chase then groups several merchant codes together to make a rewards category like dining or travel. This is what determines what will or won’t count in a specific rewards category.

How to Determine If Your Purchase Will Count as Travel

There are a few ways to determine if your upcoming purchase will code as travel.

1. The most surefire way to determine a purchase’s category isn’t always easy when it comes to the travel category. If you can, run a small charge through your card to see how it codes before you make a large purchase. Or you can scroll back through your past purchases to get a good idea of how common merchants code. You’ll be able to see each purchase’s rewards category in your online statement.

   

2. The second way to double-check a merchant code is by using this tool offered by Visa. You can look up a specific business, but you need to have an address. While this tool is a bit finicky, it can be helpful if you are really unsure of a specific purchase’s category.

Hot Tip: Curious about other rewards categories? Check out the Rewards Category FAQ offered by Chase. Although this doesn’t list specific vendors, you should be able to get a good idea of how your purchase will code.

How to Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

You’ll be earning a lot of Chase Ultimate Rewards points with your Chase Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred card since the travel category is so broad.

Now that you’ve got all those points, you need to know how to use them. There are 2 main ways to turn your points into flights and hotel stays.

1. Redeem your points in the Chase Travel Portal for flights, hotels, and more. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Ink Business Preferred card, you’ll get 1.25 cents per point in value when you use them in the Chase Travel Portal.
2. To get even more value out of your points you can transfer them to one of Chase’s hotel and airline partners. Your Chase Ultimate Rewards points will transfer at a 1:1 ratio to lots of different airline and hotel partners. You can then use those points to book great flights and hotel rooms.

Bottom Line: For more information about getting the most out of your points, check out these great ways to redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for max value.

Final Thoughts

Having a broad rewards category on your credit card is a great way to earn lots of points. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Ink Business Preferred both count a wide range of businesses in the travel category. Everything from flights and hotels to rental cars and parking will earn bonus points on these 2 cards.

With so many different types of purchases that will count as travel, you’ll be racking up big-time points in no time at all!