The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the most popular cards in the travel rewards space, and it’s one of the cards we recommend that most points and miles beginners start out with. This is largely because the card has a sizable list of benefits, allows you to earn points quickly on everyday purchases, and card has an incredible welcome bonus that makes your first year of being a cardholder extremely lucrative.
But there are a number of these perks that aren’t often talked about — mostly because they’re hidden deep within the card’s list of benefits.
In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and assign a value to each of them, giving you a full look at how much the card’s benefits are potentially worth in comparison to its modest annual fee.
Note that the valuations we’ve given to each of these benefits are based on moderate usage — your own spending and redemption patterns will determine the actual value to you personally.
Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
You can use the Chase Sapphire Preferred card’s welcome bonus for thousands of dollars in free travel. Image Credit: Omar Prestwich via Unsplash1. Welcome Bonus [$1,200]
New Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders are eligible for a welcome bonus that is earned within the first few months of opening the card. In short, this welcome bonus is a lump sum of points that you’ll earn after meeting a certain spend threshold. Here’s a look at the card’s current welcome bonus:
While 60,000 points are worth $750 when redeemed through Chase’s Travel Portal, we find that Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth 2 cents per point, making 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points worth $1,200.
2. Earn 3x Points for Online Grocery Purchases [$300]
Earning 3x points for items you’ll purchase anyway is an excellent way to leverage online grocery spending into big rewards. Just averaging $800 each month, you could end up with 28,800 Ultimate Rewards points each year.
It’s important to note that Chase considers the following purchase types as qualifying for this category:
“The online grocery (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs) category includes purchases for grocery pickup and delivery that are placed online with grocery stores, specialty food stores or delivery service merchants that classify as grocery store merchants (excluding membership and subscription fees). Meal kit delivery services are included.”
3. Earn 3x Points on Streaming Services [$25]
Have a lot of streaming subscriptions? The dollars can certainly add up every month, so why not be earning rewards on those expenses?
If you are a subscriber to Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Netflix, Sling, Vudu, Fubo TV, Apple Music, SiriusXM, Pandora, Spotify, or YouTube TV, this benefit could help you really earn lots of points for things you’re already purchasing.
Even at $100 per month, you’ll earn 3,600 Ultimate Rewards points each year. We’ll be conservative, however, and estimate a value of $25.
4. Earn 3x Points on Dining [$150]
If you spend a lot on eating out, carryout, or food delivery, you’ll love earning 3x points for every dollar spent.
If you spent $4,000 on dining each year, you would earn 12,000 Ultimate Rewards, worth $150.
5. Earn 5x Points on Travel via Ultimate Rewards Portal [$125]
In addition to booking travel with Ultimate Rewards points, you can utilize the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal to book travel, charge it to your Chase Sapphire Preferred card, and earn 5x points for every dollar spent.
If you purchase just a few flights, hotels, and experiences each year — let’s estimate just $2,000 worth — you’d earn 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points.
Hot Tip: You can even earn 5x on select theme park tickets available to purchase through the portal — search by destination under Things to Do to purchase tickets to Universal Studios, SeaWorld, LEGOLAND, and more!
6. Earn 2x Points on All Other Travel [$125]
We like that one of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card’s earning benefits is that it earns 2 points per dollar spent on all other travel. The travel category is broad, too, so you’ll earn 2x points on purchases with Uber, Airbnb, on train tickets, and virtually anything else that fits into the travel categories.
Depending on how much you spend in the general travel category, you could earn thousands of Ultimate Rewards points. For example, if you spend $5,000 on travel annually, you’ll earn 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points for your purchases, worth $125 towards travel.
7. 10% Anniversary Earning Bonus [$30]
When it’s time to renew your card at its annual anniversary, you’re going to receive a rewards surprise. Cardmembers will earn a 10% anniversary point bonus based on total purchases made the previous year.
For example, if you spend $25,000 in your cardmember year, you’ll earn 2,500 bonus points.
8. Earn 5x Points on Lyft [Value Varies]
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card earns 5x points per dollar spent on Lyft purchases (until March 2025). Be sure to set the card as your default payment method in the Lyft app to earn rewards.
The value you receive from earning 5x points on Lyft will obviously vary depending on if you use Lyft frequently or at all.
Bottom Line: The Ultimate Rewards points will add up quickly when you use your card for online grocery shopping, dining, streaming services, and travel. Then, after you renew your card, you’ll receive a 10% point bonus based on your previous year’s spending.
Flexible Redemption Options
Book ANA business class by transferring your Ultimate Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic. Image Credit: All Nippon Airways9. Transfer Points to Travel Partners [$300]
You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card to any of Chase’s airline and hotel transfer partners. This includes partners that span all of the 3 major airline alliances, most major hotel chains, and even some interesting non-alliance airlines like Southwest, Emirates, and Virgin Atlantic.
Chase Airline Transfer Partners
| Chase Airline Transfer Partner | Min Transfer | Transfer Ratio
(Chase > Airline) | Transfer Time |
|---|
| Aer Lingus AerClub | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
| 1,000 | 1:1 | 1 hour |
| British Airways Executive Club | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
| Emirates Skywards | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost instant |
| Iberia Plus | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
| JetBlue | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
| 1,000 | 1:1 | 1-2 days |
| Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
| United Airlines MileagePlus | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1,000 | 1:1 | Almost Instant |
Chase Hotel Transfer Partners
Having the ability to transfer your points to airlines makes your Ultimate Rewards points extremely valuable. This is because you can take advantage of all of these respective partners’ award chart sweet spots.
For example, you can transfer 86,000 Ultimate Rewards points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and fly the famous Singapore Suites first class one-way from New York (JFK) to Frankfurt (FRA). These tickets typically cost thousands of dollars, so you’re getting an excellent value by transferring your miles.
Alternatively, you can transfer 95,000 Ultimate Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and book a round-trip business class ticket to Tokyo on partner ANA from the Midwest and East Coast U.S. With this award, you’ll find excellent service in the sky and pay few taxes and fees. To us, this is by far the best way to get to Japan on Ultimate Rewards points, so don’t miss out!
We value the ability to transfer points to partners at $300, but you’ll get more value if you transfer your points frequently to book high-end award tickets. Check out the best Ultimate Rewards redemptions for inspiration on using your Chase points.
10. Redeem Points Through the Chase Travel Portal at 1.25 Cents per Point [$100]
Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders can redeem their points through the Chase travel portal at a rate of 1.25 cents per point. This is 0.25 cents per point higher than the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and Chase Freedom Unlimited®, so you’ll be able to redeem fewer points for more travel with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
For example, if you book a $100 one-way flight from Chicago to New York, you’d pay just 8,000 Ultimate Rewards points. This is 1,000 miles cheaper than redeeming British Airways Avios on the same route on American Airlines, so make sure to always compare the Chase travel portal with transfer partners before booking a ticket.
We value this benefit conservatively at $100, as we generally recommend redeeming through transfer partners. However, it can sometimes make sense to use the Chase travel portal with this elevated redemption rate, so the value will be higher the more often you use it.
Hot Tip: All tickets booked through the Chase travel portal are eligible to earn airline miles as they’re considered paid tickets by the airline. So with that in mind, make sure to add your frequent flyer number to all tickets you book on the Chase travel portal.
11. 25% More Value in Statement Credit Redemptions [$100]
Cardholders can use Pay Yourself Back to redeem their Chase Ultimate Reward points at 1.25 cents per piece as a statement credit to offset purchases at Airbnb (through September 30, 2022) and charitable donations (through December 31, 2022).
12. Combine Points With Freedom Cards [$100]
If you have a Freedom Flex card or Freedom Unlimited card, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points earned on those cards to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for potentially greater value.
This benefit is great because once transferred you can then transfer to travel partners or take advantage of a higher redemption rate (1.25 cents per point) through the Chase travel portal. For this reason, a Freedom card paired with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card makes a great combo.
We value this benefit at $100, but it’s only applicable if you hold a Freedom Flex card or Freedom Unlimited card. You can disregard this valuation if you do not hold one of these cards.
Bottom Line: Redeeming Ultimate Rewards points by transferring to travel partners could bring the most value for your points. You’ll also receive 1.25 cents per point when using your Chase Sapphire Preferred card to redeem for travel via the Chase travel portal. Transferring Ultimate Rewards points earned on Chase Freedom cards to your Chase Sapphire Preferred card can result in much greater value for your points at redemption time. Learn more about how the Chase Sapphire Preferred card compares to the Freedom Flex card and the Freedom Unlimited card.
Travel Benefits and Protections
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card comes with several valuable travel benefits and protections. Image Credit: Eviart via ShutterstockThe Chase Sapphire Preferred card is loaded with travel benefits and protections that can save you money or provide emergency services during your trip.
13. $50 Hotel Credit [$50]
Purchase a hotel stay via the Ultimate Rewards travel portal and receive an annual $50 statement credit.
Note that we’re seeing that current cardholders aren’t able to access this benefit until after their next account anniversary:
Image Credit: Chase14. Primary Rental Car Insurance [$200]
Another super valuable Chase Sapphire Preferred card benefit is its included primary rental car insurance. Charge the entire rental to your Chase Sapphire Preferred card and receive primary collision insurance, meaning that you don’t need to file a claim with your personal auto insurance if you incur damages to the car.
However, note that this insurance only covers damages to your rental car and does not include liability insurance.
We value this benefit at $200 per year, but it can easily be worth more if you frequently rent cars. Purchasing the damage waiver can add up on long-term rentals, so having it included with your all rentals through the Chase Sapphire Preferred card can save lots of money.
15. Complimentary Travel Delay Insurance [$200]
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card includes complimentary travel delay insurance. So long as you book your airfare with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you’re eligible for expense reimbursement of up to $500 per ticket if your flight is delayed 12 hours or requires an overnight stay. You can be reimbursed for expenses like meals and lodging during your delay.
We value this benefit at $200, too, but if you have the chance to use it, it can easily be worth thousands of dollars depending on how often you fly (and are delayed). Now when you travel, you don’t have to worry about spending hundreds of dollars on a last-minute hotel when your flight is delayed.
Hot Tip: Traveling on an award ticket? Charge the taxes and fees to your Chase Sapphire Preferred card and you’ll be covered when your flight is delayed 12+ hours.
16. Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance [$100]
Further, the card also covers you if you need to cancel a trip due to illness, severe weather, or a number of other eligible circumstances. With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card’s trip cancellation and interruption insurance, you’re eligible for reimbursement of up to $10,000 in non-refundable travel expenses if you need to cancel before the end of your itinerary due to these circumstances.
For example, if you spend $1,500 on a prepaid airline ticket and the airline goes out of business before you travel, Chase will reimburse you for the cost of the ticket. Likewise, if you or an immediate family member gets sick the day before departure, you’re eligible for reimbursement for all non-refundable expenses.
This benefit can offer great peace of mind when booking traveling, especially when you consider how many airlines have gone defunct in recent years. We value this benefit at $100 as you’re unlikely to have to use it, but it can be worth a lot more if you do.
17. Baggage Delay Insurance [$100]
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card also covers your checked baggage if it’s delayed more than 6 hours. You’ll receive $100 in reimbursements for essential items per day for up to 5 days. Like trip delay insurance, though, your plane ticket must be paid for with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card to take advantage of the benefit.
Additionally, make sure to get proof of baggage delay from your airline and keep all receipts for the things you’ve purchased during your baggage delay. Then, file a claim by calling the number on the back of your card within 20 days of the incident.
Chase says that things like clothing, toiletries, and a cell phone charging cable are eligible for reimbursement, but that’s not an exhaustive list. Call the number on the back of your card if you’re curious about a charge being eligible for reimbursement. Do note that contact lenses, eyeglasses, hearing aids, and money are explicitly not eligible for reimbursement, so make sure to keep these in your hand baggage.
We value this benefit modestly at $100. But again, if you can use it more than once, it will quickly become much more valuable. Note that even using this benefit once will more than cover the card’s $95 annual fee.
Hot Tip: Cardmembers can enroll in complimentary Spot Club Platinum status at The Parking Spot for 2 years and will receive 20% off of their first reservation and points for 1 free day of parking.
18. Roadside Dispatch and Travel and Emergency Assistance [$25]
Chase will help you find a doctor, lawyer, emergency transportation, or even someone to help you change a flat tire when traveling around the world, driving to work, or wherever else you may need help.
Just note that while Chase will help you find help in these situations, you’re liable for all charges incurred. So with that in mind, we value this simple benefit at $25. Check out our full guide to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card’s travel benefits for a more exhaustive list of ways Chase can help.
19. Travel Accident Insurance [$50]
The final travel insurance benefit included with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card is travel accident insurance. This protects you and your immediate family members in the case of accidental death or loss of speech, sight, or hearing during your travels. The benefit amount is $500,000 when the incident happens on a common carrier (think airline, cruise ship, etc.) and $100,000 at all other times during your trip. However, the latter is only paid out if you’re traveling on a round-trip ticket charged to your Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
There are some specifics on how this insurance can be used, so make sure to check out our guide to Chase’s travel benefits for more info. We value this benefit at $50 as you’re unlikely to ever have to use it, but it can provide peace of mind when on long trips and adventure travel where you’re more likely to be injured.
Shopping Benefits and Protections
20. Free Subscription to DoorDash DashPass [$120]
All Chase Sapphire Preferred cards include a free subscription to DoorDash DashPass.
DashPass members receive free food delivery and discounted service fees on select food delivery orders on the DoorDash app (so long as the order is $12 or more). Since DoorDash is available in all large American cities, you can use this service to order food delivery at home or to your hotel. Activate by December 31, 2024.
DashPass costs $10 per month, so this benefit is worth a nice $120 in benefit per year.
Make sure to enroll in this benefit on DoorDash’s website and start enjoying free food delivery!
21. Free Subscription and Statement Credit to Instacart+ [$110]
Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders get a free 6-month membership to Instacart+, which offers free delivery on orders over $35, a 5% credit back on eligible pickup orders, and lowers the service fee from 5% to just 1.9% on all orders. Activate by July 31, 2024.
Plus, you’ll receive a $15 statement credit each quarter to offset some of the purchases you make with Instacart.
Usually, Instacart charges $99 per year for its Instacart+ service, so with 6 months free, and a $15 quarter credit, we value these benefits at $110.
22. No Foreign Transaction Fees [$100]
Purchases made with a Chase Sapphire Preferred card are not subject to foreign transaction fees. Many credit cards charge a 1% to 3% fee on purchases made in a foreign currency, meaning that a $100 purchase could end up costing you $103 if you’re charged in euros, British pounds, or another currency. Thankfully, that’s not the case with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
We value this benefit at $100 as many travelers already have a foreign transaction fee-free credit card. However, if you don’t, this benefit alone can save you hundreds of dollars a year depending on how often you travel.
23. Purchase Protection on Eligible Purchases [$100]
Eligible purchases you make with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card are protected from damage and loss for 120 days from purchase. If an item you charge to the card is stolen or damaged within this window, you can file a claim for reimbursement with your credit card. You can claim up to $500 in reimbursement per claim, and claim up to $50,000 per year. This can be useful when purchasing a new smartphone, headphones, or another small device that’s easily damaged. You can submit a claim up to 90 days from when you lose or damage a purchase.
A variety of purchases are covered by Chase’s purchase protection, but there are some exclusions. Some of these included preowned items, antiques, collectibles, software, motorized vehicles, and things purchased for commercial use or resale. Further, things that “mysteriously disappear with no evidence of a wrongful act” aren’t covered either.
We value this benefit at $100, but again, it can easily be worth more depending on how often you use it. This is especially true if you travel with expensive technology that has a high risk of being broken or stolen.
24. Extended Warranty on All Purchases [$100]
Even cooler, every eligible item you purchase with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card will automatically have its warranty extended by 1 year from when the included warranty expires. You can claim up to $10,000 per warranty claim, and have up to $50,000 in claims per account. Eligible purchases exclude motorized vehicles, software, preowned items, and items purchased for resale — are eligible for extended warranty so long as it has a standard warranty of 3 years or less.
We value this perk at $100 as you’re not likely to use this benefit often. However, those that can take advantage of the benefit can receive massive value. Just remember that your card must be open and in good standing in order to file an extended warranty claim.
Final Thoughts
Obviously, it’s not likely you will realize the entire value of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card — this article is simply an illustration of the possibilities.
But, bottom line, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is a solid card, especially for points and miles beginners and those new to travel.
When you look at the earning potential, flexible redemption options, and travel and shopping benefits, you could gain a lot of value from the card and all for a low annual fee.
The total value you receive from being a cardholder, however, will depend on your mix of spending, how much you spend, and how many of the benefits you’ll actually use.
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