Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Worth It in 2026? A $95 Breakdown

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card is easy to justify with a $95 annual fee, especially if you use the full $100 Chase Travel hotel credit each year.

The bigger question is what you get beyond that credit.

With flexible Ultimate Rewards points, strong bonus categories, and access to airline and hotel transfer partners, there’s ample value, although Chase’s 2026 changes have made the card less attractive for some Hyatt loyalists.

Quick Overview: Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Worth It?

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card has a $95 annual fee, which the $100 annual Chase Travel hotel credit can offset. Cardholders earn 5x points on travel booked through Chase Travel, 3x on dining, gas and EV charging, vacation homes, online groceries, and select streaming services, and 2x on other travel.

Points are worth 1 cent each when redeemed through Chase Travel, though eligible Points Boost offers can increase their value to up to 1.5 cents each on select hotels and flights. Points can also be transferred 1:1 to more than a dozen Chase airline and hotel partners.

The card makes the most sense for travelers who want flexible points without paying a premium-card annual fee, but it’s less compelling if you prefer simple cash-back or won’t use Chase Travel.

Chase made several changes on June 15, 2026, increasing the hotel credit from $50 to $100, adding 3x earnings for gas, EV charging, and vacation homes, and new travel protections. It also discontinued the 10% anniversary bonus for new applicants and began phasing in a 4:3 World of Hyatt transfer ratio.

Does the $100 Hotel Credit Cover the Annual Fee?

The $100 Chase Travel hotel credit is available every account anniversary year and applies automatically when you use the card for a qualifying hotel booking through Chase Travel. You don’t have to enroll, but the hotel must be booked through Chase Travel, and purchases covered by the credit don’t earn points (Source: Chase).

Use the full $100 credit, and you’ve effectively covered the card’s $95 annual fee before considering the points or other benefits.

Here’s how the fee-covering credits and perks stack up:

If you were going to book a hotel through Chase Travel anyway, the $95 annual fee is easy to offset. However, covering the fee isn’t the only reason to hold the card — the Ultimate Rewards points are. The remaining benefits provide additional value.

But you shouldn’t value the $100 credit at a full $100 if you wouldn’t otherwise book through Chase Travel. Prices and availability can vary by portal, and the credit doesn’t apply to hotels booked directly with the property or elsewhere.

What Are Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Points Worth?

New applicants for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card can earn the following welcome bonus offer:

• Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

BEST FIRST TRAVEL CARD

Terms Apply / Rates & Fees

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the ins and outs of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

A fantastic travel card with a great welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

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Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

A fantastic travel card with a great welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

Welcome Offer

Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

75,000 points

UP's Offer Valuation*:

$1,500

Annual Fee

$95

APR

19.24% - 27.49% Variable

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.

Good to Excellent

Why We Like This Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, gas, EV charging, vacation homes, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.

Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance and emergency evacuation. With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 5x points on all travel booked via the Chase Travel portal
• 3x points on dining purchases, online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs), gas, EV charging, vacation homes (such as Airbnb and Vrbo), and select streaming services
• 2x points on all other travel worldwide

Cons

• $95 annual fee
• No elite benefits like airport lounge access or hotel elite status

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Card Highlights

• Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase TravelSM, 3x on dining, 3x on vacation homes, 3x on gas & EV charging, 3x on top streaming services and online groceries (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs), 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases
• Earn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase Travel
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Emergency Evacuation and Transportation and more
• Get a year of complimentary Apple TV when activated by December 31, 2026 – a value of $156.
• Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for 12 months when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders.
• Receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card for a Global Entry, TSA Precheck^® or NEXUS application.
• Transfer points to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
• Member FDIC

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 19.24% - 27.49% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

Chase Ultimate Rewards

At our valuation of Ultimate Rewards at 2 cents per point, this bonus is worth roughly $1,500. That’s a valuation rather than a guaranteed redemption value, though, and what you actually get depends heavily on how you use the points.

The simplest option is Chase Travel, where points are normally worth 1 cent each. Eligible Points Boost offers can increase that to as much as 1.5 cents per point on some hotels and 1.75 cents on some flights (Source: Chase).

The more interesting option is transferring points to airline and hotel partners. Most partners still transfer at 1:1, which is where the Chase Sapphire Preferred card can become more valuable than a typical cash-back card. World of Hyatt is now different: New Chase Sapphire Preferred card applicants since June 15, 2026, get a 4:3 transfer ratio, while existing cardholders who opened their account before that date retain 1:1 transfers through September 30, 2026.

Who the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Is (and Isn’t) Worth It For

Worth It if You Travel Occasionally and Want Flexible Points

If you take a few trips a year and can use the $100 hotel credit, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is an easy card to justify. The combination of 3x on dining, gas, EV charging, vacation homes, online groceries, and select streaming, and 2x on other travel, gives you plenty of opportunities to earn points without constantly thinking about which card to use.

When you’re ready to redeem those points, you have the choice of Chase Travel or a wide range of airline and hotel partners.

Worth It If It’s Your First or Only Travel Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is a strong starting point for travel rewards with a manageable $95 fee. The rewards structure is easy to understand, and Ultimate Rewards points can be moved to airline and hotel programs when you’re ready to learn how award travel works.

It’s also a reasonable 1-card setup if you don’t want to juggle several cards. You won’t maximize every category, but you’ll earn a respectable return on dining, travel, and several everyday purchases while keeping your points flexible.

Not Worth It if You Won’t Use Chase Travel or Prefer Cash-Back

If you want a simple 2% cash-back card and don’t care about airline or hotel points, there’s little reason to choose the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. The same applies if you won’t use the Chase Travel hotel credit. Without that $100 credit, you have to get enough value from the rewards and other Chase Sapphire Preferred card benefits to justify the fee.

Is It Still Worth It After the 2026 Changes?

Yes, but the answer depends more than before on how you use the card.

The June 15, 2026, changes were a mixed bag. Chase doubled the annual hotel credit from $50 to $100, added 3x earnings on gas, EV charging, and vacation homes, added a $120 credit for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS, and expanded the card’s travel protections.

Chase eliminated the 10% anniversary bonus for new applicants. Existing cardholders who opened their accounts before June 15 can continue earning the bonus on eligible purchases through October 1, 2026, with qualifying bonuses awarded by January 31, 2027.

The World of Hyatt change is another serious cut. New Chase Sapphire Preferred card applicants since June 15 receive a 4:3 transfer ratio, though existing cardholders who opened their accounts before June 15 keep the 1:1 ratio through September 30, 2026. After that, their transfers also become 4:3.

For most cardholders, the additional $50 in annual hotel credit and new earning categories make the overall package stronger than it was before. Hyatt loyalists have a reason to be less enthusiastic.

If You’re Choosing Between the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is generally the better choice if you don’t travel enough to get substantial value from the Chase Sapphire Reserve card‘s premium credits, lounge access, and other higher-end benefits. It gives you access to the Ultimate Rewards ecosystem and transfer partners for $95 a year.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card costs considerably more, so the question is whether you will use enough of its benefits to make the higher $795 annual fee worthwhile.

See our full Chase Sapphire card comparison for the head-to-head.

Final Thoughts

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is still one of the easiest travel cards to justify at $95, provided you’ll use the $100 Chase Travel hotel credit.

The bigger reason to keep it is the flexibility. You can earn points across several useful categories, then decide later whether to use them through Chase Travel or transfer them to an airline or hotel program. See the value section above for more information.

The 2026 changes make the card less attractive for Hyatt loyalists and removed the 10% anniversary bonus. But for most travelers, the larger hotel credit and new earning categories keep the Chase Sapphire Preferred card firmly in the conversation as one of the better midtier travel cards.