Why I Pay the Annual Fee on the Chase Sapphire Preferred Without Putting Much Spend on It

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card was recently revamped to include additional benefits, an exciting change considering the $95 didn’t go up. A couple of benefits were taken away or downgraded, but the card’s changes are largely positive.

You might think you need to spend a lot on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to make it worth your while, but that isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, I don’t use the card for most of my everyday spending — if at all.

Instead, I use it for very specific purchases to maximize my point earnings and focus on taking advantage of the new (and improved) benefits the card offers. Here’s my exact strategy.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Overview

I consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to be one of the most valuable cards in my wallet, but not necessarily because of its earning potential. I don’t put a lot of everyday spending on the card, especially for things like in-store groceries, my son’s school fees and supplies, clothing, and drugstore purchases. I don’t get bonus points for spending at places like Old Navy, Walgreens, Target, or Safeway.

In fact, I don’t use the card at all in any category where it doesn’t offer bonus points unless I’m actively trying to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points for a specific redemption or transfer. The only major exception was when I was trying to earn the welcome offer, which is currently:

• Earn 75,000 100,000 points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.

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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 75,000 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

75,000 100,000 points

UP's Offer Valuation*:

$2,000

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 100,000 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 Travel℠, 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, Lost Luggage Insurance 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 a min. of one year 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

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During that time, I used the card for nearly everything to hit the spending minimum and get the bonus offer as soon as possible, even though I wasn’t really maximizing my spend in nonbonus categories.

How I Actually Use My Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred definitely isn’t my go-to spending card, though I use it for specific categories where it offers bonus points. My favorite perks of the card, though, are some of the newly added benefits, which make it useful even if it’s not my everyday spend card that far outweighs the $95 annual fee.

1. Streaming, Gas, and Dining for Bonus Points

There are certain things I use my card for, and those are based on bonus spending categories.

The card recently added 3x points on gas, EV charging, and vacation rentals (such as Airbnb and Vrbo), joining the 3x points on dining, streaming, and online groceries. The card also offers 5x points on Chase Travel purchases, 2x points on all other travel worldwide, and 1x points on all other purchases. You also get 5x points on Lyft rides through September 30, 2027, and on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.

I live in a large city in Europe and don’t drive, so the most useful categories for me are the 3x on dining, streaming, and online vacation rentals. Considering we value Ultimate Rewards points at 2 cents each, 3x earnings offer a 6% return on spending.

2. Statement Credits and Perks To Offset the Annual Fee

It’s true that there are other cards out there — namely, more premium ones such as the Platinum Card^® from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® — that offer seemingly endless benefits. However, those cards also come with high $895 (rates & fees) and $795 annual fees.

For a card with a minimal annual fee (just $95), the Chase Sapphire Preferred card now offers useful benefits that make it extremely easy to outweigh the annual fee each year.

The annual hotel credit on Chase Travel, which was previously worth up to $50, is now worth $100, and cardholders also get a credit up to $120 toward Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS every 4 years. The card also offers a complimentary 1-year Apple TV subscription when you activate it by December 31, 2026.

I’m able to outweigh the annual fee just by using the $100 hotel credit alone. And since I already have Global Entry, I’ll use the Chase Sapphire Preferred card’s Global Entry fee credit and give the service to a family member — that’s one less Christmas gift I’ll have to brainstorm ideas for.

The Apple TV subscription is also welcome. Although I already have Netflix and Disney+ (and, of course, I charge these streaming subscriptions to my Chase Sapphire Preferred card to earn 3x points), I’m looking forward to finally watching “Ted Lasso” and “Pluribus.”

3. Best Travel Insurance on a Nonpremium Card

I’ll be honest: The 2x travel category is just an average bonus category, especially since I can earn 3x points on travel with my American Express Green Card^®. But the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers some of the best travel protections available, especially for a beginner or midtier card that doesn’t come with a high annual fee.

If you charge even a portion of your trip to to your Chase Sapphire Preferred card (even just the taxes and fees for an award flight), you can get up to up to $10,000 if a covered loss prevents you (or other covered persons) from traveling thanks to trip cancellation and interruption insurance and up to $500 per ticket for covered expenses that are not paid for by the common carrier for overnight or delays of 12 hours or more, thanks to trip delay reimbursement. The card also comes with travel accident insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, and primary car insurance coverage.

And the card recently added its newest travel protection: emergency evacuation and transportation coverage, which covers necessary emergency evacuation and transportation expenses up to $100,000 if a covered traveler becomes seriously sick or injured on a covered trip, and up to $15,000 for the eligible repatriation of remains if a covered traveler dies during the covered trip.

I don’t usually think about being evacuated or crashing the rental car on vacation, but having these travel protections, especially from a credit card with a low $95 annual fee, can truly be a lifesaver if things go wrong, especially if you haven’t contracted external insurance.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Isn’t My Only Travel Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card will forever hold a place in my wallet, mainly for its benefits and specific spending categories that can help me boost my Chase Ultimate Rewards points balance. That said, I’ll still be using my other favorite cards, too.

These 4 travel cards tend to do the heavy lifting in my wallet: The Chase Sapphire Preferred, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card, and the Amex Green card. This way, I’m earning points across all 4 major flexible rewards currencies.

My everyday spending goes on the Capital One Venture X card at 2x miles on everything, and the Citi Strate Elite card gives me complimentary Priority Pass lounge access plus 4 Admirals Club passes annually. I like the Amex Green card for its 3x on travel and dining, and if I did live in the United States, I’d probably add the Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express to the mix for my grocery purchases, as you get 6% cash-back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year).

If you can handle having more credit cards in your wallet, it’s never a bad idea to hold co-branded cards for your favorite hotels and airlines. For example, I love my Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Platinum Select^® World Elite Mastercard^® as a frequent American Airlines flyer, because I get a free checked bag and priority boarding. I also have a few hotel cards in my wallet that offer me low- or midlevel hotel elite status, as well as other benefits such as late checkout and free nights.

Final Thoughts

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card holds a top spot in my wallet, but thanks to a recent benefits overhaul, I now value it more for its perks. I’m able to quickly and easily offset the annual fee, which takes the pressure off of spending enough to make it worthwhile.

I’ll spend in the categories that offer bonuses and make sure to take advantage of the card’s valuable travel protections and added benefits, but I’ll likely put most of my everyday spending elsewhere, on cards where I can earn more.