Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Review
Premium travel card with point multipliers on dining and travel.
By Mandy H.|Updated on 4/3/2024
Back
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the best all-around cards for everyday spending. There is a $95 annual fee, but the card includes a $50 annual hotel credit.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's over $900 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is ideal for those optimizing for cash back or travel. Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards for cash back at 1.25x on select categories through Pay Yourself Back or travel via Chase Travel℠. The card is also a basic travel card with good spend multipliers and benefits like no foreign transaction fees and primary collision damage waiver (terms apply).
Point Multipliers
With the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (CSP), you earn Ultimate Reward (UR) points for many everyday categories, including:
- 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 2x on other travel purchases
- 3x on dining
- 3x on online grocery purchases (excludes Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 3x on select streaming
- 1x on all other purchases
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Calculator
Cardonomics calculates the expected value of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card based on the information you provide. The expected value is calculated based on the dollar value you input into the calculator.
The default figures in the calculator are just an example, so you should enter your own information for more accurate results. The methodology for this calculator is explained at the bottom of the post.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Intro Offer
Are you eligible for the intro offer? You are NOT eligible if you currently hold a Sapphire card or earned a Sapphire bonus in the last 48 months (4 years).
Are you able to complete $4,000 of spend in the first 3 months?
The current public offer is 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (UR). What bonus are you considering?
points earned from intro offer:
0Point Multipliers: Category Spend
Yearly points earned from spend breakdown:
Other Perks and Benefits: How do you value them?
Value of other perks and benefits:
How do you plan on redeeming points?
Given how you value points...
Expected Value of Points
(Intro offer + spend + benefits - annual fee)
Calculation Methodology
The calculator's results are determined by several factors, including your ability to meet the minimum spending requirement to earn the welcome offer, spending habits in different categories, point redemption strategy, and how much relative value you place on other benefits.
The "Years" in the calculator refer to the cardmember year, which begins when you are approved for the card. The first year of membership is the first 12 months after approval, and the second year is the 12 months following that.
Optimal Strategy
The CSP is one of the best “first” premium cards, given the earn rate and flexibility of Chase points.
The card includes up to $50 in hotel credits to help offset the $95 annual fee.
$50 Annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit
You get up to $50 per calendar year as a statement credit when you book eligible travel through Chase Travel℠.
For many people, it’s fair to value this credit at the full $50.
Redeeming Points
The CSP earns Ultimate Reward (UR) points which offer a ton of flexibility whether you’re focused on cash back or aspirational travel.
Cash Back
If you’re focused on cash back, you can redeem UR points for 1 cent per point (1 CPP) as a statement credit against your purchases. This means that 3x * 1 CPP = 3%.
Travel / Pay Yourself Back
If you use the CSP to book travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal, you get 1.25 CPP, so 3x = 3.75% in value. You can also get 1.25 CPP when using the CSP with “Pay Yourself Back,” which allows you to redeem points at that elevated value for everyday purchases (which are decided by Chase).
If you decide to upgrade the CSP to a Chase Sapphire Reserve® in the future, you would get 1.5 CPP (so 3x = 4.5% value) for travel through the Chase portal and also Pay Yourself Back.
Aspirational Travel
If you’re willing to do the legwork, you can transfer the points to Chase’s hotel and airline partners to get more value. This is great for aspirational travel (think first and business class).
Chase Trifecta
Many people combine the CSP with the Chase Freedom Flex℠ and the Chase Freedom Unlimited® to form the Chase Trifecta. This allows you to get elevated value when redeeming the points earned from the two Freedom cards.
Alternatives
If you like the idea of the CSP, but you like to do your grocery shopping in person, then the American Express Gold might be a better fit.
If you want greater flexibility, the Citi Premier covers many of the same categories and includes other ones like gas stations.
Citi Premier® Card
Earn 70,000 bonus ThankYou<sup>®</sup> Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $700 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com
One of the best all-around earners with 3x back on restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel, and hotels. This can be a "one and done" setup for many with no foreign transaction fee.
The big drawback is that the card doesn't have any additional benefits like trip delay or lost luggage protection.
Main Takeaway
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a great card for people who want to earn elevated rewards on various everyday categories and value having flexibility with their points. For many people, the points they earn combined with the up to $50 in hotel statement credits easily offsets the $95 annual fee.