At $95 a year, the Chase Sapphire Preferred used to be a decent card to have in your wallet because of a few features, 2x the points on dining, 2x the points on travel, and 1x the points on everything else.
But with the upcoming updates being introduced on Monday, August 16, the Sapphire Preferred has easily become the number one points credit card I refer people to start or add to the points journey with.
Starting August 16, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card will earn:
- 5x total points on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards (matching the Amex Platinum)
- 3x points on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out (previously 2x, Amex Gold gets 4x on dining)
- 3x points on select streaming services
- 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased through Ultimate Rewards. New cardmembers will start earning towards the credit immediately and existing cardmembers will start earning after their next account anniversary. (Amex Platinum gets $200 a year)
- 10% Anniversary Point Bonus. Each account anniversary, cardmembers will earn bonus points equal to 10% of total purchases made the previous year. That means, $25,000 in spend will earn an additional 2,500 bonus points.
- Free DashPass on Door Dash.
- 5x points on Lyft rides.
For a $95 annual fee, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is extremely competitive compared to some of the features you get with higher annual fee based cards such as Amex Platinum and their 5x points on travel and hotels booked through their Amex Travel portal ($695 annual fee) and Amex Gold‘s 4x the points on dining ($250 annual fee).
Their $50 annual credit for hotels cuts their annual fee in half already, plus their travel portal features exclusive prices for hotels that beat even the best travel websites out there. You can use their Ultimate Reward points at a redemption rate of 1.25 on their travel portal as well.
What can you do with 100,000 points?
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is currently offering an amazing sign up bonus of 100,000 Ultimate Reward points, which if used on their travel portal alone (1.25 point payout rate) is worth $1,250.
The best way to use points on the Ultimate Rewards point platform is usually to transfer to one of their 14 different transfer partners. Some of my favorites include:
Air France / Flying Blue (Delta)
Air Canada Aeroplan (United)
British Airways (One way American Airlines tickets start at 6,000 points)
JetBlue
Southwest Rapid Rewards
United MileagePlus
Virgin Atlantic (Delta one-ways start at 12,500 points)
IHG Rewards (Holiday Inn)
Marriott Bonvoy
World of Hyatt
So if you’re interested in getting a great deal on a credit card, and get started in the points world. I highly recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred.