It’s been a while since I last highlighted the Sapphire Preferred card. For me, this card is the baseline off which most other travel cards are compared, which you’ll often see in the flight/hotel matrix at the end of articles. Historically, this is one of the cards credited with setting the standard for what a travel credit card should offer. Now that the changes to the Sapphire Reserve are live for everyone, it’s time to revisit this card because it now comes in at a whopping $700 cheaper than the Reserve, which is insane.
This blog is for entertainment purposes only and is not financial advice. I provide the information here just to give readers a vague idea if the rewards offered by the card might make sense for them to consider the card. The information on this page has been collected independently, and all information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.
Welcome Offer
The CSP currently has a welcome offer of 75 000 bonus points after spending $5 000 in 3 months. Previously, welcome offers as high as 100 000 bonus points have been offered with the same spend requirement. When I got mine last year, I managed to get the 100 000 bonus point offer. 75 000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth a minimum of $750 when redeemed as a statement credit for general expenses, or up to $1 500 toward travel when using Chase Ultimate Rewards’ travel portal if you find a specifically targeted offer.
Earnings
In broad terms, the CSP earns 3x points/$ on dining, 2x points/$ on travel, and 1x point/$ on general spending. The card also earns 5x points/$ on travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal (which functions like an online travel agency), 3x points on online grocery purchases, and select streaming services. It’s worth noting that this is still the same broad travel category the Sapphire Reserved used to have.
Select streaming services include: Apple Music, Apple TV, Disney+, ESPN+, Fubo TV, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Paramount+, Peacock, Showtime, SiriusXM, Sling, Spotify, YouTube Premium, YouTube TV and Vudu, which is substantially more extensive than for the Amex Platinum (but much less valuable of a perk).
In addition, the CSP earns a bonus 10% points on the account anniversary, based on the total spend. This means that the effective broadly defined earn rates are 3.1x, 2.1x, and 1.1x, for example, but the account has to be kept open.
Benefits
The main benefits of this card are: (1) the ability to redeem points at boosted rates towards travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal, (2) being able to transfer points to Chase’s partners (e.g. United or Hyatt), and (3) a $50 statement credit for hotel stays purchased through the Portal.
How to use the points
The simplest way to use Ultimate Rewards Points is to redeem them for a statement credit at a rate of 1 pt = 1¢ for any purchase. It used to be the Chase travel portal allowed them to be redeemed at a flat rate of 1 pt = 1.25¢ towards travel through the Chase Portal, but now it’s more complicated, and sometimes they’re worth more! But often they’re only worth 1 pt = 1¢. Redeeming points through the travel portal at least has the plus of the tickets counting as revenue tickets for the purpose of earning redeemable and tier qualifying points on the airline.
My preferred method is to transfer the Chase points to one of the transfer partners (e.g. British Airways or United), which can unlock more value out of the points. Based on how I’ve redeemed transferrable points in the past, I peg the value of Chase points at around 1.5¢/pt on average when used to book award travel (which doesn’t earn tier qualifying points).
Examples of using the card
Spend per month
| Example | A | Example | B | Example | C | Example | D | |
| Spend | Points | Spend | Points | Spend | Points | Spend | Points | |
| Groceries (1x) | $300 | 300 | $200 | 200 | $600 | 600 | $400 | 400 |
| Gas (1x) | $0 | 0 | $100 | 100 | $200 | 200 | $100 | 100 |
| Airfare (2x) | $700 | 1 400 | $200 | 400 | $0 | 0 | $400 | 800 |
| Hotels (2x) | $1 000 | 2 000 | $200 | 400 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 600 |
| Gen Travel (2x) | $400 | 800 | $0 | 0 | $300 | 600 | $100 | 200 |
| Dining (3x) | $600 | 1 800 | $300 | 900 | $300 | 900 | $0 | 0 |
| General (1x) | $1 000 | 1 000 | $500 | 500 | $500 | 500 | $400 | 400 |
| Total | $4 000 | 7 300 | $1 500 | 2 500 | $1 700 | 2 800 | $1 700 | 2 500 |
| Average points/$ | 1.83 | 1.67 | 1.65 | 1.47 |
The CSP’s broad travel category and solid earnings on dining means that the average points earned is around 1.5 – 1.8 points/$, which is worth 2.25 – 2.7 ¢/$, with the valuation of 1.5¢/point for Chase Ultimate Rewards points. But I’ll note that bonus points on dining is a staple of just about every Chase card at this point and isn’t really that interesting any more.
Specific examples
| Card | American Airlines Economy Class ($750) (% return) | Marriott Hotel night ($230/night) | Points values (AA/Hotel) |
| No rewards card | 3 500 AA miles (7%) | 2 000 MP (6.1%) | $52.50 / $14.00 |
| General 2% cashback card | 3 500 AA miles + $15 (9%) | 2 000 MP + $4.60 (8.1%) | $67.50 / $18.60 |
| American Airlines Platinum Select | 5 000 AA miles (10%) | 2 000 MP + 230 AA (7.6%) | $75.00 / $17.45 |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | 3 500 AA miles + 1 500 UR points (10%) | 2 000 MP + 460 UR points (9.1%) | $75.00 / $20.90 |
Is this credit card right for you?
This card is great for anyone who spends substantial amounts on travel and dining, who values travel rewards on whichever airline makes the most sense, and who doesn’t mind doing a bit of work and research to optimize their redemptions. The option to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for bonus value toward travel is arguably the biggest plus of this card. Airline tickets purchased by redeeming points in this manner earn elite status and redeemable miles, which is great for earning status and earning additional points (but in a non-flexible currency). In general, I recommend this card for most people not loyal to one specific airline.
Michael's travel blog 