We rave about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card all the time… It is by FAR the single most popular card among Daily Drop readers (and even the Daily Drop team!).
But what makes this card so special?
There are dozens of examples I could give as to why this card rocks… but today, I’ll pick nine of them to share with you.
And by the time you get to number nine, I think I’ll have you convinced… 😉
1. The welcome offer
As I’m sure you know by now, the Sapphire Preferred has a current welcome offer of: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
That alone would be a reason to apply for the card, given the sheer value of Ultimate Rewards points and the low annual fee of just $95.
These points are worth HUNDREDS of dollars when redeemed through Chase TravelSM. But as you’ll see in a minute, they can also be worth way more than that…
2. High earning rates
Many people (myself included) consider the Sapphire Preferred to be a “one-stop shop” when it comes to credit cards.
Because of the low annual fee and high earning rates on everyday spending categories, it’s easy to justify holding it year after year.
Specifically, here is what you’ll earn for various categories:
5x points on travel booked in the Chase TravelSM portal
3x points on dining, takeout, grocery delivery services, and streaming services
2x points on other travel
1x points on everything else
Many of us travel enthusiasts spend quite a bit on categories like dining and travel every year, so these points alone can outweigh that annual fee.
But there’s also a much easier way to offset part of the annual fee each year…
3. Annual $50 hotel credit
Every year that you hold the card, you’ll earn a $50 hotel credit for purchases made in the Chase TravelSM portal.
As long as you spend $50 a year on hotels (which I’m assuming you all do…), this is almost as good as cash.
Last year, I used the credit to book a hotel night in Osaka, Japan. As you can see, it came out to EXACTLY $50 after taxes… so it was a proper free night.
Free night in Japan, anyone?
I don’t know about you, but I’d say an annual free hotel night in Japan is pretty darn good for a $95 card.
But you can get a TON more free nights out of this card, too 👀
4. Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt
Chase points are one of the best transferrable points currencies out there.
One big reason is that it’s one of the only ways to access World of Hyatt points, which you can transfer to at a 1:1 ratio.
The reason we love Hyatt so much is that they use a fixed award chart to determine hotel pricing, with properties costing as few as 3,500 points per night.
Last month, I stayed at THREE different Hyatt hotels that only cost 3,500 points, and I have a number of other ones booked in the coming months.
There are many Hyatt Category 1 hotels in Dubai
So, for example, 60,000 points means as many as 17 nights at Hyatt hotels around the world.
Would you pay $95 for 17 hotel nights? I certainly hope so…
5. Secret points rebate 🤫
While Hyatt is an obvious perk of having this card, there are also some less obvious perks that you need to know about…
For example, the Sapphire Preferred will give all cardmembers an Anniversary Points Boost equal to 10% of total purchases made in the previous year.
That means that if you spend $25,000 on the card, you’ll earn 2,500 bonus points on your card anniversary.
Since it makes sense to put most of your purchases on this card (because of the solid earning rates I mentioned earlier), this boost could be quite meaningful!
6. Redeem points for more than one cent each
There are few points currencies that allow you to redeem points for more than one cent each…
And, of course, Chase Ultimate Rewards are one of those currencies.
If you hold the Sapphire Preferred, you can redeem your points for 1.25 cents each when booking through the Chase TravelSM portal.
$469 or 37,520 points yields a 1.25 cents-per-point valuation
That’s pretty sweet, considering the thousands of options for flights and hotels the portal offers.
And if that wasn’t already a great redemption value, there are endless ways to get even higher value from your points... 👇
7. Access to the best transfer partners
In addition to Hyatt, you can transfer Chase points to a bunch of other highly valuable airline and hotel partners, including:
Program Name | Transfer Ratio |
|---|---|
Aer Lingus | 1:1 |
Air Canada | 1:1 |
British Airways | 1:1 |
Emirates | 1:1 |
Iberia | 1:1 |
JetBlue | 1:1 |
Air France/KLM | 1:1 |
Southwest Airlines | 1:1 |
United Airlines | 1:1 |
Singapore Airlines | 1:1 |
Virgin Atlantic | 1:1 |
IHG One Rewards | 1:1 |
Marriott Bonvoy | 1:1 |
World of Hyatt | 1:1 |
Transferring your points in this way can often result in getting higher than two cents per point in value, sometimes WAY more.
For example, if you transfer 47,500 points to Virgin Atlantic, you can fly in business class to Europe!
Given these flights often cost around $3,000, you’re getting 4.2 cents per point in value, even after accounting for the taxes and fees… which is amazing!!
So, to reiterate, by applying for a $95 card, you’d have enough points to book a $3,000 flight to Europe and still have almost 15,000 points left 🤯
47,500 points is already a good price for such a flight, but if only there was a way to spend even fewer points for the same flight… 🤔
8. Transfer bonuses
Transfer bonuses are one of the best parts about ANY points currency, but Chase is known to offer them frequently… and to the best programs.
For example, here are a few recent ones that we’ve seen:
30% bonus to Virgin Atlantic
25% bonus to Air France/KLM Flying Blue
60% bonus to IHG One Rewards
25% bonus to JetBlue
One of the more recent transfer bonuses offered by Chase
When an offer like this pops up, it immediately makes your points more valuable. And having the Sapphire Preferred is the cheapest way to open yourself up to Chase Ultimate Rewards points and, therefore, these offers.
Let’s say you want to travel to Europe, which, let’s be honest, you do.
With a 30% transfer bonus to Flying Blue, you could transfer just 11,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book a Flying Blue Promo Reward, which is a fantastic deal.
That means that from the welcome offer alone, you’d have enough points to book FOUR flights between the U.S. and Europe…
…FROM A $95 CARD.
Enough said. 🫱🎤 (that was supposed to be a mic drop).
9. Chase Offers
Chase Offers are one of the most underrated ways to offset credit card annual fees every year.
When you activate these offers, you’ll get statement credits when you spend money at various retailers.
Since the Sapphire cards are geared toward travel, many offers are with popular travel programs.
For example, last year, I used Chase Offers to save more than $80 on my Sapphire Preferred.
Since the annual fee is low to begin with, you can think of ALL of the other benefits as being pretty darn close to free since these offers alone can largely offset the annual fee… if you pay attention to them.
The bottom line
Do you trust me? At this point in our relationship, I hope you do 🙃
And if you do, just take my advice and apply for the card.
I can promise that it’s one you’ll want to keep in your wallet year after year, and the 60,000 points you’ll get now will offer you hundreds or thousands of dollars in value if you use the tips I’ve shared with you today.
JUST DO IT.
Click here to learn more or apply for the card!
…I’m serious. Just do it now, please. 👆
