At a Glance
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is one of Chase’s top premium rewards cards on the market. This credit card comes with a generous signup bonus and offers increased rewards for travel and dining purchases. Reward points can be redeemed for travel purchases, cash back, gift cards, merchandise and travel reservations. A unique feature that the Sapphire Preferred card offers is the possibility of transferring your rewards to airline miles or hotel points. The card also comes with travel insurance and purchase protection benefits.
PROMOTIONAL OFFER:
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you $4,000 on purchases in your first three months. Equivalent to $750 travel dollars when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards program.
Who is this Card Best For?
This credit card is a great value pick for frequent flyers and travelers. With great perks like point transfer, no foreign transaction frees and travel insurance coverage, this card definitely gives every trip an added boost.
The Sapphire Preferred card is also a great card for those who enjoy dinning out – you can easily rack up points with this card on every meal.
If you are a commuter on top of the rest, then you stand to gain even more with this credit card as it offers the opportunity to earn double the points for bus and train fares, tolls and parking purchases.
Quick Facts
Card Type: Travel card
Annual Fee: 95$
Sign up Bonus: 60,000 bonus points
Regular APR: 17.99% – 24.99%
Rewards: 2X points on travel and restaurants, 1X point for all other purchases
Foreign Transaction Fee: 0
Benefits & Features
Bonus Rewards on Travel and Dining:
With the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, you earn 2 points per dollar spent on travel and dining, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.
At Chase bank, ‘travel’ is defined under a wide umbrella, in addition to airfare and hotel accommodations, you will earn bonus rewards on parking garage fees, bus and train fares and even charges from rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft. Moreover, you earn rewards worldwide.
Points Transfer Partners:
You can earn even more with your Chase Reward points by using their transfer option which allows you to transfer points accumulated at a 1:1 rate, to any of Chase’ partnered frequent flyer program:
- Airlines: Aer Lingus, Air France/KLM, British Airways, Emirates, Iberia, JetBlue, Singapore, Southwest, United and Virgin Atlantic
- Hotels: Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels Group and Marriott
You can also move your points from any other Chase credit to your Sapphire Preferred card in order to rack up the points for a specific vacation.
Travel & Purchase Coverage:
- Trip cancellation or interruption insurance: If your trip is cancelled or cut short due to illness, severe weather or other qualifying emergency situations, Chase Sapphire Preferred card can reimburse you up to $10,000 per person. There is also coverage for up to 20,000 per trip for non-refundable travel expenses.
- Auto Rental collision Damage waiver: With this feature, you do not need to take extra coverage with the car rental company. Simply charge the rental cost to your credit card, which includes primary coverage and reimbursement up to the cash value of the vehicle. This coverage is good for auto rentals in the U.S and abroad.
- Baggage delay insurance: You can be reimbursed for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing when your baggage delays are over 6 hours, up to $100 a day for a maximum of 5 days.
- Trip Delay reimbursement: if your trip is delayed for more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, this perk covers you and your family expenses including meals and lodging up to $500 per purchased ticket.
- Extended warranty protection: This feature extends the time frame of the U.S manufactures warranty by an additional 12 months on any eligible warranty of 3 years or less.
- Purchase protection: Insures your new purchase while home and away for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and a $50,000 cap per account.
Customer Experience
Chase bank offers a mobile app that allows you to also view your credit card information. It can be used to view your account activity and your points balance, which you can also access the rewards porta to redeem your points. Payments towards your credit card can be made as well via the app. The app has received great reviews from customers in terms of functionality and ease.
Although they do not offer the Live Chat option for customer service. Their call centers are equipped with Service Specialists 24/7 in order to assist you at any time, from anywhere.
Pros
- Card is actually metal – rather than plastic that ensues wear and tear, this card is metal and durable
- Valuable Sign up bonus – new users can earn up to 60,000 points, worth $750 in travel purchases.
- Multitude of redemption options – points can be redeemed for cash back, travel purchases, airline purchase and more.
- No foreign transaction fees – allows you to use your credit card while travelling worry-free.
- Point transfer system – 1:1 points transfer to any leading frequent flyer/travel programs.
- Referral Bonus – you collect a reward bonus when you refer someone to sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
Cons
- High Annual fee unless you really plan on making use of the rewards, and no first-year waiver
- No introductory APR
- No Travel credits towards TSA Pre check or others
- Although there is a chip, PayPass or Pay Wave is not enabled since it is metal based
- Requires an excellent credit score
The Verdict
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers rewards that are easy to earn and redeem. If you are looking for a card with great travel benefits and value for every point earned, this is a great credit card option especially for beginners.