Chase Sapphire Preferred Review: HUGE Rewards

Are you debating if you should apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card? Look no further – this article will tell you all the ins and outs of this popular rewards credit card, in plain English. In short, we give the card a thumbs up in our Chase Sapphire Preferred card review. There are huge rewards, great benefits, and reliable customer service.

Financial Samurai is the most popular personal finance blog today, and our product reviews are easy to read, informative, and designed to help you make well informed financial decisions for financial success.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred Review Highlights

80,000 In Rewards Points For New Cardmembers

If you spend at least $4,000 in the first three months of activating the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, you'll earn a whopping 80,000 bonus points. Just how much are 80,000 points worth? To put it one way, you could redeem that many points for an impressive $1,000 in travel rewards!

What's the catch? You must be a new cardholder and can't already have a Sapphire card. You also can not have received a bonus for being a new cardmember in the last 48 months for any Sapphire card such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card.

Also, the $4,000 can't include any type of gambling purchase (ex. lottery tickets), cash-like transactions (ex. money orders, balance transfers), fees, or fraudulent charges.

Earn Rewards 2X Fast

Anytime you use your Chase Sapphire Preferred Card for travel purchases such as flights and hotels, or dining at restaurants and cafes, you'll earn double points.

That means for every $1 you spend in those categories, you'll earn 2 rewards points. All other purchase categories will earn 1 point for every $1 spent.

25% Extra Value For Redeeming Travel Rewards

When you use your card points to redeem travel rewards through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you'll get 25% more value. What does that mean? If you redeem 80,000 points for things like gift cards or electronics, you'd get a cash equivalent of $800.

But, if you redeem 80,000 points for things like flights, car rentals or hotels, you'll get $1,000 of value towards your travel bookings. That's an additional 25% in value!

Chase Sapphire Preferred Review Continued

If you thought the above was great, there are even more card perks when you're a Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholder.

No More Foreign Transaction Fees

Have you ever traveled abroad on vacation and been shocked when you get get your credit card bill afterwards? Many credit cards charge expensive fees for foreign transactions that can really add up fast.

Fortunately, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is fantastic for vacation lovers because they don't charge any foreign transaction fees when you use your card outside the US.

Built-in Coverage Benefits

When you use the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card to make certain purchases, you can be eligible for added protection automatically through insurance companies that have partnered with Chase.

For example, if you book a flight with your Sapphire card and your luggage get delayed for more than 6 hours, you can be eligible for toiletries and clothing reimbursements up to $100/day for 5 days.

Here's a quick look at some of the available built-in benefits of this credit card when eligibility requirements are met.

  • Protection against theft or damage on new purchases for 120 days.
  • 1 year extensions on US manufacturer's warranties.
  • Meals and lodging reimbursement for trip delays of 12+ hours.
  • Toiletries and clothing reimbursements for baggage delays of 6+ hours.
  • Emergency assistance and referrals when traveling.
  • Car rental collision damage waiver.
  • Insurance for trip cancellations due to illness, weather, etc.

Please keep in mind there are very specific eligibility requirements for these built-in benefits – way more than we can get into here. Chase will provide a Guide to Benefits to all new cardmembers, which goes into all of the nitty gritty rules, limitations and exclusions for each of these perks if you're interested.

Frequent Travel Point Transfers 1:1

Another benefit of the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card is it offers 1:1 point transfer. What does that mean? If you're a member of a frequent travel program with certain airlines or hotels, you can transfer your credit card points at a 1 to 1 value to eligible programs. That's flexibility!

Hotel Partners include:

  • IHG Rewards Club
  • Marriott Bonvoy
  • World of Hyatt

Airline Partners include:

  • Aer Lingus, AerClub
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM
  • Iberia Plus
  • JetBlue TrueBlue
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
  • United MileagePlus
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

24/7 Customer Support

Any popular credit card wouldn't be complete without great customer service. Chase doesn't disappoint. You can count on customer service specialists 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card, no matter where you are in the world.

Invite Friends For Up To 75,000 Additional Bonus Points

Once you are an active Chase Sapphire Preferred cardmember, you can invite your friends and get referral bonuses.

If one of your friends becomes an active Chase Sapphire Preferred cardmember, you'll earn 15,000 bonus points (up to a max of 75k bonus points a year). Note: you'll need to use the special invite friends link through Chase's website once your card is active to be eligible.

More Important Card Details

Card Eligibility For Applicants

  • Excellent or Good credit ratings are typically needed in order to be approved for this credit card.
  • Applicants must be 18 years or older (19 in AL and NE, 21 in Puerto Rico).
  • Approved applicants will get a credit access line of at least $5,000.

Annual Fee

Please be aware there is a $95 annual fee for cardmembers. But I feel the rewards more than make up for the fee if you spend at least $10,000 a year. Remember, you get $1,000 worth of travel rewards credit or 80,000 bonus points if you spend $4,000 in the first three months.

Customer Ratings

Over 7800 Chase Sapphire Preferred cardmembers have rated this credit card 4.5 out of 5 stars. Financial Samurai and our trusted partner site Credit Ratings rate this card 5 out of 5 stars. We've been clients of Chase for over 10 years and have been very happy with their credit cards, rewards program, and service.

Overall, the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card is very popular amongst customers who love to travel and those who are looking for a strong, reliable rewards credit card with a lot of benefits.

How To Apply

I hope you enjoyed this Chase Sapphire Preferred review. If you want to apply, please view the latest APR percentage rages and an up-to-date summary of the card by visiting Chase's credit card website.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

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About the Author: Sam worked in investment banking for 13 years at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. He received his undergraduate degree in Economics from The College of William & Mary and got his MBA from UC Berkeley. In 2012, Sam was able to retire at the age of 34 largely due to his investments that now generate roughly $250,000 a year in passive income. He spends time playing tennis and taking care of his family.

Financial Samurai was started in 2009 and is one of the most trusted personal finance sites on the web with over 1.5 million pageviews a month.

Review Summary
Review Date
Reviewed
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
My Current Rating
51star1star1star1star1star
Product Name
Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card
Price
USD 95
Product Availability
Available in Stock