We've long considered the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card the best travel credit card for beginners, bar none. But with a handful of significant tweaks and new perks added in the last few years, this card has quietly gotten even better.
Sure it all starts with a sign-up bonus of 60,000 points after spending $4,000 within the first three months. Plus, Chase has added a slew of new perks like earning more points on dining, online grocery purchases, streaming services, and more – all without raising the card's $95 annual fee. But one new perk stands out among them all: The new Chase Sapphire Preferred Hotel Credit.
Every year, Sapphire Preferred cardholders now get a $50 annual credit to use towards booking a hotel through Chase Travel℠. And really, it's as simple as it sounds.
Let's take a closer look at this new benefit and how you can use it to help offset part of your annual fee.
Related reading: 4 Ways to Use Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to Book Hotels
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What is the Chase Sapphire Preferred $50 Hotel Credit?
As of August 2021, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card now offers a $50 credit to both new and existing cardholders each year that can be used towards booking a hotel through Chase Travel℠.
To take advantage, all you need to do is use your Sapphire Preferred Card to book and pay for a hotel stay through Chase Travel℠ and you will receive an automatic statement credit for up to $50 each year. This credit follows your account member year instead of the calendar year. So for example, if you opened your Chase Sapphire Preferred Card in September, you would receive a new $50 hotel credit each year after renewing your account in September.
Here's what you need to know:
- You must book your hotel through Chase Travel℠ to get this $50 credit. Booking a stay with a hotel directly won't trigger the credit.
- Unlike other credit cards offering benefits like this, there is no minimum spend or length of stay requirement.
- No registration is required! This statement credit kicks in automatically
Thinking of opening a new Chase Sapphire Preferred Card soon to get that 60,000-point bonus? You'll get this hotel credit right away, too.
How to Use the Chase Sapphire Preferred Hotel Credit
When you are ready to put your Chase Sapphire Preferred hotel credit o use, simply log in to your online Chase account and navigate to the Chase Travel℠ section. From here, select the “Travel” section.
Chase Travel℠ is powered by CXLoyalty. That means any search you make through Chase Travel℠ will generally yield the same result as bookings made through many online travel agencies (OTAs) – more on this later.
Once you have clicked on the “Travel” section, navigate to the “Hotels” tab highlighted in red.
Enter the city you're looking to stay, check-in and out dates, the number of rooms, and number of occupants.
Once you select your hotel, continue through the booking process. During the process, you'll have the ability to pay with Chase Ultimate Rewards points or with cash. Chase allows you to apply any amount of points you have to your booking, or you can select “save my points for later” and opt not to use any.
If you are using points and cash, make sure the cash balance is at least $50 if you plan to use your Sapphire Preferred hotel credit. If you book only with points, you won't earn back that $50 statement credit.
Once the charge hits your statement, Chase will automatically credit you up to $50 for your stay each year.
Tips for Using the Sapphire Preferred Hotel Credit
There are a few things to be aware of when you are looking to use your Chase Sapphire Preferred $50 hotel credit.
Since Chase Travel℠ is classified as an online travel agency, the hotel will consider it a third-party reservation. That means if you are looking to book at a hotel where you have some level of elite status, the hotel will likely not honor your status – and you will also not earn points or receive other elite benefits.
Because of that, we recommend using your $50 Chase Sapphire Preferred hotel credit at hotels not associated with a large chain like Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, IHG, etc. where you would be forgoing elite benefits or the ability to earn points by booking through Chase.
A perfect example of this is the Kempinksi Hotel in Berchtesgaden, Germany. Since the hotel is not part of a major U.S.-based hotel chain, it is a great option for your $50 credit.
You won't be forgoing any benefits for booking, and it can help reduce your overall cost for a fantastic property. This is of course just one example of thousands.
Related reading: Everything You Need to Know About Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)
Bottom Line
The $50 Chase Sapphire Preferred hotel credit is a great benefit – especially on a card with an annual fee of only $95. It renews each year on your card member anniversary (when your $95 annual fee hits).
Maximize the credit by using it for stays at independent properties that are not part of a large hotel group where it is possible to use other points or earn and use elite status benefits. But no matter how you use it, just be sure to use it each year! Any unused balance will not carry over to the next year.
I downgraded from the Reserve to the Preferred a couple of weeks ago but when I look in my account, I see nothing stating that I get the $50 hotel credit. I just passed my Reserve anniversary which is why I downgraded when I did. Do I still get the credit or will I have to wait until next year for it?
Once your new $95 annual fee is charged, it should be available. You may have to wait until the statement closes.
Well worth going to the Kempinksi Hotel in Berchtesgaden, Germany to get my $50 credit. That’s for sure. I can’t sacrifice not getting my 200 points at the Marriot for one night.
Older card holder – Will we automatically get the credit in June if we book a room today for May?
It will depend on when your last renewal was. When did you last pay your $95 annual fee?
Renewal was March 1st 2022.
Fee applied was 3/1/22.
You should be all set to use the credit this year.
does this work for the reserve card as well???
The Reserve card does not offer this benefit. It is specific to the Preferred card.
Will reservation be cancelled if I cancel my card before my stay?
Shouldn’t be an issue.
Your blog seems to be the only one I can find anywhere that explicitly mentions using cash AND POINTS in the booking (but of course spending at least the $50 in cash). i would love to do this for an upcoming booking. Has this been tested/verified? Thanks much.
I have not personally tested this but I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t work. As long as there is a charge of $50, the credit should automatically trigger. There would be no way to know if points were also used on that booking.
Confirmed. I used points to cover half my stay and paid the remaining $170-ish dollars. $50 credit posted in about a week.
Another data point – We booked a stay through the Portal and used UR for it except $51.64. It posted a month ago and did not trigger the credit.
If you use the $50 credit, you do not earn 5X points on that purchase, correct? Does that get reduced to 2X?
Is there a way to opt out of the hotel credit, so it can be used at a later time of your choosing? I’m thinking of saving it for a one night stay, as opposed to using on a longer stay.
I don’t believe there is a way to opt out. It just triggers automatically once you make a charge.
$50 Annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit
Access this benefit after your statement closing date following your next account anniversary on 07/23/2022
The membership fee will post on 8/1/22 and the next statement closing date will be on 8/23/22
Question: Will the reservation made on 7/23/22 triggered the $50 credit?
Or should I make the reservation after 8/1/22?
Or after 8/23/22?
Thank you.
It should be available on 7/23. That said, if you can wait until 8/1, that might be wise.
Got it, tks. Will wait till 8/1 and update result later.
Any update?
I just booked a couple of nights for a work trip in October at a Hilton hotel. While you can’t enter your Hilton Honors info when booking the travel through Chase, you can call the hotel and have them manually add the info. Win-win for the credit and getting your hotel points.
Is this benefit still valid? I find no mention of it on the UR benefits page. Thanks!
It is still valid. You’ll see mention of it on the card application pages, but sometimes they make these things difficult to find for existing cardholders.
Thank you Nick!!
If you already received the credit before your check inn date, and would like to change/cancel the reservation and book again(different hotel/different date) would you get the credit again?
Does it roll over annually if not used or would you lose the $50 hotel credit?
No, you lose the $50 if you don’t use it each year.
Since, as noted, the Chase portal is an OTA, how is the customer service if something unexpected happens?
I wouldn’t mind giving up the status benefits and points, but it wouldn’t be fun if upon arrival the hotel can’t find my reservation and I have to deal with a third-party middleperson rep in another country who keeps thanking me for calling and telling me they understand my issue…but they are unable to do anything.
can I use the $50 credit after I receive to pay my credit card bill?
The $50 credit is applied automatically to your statement.
Booked a hotel ($106) through Chase travel on 11/10/23 for a stay on 12/14/23. As of 11/20/23 have not received the $50 hotel credit. My next annual fee posts 12/1/23. If the travel credit appears after 12/1/23, will the credit apply to anniversary year ending 11/30/23 or anniversary year starting 12/1/23?
Hi Terry. That is a great question and I am not sure if I know the answer. If you get more information from Chase, let us know how they handle this.
Can I use my $50 hotel credit in April, and then cancel my card before June 1 (thereby avoiding the $95 annual fee)?