The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: The Best Card for Beginners & Experts Alike

For more than a decade, we've considered the *csp* one of the best travel rewards credit cards for beginners.In 2025, that hasn't changed … in fact, that case is arguably stronger than ever.

It's a great option for anyone getting started with points and miles because you can easily come out way ahead on the card's low $95 annual fee. And best of all, the card comes with a big welcome offer bonus for new applicants: bonus_miles_full

Plus, other benefits like travel and rental car insurance, as well as trip delay and cancellation protection can easily make the Sapphire Preferred a mainstay in any traveler's wallet for the long run. Whether you're already planning your next trip or looking further out, we don't think you can do better than the Chase Sapphire Preferred if you're looking for a travel card with a low annual fee. 

Here's our full review of one of the top travel cards currently on the market.

 

 

Learn more about the *csp*

 

 

A Quick Overview of the Sapphire Preferred

• Welcome Offer Bonus: bonus_miles_full 
• Earn 5x total points on travel purchased through the Chase Travel℠ portal, excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 Anniversary Hotel Credit.
• Earn 3x points per dollar spent on dining (including eligible delivery services), online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), and select streaming services
• Earn 2x points per dollar spent on travel purchases
• Earn 1x points on all other purchases
• Earn up to $50 in statement credits each year for hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠
• 10% Annual Points Bonus: Receive a 10% points bonus on your total spending during the account anniversary year – 1 point for every $10 spent.
• Travel Protections: Trip Cancelation & Interruption Coverage, Baggage Delay and Lost Luggage Coverage, Primary Rental Car Insurance
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None
• Annual Fee: $95

 

Full Breakdown of Card Benefits

A Big Welcome Bonus Offer

bonus_miles_full

Considering Ultimate Rewards can be easily redeemed through Chase Travel℠, this bonus is worth at least $750 towards travel. But you can probably do even better than that by moving those points to one of Chase's transfer partners – more than a dozen airline and hotel brands to which you can directly transfer your points.

Need some ideas on using your Chase points? Read our list of the best ways to use a big Chase points bonus!

 

Earning Points

Earn 3x Points on Dining & Eligible Delivery Services

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you'll earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points for every dollar you spend on dining and on eligible delivery services. There is no cap on the amount of bonus points you can earn in these categories.

Additionally, through a partnership between Chase and DoorDash, Sapphire Preferred cardholders will get a complimentary DashPass membership. Simply add your Chase Sapphire Preferred as a payment method in your DoorDash account and you should get a pop-up offering you a complimentary DashPass membership, good through Dec. 31, 2027.

 

Earn 3x Points on Eligible Grocery Delivery Services

Sapphire Preferred cardholders will also earn 3x points per dollar spent on online grocery purchases through services like Instacart and DoorDash. Big box retailers like Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs are excluded. However, meal kit delivery services like Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, and others do qualify for the online grocery category.

In addition to the complimentary DashPass that Sapphire Preferred cardholders get, Chase's expanded partnership with DoorDash now includes a monthly coupon of up to $10 off on grocery, convenience, and other non-restaurant orders. This benefit largely replaces a previous partnership with Instacart that expired at the end of July. 

 

Earn 3x Points on Select Streaming Services

Sapphire Preferred cardholders also earn 3x points per dollar spent on select streaming services.

Chase lists the following merchants that will qualify for the 3x earn rate in this category:

• Apple Music
• Apple TV
• Disney+
• ESPN+
• Fubo TV,
• Max
• Hulu
• Netflix
• Pandora
• Paramount+
• Peacock
• Showtime
• SiriusXM
• Sling
• Spotify
• YouTube Premium
• YouTube TV
• Vudu

 

Earn 2x Points on Travel Purchases

The Sapphire Preferred is a solid card for your general travel spending as you'll earn 2x points per dollar spent on all things travel.

Here's the official list of what qualifies:

• Airlines
• Hotels
• Motels
• Timeshares
• Car Rental Agencies
• Cruise Lines
• Travel Agencies
• Discount Travel sites
• Campgrounds & Operators
• Passenger trains
• Buses
• Taxis & Rideshare
• Ferries
• Toll Bridges & Highways
• Parking Lots & Garages

 

Earn 5x Points On Travel Purchased Through Chase Travel℠

When you use your Sapphire Preferred to book flights, hotels, or rental cars through Chase Travel℠, you'll earn 5x points per dollar spent.

There's one exception: You won't earn 5x points per dollar spent on purchases that qualify for the annual $50 hotel credit – more on that soon…

Read more: How to Book Flights (and more) Through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal

 

Annual $50 Hotel Credit

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card offers a $50 statement credit that's automatically applied when booking a hotel through Chase Travel℠.

This credit follows your account member year instead of the calendar year. For example, if you opened your Chase Sapphire Preferred Card in May, you would receive a new $50 hotel credit each year after renewing your account in May.

Here's what you need to know:

• You must book your hotel through Chase Travel℠ to get this $50 credit. 
• There is no minimum spend or length of stay requirement.
• No registration is required! This statement credit kicks in automatically

Read more: How to Use the $50 Hotel Credit on the Chase Sapphire Preferred

 

A 10% Annual Points Bonus

Each year on your account anniversary, Sapphire Preferred cardholders get a 10% bonus for points earned on spending.

It doesn't factor in any bonus points earned from categories like dining, travel, or streaming services, but rather just a straight 10% of your total spending. That means for every $10,000 you spend each year, you'll get 1,000 bonus points.

 

Travel Insurance

Trip Cancellation & Interruption Coverage

Chase's trip cancellation and interruption insurance covers you in the event your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather, and other covered situations.

If you encounter one of these events, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses.

Chase lists the following examples as situations that would be covered while noting it isn't an exhaustive list:

• Accidental bodily injury, loss of life, or sickness experienced by the cardholder, a traveling companion, an immediate family member of the cardholder, or a traveling companion.
• Severe weather that prevents the start or continuation of a covered trip.
• Terrorist action or hijacking.
• Jury duty or a court subpoena that cannot be postponed or waived.

What about if you encounter a delay instead of an outright cancellation? If you booked your trip with your Sapphire Preferred Card and your common carrier (airline, bus, cruise ship, or train) is delayed for a covered reason for 12 hours or more (or overnight), you can receive reimbursement for expenses like meals, lodging, toiletries, and medication up to $500 per ticket per trip.

This coverage is only applicable for a trip away from the cardholder's city of residence – and only on trips under 365 days.

Read More: Chase Sapphire Preferred FAQs: All Your Questions Answered

 

Baggage Delay and Lost Luggage Coverage

Airlines have become notorious for losing and misplacing luggage, so much so that Apple Airtags have become a must-have travel accessory. This is just one of the many reasons we recommend traveling with a carry-on only, whenever possible.

But what happens if you have to check a bag and it doesn't make it to the conveyor belt as planned? Luckily, Chase has you covered.

If you pay for your flight with your Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (or Chase Ultimate Rewards points from your card), you can get reimbursed for essential items like toiletries and clothing when your baggage is delayed or misdirected by more than six hours. This benefit only applies when traveling on a common carrier, such as an airline, bus, cruise ship, or train, while on a covered trip. Thankfully, that covers almost everyone, unless you're flying private or on a charter, in which case you wouldn't be eligible to receive compensation.

The cardholder, the cardholder's spouse or domestic partner, and any immediate family will be covered for up to $100 per day for a maximum of five days. Using this benefit, even once, could cover years' worth of $95 annual fees.

 

Primary Rental Car Insurance

The Chase Sapphire Preferred comes with primary rental car coverage – meaning if something happens to your rental, you can skip your own insurance and go straight to Chase for help.

In order to take advantage of this coverage, you need to charge your rental to your Sapphire Preferred card and decline the collision damage waiver that the car rental company tries to sell you. This policy will provide reimbursement for damage due to collision or theft on rental cars in both the U.S. and when traveling internationally. If you get into an accident, it will cover the costs of any damage up to the cash value of the vehicle.

 

 

Just note that this is not liability insurance. It will not cover medical bills, damage to another vehicle, or damage to property. Still, it's some of the best car rental coverage you can get.

Additional reading: All About the Chase Sapphire Rental Car Insurance Benefit

 

Annual Fee & Foreign Transaction Fees

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred annual fee coming in at just $95 per year, it's easy to justify the cost when you look at what you get in return.

With the current bonus, you can easily come out way ahead on that annual fee in your first year with a lot of great ways to get more than $95 in value each year after that.

Another plus? When making purchases outside the U.S., you won't be charged pesky foreign transaction fees – and since the card is issued through Visa's payment network, it's widely accepted all over the world.

 

Redeeming Points

Leveling Up With Transfer Partners

What's that saying about putting all your eggs in one basket?

Over the last few years, we've seen airlines like Delta, United, Emirates, and Virgin Atlantic repeatedly start charging more for award redemptions. Even Hyatt introduced peak and off-peak award pricing and gutted the value at many of its all-inclusive resorts.

There's an easy way to limit your risk of a loyalty program devaluing: Rather than earning miles with just one airline or hotel, focus on earning flexible points instead. And that's an area where Chase shines. You've got the ability to book with almost any airline through Chase Travel, but you can also transfer points to more than 10 airlines and three hotel chains.

 

Program	Type	Transfer Ratio	Transfer Time
Aer Lingus	Airline	1:1	Instant
Air Canada Aeroplan	Airline	1:1	Instant
Air France/KLM	Airline	1:1	Instant
British Airways	Airline	1:1	Instant
Emirates	Airline	1:1	Instant
Iberia Plus	Airline	1:1	Instant
JetBlue	Airline	1:1	Instant
Singapore Air	Airline	1:1	12-24 hours
Southwest Airlines	Airline	1:1	Instant
United Airlines	Airline	1:1	Instant
Virgin Atlantic	Airline	1:1	Instant
World of Hyatt	Hotel	1:1	Instant
IHG	Hotel	1:1	1 day
Marriott Rewards	Hotel	1:1	2 days

 

Read our guide on how to use Chase transfer partners!

You've simply got more options at your disposal with transferable points like Chase Ultimate Rewards. Not only does that give you more freedom to find the best deal – but it also limits your risk. 

Read more: Your Airline Miles are Getting Less Valuable: Here's How to Fight Back

 

Bottom Line

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card has been a standout option for travelers for years – especially beginners. In 2025, that hasn't changed.

Add in the current, 75,000-point sign-up bonus and it's as close to a slam dunk as you'll find if you're looking for a great travel credit card at a low price.

 

 

Learn more about the *csp*