Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Sapphire Reserve: Which Card is Right for You?

The *chase sapphire preferred* and the *chase sapphire reserve* are the gold standard in the points and miles world for good reason. Not only are they some of the best travel cards out there, but they're also the first cards we recommend for travelers getting started with earning points and miles.

They may earn the same Chase Ultimate Rewards points and share the Sapphire name, but there are major differences between the cards that leave travelers asking: “Which Sapphire card is right for me?” That's a critical question: Chase only allows you to hold either one or the other – not both.

And with the Sapphire Preferred's current bonus offer of 100,000 points after spending $5,000 in the first three months, the question has never been more pressing than it is now. 

We'll break down all of the benefits you get on each card, picking a winner in each category to help you decide which is right for your travel goals.

 

 

Learn more about the *chase sapphire preferred*

 

 

Learn more about the *chase sapphire reserve*

 

An Overview of Both Cards

Putting the Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards head-to-head, you'll see some similarities … and a lot of critical differences.

Here’s a brief breakdown of what you get with each card:

 

	Chase Sapphire Preferred	Chase Sapphire Reserve
Welcome Offer	bonus_miles_full	bonus_miles_full
Annual Fee	annual_fees	annual_fees
Authorized User Fees	None	$75 for each additional cardholder
Point Value Redeeming Through Chase Portal	1.25 cents per point	1.5 cents per point
Annual Travel Credit	$0	$300
Points Earned On Travel & Dining Expenses	3x per dollar spent on dining, online grocery orders, and streaming services. 2x per dollar on travel	3x per dollar spent on dining and travel
Credit for TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, or NEXUS	None	Yes, available once every four years for the primary cardholder
Priority Pass Select Lounge Membership	None	Yes, and both primary cardholders and authorized users can bring up to two guests
Primary Car Rental Coverage	Yes	Yes
Foreign Transaction Fees	None	None
Trip Delay Reimbursement	$500 per person for delays lasting 12 hours or more	$500 per person for delays lasting six hours or more
Travel Accident Insurance	$500,000 per person	$1 million per person
Lost Luggage Insurance	$3,000 per person per trip	$3,000 per person per trip

 

Welcome Bonus

In normal times, the welcome bonus offer on the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve are the same. But these aren't normal times. 

Earlier this month, Chase rolled out a massive new offer on the Sapphire Preferred Card, instantly catapulting it to the top of all travel cards … not just those with the Sapphire name. If you don't read any further than this (but please do), just know that the current limited-time offer on the *chase sapphire preferred* makes it the better option for nearly every traveler … at least for the first year. 

But that still doesn't tell the full story. As you'll see in a future section, the value of the points you earn will depend on which version of the card you hold.

Here's what each card offers.

 

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Welcome Bonus Offer

bonus_miles_full

 

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Welcome Bonus Offer

bonus_miles_full

 

Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No matter how you slice it, the current offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred makes it the winner in this category. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better offer on any travel card right now … not just the Sapphire Cards. 
 

 

Earning Points

Beyond that initial bonus, both the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cards have bonus categories that allow travelers to keep racking up extra points for spending on travel and dining. One card has a clear edge here.

 

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

With the Sapphire Preferred card, you earn 3x points per dollar spent on dining, including eligible delivery services; 3x points per dollar spent on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam's Club); and 3x points per dollar spent on select streaming services.

You will also earn 5x total points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠ (excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 annual hotel credit) and 2x points per dollar spent on all other travel purchases.

Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders will also earn 5x points per dollar on Lyft rides through Sept. 30, 2027.

Finally, Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders earn a 10% anniversary points bonus every year. At the end of every year, Chase will tally up all your spending throughout the year and give you an extra 10% bonus. It's based on the total amount you spend, without considering bonus categories: Spending $10,000 means you'll get an extra 1,000 points.

 

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

On the Sapphire Reserve Card, you will earn 3x points per dollar spent on dining, including eligible delivery services. 

You will also earn 5x total points on air travel and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ and 3x points per dollar spent on all other travel purchases.

Sapphire Reserve cardholders also earn 5x points per dollar on Lyft rides through Sept. 30, 2027.

Both cards earn 1x point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.

 

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

This will obviously come down to where you spend the most. But there's no question that the bigger bonus categories on travel could help you pile up points faster with the Reserve.

 

 

Annual Fees

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Sapphire Preferred Card has an annual fee of $95. There are no fees to add additional authorized users to your card.

 

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Sapphire Reserve has an annual fee of $550 each year. Additionally, authorized users will cost an extra $75 apiece each year.

While at least $550 each year might sound steep, that's a bit misleading. There are plenty of extra perks and benefits on the Sapphire Reserve card that offset that cost – including one that can easily shave $300 right off the bat. 

 

Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

While other benefits are worth considering, there's a clear winner if a lower annual fee is important to you and it's the Sapphire Preferred.
 

 

Annual Credits

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

With a nominal annual fee, the Preferred Card doesn't offer a ton of money-saving annual credits.

But there is one great perk: The card provides a $50 annual credit for hotel bookings made through Chase Travel℠. This was added a couple of years back without increasing the card's $95 annual fee.

 

 

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

With a higher annual fee, this is where the Reserve Card pays off.

It starts with a $300 annual travel credit. Just for holding the card and paying the annual fee, you'll receive a $300 credit each year that will automatically cover any travel expense: flights, hotels, Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, cruises, parking, a Thrifty Traveler Premium subscription, and so on.

Considering how easy it is to use that credit, you can think of the Chase Sapphire Reserve's annual fee as more like $250 – as long as you plan to spend at least $300 on travel each and every year. 

 

 

 

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

As great as the new hotel credit on the Preferred Card is, it still doesn't compete with the Reserve card's $300 annual travel credit.
 

 

Airport Lounge Access

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Sapphire Preferred card does not currently offer any sort of complimentary airport lounge access.

 

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Sapphire Reserve, on the other hand, comes with a complimentary Priority Pass Lounge membership. This is the gateway for you (and up to two guests) to hang out in 1,300-plus airport lounges all over the world. 

Additionally, Sapphire Reserve cardholders will also get access to Chase's new Sapphire Airport Lounges. Chase currently has seven open in Boston (BOS), Hong Kong (HKG), New York City-LaGuardia (LGA), New York City (JFK), Phoenix (PHX), San Diego (SAN), and Philadelphia (PHL) … and more are on the way. These lounges are a big step above your typical Priority Pass space.

 

 

Sapphire Reserve cardholders get unlimited complimentary access to Sapphire Lounges. They can also bring up to two guests free of charge. Authorized users on the Reserve will also get their own access and guests, too.

One small hitch: It's not the Reserve that gets you in but the Priority Pass membership you get from your Reserve card that gets you access. Just be sure to activate that account and you should be set.

Read more: Chase is Winning The Airport Lounge Wars … & It’s Not Close

 

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

If lounge access is a priority, this should be an easy choice. Only one of these cards gets the job done.

 

 

Redeeming Points

Though the Chase Ultimate Rewards points you earn from both cards are the same, they can be worth drastically different amounts … at least when you use them to book flights, hotels, and other expenses through Chase Travel℠.

 

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

With the Sapphire Preferred Card, you can redeem your points for 1.25 cents each towards travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal.

For example, 100,000 points would be worth $1,250 towards travel booked through Chase Travel℠.

 

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

With the Sapphire Reserve, your points are worth even more: You can redeem your points for 1.5 cents each towards travel booked through Chase Travel℠.

In this case, that same 60,000-point bonus would be worth at least $900 towards travel when booking through Chase's portal.

For example, let's look at a roundtrip flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Amsterdam (AMS) for $483.

With the Sapphire Preferred card, that'd cost you 38,586 Ultimate Rewards points.

 

 

But if you've got the Sapphire Reserve card, you can book that same flight for 32,155 Ultimate Rewards points. That's because your points will always be worth 1.5 cents each.

 

 

There are ways you can get far more out of these points by turning to Chase transfer partners, airlines, and hotel chains to which you can directly transfer your points. 

 

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

There's a clear winner when you're redeeming points directly through Chase.
 

 

Credits for TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, or NEXUS

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Preferred card doesn't offer a credit for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS.

 

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

With the Sapphire Reserve, you can receive up to $120 in credit once every four years to cover the cost of Global Entry – or $85 for TSA PreCheck. The Sapphire Reserve also offers an application credit for NEXUS. 

Membership in these programs lasts for five years, so you're set with this credit. And since Global Entry includes TSA PreCheck, it's the obvious choice if you're planning any international travel.

Read our guide to enrolling in Global Entry!

 

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

If covering one of these Trusted Traveler Programs is on your wish list, only one of them gets the job done. 

 

 

Rental Car Insurance Coverage

Both versions of the Sapphire card offer some of the best car rental coverage you'll find from a credit card.

Let's go back to basics for a bit. There are two categories of insurance coverage when it comes to rental cars: primary and secondary. The vast majority of travel rewards credit cards offer only secondary coverage, which typically comes with a deductible and only kicks in if you don’t have your own personal car insurance policy. It will likely not cover the entire loss of a vehicle, either.

Primary insurance, on the other hand, will cover all damage from collision or theft of most rental cars. And that's what you get with both Sapphire cards.

 

 

The only difference in the rental car coverage offered by the two cards is the amount that each will cover.

The Sapphire Preferred will cover up to the actual cash value of the rental car for periods that do not exceed 31 consecutive days. The Sapphire Reserve will cover up to $75,000 for rental periods that do not exceed 31 consecutive days. That means if there is damage above and beyond the cost of the rental car, the Sapphire Reserve will provide a bit more coverage.

One thing to note: The Sapphire Preferred's coverage does excludes “high-value motor vehicles” and exotic cars. Chase explicitly states that the following car brands are excluded: “Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bentley, Corvette, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Maybach, McLaren, Porsche, Rolls Royce, and Tesla”

Read More: All About the Chase Sapphire Rental Car Insurance Benefit

 

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

While both cards offer stellar rental car coverage, the Reserve Card's is a bit more robust for nasty accidents and luxury vehicles.

 

 

Delayed & Lost Luggage Coverage

If your bags get lost or delayed, you won't find better coverage than these two Sapphire Cards.

Both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve offer identical coverage for luggage. And since the Sapphire Preferred charges just a $95 annual fee, it's the clear winner here. 

If you check your bags and they’re delayed more than six hours, both cards can reimburse you up to $100 a day for up to five days. This coverage is meant to provide reimbursement for essential items like toiletries, clothing, and cell phone charging cables, for example.

This will cover the primary cardholder, the cardholder’s spouse or domestic partner, and any immediate family members.

 

Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

With identical coverage for lost or delayed bags at a fraction of the price, this is an easy choice. 

 

 

Trip Delay & Cancellation Coverage

The Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred cards will reimburse you for expenses you incur due to a delayed or canceled flight, train, or other means of travel for costs like meals, lodging, toiletries, etc. incurred because of the delay. But one card's coverage is slightly better.

The Sapphire Reserve card will reimburse you for any delay lasting six hours or more, while the Sapphire Preferred will reimburse you for delays lasting 12 hours or more. Cardholders will be covered along with their spouse or domestic partner and any dependent children under the age of 22 for up to $500 for each purchased ticket.

Either way, the trip must have been at least partially paid for with your Chase Sapphire card (or with Chase Ultimate Rewards points).

Read more: A Firsthand Experience Using Chase's Trip Delay Insurance

 

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve® 

 

 

Travel Accident Coverage

You always hope you never need medical evacuation & travel accident coverage. But if you do, it’s invaluable.

Both cards will provide coverage for accidental death or dismemberment, or a combined loss of speech, sight, or hearing, experienced on a covered trip. You must have purchased some portion of your trip with your Sapphire Card or its Ultimate Rewards points.

The difference comes in the amount of coverage each card provides: The Preferred card will provide a benefit amount for the loss of life up to $500,000 while the Sapphire Reserve card will provide a benefit for loss of life up to $1 million.

Additionally, only the Sapphire Reserve card will cover medical evacuation. 

 

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Both cards offer solid coverage but the Sapphire Reserve is clearly superior when things go really wrong.

 

 

Which Card Wins?

By the numbers, the Sapphire Reserve wins in a landslide. But that lopsided win doesn't tell the full story.

If your key objective with either card is getting a big sign-up bonus, all while paying a low annual fee, the Sapphire Preferred is the clear choice, no matter how many categories it won or lost. 

Everybody can – and should – weigh these categories differently. Some of these categories could make the Chase Sapphire Reserve a no-brainer to one person, such as those set on getting lounge access or a Global Entry membership. Those same benefits might be meaningless to another person – especially someone who's looking to earn points at a low cost.

There's something else to keep in mind here: While the upfront cost of the Reserve card is much higher, the effective annual fee is only $250 after factoring in the annual travel credit. 

While still steep for many travelers, that's much more palatable than the initial sticker shock. And some of the card's other perks could help you outweigh that cost altogether.

 

Bottom Line

While the Sapphire Preferred and Reserve share a name and earn the same points, what you will get with each card is vastly different.

The $550 annual fee on the Sapphire Reserve may be an automatic dealbreaker, but well worth it for travelers looking for lounge access and other travel perks. If a big bonus, low annual fee, and solid travel insurance are all you're after, the Sapphire Preferred card is likely an easy choice. 

 

 

Learn more about the *chase sapphire preferred*

 

 

Learn more about the *chase sapphire reserve*