Chase Sapphire Preferred® Review

Overview

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is, in my opinion, the best travel card to start with, period. For a $95 fee you get into the Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem, which is one of the strongest transferable-points currencies out there, and that flexibility is the whole reason to want this card.

It earns solid points on the categories most people spend on, the welcome bonus is genuinely huge, and unlike a co-brand card, your points are not locked to one airline or hotel. If you are getting your first real travel card, this is the one I would point you to.

Our 4.5 out of 5 rating

Each score weighs the rewards rate, value after the annual fee, welcome offer, points flexibility, and perks, with every point valued at a flat 1 cent. This is our editorial assessment to help you compare cards, not a guarantee of approval or of the value you will get.

Rewards: how it earns

You get 3x on dining, groceries, and streaming, 3x on gas, and 2x on travel, which covers where most people actually spend. But the real value is not the multiplier, it is that these are Ultimate Rewards points, which transfer 1:1 to a strong list of airline and hotel partners. That is what separates this from a plain cash-back card, and it is why I value the points at a flat 1 cent as a floor, not a ceiling.

Every point and mile above is valued at a flat 1 cent, the same honest standard we use for every card. Run your own spending through the calculator to see what this card would actually return for you.

Pros and cons

The welcome bonus

The welcome bonus is excellent: 100,000 points after $5,000 in three months, which is over $1,000 in value, and far more if you transfer to travel partners. For a $95 card, that first-year haul is outstanding, and $5,000 in three months is reachable for most people through normal spending.

Is it worth the annual fee?

The $95 fee is easy to justify. Between the welcome bonus in year one and the strong earn rates plus a 10% anniversary points boost after that, this card pays for itself for anyone who travels even occasionally. It is about the most reasonable fee in the travel-card world, and I would keep it long-term, not just year one.

First-year value vs ongoing value

The welcome bonus makes year one the high point: roughly $1,680 in value once you count the bonus, this card’s rewards, and its credits, minus the $95 fee. After that, the honest figure is about $680 a year, so judge whether it earns its keep on the ongoing number, not the first-year headline.

*First-year value counts the welcome bonus, estimated rewards, and annual credits, minus the annual fee; ongoing value is a typical year after. Every point at a flat 1 cent, on average spending.

Benefits and protections

Beyond the rewards, the perks and protections worth knowing about include:

• $100 annual hotel credit via Chase Travel
• Transfers to 14 airline and hotel partners (United, Southwest & more), mostly 1:1; Hyatt transfers at 4:3 as of 2026
• Primary rental car coverage worldwide
• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance up to $10,000 per person
• No foreign transaction fees
• Purchase protection and extended warranty

Statement credits

• $100 annual hotel credit (via Chase Travel)
• $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS application fee credit (every 4 years)
• $10 monthly DoorDash credit on non-restaurant orders, plus complimentary DashPass (through December 2027)
• Complimentary Apple TV+ for one year (activate by December 31, 2026)

Ecosystem and transfer partners

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® earns Ultimate Rewards, one of the more valuable currencies in rewards because of where the points can go. You can move points 1 to 1 to 8 airline and hotel partners: United Airlines, World of Hyatt, Southwest Airlines, British Airways, Air France/KLM, Singapore Airlines, Air Canada, and Virgin Atlantic. As a hub card, this is the one you route points through before transferring out. The sweet spots are usually premium-cabin flights and high-end hotel nights, where a single point can be worth well more than the 1 cent we value it at here.

Airline partners: United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, British Airways, Air France/KLM, Singapore Airlines, Air Canada, Virgin Atlantic.

Hotel partners: World of Hyatt.

See the full Chase ecosystem →

Who should get it, and who should skip it

If you want to start earning transferable travel points, get this card. The welcome bonus alone makes year one a no-brainer, and the Ultimate Rewards ecosystem gives you real flexibility that co-brand cards never will. It is the card I recommend most often to people ready to move past cash back.

The only people I would steer elsewhere are those who genuinely never want to deal with points and just want money back. For them, a flat 2% card is simpler. But if you are willing to learn transfers, the Sapphire Preferred is the best on-ramp there is.

How it compares

If the Chase Sapphire Preferred® is not quite the right fit, these related cards are worth weighing against it:

Frequently asked questions

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