Chase Sapphire Preferred Review

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The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has been one of the most dependable and valuable Chase card products on the market for well over a decade. The card offers lucrative bonus categories and flexible redemption options, all for a reasonably low annual fee, which is one of the reasons it remains so popular. 

However, in summer 2025, the card changed slightly, taking away its favored 1.25-cent point Chase Travel℠ redemption rate and replacing it with Points Boost, where certain airlines and hotel redemptions (mostly premium hotels and business class flights) can incur slightly higher values of up to 1.75 cents per point. However, all other Chase Travel redemptions have a value of 1 cent per point. Recently, Chase also ended its transfer partnership with Emirates Skywards.

Although these changes aren’t great news, you can still redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards points for high value if you transfer them to the bank’s remaining transfer partners. Despite the changes, we think the card remains well worth it — here’s why. 

The basics 

Chase Ultimate Reward points are a valuable currency, and you can earn a lot of them from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card’s generous welcome bonus and high bonus category rates, such as 5X on Chase Travel purchases and 3X on dining. 

It’s also easy to justify the $95 annual fee if you use the $100 Chase Travel hotel credit and sign up for the DoorDash benefits (a $120 value). If you spend a lot on travel and dining, you can easily earn a lot of points fast. 

The pros and cons

Like all credit cards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has its advantages and disadvantages:

Why we love the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

• Low annual fee: At just $95 per year, it’s easy to justify getting (and keeping) the card.

• Solid bonus categories: If you’re someone who spends a lot on travel and dining, this card makes it easy to earn points quickly, especially if you tend to book through Chase Travel.

• Flexible rewards: Transfer points to 13 different partners or use them to book travel in Chase Travel.

Things to consider with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

• Lacks travel and lifestyle benefits: This card doesn’t offer airport lounge access or elite status. It doesn’t offer any statement credits beyond the $100 annual hotel credit in Chase Travel.

• Must book in Chase Travel for maximum bonus points: To earn the most bonus points on travel, you’ll have to book travel in Chase Travel. General travel purchases only earn 2X points.

• Need a good to excellent credit score for approval: You likely won’t be approved for this card if you don’t have a high credit score, so beginners will need to start with another card.

Earning points with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Where you have the most potential to earn a lot of points is through Chase Travel bookings using your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card card. 5X points per dollar spent can add up quickly, and you’ll have a large stash of points in no time. If you can take advantage of the temporary 5X on categories like Peloton and Lyft, you can also add to your points balance. Likewise, if you tend to dine out frequently or order delivery, the 3X bonus on dining can help boost your balance of points.

That said, if you usually spend a lot on travel outside of Chase Travel and vacation homes, you’ll only earn 2X points per dollar spent, which feels a little low, especially considering cards like the Capital One Venture X offer 2X miles on all spend, or the Amex Green card, which has a reasonable, $150 annual fee and gives you 3X points on travel spend (American Express also has numerous 1:1 transfer partners).

Redeeming points with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card 

One of the best things about Chase Ultimate Rewards points is that they’re flexible. You can use them to book travel in Chase Travel, or transfer them at a 1:1 ratio to 13 different travel partners.

Redeeming in Chase Travel 

Chase Travel redemptions used to be more valuable, as you could redeem for 1.25 cents per point. If you can manage to redeem for airlines and hotels with Points Boost, you’ll come out on top, getting a value of up to 1.75 cents per point. However, for all other redemptions, you’ll get 1 cent per point. 

Transferring Chase Ultimate Reward points

You can get the most out of your Chase points by transferring them. Chase has 10 airline partners and 3 hotel partners you can transfer points to mostly at a 1:1 ratio.

These are the 13 Chase travel partners:

Airline Travel Partners

• Aer Lingus AerClub

• Air Canada Aeroplan

• British Airways Executive Club

• Flying Blue (Air France and KLM)

• Iberia Club

• JetBlue TrueBlue

• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards

• United MileagePlus

• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

 Hotel Travel Partners

• IHG® Rewards Club

• Marriott Bonvoy

• World of Hyatt (4:3 transfer ratio, unless you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business in which it's 1:1)

Some partners are more valuable than others, but you’ll almost always come out on top when transferring points. In most cases, you’ll get at least 2 cents per point, but we’ve had instances where we’ve transferred points and gotten a value as high as 14 cents per point. 

You can often get the most value by transferring Chase points to airline loyalty programs, such as Avios and Flying Blue, or hotel programs like World of Hyatt. And it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for transfer bonuses (20-30%), which means you’ll end up with more points. 

Before transferring to airlines, do some searches on point.me for airline awards to see which programs offer you the best deal.

Other redemptions

You can also redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for the following:

• Amazon purchases: 0.8 cents per point

• Statement credits: 1 cent per point

• Gift cards: 1 cent per point

However, we suggest aiming for a higher value for your points. After all, if you could get up to 14 cents per point by transferring them to an airline, getting 0,8 cents per point for Amazon purchases pales in comparison.

Who this card is great for 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the perfect card for spenders who want to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points without having to pay a hefty annual fee. If you don’t want to bother with a lot of statement credits and don’t need travel and lifestyle perks but still want to earn a lot of points and transfer them to airlines and hotels, this card could be ideal.

The card is most useful for those who plan to book through Chase Travel, because that’s where earning the 5X bonus points is possible. Likewise, if you tend to spend a lot on dining, food delivery, online groceries, and streaming, make sure to charge these purchases to your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Comparing the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card vs. Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® are both personal credit cards, but these two personal Sapphire products couldn’t be more different. The Preferred is a more basic card with a low annual fee and solid earning potential, while the Reserve is a premium card with a high annual fee and luxury perks. 

Basically, you’ll get a lot more with the Reserve, but you’ll also pay $700 more annually for these additional benefits.

Below, we’ll compare and contrast these two Chase Sapphire cards: 

Wrap up

Simply put, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is an easy choice if you want to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points but aren’t interested in all the bells and whistles of a high-annual-fee card. The card features decent earning and bonus rates, with many options for redeeming your points — and you’ll only pay $95 a year.

^{Advertiser Disclosure: Some links to credit cards and other products on this website will earn an affiliate commission. Compensation may affect how and where the cards appear on the site, and we do not include all card companies and all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses, and recommendations have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these affiliate entities. point.me has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. point.me and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. All information about American Express cards have been collected independently by point.me.}