Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card review: The best travel rewards card for less than $100

If you're looking for a new travel card and need a nudge, the Sapphire Preferred card’s welcome offer will definitely sweeten the deal for the first year. But its value can extend into the second year and beyond, assuming you fully utilize the card's perks. Here's how much you can earn if you spend $22,500 annually, with $6,000 of that being spent in the card's 5X categories, 8,000 being spent in the card's 3X categories and $8,500 being spent on miscellaneous purchases.

The Sapphire Preferred is hard to beat if you’re looking for a cost-effective travel card. Its travel perks, annual credits and bonus points are impressive for a card in its class and can easily justify the annual fee. Perhaps even more appealing is the diverse selection of bonus categories and redemption options, plus the high travel partner redemption values that can fuel your next trip.

Welcome offer: Solid earnings to kick-start your travels

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred's current welcome offer, new cardholders can earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. According to Bankrate's valuations, those points can be worth around $1,500, based on a value of about 2.0 cents per point on average (when transferred to the right travel partners).

When I got the Sapphire Preferred, I received this standard welcome offer and was able to get plenty out of it — one hotel night in Zurich, Switzerland, a week-long rental car in Poland and three plane tickets in total (one round-trip and two one-way). Could I have waited for a better offer? Maybe, but I really wanted this card for my international trip. However, recent limited-time offers have shown that sometimes waiting can be worth it.

Rewards: Outstanding travel value

The Sapphire Preferred card’s rewards program is a powerhouse, offering impressive rewards rates in more travel-related categories than many competing cards. 

When I was looking for my first general travel rewards card, I looked at a few others — mainly from Citi and Capital One — but ultimately settled on the Sapphire Preferred because of its dining and online grocery categories. That’s where I use the card the most. I always pull it out for my Starbucks orders, date nights and weekend lunches to get 3X points.

But where I get the most value in earning rewards is with its online grocery categories — a huge part of my spending. Not only does this include Instacart orders, but also online Kroger, Meijer and Aldi pickup and delivery orders (Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs are excluded). If I don’t have time to hit the grocery store, I can put in a Kroger delivery order and usually have my groceries show up the next day while earning 3X points.

You can also pool points from other Ultimate Rewards and cash back cards, giving the same boost to all your Chase cards. Chase features an impressive list of 1:1 airline and hotel transfer partners, raising the value from 1 cent through the Chase Travel portal to about 2.0 cents per point on average with a high-value transfer partner, according to our most recent valuation. Only a few cards — including the Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card — give you the ability to transfer your points in this way.

Perks: High-caliber benefits for its card tier

In addition to its stand-out rewards, the Sapphire Preferred’s benefits include perks that provide excellent value for its annual fee. For example, its stellar travel insurance matches the coverage offered by premium travel cards with higher annual fees.

You’ll get up to $50 in statement credits each year for hotel stays you purchase through Chase Travel. You’ll also get a 10 percent anniversary point bonus. For example, I spent around $32,000 on my card in 2024, earning me an extra 3,286 points.

The Sapphire Preferred is an excellent travel rewards card, but it may not be right for you if you’re wary of annual fees or looking for a balance transfer offer.

Rates and fees: Annual fee may discourage newcomers

The Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee, which may appear intimidating if you only travel occasionally and are looking for your first travel card. However, this price tag is low compared to the perks and rewards the card offers. Before picking up the Sapphire Preferred, I already held a co-branded airline card with a $99 annual fee, so it was easier for me to stomach $95 — especially when I considered the card's point values and perks.

The annual account anniversary bonus points and credits can potentially offset the annual fee alone, but the fee also isn’t too difficult to offset through your standard rewards spending. Keep in mind that this level of rewards and perks value can be difficult to find among no-annual-fee travel cards. No-annual-fee competitors also typically have lower rewards rates than the Preferred card and no yearly credits or notable travel perks.

The card's other rates and fees are typical for travel cards — there are no foreign transaction fees to worry about while you’re abroad, and the ongoing APR is only slightly higher than the average current credit card interest rate.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a favorite among Bankrate staff. Here’s why:

The Chase trifecta is your best pairing option because of the cards’ complementary rewards categories and the ability to pool your earned rewards into one account.

Just keep Chase’s 5/24 rule in mind as you search for cards to pair with the Sapphire Preferred: You may not be eligible to open a Chase credit card if you’ve already opened five or more credit cards (no matter the issuer) in the past 24 months.

If you’re looking for a travel card that goes beyond mid-tier perks, consider one of these luxury cards:

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

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Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card

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