Two of the best travel credit cards on the market just got a big boost to their already top-notch welcome bonuses. This update makes each offer potentially hundreds of dollars more valuable.
For a limited time, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® are offering 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. These Chase Sapphire credit card offers are strong, but you’ll need to look past the welcome bonus to decide if one of these cards is a good fit for your wallet.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Regular APR
21.49% – 28.49% Variable
On Chase Bank USA, NA’s Secure Website
Chase Sapphire Preferred bonus
The Chase Sapphire Preferred now offers 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s over $900 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠. This bonus is 15,000 points higher than this card’s previous offer of 60,000 points after meeting the same minimum spending requirement.
If you redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards® points for cash back, this increased bonus is worth $750. But you can get considerably more value from it if you’ve got travel aspirations (either through Chase Travel or by transferring rewards to Chase’s airline and hotel partners).
Chase Sapphire Preferred benefits and rewards
For a $95 annual fee, the Chase Sapphire Preferred’s benefits are above average. Its earning rates are especially useful for folks who spend a lot on travel and dining. You’ll earn:
- 5 points per dollar on most travel reserved through Chase Travel
- 2 points per dollar on other travel
- 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025
- 5 points per dollar on Peloton purchases over $150 on up to $5,000 in spending through March 31, 2025
- 3 points per dollar on dining
- 3 points per dollar on eligible streaming services
- 3 points per dollar on online grocery purchases (not including Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs)
- 1 point per dollar on other purchases
Card holders receive up to $50 each year to reimburse prepaid hotels booked through Chase Travel, which can offset more than half of the annual fee. The card also offers at least a year of DoorDash DashPass membership when you activate by Dec. 31, 2024, and six months of Instacart+ membership when you activate by July 31, 2024.
On top of that, the card has excellent travel insurance, including primary rental car insurance and trip cancellation/interruption coverage.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card
Regular APR
22.49%-29.49% Variable
On Chase Bank USA, NA’s Secure Website
Chase Sapphire Reserve bonus
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is also offering 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $1,125 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠. This card also typically offers a 60,000-point bonus — making this increased offer 15,000 points more valuable.
Similar to the Sapphire Preferred, you can cash out these points for $750. But you can receive a higher value when you redeem points for flights, airfare and more through Chase Travel or transfer points to airline and hotel partners.
Chase Sapphire Reserve benefits and rewards
The Chase Sapphire Reserve’s benefits are more potent than those offered by its less-premium sibling. But you’ll pay for them — the card charges a $550 annual fee. Its earning rates are significantly higher than the Sapphire Preferred ’s in some cases:
- 10 points per dollar on eligible hotels and car rentals booked through Chase Travel
- 5 points per dollar on eligible flights reserved through Chase Travel
- 3 points per dollar on other travel
- 10 points per dollar on eligible spending through Chase Dining
- 10 points per dollar on Peloton purchases over $150 on up to $5,000 in spending through March 31, 2025)
- 10 points per dollar on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025
- 3 points per dollar on dining
- 1 point per dollar on all other purchases.
The Sapphire Reserve’s annual fee is high, but can be worth it if you make the most of the card’s perks and don’t carry a balance.
For example, card holders receive up to $300 per year to reimburse eligible travel purchases (and a wide range of spending qualifies). Additionally, the card offers Chase Sapphire Lounge and Priority Pass airport lounge access, up to $100 every four years to reimburse the Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS application fee, and top-notch travel insurance.
If you can take advantage of the memberships the Sapphire Reserve includes, you could come out even further ahead. Card holders can enroll for at least a year of DoorDash DashPass membership (activation required by Dec. 31, 2024) plus a monthly $5 DoorDash statement credit through the end of the year.
The card also offers one year of Instacart+ membership (activation required by July 31, 2024), a monthly $15 Instacart credit through July 31, 2024, and two years of Lyft Pink All Access membership (activation required by Dec. 31, 2024).
Chase Sapphire Reserve vs. Preferred
Both of the Sapphire credit cards offer the same welcome bonus and collect strong rewards. The Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Reserve comparison largely comes down to ongoing perks and annual fees.
Who should get the Chase Sapphire Preferred?
If you’re a beginner in the world of travel points, the Sapphire Preferred is the ideal credit card. Its rewards are easy to use, and its benefits punch above its mid-tier travel card weight class.
The Sapphire Preferred is also good for those who don’t want to make an upfront investment in their travel in the form of a credit card annual fee. Its $95 fee is much more manageable than the Sapphire Reserve’s $550 fee. And though the Sapphire Reserve can be well worth the money, it can be hard to shell out that much cash upfront.
The Sapphire Preferred makes sense if you only travel occasionally. You’ll get perfectly reasonable travel insurance and a solid return rate on everyday purchases — but you likely won’t use the Sapphire Reserve’s valuable benefits often enough to justify its annual fee.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Regular APR
21.49% – 28.49% Variable
On Chase Bank USA, NA’s Secure Website
Who should get the Chase Sapphire Reserve?
If you book travel more often, the Sapphire Reserve is likely your better bet. The card’s up to $300 in yearly travel credits offset more than half of the annual fee. Access to over 1,300 airport lounges combined with unbeatable credit card travel insurance is worth considerably more than that for a frequent traveler who would otherwise pay for airport lounge access and other travel insurance.
Also, if you book travel through Chase Travel, whether with your card or points, the Sapphire Reserve is the clear winner. There are two reasons for this:
- You’ll receive a value of 1.5 cents per point when redeeming rewards through Chase Travel (0.25 cents better than what you’ll get with the Sapphire Preferred).
- You’ll earn 10 points per dollar on eligible hotel stays and car rentals booked through Chase Travel (5 points more than you’ll earn with the Sapphire Preferred).
These improved rates may sound incremental, but they can make a huge difference in your points balances each year.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card
Regular APR
22.49%-29.49% Variable
On Chase Bank USA, NA’s Secure Website
How to use Chase Sapphire points
Chase Ultimate Rewards points are some of the most versatile, easy-to-use and valuable travel rewards in existence. The program’s abundant redemption options make it virtually foolproof.
For example, here are some ways to use the Chase Sapphire 75,000-point bonus:
Transferring points to Chase travel partners will often get you the biggest value for your rewards. But it’s great to have other options, too.
Chase Sapphire application rules
Before you apply for a Chase Sapphire card, you should know about a couple of restrictions.
Chase will not typically approve you for a new card if you’ve opened five or more credit cards from any issuer in the last 24 months (with the exception of most business credit cards). This is known as the Chase 5/24 rule.
Additionally, you can only hold one Sapphire credit card at once. In other words, if you’ve already got a Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve, you can’t open either card until you close (or product change) your current card. You also won’t be approved if you’ve earned a Sapphire bonus in the past 48 months.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
To have the best chance at approval, you should aim to have a credit score of at least 670 (which FICO defines as good) when applying for the Sapphire Preferred or an excellent credit score (a FICO score of at least 740) for the Sapphire Reserve, though these scores certainly won’t guarantee approval.
You won’t receive a welcome bonus when upgrading the Chase Sapphire Preferred to the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Similarly, you won’t receive a bonus when downgrading the Sapphire Reserve to the Sapphire Preferred — though it’s not a bad move if you’re unwilling to pay the card’s $550 annual fee but still want to collect Chase points.
The ongoing benefits of the Sapphire Reserve are superior to those of the Sapphire Preferred. But the Sapphire Preferred comes with a significantly lower annual fee, meaning it may better suit your situation.
If you travel even a few times each year, the $550 Chase Sapphire Reserve annual fee can be worth it. With perks such as up to $300 in statement credits toward travel, valuable airport lounge access and top-tier Chase Sapphire travel insurance, it’s very possible to recoup the card’s price tag if you’re a frequent flyer.
Credit: Source link