100,000 Points, Hyatt Suites, Real Travel Protections: 13 Reasons This $95 Travel Card Is Worth It Right Now

by Gary Leff

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I’ve been a big fan of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. It’s the OG. And right now there’s a lot of attention on it because Chase has come out with an historic bonus offer. There’s no question that the card is worth getting now. But what are the points worth, and what else should you know about the card?

Here are my 13 favorite things about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

  1. One of the best bonuses, ever. The initial bonus offer is currently 100,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. I took advantage of this myself in July 2021 and I’m betting it won’t be still available when I become eligible again in early fall.


    Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 First Class

  2. Great points transfer partners. Chase points transfer 1:1 to these 13 airline and hotel loyalty programs:

    • Star Alliance: United MileagePlus, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Air Canada Aeroplan
    • oneworld: British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus
    • SkyTeam: Air France KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
    • Non-alliance: Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards, Aer Lingus AerClub, Emirates Skywards
    • Hotels: World of Hyatt, Marriott Bonvoy, IHG One Rewards


    Air France A350 Business Class

    Chase is unique among banks in transferring to United and to Hyatt. Many cardmembers find Hyatt an especially valuable transfer partner, because a single Hyatt point is worth far more than a single Hilton or Marriott point (and points transfers in most programs tend to be 1:1).

    Points transfer to Hyatt which gives you access to high-end hotel redemptions, reasonably-priced suite awards, and room upgrades with points. Hyatt lets you redeem ~ 60% more points than a standard room for a suite on a free night. And Hyatt lets you spend 6000 points per night on a qualifying paid rate stay to upgrade to a suite — at booking. And that 6000 point price is the same regardless of the price level of a hotel. For additional points you can even book a premium suite.


    Park Hyatt St. Kitts

  3. Redeem at 1.25 cents apiece through the Chase travel portal You can use the points to pay directly for travel through Chase’s portal, with each point worth 1.25 cents (so more than the ‘standard’ 1 cent per point). You don’t need to worry about award availability, just book the flights or hotels that you want.

  4. Strong points-earning The card earns 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases.

  5. Annual 10% points bonus Points-earning is even better because you earn an additional 1 point per 10 dollars spent on the card each anniversary year, so you’re really earning 3.1 points per dollar on dining for instance.

  6. $50 hotel credit with no minimum spend It comes with a $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit. If you were to book a $50 hotel in Southeast Asia, you’d still get the $50 back.

  7. Ultimate Rewards Mall Additional points for your online shopping through access to the Chase Ultimate Rewards mall, a points-earning shopping portal that often has some of the most lucrative opportunities to earn extra points for the online purchases you’d make anyway.

  8. Purchase Protection If you buy something and the merchant won’t take it back and it’s within 120 days of your purchase, you can file a claim instead up to $500.

    When I dropped my Android phone on the sidewalk two months after I bought it, I smashed the glass screen — and I wound up with a check for $314.99.

    If a manufacturer’s warranty lasts a year, they’ll cover a second year. If it lasts two years, they’ll cover a third year. So if your stuff breaks don’t just throw it away, call Chase and get the ball rolling on their provider sending you a check.

  9. Baggage Delay Coverage If your checked bags are delayed more than 6 hours they’ll reimburse you for things like toiletries and clothing you need to buy, up to $100 a day for 5 days (or until your bags are delivered, if less). And if your checked or carry-on bags are damaged or lost permanently, they extend coverage up to $3,000 per passenger.

  10. Primary Rental Collision Coverage If you rent a car with this card you don’t just earn double points (for travel) but get extra protection. Most premium cards offer secondary collision coverage, they pay what your insurance doesn’t (which usually means they cover your deductible). With Sapphire Preferred’s primary coverage, rental a qualifying vehicle and charge it to the card and your insurance company may not even need to know…

  11. Trip Delay Coverage Buy airline tickets with the card and if you’re delayed 12 hours or overnight you can get reimbursed for hotel costs and meals. You must be on a round trip ticket (trip not to exceed a year) and have charged at least a portion of your ticket to the card. The $500 benefit applies to each spouse or eligible dependent that’s delayed whose ticket you charged to the card and is subject to the program’s terms.

  12. Complimentary DoorDash DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.

  13. Works as your Chase ‘hub’ if you have other no annual fee cards like Chase Freedom Unlimited® – which earns 3x on drugstore purchases and dining and 1.5x on all other purchases – you can transfer those points into a Sapphire Preferred account and they become more valuable, and transferable.

The Sapphire Preferred card was probably the first card I was first really excited to use, not just get approved for and earn a bonus with. Sure I used to use the Starwood Amex for my unbonused spend back in the day, but when this bad boy first came in the mail I was excited to pull it out at a restaurant for the first time and earn double points.

I started racking up points more quickly, since I was earning two points per dollar on all travel and dining back then – the categories I spent the most on. And these were points that could transfer to different airlines and hotels.

Chase’s points are among the most valuable. This 100,000 point offer is huge. . And the spending requirement to earn them is fairly modest. It matches the best offer we’ve ever seen. I’d consider jumping on this opportunity to apply. Meanwhile, the card’s annual fee is still just $95 and it earns triple points on dining which is great, too.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Editorial note: any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Comments made in response to this post are not provided or commissioned nor have they been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any bank. It is not the responsibility of advertisers Citibank, Chase, American Express, Barclays, Capital One or any other advertiser to ensure that questions are answered, either. Terms and limitations apply to all offers.

Comments

  2. Concur about this being the best card especially with Chase ink card.

    I think it may be even be better with respect to trip delay- I didn’t think a round trip ticket is needed- and my read of the detailed benefits guide didn’t mention it.

  4. @M — No. You can’t have CSP and CSR at the same time, only one card in that ‘family’ at a time. So, if you really want to, you could close your CSR (or better yet, downgrade it to a no-fee Freedom or Unlimited, if you don’t already have one of those), then open CSP with the sign-up bonus. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

  5. @1990, you are correct. I tried applying for CSR (I have CSP), figuring it might not work. It didn’t, for exactly the reason you suggest. I am not interested in the whole downgrade shuffle, so no dice here. And P2 already as CSR and not interested in the shuffle. I would have taken an additional card, spent $5K and then cancelled as that’s easy. The rest is more work than I want to do, even for that nice a payoff.

    Cheers.

  6. @brp — Sometimes it’s worth it–these banks rely on our complacency to make and save money on their end. For about a decade now, I’ve successfully ‘cycled through’ (others might call it ‘churn’) several CSPs and CSRs, mostly for the higher-end bonuses (100K on the CSP is really good). Around 2018, when Chase implemented the ’48-month rule’ that slowed things down a bit, but at least they still ‘allow’ us to ‘cycle through,’ even if it takes longer, unlike Amex with it’s ‘once-per-lifetime’ rule on nearly all of its bonuses. Of course, all this is subject to change, and it’s still ‘playing by the rules,’ even if some think of it to be ‘naughty,’ or something. Like, no, fellas, get your bonuses, keep the cards for at least 12-months, then do whatever you wish.

  7. @1990 – Oh, I can definitely see the value in this. It’s just not worth the effort for me. I track a lot of things for travel and status. Card churning, though, is just not something I’m interested in. But I do get it.

    Cheers.

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