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The Chase Sapphire Preferred

I’m a huge fan of Chase credit cards. Not only do they have excellent co-branded cards, but their bread and butter Chase Sapphire Preferred lives in my wallet. It’s currently advertising a 60k welcome offer after spending $4k in 3 months, but more than that, it’s been a card I’ve held longterm. Let’s take a quick look at the benefits and a few reasons why I think everyone should have one.

You can also read our full review

Straight to it: The 3 Reasons I love keeping the card in my wallet

1) No foreign Transaction fees

Anywhere in the world, you don’t have to worry about paying fees. For someone like myself, this is a great benefit, and means I can rest knowing anytime I swipe, I’m not paying some silly surcharge.

2) Primary Rental Car Coverage

A lot of credit cards come with secondary rental card coverage, the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers primary and that means I can select, no thank you, when it comes to paying those hefty Collision Damage Waivers. For someone who rents A LOT, that saves me wads of cash every year.

3) Access to Ultimate Rewards transfer partners ” Makes your points more valuable “

This is where you can make your travel dreams come true by accessing partner programs and redeeming for sweet spots. Ability to merge points from Chase “cash back” cards to convert into fully transferrable Ultimate Rewards

Bonus Reason: Chase refer-a-friend

Chase recently upped the total amount of points that you can earn by referring people to 75k in a year. That’s a massive amount of points and completely outweighs the annual fee just by sharing the love.

Bonus, bonus: 2x dining and $95 annual fee

While I put most of my dining on my Amex Gold because it earns 4x on dining, it also comes with a $250 annual fee. This card, guarantees 2x dining, but only assesses a $95 annual fee.

Don’t have one? Highest ever public offer

This is a great time to consider one. It comes with a great welcome offer of 60k Ultimate Rewards after $4k in purchases in 3 months

This is the best public offer we’ve seen on the card. If you’re eligible to get this card as a new cardmember and qualify for the bonus, there hasn’t been a better time to hop on it. The annual fee of $95 isn’t waived.

Who’s eligible?

Chase has some specific restrictions in place for Chase Sapphire cards, so let’s walk through them.

5/24

• If you’re opened more than 5 credit cards in the last 24 months Chase won’t approve you for this card
  • Make sure you check your credit report to see how many cards are listed

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• If you’ve received a sign up bonus for any Chase Sapphire card ( Preferred or Reserve ) in the past 48 months, you’ll be ineligible.

 Some examples of where to use Ultimate Rewards?

Transfer to United and fly their new Polaris business class.

30k A night for the Best Hyatt in the World ( ranked by me 🙂 ) Alila Villas Uluwatu

Transfer to British Airways and use points to upgrade. Buying cheap business out of Europe and points to first a great use. This is what it’s like:

 

Overall:

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers some really great benefits for a card that only costs $95 annually. It not only provides primary rental car coverage, which saves me a ton at the counter, but it also means I can merge points from my Freedom, Ink Cash, and Ink Unlimited that would otherwise only earn me cash back. It’s a fantastic way to increase the value of the points earned on those cards.

Every situation is different, but I ultimately decided to keep a Chase Sapphire Preferred en lieu of the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Do the math yourself, but the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a lot of bang for the buck, and is squarely positioned in my wallet.