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Chase Sapphire Preferred Review

The backbone of Chase’s entire Ultimate Reward centered credit card program started a decade ago, in 2009, with the Chase Sapphire and Chase Sapphire Preferred. It set out to target the top 15% of all households, and the rest is history.

The program’s expansion to an entire portfolio means options have increasingly gotten richer and more valuable for cardholders since its debut. Fascinated with history? The original bonus on the Sapphire was 10k after first purchase, and the Sapphire Preferred offered 15k bonus points after making $1k in 3 months. Times have changed, and not only has the program gotten richer, so have the welcomes offers. I suggest you read our entire break down of the Chase system to give you better clarity

Not only is the Chase Sapphire Preferred in my wallet, but Chase just followed up an amazing offer with an all time high, record breaking, shoot for the moon off: 100k Ultimate Rewards after $4k spend in 3 months to new cardholders.

Even if you don’t make use of the transfer partners, this is $1250 in travel at your disposal. Seriously, I’m shook.

This is in addition to Peloton credits, DashPass, etc. A Peloton user…you’re money ahead in your first year. That’s not even counting the best ever 100k bonus points.

I mentioned that I personally carry a Chase Sapphire Preferred and highly recommend it for beginners and experts alike. It serves as a cornerstone card that gives you very solid benefits, but also one that you can build a Chase portfolio of cards around.  I often recommend pairing the Chase Sapphire Preferred with a Chase Freedom Flex or Chase Freedom Unlimited – read more below as to why pairing cards can earn you tons of points.

Let’s get into the other benefits and restrictions you should be aware so you can be best informed

What are the Chase Sapphire Preferred Benefits?

My entire Chase portfolio of cards started with this card, and even though I kept a Chase Sapphire Reserve for a little while, I opted to downgrade it back to a Chase Sapphire Preferred because it worked best for my situation.

• 100k points after $4k spend in 3 months
  • Worth $1250 in Chase Travel and way more if you maximize transfer partners
• 2x points on dining and travel
• Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
• Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
• $60 Peloton credit through 2021 – see details below
• Complimentary DashPass with Door Dash for 12 month – see details below
• No foreign transaction fees
• Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
  • Primary rental car coverage is my favorite
• Earn 2x on Grocery purchases, up to $1k a month, through 4/30/21

I used Chase Ultimate Rewards earned from my Chase Sapphire Preferred to fly Singapore Suites with my family on my Mom’s Around the World surprise birthday trip!

What are the transfer partners of the Chase Sapphire Preferred?

What kind of credit score do you need for Chase Sapphire Preferred?

It’s our opinion that you should be good to go as long as you’re over 720 – nothing is published on this though.

Is this the best offer?

This is the hand’s down the very best ever offer for the Chase Sapphire Preferred that we have seen publicly.  Aside from that possible offer…we have never seen a public 100k welcome offer – I’ve heard of some getting very, very targeted offers at this level, but I’ve never known anyone personally to get one.

The closest to this? Earlier this year we saw an 80k offer with a grocery credit.

What is the Annual fee of the Chase Sapphire Preferred?

The annual fee is $95 and is not waived for the first year.

How many points will I earn?

Currently, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is publicly offering 100k points after you spend $4k in the first 3 months of account opening. But you’ll also continue to earn 2x points on travel and dining.

What are the sign up rules for the Chase Sapphire Preferred?

5/24

• Almost all of Chase’s cards are a part of their 5/24 rule. This means that you can not sign up if you have opened more than 5 credit cards in the last 24 months.

1/48

• Specific to the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve, you can not receive a welcome bonus if you have received one on either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Only one Chase Sapphire Premium product

• If you currently hold a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve you cannot sign up for the card. Those who currently hold both can be grandfathered into holding both, but if you only have one, you’re restricted from another.

Interested in the Chase Sapphire Preferred?

Learn more

Should I get a Chase Sapphire Preferred or a Chase Sapphire Reserve?

Every situation is different and I’d recommend you read how we to decided to forego a Chase Sapphire Reserve for the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

I ultimately gave up my Chase Sapphire Reserve because it wasn’t worth the added cost since many of those “premium benefits” I get from other cards. If you hold a Chase Freedom Unlimited or Chase Freedom Flex, you can combine your points, and those cards earn 3x dining, 3x pharmacies, and 5x Chase Travel. Those match some of the category bonuses on Chase Sapphire Reserve except both of those cards carry no annual fee. I found it to make more sense for me to carry a Chase Sapphire Preferred + a Chase Freedom than it did to keep a Chase Sapphire Reserve.

What is Chase Sapphire Preferred Customer Service like?

You’ll enjoy a premium level of customer service on the phone at 1-800-493-3319 and I’ve typically gotten a rep on the phone in under 30 seconds.

Earn more points with Chase Refer a Friend – up to 75k a year!

Referrals are an incredible way to add to your Ultimate Rewards balance. Currently Chase offers 15k points per approved referral, up to 75k a year.

You can go here for our Chase Refer a Friend master thread

How does the $60 Peloton credit work

You go here to link your account and register it…voila you’re good to go

How do I get DashPass for a year?

You just need to add your Chase Sapphire Preferred to your account and activate the membership.

How to use Chase Sapphire Preferred in tandem with other Chase Products for max ‘earnage’

Chase allows you to transfer Ultimate Rewards between accounts. This is fantastic because Chase offers other credit cards that earn more points per dollar on certain categories, but often times those cards don’t earn Premium Ultimate Rewards.  You can then transfer them into your Chase Sapphire Preferred account, and voila, they are converted into Premium Ultimate Rewards which can then be transferred into partner programs. You can easily move them between household accounts as well!

If you had a Chase Freedom Flex or Chase Freedom Unlimited and a Chase Sapphire Preferred…

• 5x on all purchases with Chase Travel purchases via the Chase Freedom Flex or Chase Freedom Unlimited
• 5x on rotating category bonuses with Chase Freedom Flex
• 3x on dining via Chase Freedom Flex or Chase Freedom Unlimited
• 3x on pharmacy via Chase Freedom Flex or Chase Freedom Unlimited
• 2x on travel outside of Chase Travel with the Chase Sapphire Preferred
• 1.5x on every purchase with Chase Freedom Unlimited
• Primary Rental car coverage with Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Access to transfer partners with Chase Sapphire Preferred

When you pair two or three of these cards together you can see how your ability to earn points increases, but keeping the Chase Sapphire Preferred means you have access to the valuable transfer partners we so frequently write about.

What are some of the best uses of 80k Chase Ultimate Rewards?

Every person is different, and you need to establish your travel goals to fully flesh out what makes the most sense for you. My travel goals are to see as many places as I can, travel in the best possible way, and stay in the most luxurious places on the planet. This means I’m looking to maximize the value of every single point, and I hardly ever redeem through Chase’s own travel center, and instead, transfer to partners.

Interested in the Chase Sapphire Preferred?

Learn more

Check out Virgin’s new Upper Class aboard the A350.

We transferred Ultimate Rewards over and flew it for 47.5k points and $600

You can fly Air France Business Class for 60k

We did it for 55k earlier this year!

I booked a roundtrip Business Class ticket on Iberia using just 68k points. 

You can read our review here

Or transfer to Hyatt and stay in entry level to truly aspirational world class properties.

We used Hyatt points to stay in a wide array of properties, but none have been quite like the Alila Villas Uluwatu which we consider to be the best Hyatt in the world.

Recap

If you’re just getting into unlocking the potential of points and miles, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is an outstanding place to start. It earns great points, has a relatively low annual fee, and you can start to build more Chase cards around it to optimize and utilize their Ultimate Rewards program to its fullest potential.

If you’re a seasoned pro when it comes to points and miles, and you qualify for this offer, you’ll be enjoying the highest public welcome offer we’ve ever seen. Great time to strike.