If you’re looking for a quality travel credit card, here’s my Chase Sapphire Preferred review sharing my pros and cons and why it’s been my go-to card for years.
I want to start this review by saying, I’m just a normal person. I’m not an expert on credit cards, this isn’t sponsored and I’m truly just sharing a personal review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, one of the best travel credit cards on the market.
But as someone who loves travel, saving money and collecting rewards, this travel reward card has my name written all over it and I think you’ll love it as much as I do. It actually provides some killer travel rewards that I’ve utilized on past travels!
And I don’t know about you, but I love a good review from a good ole fashioned normal person. There’s something more trustworthy in my opinion about a review from a fellow human who’s on the same level as me (aka not an expert).
I’ve been asked quite a bit about how I make travel happen so often and how I save money for travel, and honestly, this credit card helps immensely! It has zero foreign transaction fees, which makes spending money abroad even cheaper. But anyway…let’s get into this personal review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card.
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Learn more about signing up for a Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.
Other Chase Sapphire Preferred Reviews
If you’d like even more reason to choose this beloved travel credit card, here are two reviews by trusted financial publications.
Nerdwallet rating: 5/5 stars
Nerdwallet pros: New cardholder bonus offer, bonus categories & primary rental car coverage
Nerdwallet cons: Has annual fee, requires good/excellent credit & complicated rewards
Forbes rating: 4.6/5
Forbes pros: Earn high rewards on several areas of spending & transfer points to travel partners at 1:1 rate
Forbes cons: Annual fee, no intro APR offer, & best travel earning rates are only for bookings through Chase
10 Pros of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
1. A 60,000 point opening bonus.
I think this is one of the biggest opening bonuses on the market for travel rewards credit cards! However, you must spend $4,000 in the first three months after opening this card to get the 60,000 points (equivalent to $600 cashback) bonus. Make sure when you open the card you’re set to spend enough money – this is a hefty threshold to meet.
2. Get 25% more when booking with Chase.
When you use your points to book airfare, car rentals or hotels through Chase’s travel portal, you get an additional 25% value from your points. So your 60,000 points is worth $750 on Chase’s travel portal. A pretty cool perk, in theory.
While I honestly don’t think this is the best way to use your points – the Chase travel portal is often overpriced compared to other options – it has come in clutch for me before. I usually just check it as an option when booking travel to see if it’ll save me money.
3. $0 annual fee the first year.
As with most major rewards credit cards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred has an annual fee of $95. They waive the fee for your first year though which is great.
4. 2X points on travel and dining purchases and 1X points on every other dollar spent.
Obviously the way a card lets you earn points is one of the most important features of the card, and Chase doesn’t disappoint. As a travel card, it only makes sense that they reward double points on all travel purchases such as transportation, airfare, hotels, car rentals, gas, etc.
5. Zero Foreign Transaction Fees.
As mentioned above, the zero foreign transaction fees come in clutch for me when making purchases abroad, especially since travel-related expenses are often big. Avoiding an additional fee of the usual 3% is something that I love about this card. Especially as a cheap, budget traveler! Every dollar counts am I right?
6. Purchase and Travel Insurance.
Another thing I love about this credit card is that most of your purchases come with insurance. There are stipulations and regulations, as always, but the card comes with travel and purchase protection that covers; baggage delay, trip cancellation/interruption, travel and emergency services, travel and emergency assistance, auto rental collision damage waiver, extended warranty protection.
One less thing to worry about while abroad. Now I must say I’ve never personally had to file a claim with this credit card (thank goodness) so I’m not sure how good of service they actually provide in this area, but it seems like a pretty good deal on the surface.
7. Extra ways to earn points.
Not everyone travels every part of the year, so for people looking for a good travel rewards card that rewards for more than just travel, on the surface the 2x points for travel and dining and 1x for everything else may not sound ideal. The cool thing about this card is that they have monthly offers and shop with Chase deals that award purchases with additional multipliers of points.
On their online portal, there’s a shop with chase function where they’ve partnered with other companies and stores. For example, American Eagle often has a multiplier of 2x or 3x points when making a purchasing through Chase. Some even have as high as 8x! You have to remember to click through the Chase shopping portal however to actually get the points – the only downfall.
8. Refer Your Friends and Earn Points.
For every friend you refer and is successfully approved to own a Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card, you earn an additional 15,000 points for a max of 75,000 points in a year. That’s a value of $150 per referral or $750 annually!
You can actually apply via my personal referral link here if you are so inclined! At no additional cost to you, I earn 15k points. I really appreciate your support <3
9. 1:1 Transfer of Points to Other Mile Reward Accounts.
Unlike many other rewards programs, Chase is one of the only that allows you to do a direct 1:1 transfer of your points to other eligible miles programs! Consolidate your rewards at Chase with say, United, Southwest, British Airways, JetBlue and more! Your miles go much further and have so much more freedom with this one key feature.
10. See Your Credit Score.
When you open a credit card account with Chase, the online portal shows you your TransUnion credit score! A great way to keep tabs on your credit and to keep you on track to spend responsibly.
4 Cons of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
1. $95 Annual Fee.
For how amazing the perks of this credit card are, I must say that it’s only truly worth it if you intend on spending (in theory by the 1x point standard) at least $9,500 in the annual year to make the fee worth it. That, or spending in a way to get your money’s worth so at the very least 95,000 points.
If you’re a super budget traveler, any card with an annual fee may not be in your best interest.
2. Must spend $4,000 in 3 months to get the bonus.
The amount of money you have to spend in order to get the bonus is pretty high if you’re living a budget lifestyle. I recommend saving applying for this card for when you have big purchases on the horizon. Like flight tickets, vacation plans, etc.
It’s such a waste to open this card and to miss out on the 60,000 bonus!
3. Must have a very good credit score to be approved.
The Sapphire Preferred is a bit of a choosey card. If you wish to apply, you’ll only be accepted if you have a substantially good credit score and credit history as well as a source of income. When I applied for this card, my score was over 700 and I was working professionally.
4. It’s a credit card.
As much as I love a good travel rewards card, there’s nothing I love more than financial responsibility. Credit cards can create the temptation to overspend, something that’s especially easy to do when travel is involved.
Be sure to only open this travel rewards credit card if you can pay off the balance every month. The only debt we want to have in this world is student loans…. ha ha ha. JUST KIDDING. But we definitely don’t want any more debt than that.
Does my personal review of Chase Sapphire Preferred entice you? Help a sister out and sign up via my referral link! At no additional cost to you, I’ll earn a 15,000 point reward when you apply here.
