Chase Sapphire Preferred

Chase's Starter Travel Card

Annual Fee $95

Earning Rate 5x travel through Chase Travel • 3x dining worldwide • 3x gas & EV charging • 3x vacation homes (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.) • 3x online grocery • 3x select streaming services • 2x all other travel • 5x Lyft rides through 9/30/27 • 5x eligible Peloton purchases over $150 through 12/31/27 • 1x everything else

Welcome Bonus Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.*

Card Material Metal card

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Practical Recommendation

The Sapphire Preferred is Chase's approachable travel card that hits the sweet spot between earning power and manageable complexity. Chase refreshed it in June 2026 and, unusually, left the fee at $95 while adding real value: the hotel credit doubled to $100, and a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit got tacked on. The $100 credit alone covers the fee if you book one prepaid hotel a year, and the 3x categories now cover gas, EV charging, and vacation rentals on top of dining and online grocery.

Day-to-day: Put dining, gas, EV charging, online grocery, and Airbnb/Vrbo stays on this card for 3x points. Book travel through Chase Travel when convenient for 5x points, or transfer to partners when award seats make sense. Use the portal's boosted redemptions (Points Boost, up to 1.75x on some bookings) when transfers don't beat cash prices. Set a calendar reminder to book one prepaid hotel through Chase Travel each year to trigger the $100 credit—it's free money if you travel even occasionally.

Caveats: Chase giveth and Chase taketh away. The 10% anniversary points bonus is gone for anyone who applied on or after June 15, 2026, and Hyatt transfers dropped from 1:1 to 4:3 (1,000 Chase points now buys 750 Hyatt points), which was the single best use of these points for a lot of people. There's still no lounge access, the 3x grocery only works for online orders, and Chase Travel can be pricier than booking direct—especially for hotels where you'd otherwise earn elite benefits. Always do the math.

Best pairing: This card works well as a standalone travel setup, but if you want to maximize the Chase ecosystem, add a Chase Freedom Flex or Freedom Unlimited for rotating 5x categories or flat 1.5x earning. All points pool together, giving you more flexibility for transfers and redemptions without stepping up to the Reserve's $795 fee.

Credits

Practical Advice

This is what makes or breaks a card for you. If you can use these credits in your normal spend, the perks and protections are all bonus for you. We have a calculator at the bottom of this section to help you calculate that. Below we break down exactly what every credit is to show you if it's easy or if they're going to make you jump through 17 hoops to redeem it.

$100 Hotel Credit (each account year) – Doubled from $50 in the June 2026 refresh. Automatically reduces the cost of prepaid hotel bookings made through Chase Travel (taxes and fees count). Easy win if you book one hotel stay a year in the portal; $0 value if you never use the portal.
Global Entry / TSA PreCheck / NEXUS Credit – New in 2026: up to $120 every four years when you pay an application fee with the card. Works for someone else's application too. Roughly $30/year if you amortize it.

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Credit

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Your Value

Practical Tip

You can edit the amounts in the number fields if you value a credit at less than the full value. For example, if you only use a $100 hotel credit half the years, you might value it at $50 instead of $100.

$100 Hotel Credit

What It Is:	$100 statement credit each account anniversary year for prepaid hotel purchases made through Chase Travel (taxes and fees eligible). Doubled from $50 in June 2026.
How It Works:	Pay with your card in the Chase Travel portal; the credit auto-applies against eligible prepaid hotel charges.
Gotchas:	Portal-only, prepaid only; if you always book direct or with points, you may not use it. Existing cardholders who already used the old $50 credit this anniversary year only get the extra $50, not a fresh $100.
Who Actually Benefits:	Anyone who books at least one prepaid hotel night through Chase Travel each year.
Practical Value:	Very easy $100 if you use the portal annually—that's the whole annual fee. Otherwise $0.

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Global Entry / TSA PreCheck / NEXUS

What It Is:	Statement credit of up to $120 every four years when you pay a Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS application fee with the card. New to this card in June 2026.
How It Works:	Pay the application fee with your Sapphire Preferred and the credit posts after the charge. You can use it on someone else's application.
Gotchas:	Once every four years, not annual, so amortized it's about $30/year. Approval is up to the government, not Chase. Useless if another card already covered your application.
Who Actually Benefits:	Anyone due for a new or renewing PreCheck/Global Entry membership.
Practical Value:	About $30/year averaged out; $0 if you're already enrolled and not due to renew.

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Your Value:

Annual Fee: $95

Your Credits: $0

YOUR Annual Fee: $95

Your credits reduce the annual fee. Any perks, protections, or earning rates you use are essentially free value on top.

Perks

3x Everyday Categories – 3x dining worldwide, 3x gas and EV charging (new in June 2026), 3x vacation homes at Airbnb, Vrbo, Vacasa and similar (also new), 3x online grocery (excluding big-box and wholesale clubs), and 3x on select streaming services. Solid return on real-life spending.
Elevated Earn in Portal – 5x on flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and activities booked through Chase Travel helps points pile up quickly when you like keeping it simple.
Lyft & Peloton Earn Bonuses – 5x on Lyft rides through September 30, 2027, and 5x on eligible Peloton purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Apple TV (1 year) – One complimentary year of Apple TV if you activate by December 31, 2026. Real money if you'd pay for it anyway; $0 if you're on someone's family plan.
Boosted Portal Redemptions (Points Boost) – When you book through Chase Travel, your points get a built-in boost on select flights and hotels (up to about 1.75¢ per point on some bookings). It's a straightforward way to beat the 1¢ baseline without award-chart homework. Terms vary by category and property.
Transfer to Airline & Hotel Partners – Move points to major programs for potentially better value (United, Southwest, JetBlue, Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways Avios, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, and more). Most partners are still 1:1, but World of Hyatt is now 4:3—1,000 Chase points gets you 750 Hyatt points, which meaningfully dents what used to be the best transfer on this card.
DoorDash DashPass (1 year) – Twelve months of complimentary DashPass when you activate by 12/31/2027, plus up to $10 off each month on non-restaurant orders (value comes via DoorDash, not a Chase statement credit). Handy if you already use delivery.
No Foreign Transaction Fees – Use the card abroad without the ~3% penalty many cards charge.
Gone as of 2026: the 10% anniversary points bonus – Chase killed it for anyone applying on or after June 15, 2026, and for existing cardholders effective October 1, 2026. If you were counting on 1,000 bonus points per $10,000 spent, stop.

Protections

Trip Cancellation / Interruption – Reimburses non-refundable expenses (like flights and hotels) if your trip is canceled or cut short for covered reasons, up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip. Think illness, severe weather, and more.
Trip Delay – If your common-carrier trip is delayed 12+ hours (or requires an overnight stay), get up to $500 per ticket for meals and hotels. Keep your receipts.
Baggage Delay – If bags are delayed 6+ hours, get up to $100 per day (max 5 days) for essentials like clothing/toiletries.
Lost / Damaged Luggage – Coverage up to $3,000 per passenger if your checked or carry-on luggage is lost or damaged by the carrier (sub-limits apply for certain items).
Rental Car Insurance (Primary CDW) – Decline the rental agency's collision coverage and pay with your card to get primary coverage for theft and collision damage (most rentals, up to $60,000 in the U.S.); great peace of mind on road trips.
Emergency Evacuation & Transportation – Up to $100,000 for medical evacuation and transportation if you're seriously hurt or ill 100+ miles from home. Chase added this in the 2026 refresh and it's the kind of coverage you'd otherwise buy travel insurance for.
Travel Accident Insurance – Accidental death or dismemberment coverage up to $500,000 when traveling by common carrier. Hope to never need it, but it's there.
Purchase Protection – New purchases covered for 120 days against damage or theft, up to $500 per claim; helpful for phones, gadgets, and small appliances.
Extended Warranty – Adds 1 extra year on eligible U.S. manufacturer warranties of 3 years or less; good for electronics that always seem to fail at month 13.