9 Chase Sapphire Preferred Benefits That You Didn’t Know About

• Written by Jasmin Baron, CCC™
  

  Jasmin Baron, CCC™

  Credit Cards, Travel Rewards, Loyalty Programs, Family Travel, Credit Building, Credit Scores

  Jasmin Baron is a NACCC Certified Credit Counselor™ and CardCritics’ senior editor, responsible for editing and writing credit cards, travel rewards, loyalty program, and other credit-related content. She is passionate about personal finance education and enjoys sharing tips and tricks for making the most of credit card points and miles with her readers. Her expertise in maximizing credit card travel rewards originated from over two decades of aviation industry experience, including 18 years working as a pilot and college professor/flight instructor in her native Canada. Her work has appeared on sites such as CNN Underscored Money, Business Insider, The Points Guy, and point.me. When she’s not planning her next trip with credit card rewards, you’ll probably find her tinkering around in the kitchen, hanging out with her three kids, or playing with her dog, Benji.

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• Edited by Emily Gadd, CCC™
  

  Emily Gadd, CCC™

  Credit Cards, Personal Finance, Health and Wellness

  Emily Gadd is a NACCC Certified Credit Counselor™, editor and personal finance expert responsible for writing about personal finance and credit cards. She got her start writing and editing at Healthline. She is passionate about creating educational content that makes complex topics accessible. Emily holds a credit counselor certification, accredited by the National Association of Certified Credit Counselors (NACCC). She lives in Seattle with her husband and two cats.

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• Last Updated Jan 13, 2026

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the gold standard among the best travel credit cards on the market. It comes with a sky-high welcome bonus, earns valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, and offers numerous redemption options for maximum flexibility.

Beyond rewards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card stands out for its myriad benefits. From travel insurance to statement credits for eligible hotel bookings, its perks are appealing to beginners and experts alike. In fact, this is the first travel credit card I opened over a decade ago, and it’s still the card I recommend to friends and family just getting started with travel rewards. 

Let’s take a deeper look at Chase Sapphire Preferred benefits to help you decide if the card is worth it for you.

1. Welcome Bonus Worth $1,312 (or More) in Travel

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card offers one of the best credit card welcome bonuses available right now. New cardholders can earn 75,000 points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.

Those points are worth a cool $750 (1 cent per point) when redeemed for cash back or for standard bookings through Chase Travel℠. However, if you take advantage of Chase Travel’s Points Boost feature, which offers a return rate of up to 1.75 cents per point on select bookings, you could get a value of up to $1,312.

It’s possible to get even more value from your Chase points if you’re strategic. By transferring rewards to Chase’s airline and hotel partners to book award travel, you could get a considerably higher rate of return (more on that in a bit). 

Note that the welcome bonus isn’t available to those who currently have a personal Sapphire Card open (including the Chase Sapphire Reserve®), as well as those who’ve previously held or earned a welcome bonus from this card. You’ll also need to be mindful of Chase’s unofficial 5/24 rule, which prevents those who’ve opened five or more personal cards in the past 24 months from being approved for most Chase credit cards.

2. Elevated Earning Rates

The Sapphire Preferred Card earns bonus rewards in several useful categories, plus a base return rate of 1 point per dollar on other purchases. Here’s how it breaks down:

• 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel (excluding purchases that qualify for the card’s annual $50 hotel credit) 
• 3x points on dining (including takeout and eligible delivery services) 
• 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target®, Walmart® and wholesale clubs) 
• 3x points on select streaming services 
• 2x points on other eligible travel purchases 
• 1x points on other purchases

Using your card to make purchases in bonus categories can really accelerate your rewards earning. I normally use my Sapphire Preferred Card at restaurants, and on my family’s streaming subscriptions such as Netflix and Spotify, to earn 3x points on those expenses. I also often use the card to book rental cars and flights directly with airlines, since it offers excellent travel insurance and earns 2x points on travel purchases (excluding Chase Travel).

The list of what Chase considers travel is broad, too, and includes:

• Airlines
• Hotels
• Motels 
• Timeshares
• Car rental agencies
• Cruise lines 
• Travel agencies
• Discount travel sites
• Campgrounds 
• Passenger trains
• Buses
• Taxis
• Limousines 
• Ferries 
• Toll bridges and highways
• Parking lots and garages

3. Annual Hotel Credit

One perk that goes a long way toward justifying the $95 annual fee is the Sapphire Preferred Card’s annual hotel credit. You’ll receive up to $50 in statement credits for eligible hotel stays booked through Chase Travel each account anniversary year (measured from the date you opened the card).

I like that you can use this credit for just about any hotel, as long as it’s available through the Chase Travel platform. I typically use the credit for those inexpensive, one-off single-night stays that I wouldn’t otherwise redeem hotel points for. For example, I recently used my credit to book an airport hotel near Chicago O’Hare (ORD) after a late-arriving flight.

4. 10% Anniversary Bonus

Every account anniversary, you’ll receive a points bonus equal to 10% of the total purchases you made in the past year. For example, if you spent $20,000 on the card, you’d earn a bonus of 2,000 points.

That’s not an earth-shattering bonus, but for big spenders it could provide a nice boost.

5. Points Transfer to Partner Loyalty Programs

One of the main reasons I keep the Sapphire Preferred Card is the ability to transfer points to Chase’s airline and hotel partners. By doing this, I get outsized value from my rewards and can often book premium flights and luxury stays at a fraction of the cost.

Here’s the full list of Chase transfer partners (all transfers are at a 1:1 ratio with a minimum transfer amount of 1,000 points):

Airlines:

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Iberia Plus
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Southwest Rapid Rewards
• The British Airways Club
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotels:

• IHG One Rewards
• Marriott Bonvoy
• World of Hyatt

Over the years, I’ve gotten thousands of dollars in travel value by transferring points to Chase’s partners. For example, I’ve transferred points to Air Canada Aeroplan for flights to Asia, Southwest Rapid Rewards for domestic travel, British Airways for a trip to Ireland, and World of Hyatt for hotel stays around the world. The flexibility here can’t be beat; when I’m ready to book travel, I search for award availability in my desired program, and once it’s confirmed, I transfer points and lock in the reservation. Points usually transfer instantly.

One caveat: Points transfers are irreversible. Once you’ve transferred points to a partner, you can’t convert them back to Chase points. So don’t pull the trigger until you’re absolutely certain you’ll make an award booking.

6. Travel Insurance

There’s a good reason the Sapphire Preferred Card ranks highly on our list of the best credit cards with travel insurance. It provides the most comprehensive travel coverage of any card at its price point, rivaling that of premium competitors such as the Sapphire Reserve, Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card and American Express Platinum Card® (an advertising partner).

When you use the card to pay for travel, Chase Sapphire travel insurance can cover you in all kinds of situations. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect:

Type of Coverage	Description
Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance	Up to $10,000 per covered traveler and $20,000 per trip (maximum of $40,000 per 12-month period per account)
Trip Delay Insurance	Up to $500 per covered traveler per trip after a delay of more than 12 hours or overnight
Baggage Delay Insurance	Up to $100 per day for up to five days after bags are delayed at least six hours
Lost Luggage Reimbursement	Up to $3,000 per covered traveler per trip
Car Rental Insurance	Primary coverage up to $60,000
Travel Accident Insurance	Up to $500,000
Travel and Emergency Assistance Services	Complimentary

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card’s rental car insurance is particularly impressive because it’s primary coverage — meaning you don’t need to file a claim with your personal policy first. The vast majority of rewards credit cards come with secondary car rental insurance, which pays only for amounts not covered by your own auto policy (if you have one).

I’ve been reimbursed for necessities by Chase travel insurance when my luggage didn’t make it on a connecting flight, and for an overnight airport hotel stay when my flight was cancelled and rebooked for the next morning. While credit card travel insurance isn’t always adequate for expensive trips or unusual situations, it’s served me well and saved me a lot of money when things have gone wrong. 

7. Purchase Protections

When you use your Sapphire Preferred Card to pay for eligible items, your purchase can be covered should something go wrong:

• Purchase protection: Eligible items are covered against damage or theft within 120 days of purchase (90 days for New York residents), up to $500 per item.
• Extended warranty: This benefit extends the manufacturer’s warranty on eligible items by one year for items with a three-year or shorter warranty (up to four years from the purchase date).

8. Partner Perks

Chase advertises over $200 in annual value from limited-time partnerships. After enrollment, you can receive:

• Complimentary DoorDash DashPass membership: Activate by Dec. 31, 2027, to get $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees on eligible DoorDash and Caviar orders. DashPass normally costs $120 a year.
• DoorDash monthly promo credits: When you’ve activated DashPass, you’ll receive a $10 promo each month (up to $120 a year) toward eligible DoorDash grocery and retail orders.

In addition, the Sapphire Preferred Card earns 5x total points on Lyft rides through Sept. 30, 2027, and 5x total points on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases through Dec. 31, 2027. 

9. No Foreign Transaction Fees

Some credit cards tack on up to 3% in fees for purchases made outside the U.S. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, making it a great card for international travel.

Bottom Line

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is worth it not just for rewards but also for its lucrative benefits. Its welcome bonus alone is worth at least $750, and ongoing perks can put money back in your pocket.

If you’re looking for a versatile travel credit card with a manageable annual fee, the Sapphire Preferred Card checks all the boxes. You’d be hard-pressed to find a competing card that offers the same flexibility and benefits at the same price point.

You can find out more about how the Sapphire Preferred Card compares to other travel cards by reading these guides:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Chase Sapphire Preferred vs.Amex Platinum
• Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Capital One Venture X
• Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
• Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card
• Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Citi Strata Premier® Card (an advertising partner)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Chase Freedom Unlimited®

The information related to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® was collected by CardCritics™ and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this product/card. Product details may vary. Please see issuer website for current information. CardCritics™ does not receive a commission for this product.