Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Chase Freedom Unlimited: Sibling Cards That Make a Perfect Pair
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Written by
Joseph Hostetler
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Edited by
Emily Gadd
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Reviewed by
Jasmin Baron
Chase issues a host of heavy-hitting rewards credit cards. Two of the best Chase credit cards are the travel-focused Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the “cash back” standout Chase Freedom Unlimited®.
These cards come with different perks and earning rates — but they’re not as dissimilar as you may first think. Here’s a look at the Sapphire Preferred Card vs. Chase Freedom Unlimited to help you decide which is best for your situation. Spoiler alert: You may decide to open both.
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How the Cards Compare: Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Freedom Unlimited
Side By Side Comparison
Annual Fee
Purchase and Balance Transfer APR
Welcome Bonus
Ongoing Rewards
Pros & Cons
- Generous intro bonus
- Primary rental car coverage
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
PROS
- Lounge access or free checked bags are not available
- No intro APR for purchases or balance transfers
- Complicated rewards
CONS
- Higher than average base rate of 1.5%
- Elevated 3-5% cash back on select categories
- Valuable bonus opportunity
PROS
- No ability to transfer points to travel partners unless you have an eligible annual-fee Chase card
- Charges a foreign transaction fee
CONS
Learn More
Welcome Bonuses
Both credit cards come with generous welcome bonuses for their respective categories. Annual fee-incurring travel rewards credit cards tend to offer welcome bonuses with a potential value of $1,000+, while no-annual-fee cash back credit card bonuses tend to hover around $200.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Welcome Bonus
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card currently offers 75,000 bonus Chase Ultimate Rewards® points after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. Depending on how you use your rewards, you could get well over $1,000 in travel from those points.
Chase Freedom Unlimited Welcome Bonus
The Chase Freedom Unlimited currently offers a $200 bonus after spending $500 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. Interestingly, the Chase Freedom Unlimited doesn’t actually earn cash. Instead, it earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points — just like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card — but your redemption options are more limited (we’ll discuss a simple trick to unlock the full potential of these points in a minute).
CardCritics™ Opinion
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is the clear welcome bonus winner. Though its minimum spending requirement is considerably higher, it offers more than triple the value of the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
Earning Rewards
The Sapphire Preferred Card and Freedom Unlimited differ wildly when it comes to earning rates. As you’ll see, the more premium credit card isn’t always the better daily driver in terms of everyday spending.
How To Earn Rewards With Chase Sapphire Preferred
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card earns:
- 5 points per dollar on travel purchases through Chase Travel℠
- 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases
- 3 points per dollar on dining (including eligible delivery and takeout)
- 3 points per dollar for online grocery purchases (except for Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 3 points per dollar on select streaming services
- 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases
It’s worth noting that you’ll also get 10% bonus points for every dollar you spend on the card each year. For example, if you spend $10,000, you’ll receive 1,000 bonus points.
How To Earn Rewards With Chase Freedom Unlimited
The Chase Freedom Unlimited earns:
- 5% back on travel purchases through Chase Travel
- 3% back on dining at restaurants (including takeout and eligible delivery)
- 3% back at drugstores
- 1.5% back on all other eligible purchases
Perhaps the most notable return rate is the card’s base 1.5% earning rate — guaranteeing you’ll get a respectable return no matter what you’re buying.
CardCritics™ Opinion
The Chase Freedom Unlimited gets the slight edge here thanks to its minimum 1.5% return. That’s 50% better than the base rate you’ll get with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.
Redeeming Rewards
Again, both credit cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points. But the way you can redeem them varies.
How To Redeem Rewards With Chase Sapphire Preferred
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card gives you a variety of ways to powerfully use your points — and a couple of less-than-impressive options, too:
- Cash back: You can trade your Chase points for cash at a rate of 1 cent per point
- Purchase travel: You can buy travel through Chase Travel at a rate between 1 and 1.75 cents each, depending on what you’re booking
- Transfer to travel partners: Chase points transfer to over a dozen airline and hotel programs, including United MileagePlus, Southwest Rapid Rewards and World of Hyatt. This allows you to book extremely inexpensive award travel
- Redeem via Shop With Points: You can use your points at checkout to pay for your cart at participating websites. For example, your points are worth 0.8 cents each when used with Amazon.com
Transferring your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to travel partners gives you the biggest potential value for your rewards, sometimes resulting in a value of 2 cents (or more) per point. For example, I recently transferred 61,000 Chase points to Hyatt for a night in a junior suite at the Park Hyatt Milan — a room that routinely costs more than $2,000. That’s a value of 3.27 cents per point.
Meanwhile, the worst redemption option is through Shop With Points at sites like Amazon. The 0.8 cents per point is considerably worse than you’d receive for simply cashing them out at 1 cent each.
How To Redeem Rewards With Chase Freedom Unlimited
While the Chase Freedom Unlimited earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you can only redeem them for 1 cent each for cash or travel through Chase Travel.
However, if you also hold an annual fee-incurring Ultimate Rewards card (like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card or premium Chase Sapphire Reserve®), you can transfer the points you earn from one card to the other — similar to the way you transfer money from a savings account to a checking account.
By moving your points from the Freedom Unlimited to the Sapphire Preferred Card, you’ll be able to transfer your points to travel programs and buy travel through Chase Travel for up to 1.75 cents per point with Chase’s Points Boost feature.
CardCritics™ Opinion
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card allows for more versatile and valuable redemption options than the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
Card Benefits
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is more benefits-rich, as it’s a mid-range travel rewards credit card. The Chase Freedom Unlimited is a simpler no-annual-fee credit card.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Benefits
The best Chase Sapphire Preferred benefits include:
- Annual $50 hotel credit: Get up to $50 back as a statement credit toward prepaid hotels booked through Chase Travel each year
- Travel insurance: Automatically receive primary rental car insurance, trip delay insurance, baggage delay insurance and more when you pay for your travel with the card
- Purchase coverage: Receive purchase protection and extended warranty protection when buying eligible items with your card
- No foreign transaction fees: Swipe your card outside the US without extra charges
- DoorDash benefits: Get a complimentary DoorDash DashPass membership when you activate by Dec. 31, 2027
Chase Freedom Unlimited Benefits
The Chase Freedom Unlimited benefits include:
- Intro APR offer: Receive a 0% Intro APR on Purchases and Balance Transfers for 15 months, then 18.74% - 28.24% Variable APR
- Travel insurance: Get secondary rental car insurance and trip cancellation and interruption insurance when paying for travel with your card
- Purchase coverage: Receive purchase protection and extended warranty protection when buying eligible items with your card.
- DoorDash benefits: Get six months of DoorDash DashPass when you activate by Dec. 31, 2027.
CardCritics™ Opinion
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card comes with more valuable perks for those who travel even a few times each year. That said, the Chase Freedom Unlimited may be better for those looking to escape high-interest debt with its generous intro APR offer.
Fees and Costs
The Chase Freedom Unlimited and Sapphire Preferred Card are on different tiers — and each card’s fees accentuate this point.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Fees and Costs
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card charges a $95 annual fee. It also comes with standard fees and penalties, such as:
- 19.74% - 27.99% Variable APR
- Cash advance APR of 28.99%
- Balance transfer fee of either $5 or 5% of the transferred amount (whichever is greater)
- Late/return payment fees of up to $40
Chase Freedom Unlimited Fees and Costs
The Chase Freedom Unlimited is a no-annual-fee credit card. Still, it comes with the usual suspects, including:
- 0% Intro APR on Purchases and Balance Transfers for 15 months, then 18.74% - 28.24% Variable APR
- Cash advance APR of 28.99%
- Intro balance transfer fee of $5 or 3% of the transferred amount (whichever is greater)
- 3% foreign transaction fee
- Late/return payment fees of up to $40
CardCritics™ Opinion
The Chase Freedom Unlimited is considerably cheaper to keep than the Sapphire Preferred Card thanks to its lack of an annual fee.
How To Choose Between Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Chase Freedom Unlimited
When choosing between the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card vs. Chase Freedom Unlimited, answer one question: Do you take at least a handful of trips each year?
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is worth it only if you like to travel. You’ll need to utilize its travel benefits, such as its annual $50 Chase Travel hotel credit and top-notch travel insurance, to justify the $95 annual fee. And the Chase Freedom Unlimited is less-than-optimal for those who travel, as its travel insurance and other travel benefits are unmemorable.
In truth, both the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited have a place in the wallet of someone with travel aspirations. Using both cards can help you to receive the most rewards for your everyday spending, springboarding your next inexpensive trip.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions About Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Freedom Unlimited
Should I upgrade Chase Freedom Unlimited to Sapphire Preferred?
In general, you should not upgrade your Chase Freedom Unlimited to the Sapphire Preferred Card. That’s because you won’t earn a welcome bonus when upgrading. By upgrading to the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, you’ll forfeit your chance to earn the welcome offer.
Can I downgrade Chase Sapphire Preferred to Freedom Unlimited?
You can request to downgrade the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card to the Freedom Unlimited. This is helpful if you decide the Sapphire Preferred Card no longer suits your lifestyle and don’t want to keep paying the $95 annual fee. By downgrading your card, you can keep your account open and preserve your credit line and average age of accounts.
Why is Chase Sapphire Preferred better than Freedom Unlimited?
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card isn’t necessarily better than the Chase Freedom Unlimited. The answer as to which is better depends on your goals. That said, the Sapphire Preferred Card does come with more valuable benefits for travelers.
What is the Chase 5/24 rule?
The Chase 5/24 rule is an unwritten bank policy. If you’ve opened five or more credit cards from any bank (excluding most small business credit cards), you won’t be eligible for either the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card or Freedom Unlimited.
