The verdict: the Sapphire Preferred is the rare premium-feeling card whose annual fee pays for itself with a single hotel booking, and whose real value is a protection package most $95 cards do not carry. It is not the highest earner in its price bracket, and if you never book hotels through Chase Travel the fee is a real $95. For most people taking two to four trips a year, it remains the default first travel card.
What changed in the June 2026 refresh
Chase overhauled this card on June 15, 2026. Reviews written before then are out of date on at least four points, so here is the before and after in one place.
| Before June 15, 2026 | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $95 | $95 |
| Chase Travel hotel credit | Up to $50 a year | Up to $100 a year |
| Gas and EV charging | 1x | 3x |
| Vacation homes booked direct (Airbnb, Vrbo and others) | 2x, as travel | 3x |
| Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS | Not included | Up to $120 every four years |
| Emergency evacuation and transportation | Not included | Up to $100,000 |
| World of Hyatt transfers | 1:1 | 4:3, 1,000 points become 750 |
| 10% anniversary points bonus | Yes | Discontinued |
What it costs, and what comes straight back
The annual fee is $95, and authorized users are free: worth noting because the Sapphire Reserve charges $195 each.
Against that fee sits up to $100 a year in statement credits for hotel stays booked through Chase Travel. Book one hotel that way and the card is effectively free. The condition is real, though: it has to be a Chase Travel booking, and portal prices are not always the lowest available, so compare before assuming the credit is pure profit. If you never book hotels through a portal, treat the fee as $95 and judge the card on everything below.
There is also up to $120 for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS every four years: genuine money, but claimed roughly once per renewal cycle rather than annually, so it should not be counted as an annual benefit.
What it earns
- 5x on travel booked through Chase Travel
- 5x on Lyft rides, through September 30, 2027
- 3x on dining, including takeout and eligible delivery
- 3x on gas and EV charging
- 3x on vacation rentals, select streaming services, and online grocery purchases, excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everything else
- No foreign transaction fee
The 3x list is the card’s quiet strength. Dining, gas, streaming and online groceries cover a large share of ordinary household spending, and very few $95 cards bonus all four. Note the grocery rate applies to online grocery purchases rather than the weekly trip through the supermarket checkout, a distinction that costs people more than they realize, and one we unpack in how merchant codes decide your rate.
Where it is weak: there is no category above 3x outside Chase’s own portal, so a heavy restaurant spender earns more on an Amex Gold at 4x, and someone whose spending falls outside every category earns more on a flat 2x card like the Capital One Venture.
The protections are the actual reason to hold it
This is the part that gets the least attention and does the most work. The Sapphire Preferred carries:
- Trip cancellation and interruption: up to $10,000 per traveler and $20,000 per trip
- Trip delay: up to $500 per traveler once a flight is delayed more than 12 hours or forces an overnight stay
- Baggage delay: up to $100 a day for five days when bags are more than six hours late
- Lost luggage: up to $3,000 per traveler
- Auto rental collision damage: primary cover up to $60,000 for theft and collision, except for New York residents renting in the US, where it is secondary
- Travel accident insurance: up to $500,000
- Emergency evacuation and transportation: up to $100,000 on trips 100 miles or more from home, added in June 2026
One delayed connection that forces an unplanned hotel night, a meal and a change of clothes can produce a claim larger than the annual fee. One canceled non-refundable trip can produce a claim many times larger. For anyone who books travel that cannot be refunded, this package is worth more than any realistic difference in points between this card and its rivals, and it is the single clearest reason to choose it over a no-annual-fee travel card like the Wells Fargo Autograph, which has cell phone protection and secondary rental car cover but no trip cancellation, delay or baggage insurance.
The limits, exclusions and claim deadlines are set out in the card’s guide to benefits. It is a document worth reading once before you need it rather than once you do.
The points, and the one redemption that matters
Ultimate Rewards points can be taken as cash at a cent each, spent through Chase Travel at up to 1.5 cents on selected bookings, or transferred to around fourteen airline and hotel partners, United, Southwest, JetBlue, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, Wyndham among them.
World of Hyatt is still the best partner, but it is worth less on this card than it was. Hyatt award rates are low enough that transfers have often returned two cents or more per Hyatt point. Since Chase’s June 2026 refresh, though, the Preferred transfers to Hyatt at 4:3, 1,000 Chase points become 750 Hyatt points, for new cardholders from June 15, 2026 and existing ones from October 1, 2026. That turns two cents per Hyatt point into about 1.5 cents per Chase point: still well ahead of the one cent you get as cash, but no longer double. The Sapphire Reserve keeps 1:1, which is one of the few concrete reasons to pay its fee if Hyatt is where you redeem.
The honest caveat: a point is worth what you can actually book. Award charts and availability change without notice, and if your realistic plan is to cash the points out at a cent each, the transfer argument does not apply to you, and a flat 2% cash back card with no annual fee may serve you better.
The welcome offer, and whether you can get it
Chase launched the June 2026 refresh with a limited-time offer of 100,000 points; in October 2026 the card page shows 75,000 points after $5,000 of spending in three months. Offers change several times a year, so check what is live rather than relying on any figure here.
Two eligibility rules matter more than the offer itself:
- Chase’s 5/24 guideline. If you have opened five or more credit cards that appear on your personal credit report in the past 24 months, from any issuer, you will most likely be declined regardless of your score. This is why the Sapphire Preferred is usually the first card people apply for rather than the fifth.
- The Sapphire bonus rule. Chase dropped its one-Sapphire rule in June 2025, so you can now hold the Preferred and the Reserve together. The bonus is now tied to each card: Chase’s terms say it may not be available if you have held the Preferred before, and Chase shows an eligibility notice before the hard inquiry if you do not qualify.
Both are covered in detail in our guide to credit card application rules, which is worth five minutes before you apply anywhere.
Do not chase the bonus with spending you would not otherwise do. $5,000 in three months is a real requirement, and buying things you do not need to reach it converts a good offer into a loss.
How we reviewed it
- Credits only if you would use them. The $100 hotel credit is counted only if you book a prepaid hotel through Chase Travel; otherwise we treat the fee as a full $95.
- Tested against the obvious alternatives at each price: a flat 2x card (Capital One Venture), 4x dining (Amex Gold) and a no-fee travel card (Wells Fargo Autograph), rather than in isolation.
- Points at realistic values: one cent as cash, up to 1.5 cents through Chase Travel, and Hyatt at the new 4:3 ratio rather than the old 1:1.
- Protections as covered or not covered. Limits and exclusions live in Chase’s guide to benefits, which you should read rather than rely on our paraphrase.
- Issuer terms only, checked against Chase’s June 15, 2026 announcement. Chase does not pay CardRankr, and we earn nothing if you apply.
Who it suits
It suits you if: you take two to four trips a year and some are non-refundable; you spend meaningfully on restaurants, gas and streaming; you will book at least one hotel through Chase Travel to use the $100 credit; you want transferable points rather than cash back; and you are under 5/24.
It does not suit you if: your spending is spread across categories nothing bonuses, the Capital One Venture’s flat 2x will beat it; you eat out heavily enough that the Amex Gold’s 4x on restaurants pulls ahead; you want cash rather than points; or you carry a balance, in which case the APR matters far more than any of this and a 0% APR card is the product to look at.
How it compares
Against the Sapphire Reserve ($795): the same transfer partners, except that the Reserve keeps Hyatt at 1:1, same 3x dining, same protections in kind. The Reserve adds lounges (the Preferred has no Priority Pass or Sapphire Lounge access) and a larger credit stack but pays 1x on gas, streaming and groceries where this card pays 3x, and charges $195 per authorized user. Unless you will use The Edit hotel credits and the lounges, the Preferred is the better value by a wide margin, see the full comparison.
Against the Capital One Venture ($95): a straight question of spending shape. Our head-to-head gives you a two-minute calculation that answers it definitively for your own budget.
Against the Amex Gold ($325): the Gold earns far more on restaurants and in-store groceries; the Preferred costs $230 less, carries stronger travel protections and is accepted everywhere. See Gold vs Sapphire Preferred.
If you already hold it and are unsure
At $95 with a $100 credit the math rarely argues for closing it, and the account is often someone’s oldest card. If you do want out, ask for a product change to a no-fee Chase card rather than canceling, it keeps your account age, your credit line and your points. We set out the whole process in how to cancel or downgrade without hurting your score.
Is it still worth the $95?
The Sapphire Preferred is not the highest-earning $95 travel card for every spending pattern, and it does not pretend to be. What it offers is a fee that cancels itself with one hotel booking, a 3x list that covers four everyday categories, free authorized users, a Hyatt transfer that, even at the new 4:3 ratio, beats cashing out by around half, and a genuine travel insurance package behind it all.
For someone taking a few non-refundable trips a year, that combination is still the most sensible first travel card in the US market. For someone who never books hotels through a portal and spends outside its categories, a flat 2x card is the better answer, and we would rather say so.
For the wider field see our best travel cards, international travel picks and premium card round-up.
Fees, earn rates, credits, welcome offers and protection terms above are published terms as of October 2026 and change without notice. Confirm the current terms with Chase before applying.
Where the figures come from
- Chase Sapphire Preferred: card terms and benefits — Chase
- Meet the new Chase Sapphire Preferred (June 15, 2026) — Chase newsroom
- How to use the $100 Chase Travel hotel credit — Chase
- Points Boost benefits guide — Chase Travel
- Credit card agreement database — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau