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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Credit Card is a mid-level personal credit card from Chase, which allows you to accrue highly valuable Chase's Ultimate Rewards® Points for all your eligible spendings.
In this posting, I will describe major features of this personal credit card, and then will explain various ways you can redeem your hard earned Ultimate Rewards points.
1. Major Features
Sapphire Preferred® Credit Card has the following major features.
1) Welcome Bonus
After spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, you will earn 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points.
If redeemed for statement credits, 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points are valued at $600. But as explained below, you can use 60,000 Ultimate Rewards at a much higher value.
Plus, you will get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase TravelSM purchases within your first year. A statement credit will automatically be applied to your account when your card is used for purchases made through Chase TravelSM, up to a maximum accumulation of $300 within the first year of account opening.
2) $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit
When you use your card to purchase hotel accommodation through Chase Travel℠, you will earn a statement credit up to $50.
Two quick points here: This benefit is calculated per membership year, and the first $50 in Chase Travel℠ hotel purchases will not earn rewards points.
3) 3X or 2X on select categories
With Sapphire Preferred® card, you can earn 2 extra points (total 3 points per dollar spent) for your dining expenses, select streaming services and online groceries. In addition, for your travel purchases, you will earn 1 extra point (total 2 points per dollar spent).
Want to earn more points for your travel-related purchases?
When you purchase travel products through Chase Travel℠, you will earn 5x points (excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 Annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit.)
4) Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver: Primary
Many annual-fee carrying credit cards offer rental car protections when you use those credit cards, but you need to be mindful of the difference between primary coverage and secondary coverage.
Primary coverage here means that within your country of residence, this benefit will apply first in paying out covered theft or damage to your rental; in other words, there is no need to go through your own auto insurance company.
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2. How best use Chase Ultimate Rewards® points?
With Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you earn Ultimate Rewards® points, a highly versatile proprietary rewards program of Chase.
Ultimate Rewards® points have many uses.
To name a few,
1) Cash-equivalents
First, you can use them as if they are cash-equivalents.
For instance, you can get statement credit of $100 by redeeming 10,000 points. In this case, the point value is 1 point = 1 cent.
2) Chase Travel℠
If you want extract some more value from your hard earned Ultimate Rewards points, you can redeem them through Chase Travel℠ for airline tickets, hotel stays or car rentals. In these cases, your redemption value is 1 point = 1.25 cent, reflecting 25% bonus.
3) Transfer to partner airlines
Potentially, the best redemption value can be achieved when you transfer Ultimate Rewards points to partner airlines and then book premium class award tickets.
As of this writing (June 2024), you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points into airline miles for a total of 11 airlines: United, Air Canada, Air Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Flying Blue (Air France), Emirates, JetBlue, Singapore, Southwest and Virgin Atlantic.
Among these airlines, Virgin Atlantic, United, Southwest, and British Airways are relatively easier to use.
For example, Virgin Atlantic has an incredible award opportunity with All Nippon Airways. Likewise, Air Canada's Aeroplan is a great option for those traveling with children under 2 years of age.
4) Transfer to Hyatt points
While Ultimate Rewards points can also be transferred to Marriott Bonvoy and IHG at 1:1 ratio, only Hyatt points make financial sense.
For example, a night at Park Hyatt in Manhattan, New York, requires close to $1,000-$1,500 per night. But if you convert Ultimate Rewards points into Hyatt points, you can do it only with 40,000 points (regular season). In this case, your Ultimate Rewards points are valued as high as 2.5 cent per point.