What's the Chase Sapphire Preferred APR?

Chase Sapphire Preferred is worth the $95 annual fee, which takes effect the second year, as long as you spend at least $1,334 per month. That will enable you to qualify for the card’s initial rewards bonus, which will cover the cost of many years’ annual fees.

You get 50,000 points when you spend $4,000 during the first 3 months after you open your account. That’s a value of $625 when you redeem for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. (Points are worth 1 cent each, plus Chase Ultimate Rewards gives you an extra 25% redemption value.) $625 pays for over 7 years of annual fees (since the first year is free). … read full answer

The third type of bonus you can get is from referrals. You earn 10,000 points for every person who signs up for Chase Sapphire Preferred using your referral link, with a limit of 50,000 points per year. That means you can earn an extra $125-$625 in travel every year, more than enough to offset the annual fee. You can’t forget about the everyday rewards you’ll earn on purchases, either.

Plus, Chase Sapphire Preferred has more benefits than just reward points. There are no blackout dates or other travel restrictions. And you’ll get a number of other free perks like travel insurance, roadside assistance, and purchase protection. All of these things enhance the value of this card even more.

Therefore, while Chase Sapphire Preferred’s annual fee certainly is above average, the rest of the offer is, too. So as long as you have excellent credit and spend enough to qualify for the initial bonus, Chase Sapphire Preferred is well worth the price.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points don’t expire as long as your account is open. You’ll lose any unredeemed rewards if you close your account, or if Chase closes it due delinquency or suspicions of fraud. That’s one reason why it’s still a good idea to redeem on a regular basis.

Another reason, in case you’re interested, is what’s known as … read full answerrewards devaluation. Basically, a credit card company can reduce the value of your points or miles by increasing the number needed to redeem for a free flight, statement credit, etc.

Chase Sapphire Preferred points are worth 1 cent to 1.25 cents apiece, depending on how you redeem them. For example, you could redeem 10,000 points for a $100 statement credit or use them to book $125 in travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. It’s important to note, though, that you only get extra value through Chase Ultimate rewards if you have one of the following credit cards: Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Business Preferred. (And Reserve gets you 1.5 cents per point on travel costs).… read full answer

Redeeming for travel through Chase with one of the three fee-based cards is the only dependable way to get more than a penny apiece for your Sapphire Preferred points. More specifically, you’ll get 1 cent per Sapphire Preferred point with each of the following redemption methods:

• Cash back/statement credit
• Gift cards
• “Shop with Points” on Amazon.com

These three options offer the most versatility in terms of what you can spend your points on. But it costs you 25% in lost value.

Finally, you also have the option of transferring your Sapphire Preferred points to one of Chase’s 13 travel partners. Transfers are done on a 1:1 basis, in 1,000-point increments. And how much you get for transferred points depends on how much the particular travel partner’s points or miles are worth. This offers a certain amount of boom-or-bust potential. Your Sapphire Preferred points could wind up being worth a lot more than normal or a lot less.

If you transfer your Sapphire Preferred points to Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards, for instance, they’ll be worth 1.79 cents each, according to WalletHub’s latest calculations. But if you transfer them to one of Chase’s hotel partners, you’ll get an average of 0.92 cents per point.

At the end of the day, if you don’t plan to redeem for travel through Chase, you might do better with a different credit card. It’s not as rewarding when used as a cash-back vehicle, and there are plenty of more versatile rewards cards available.