How do Chase Sapphire Preferred rewards work?

You can get the Chase Sapphire Preferred sign-up bonus of 60,000 points by spending $4,000 within the first 3 months of opening an account. You can redeem the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card bonus for $750 in travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards or a $600 statement credit. That’s one of the biggest sign-up bonuses on the market.... read full answer

Who is Eligible for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Sign-Up Bonus?

Keep in mind that you will not be eligible for the sign-up bonus if you currently have the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, regardless of whether you previously received the bonus. You also may not be eligible if it’s been less than 48 months since you last earned an initial bonus with either the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card.

Best Ways to Use the Chase Sapphire Preferred Sign-Up Bonus

1. Through Chase Ultimate Rewards:
   You get 25% more value when you redeem your bonus points for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
2. 1:1 Point Transfer:
   Another way to maximize the value of your bonus points is with Chase Sapphire Preferred’s transfer partners. You can transfer points at a 1:1 ratio, and then redeem them through that partner’s loyalty program.

In addition to the sign-up bonus, the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card offers 1 - 5 points per $1 spent on purchases, as well as several other benefits and perks.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Rewards

Chase Sapphire Preferred Refer-a-Friend Bonus

You can also get a referral bonus for each friend who you invite to apply for the card and gets approved. The referral bonus is 15,000 points for every referral who is approved, and the limit is 75,000 points per calendar year.

Ultimately, it’s also worth noting that the card’s annual fee is $95, and you need at least good credit to get approved.

The 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: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. (And Chase Sapphire 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 Chase Sapphire Preferred points. More specifically, you’ll get 1 cent per Chase Sapphire Preferred point with each of the following redemption methods:

• Cash back/statement credit
• Gift cards

These two options offer the most versatility in terms of what you can spend your points on. But it costs you 25% in lost value. When you “Shop with Points” on Amazon.com, the points are worth just 0.8 cents each.

Finally, you also have the option of transferring your Chase 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 Chase Sapphire Preferred points could wind up being worth a lot more than normal or a lot less.

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.