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There’s good news this fall for travel enthusiasts looking for a new credit card: For a limited time, the Chase Sapphire Preferred? Card is offering an unprecedented welcome bonus: 60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first three months from account opening. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel purchases within your first year.

If you redeem the bonus points by booking a trip through Chase Travel?, 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards? points are worth $750. With the addition of up to a $300 Chase Travel statement credit, you could get $1,050 in travel from this offer. That’s a sizable jump from the previous bonus, which came with the same number of points but didn’t include a $300 credit.

The Sapphire Preferred’s premium sibling, the Chase Sapphire Reserve?, offers the same welcome offer without the $300 travel credit. And it already includes an up to $300 travel credit every year that’s much more flexible to use. So which card is right for you?

What’s the difference between the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve?

The Sapphire Preferred and the Sapphire Reserve are both on our lists of the best credit cards and best travel credit cards available right now.

But the cards have some key differences, including:

  • Annual fee: The Sapphire Preferred has a modest $95 annual fee, while the Sapphire Reserve charges $550 per year.
  • Minimum credit limits: The minimum credit limit on the Sapphire Reserve is $10,000 — double the $5,000 minimum of the Sapphire Preferred.
  • Card holder fit: The Sapphire Preferred is a better pick if you’re a casual traveler who wants to save up points for a vacation once or twice a year.

Bonus points

As you compare the Chase Sapphire Preferred bonus vs. the Chase Sapphire Reserve offer, you should also pay close attention to the Chase Ultimate Rewards points-earning structures that will stick around long after the first few months of spending.

Chase Sapphire PreferredChase Sapphire Reserve
Eligible travel purchased through Chase Travel
5x (excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 annual Chase Travel hotel credit)
10x for hotels and car rentals, 5x on other travel (after the $300 annual travel credit is earned)
All other eligible travel
2x
3x (after the $300 annual travel credit is earned)
Dining
3x
10x for eligible Chase Dining, 3x for other dining
Select streaming
3x
1x
Online grocery purchases
3x
1x
Lyft purchases
5x through March 31, 2025
10x through March 31, 2025
Eligible Peloton purchases over $150
5x up to 25,000 points (then 1x) through March 31, 2025
10x up to 50,000 points (then 1x) through March 31, 2025
All other purchases
1x
1x
Anniversary bonus
10% of your purchases in the previous year, with years measured from account opening (so if you spend $10,000, you’ll get 1,000 points)
None

Statement credits and partner perks

With the Sapphire Preferred, you’ll get an up to $50 annual hotel credit on stays booked through Chase Travel. The card also offers a DoorDash DashPass subscription (when you activate by Dec. 31, 2027) and a $10 discount each month on one DoorDash non-restaurant order when DashPass is activated.

The Sapphire Reserve has a deeper pile of statement credits including a $300 annual travel credit that applies to just about every type of expense you’d run into to leave home — airlines, hotels, car rentals, cruises, buses, trains, taxis, tolls, parking garages and more. Additionally, card holders receive up to a $120 statement credit every four years to cover the application fee for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS.

On top of those credits, ways to cash in on the Sapphire Reserve’s value include:

  • Two-year Lyft Pink All Access membership when activated by the end of 2024 ($199/year value)
  • DoorDash DashPass subscription for at least a year when you activate by the end of the year, plus a $5 monthly DoorDash statement credit through Jan. 31, 2025, and up to two $10 off discounts per month on non-restaurant DoorDash orders
  • Priority Pass airport lounge membership
  • Access to Chase Sapphire by The Club Lounges
  • Access to participating Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Café locations when traveling on a same-day Air Canada or Star Alliance flight

Travel and purchase protection

Both of these cards can deliver peace of mind while traveling, including with:

The Sapphire Reserve is the superior card for travel protections, with up to $100,000 for an emergency medical evacuation due to injury or illness and up to $2,500 for emergency medical or dental treatment (with a $50 deductible).

Both cards can extend an eligible manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, and each comes with 120-day purchase protection against damage or theft. While the Sapphire Preferred’s protection only covers $500 per claim, the Sapphire Reserve covers up to $10,000 per claim.

With the Sapphire Reserve, you’ll also get return protection, which could reimburse you for eligible items the merchant won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to a maximum of $500 per item and $1,000 per 12-month period. The Sapphire Preferred doesn’t include this benefit.

How do you redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points?

You can redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for cash back and statement credits at a value of 1 cent per point. You can also convert them to gift cards with a range of merchants or pay with points when you checkout at Amazon and PayPal and shop for Apple products.

However, the most valuable way to redeem Chase points is for travel: If you’re redeeming them through Chase Travel, the valuation increases to 1.25 cents per point for Sapphire Preferred card holders and 1.5 cents per point for Sapphire Reserve card holders.

As a Chase Sapphire credit card holder (of either type of card), you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to more than a dozen travel partners at a 1:1 ratio — a key point of differentiation from the no annual fee Chase Freedom Unlimited? and Chase Freedom Flex? * The information for the Chase Freedom Flex? has been collected independently by CNN Underscored. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer. .

13 best Chase credit cards

We’ve evaluated Chase’s personal and business credit cards to help you choose the best option for your situation.

Click here to read more

Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve right for you?

You can’t have both of the Sapphire cards at the same time, so you’ll need to consider your regular travel routine to do the math on which card makes sense for the long term. If you’re only taking a few trips each year, you’ll likely want to stick with the Sapphire Preferred due to the much lower annual fee.

However, if you travel more often, the Sapphire Reserve delivers top-notch value. Where you travel to and from is worth considering, too: Chase currently operates Sapphire Lounge by The Club airport lounges in Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), New York LaGuardia, and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), with plans to expand to Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Phoenix and San Diego. Sapphire Reserve card holders get access to these spots.

In addition, if you travel through airports with Air Canada Maple Leaf lounges, the Sapphire Reserve could make a lot of sense, since it gives you access to select Maple Leaf Lounge and Air Canada Café locations when you fly Air Canada or other Star Alliance airlines.

If you’re not sure of which card is a better fit, you aren’t locked in forever. After you have held the card for at least 12 months, you are eligible to change. That means you can score a hefty welcome bonus now, see how the card fits into your life and reevaluate next year.

All information about Chase Freedom Flex? has been collected independently by CNN Underscored.

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines, hotel chain, or other commercial entity and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of such entities.

This content is for educational purposes only and is not intended and should not be understood to constitute financial, investment, insurance or legal advice. All individuals are encouraged to seek advice from a qualified financial professional before making any financial, insurance or investment decisions.

Note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed or may no longer be available.

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