Chase Sapphire Preferred review: Best airline miles card
Review highlights
Why we recommend this card in brief…
- 1:1 instant mile transfer to United and Continental miles — our favorite mile programs, as well as Southwest Airlines (as of 1/5/12), British Airways, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, Amtrak and Korean Airlines
- 2x points on all dining and travel purchases, with no limits and no foreign transaction fees
- 50,000 point intro bonus after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months (limited time offer)
Card features
- Limited time offer! Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months- that’s $625 toward travel!
- Transfer points you’ve earned to participating frequent traveler programs at a 1:1 value (United/Continental Airlines, Southwest Airlines (as of 1/5/12), British Airways, Korean Airlines, Amtrak, Marriott, Hyatt, Priority Club). Click here to see exactly how it works.
- 2 points per dollar spent on travel and dining & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
- Use 20% fewer points when you redeem for travel. Just book your flight, cruise, or other travel through Ultimate Rewards(SM)
- No foreign transaction fees
- Earn a 7% annual points dividend – even on points already redeemed
- 24/7 direct access to expert service advisors (No voice recording)
- No Annual Fee for your first year – A $95 value
- Full Benefits Guide — click here to read the details
- Comments about the card from mileage experts
- Frequently Asked Questions about the Chase Sapphire Preferred
1:1 mile transfer, our favorite feature
We rate the Chase Sapphire Preferred the best credit card for earning airline miles because it allows instant 1:1 transfer of points into United and Continental Airlines miles.
In addition, you can transfer points directly, 1:1 to Southwest Airlines (as of 1/5/12), Amtrak, British Airways, Korean Airlines, Hyatt, Marriott, and Priority Club accounts. Read why we think multi-airline mile transfer is a feature you should insist on having in your mile credit card.
We feel the United Airlines / Continental Airlines programs offer fliers some of the best options for overall mile redemption. With their Star Alliance partners you have more flights and destinations available than any other mileage alliance.
Airlines available to book flights with United / Continental miles include United, Continental, US Airways, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Singapore, Swiss, ANA, and many more. Moreover, in a recent survey, they offered good availability versus large domestic peers for rewards at the ‘low’ mileage levels — about 70% of the time.
The British Airways transfer option lets you redeem for flights on American Airlines, its US partner, along with Cathay Pacific, Qantas, LAN, Iberia, Finnair, and JAL. Korean miles let you redeem on its SkyTeam partners including Delta, Air France, Alitalia, and KLM.
United / Continental also offers a generous feature when you book a mileage reward ticket — no change fees if you change the date or time of your mileage itinerary as long as it’s 21 or more days ahead of time. This gives you flexibility to find travel that suits your family’s plans.
No other card offers 1:1 transfer into Continental/United miles (except for the business version of this card, the Ink Bold from Chase). American Express stopped this benefit in September 2011 following the merger of Continental and United. Chase is now the official credit card partner of Continental and United.
2x points on all dining and travel spending
This is a new, generous benefit — double miles earned on all of your dining and travel spending — regardless of where you do it — with no caps. We also like that there are no foreign transaction fees, making this a wholly competitive card. To calculate how much the card can be worth to you with the dining and travel bonuses, try entering your spending habits in our Mile Credit Card Value Calculator. We don’t retain or share any of the information you input, it’s completely anonymous.
Flexibility beyond airline miles: most hotel point options
The Chase Sapphire Preferred lets you transfer points 1:1 into the Marriott, Hyatt, and Priority Club (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Intercontinental) hotel points programs. No other credit card offers you more hotel transfer options without dilution.
If your primary goal is hotel nights, you mayfind better values with the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express as its free nights start at just 3,000 points versus 5,000 for Hyatt, 7,500 for Marriott and 10,000 for Priority Club. However the flexibility of Hyatt, Marriott and Priority Club is unmatched in any other card, and we find Hyatt rewards give you particularly good value.
Don’t like air miles programs — book a flight any time with no restriction
While we think the greatest value for points occurs when you transfer them into a native airline mile or hotel program, many people don’t want to deal with the hassle of figuring out rules and capacity controls. The Chase Sapphire Preferred gives you the best of both worlds by letting you use your points as cash towards any flight, hotel room, or car rental.
Chase is a touch more generous than typical points as cash programs — your points end up being worth 25% more than typical 100 points = $1 programs. Every 100 points equals $1.25 with the Sapphire Preferred. However if your only desire is points to use as cash for travel, and not earning miles in airline or hotel programs, we recommend the Escape by Discover card which always earns double points, making your card spending worth twice as much as typical cash for travel programs.
You can also use your points for dozens of gift card merchants — at about $1 per 100 points.
Very generous 50,000 point intro offer is worth over $625
The Chase Sapphire Preferred’s introductory bonus is 50,000 points after you spend $3,000 on the card within 3 months. That 50,000 points is worth over $625 toward any flight, hotel room, or car rental using the online Ultimate Rewards booking tool. Or you can transfer it to Continental/United, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza), Amtrak, or British Airways for valuable rewards. 50,000 miles gets you two domestic roundtrip tickets on United / Continental or any of its partners, including US Airways, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and many more. It’s also worth $833 in travel credit on Southwest Airlines.
Think you’ll have trouble with the $3,000 spending requirement in 3 months? Consider buying gift cards at retailers you frequent — they count as spending — or adding a spouse to your account to combine your spending. Just make sure you regularly pay your card off in full each month — no mile credit card is worth ongoing interest payments.
Click here for a secure link to the Chase 50,000 mile point bonus application.
How to earn 5 points per dollar in your Sapphire account
Chase lets you combine Ultimate Rewards points (the ones earned by the Chase Sapphire Preferred and its Freedom cards) in one account for no fee. That means, if you also have a no annual fee Chase Freedom card, which earns 5x points in select categories each quarter, you can maximize your point earning. Simply use the Freedom card for your purchases in the 5x point categories and transfer the points you earn from the Freedom into your Sapphire Preferred account, as shown here. Note that you must have a Chase Sapphire Preferred in order to use 1:1 mile transfer to airlines and hotels. You might want to consider both cards if you have neither at this point to maximize earning. Also note you can transfer points from a spouse’s Freedom or Sapphire account into yours.
I currently have a British Airways Visa card from Chase… I want to transfer the points out from BA to United because the BA redemption is absolutely ridiculous. The fuel surcharge they add to a redemption for a trip is more than the cost of the ticket if we were to purchase via expedia (for example).
Is this possible?
@RM – Unfortunately BA does charge large fuel surcharges on award tickets, and unfortunately with a BA card your miles are ‘stuck’ in that program. One way around is to redeem for flights on American Airlines, which carry relatively few fuel surcharges. Another is to use your miles toward upgrades from World Traveler class or World Traveler Plus to Club World class, which carries somewhat lower fees than booking a ticket with miles outright.
Hi,
I already have a chase sapphire card (but not preferred). Can I still get the 50k bonus? Should I apply to upgrade my card or should I apply for a new card (so I have both the preferred and non-preferred)?
Thanks
-Bill
@Bill- Best to call Chase directly and ask. They’ve been putting language in their telephone rep script that people with ‘another card in this rewards program’ may not be eligible. If you hit a dead end, you might be able to try moving your Sapphire account credit line to an entirely different card that doesn’t have Ultimate Rewards, say a Slate card with no annual fee. Then try applying separately for a Sapphire Preferred.
I called chase, and they told me I cannot get the bonus because I already have a chase sapphire card. But I can still open chase freedom, chase united card, etc and get the bonus points. Maybe I should open a chase freedom card, close the sapphire account and reopen it later?
What do you think it’s best travel card if there is no bonus point involved.
Thanks
-Bill
@Bill — That sounds like a fair strategy to try, though no guarantees. Transfer your Sapphire credit line to a basic ‘Freedom’ or ‘Slate’ account then reapply for the Preferred a month or so later.
How long after you spend the intial $3k before the 50k points are deposited into your account? Do you have to wait 3 months if you spend $3k immediately. Also, are the fare prices on the Ultimate Rewards website similar to booking directly with the airline or a website like kayak?
@Donny- The bonus points will post on the statement closing date for the period when you hit the minimum spend requirement, so no need to wait 3 months. As for the fares on the Ultimate Rewards website, it uses the Expedia booking engine, so you’ll see the same prices you do on standard travel websites.
I’m considering this card but normally fly Alaska Air and Southwest. If I get the card and earn points, than I can transfer points to my Southwest mileage program and purchase a ticket there, using SW points…yes? Is that how it works?
@Bill – That’s right, you can transfer the points directly to your Southwest miles account. And if you want to fly Alaska you can transfer to a Korean Air account and redeem there (20k roundtrip for US flights with Alaska).
Can one accumulate points with one’s chase sapphire preferred card by obtaining cash advances?
I know this might be impossible. But is there any way to transfer my united points to the chase sapphire care as points?
@Ali- Your suspicion is correct. There is no way to move your existing United points to your Chase Sapphire points. But you can move your United points to your Continental account as part of the merger.
And, you can combine your Sapphire points with those of other Sapphire accounts, or transfer your Sapphire points to anyone’s United / Continental account.
When using points to “buy” a ticket at the 1.25 conversion rate, does Chase actually purchase the ticket for you so that your ticket earns miles with that airline? Thanks.
@Jeff – Yes, exactly. They purchase it as if you bought it on Travelocity or Expedia, so you earn miles for whatever fare class you purchase according to the rules of the airline’s frequent flyer program.
Hi,
Would it be easy to be approved for this card since I already have the Chase freedom? I’m tempted to wait but worried that they will take their 50000 points offer from the market.. what do you think?
@Ali – That’s hard to say — sounds like you have good credit if you were approved without a problem. The Sapphire is a little more selective, but we have’t heard a lot of stories of it being hard to get approved for. If your credit score is above 700 points you have a decent shot. As for taking the 50,000 point offer off…don’t have a lot of insight there, we’re in the same boat as you. We hope it stays around for a long time, and it seems to be well received, but as always things are subject to change.
Thanks I applied last Thursday and was instantly approved for $10000 for the Sapphire…
@Ali – Glad it worked out for you – enjoy the card.
Hi, I have the chase freedom card and I’m thinking of getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred with the 50,000 signup bonus. Do you think it will be easy to be approved since I have a chase card (6 months ago) and do you think they might up their signup bonus in the near future to 100,000 maybe? like few months ago
@Ali – 6 months between applications should be fine — some have had luck with as little as one month. As for the bonus, hard to say though the 100k wasn’t widely publicized. The good news is that Chase honors new better bonuses to those who applied up to 90 days prior.
Hi,
Would it be easy to be approved for this card since I already have the Chase freedom? I’m tempted to wait but worried that they will take their 50000 points offer from the market.. what do you think?
I have a Delta Reserve card from AmEx, and am considering changing my other card (Citibank Aadvantage Visa) to another card with greater benefits. I fly American and Delta almost exclusively, living in the southeast U.S. I like the Delta Reserve feature of no initial baggage fees, that feature alone almost pays for the card during the year. What is the best option for a secondary card that would allow American lounge access as well as free bags on American?
Thanks
@Peter- There are two credit card options that give you American lounge access. 1) The Executive AAdvantage Card from Citibank, or 2) The Platinum Card from American Express. Both carry a $450 annual fee. The Executive AAdvantage offers a checked bag fee waiver on American and earns American miles. The Platinum Card does not, but offers a $200 annual credit you can use to offset the cost of baggage and other fees on one airline of your choice. It also offers Delta lounge access.
My sense is you should consider getting the Platinum Card from American Express. That will give you the lounge access to both airlines. Then, switch your Delta card down to the Delta Gold SkyMiles card with a $95 annual fee and free checked bag for each flight. So for $95 more than you are paying today ($450 for Platinum Card + $95 for Delta Gold), you will get lounge access to both American and Delta, a free checked bag per flight on Delta, and a $200 annual credit you can use toward bag fees on American.
http://milecards.com/129/best-airport-lounge-access-card-platinum-card-from-american-express/
Hi,
If I’m reading you correctly, I should use the Chase Sapphire instead of my Starwood Preferred Amex. Or are there specific times that i should use one over the other for regular spending?
@Ronald – They’re both hard to go wrong with. If you are looking to redeem for air travel awards the Sapphire Preferred is your best bet because of that 1:1 instant transfer to United and Southwest. Starwood lacks them as 1:1 partners and isn’t instant.
If you’re interested in hotel rewards the Starwood edges the Sapphire Preferred’s Hyatt option. Hard to beat the value of Starwood cash and points awards.
Personally carry both cards — use the Starwood card when my account dips below the 50,000 or so points I like to keep on hand and the Sapphire Preferred for the rest.
Are there any limits on the amount of miles you can earn?
@John- There are no limits on the amount of points you can earn, even in the 2x bonus dining and travel categories.
Are annual Bonus miles offered in years 2+ beyond the initial 50,000 signing bonus?
@John – The 50,000 point bonus is one time. However you always earn points based on your spending. There is also a 7% bonus on the points you earn each year. So for example if you earn100,000 points next year you will receive a 7,000 point bonus on top.
I see that Delta Skymiles Program is not listed as one of the 1:1 instant transfer programs. If I wanted to book flights with Delta using my Chase Sapphire points, could I do it using the Ultimate Rewards Program referenced above?
@Michelle – You can’t transfer your points into a Delta miles account. However you can use your points like cash toward the purchase of Delta flights — for this purpose 1 point = 1.25 cents in value. So a $625 ticket would cost 50,000 miles.
Or you can transfer the points to a Korean Airlines mile account. Korean is a Delta partner and you can use their miles to book Delta flights. A domestic roundtrip is 25,000 miles (subject to capacity) regardless of the cost in cash to buy a ticket.
What kinda of credit does one need to have to be approved for this card? Would that fact that I am 23 make it harder for me to get it. Also if you spend the 3000 and get the bonus points do you also get the points you get for the dollars spent?
@Sarah- You generally need good to excellent credit (probably a credit score of 700 or more) with a decent current income. Your age doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t get it — it’s your credit score that matters most.
And yes, you do get both the bonus points and the points for the $3,000 you spend.
If I have united mileage platinum or platinum business cards, am I able to cancel those and take advantage of the Sign on miles? Or is migrating my current card over to the explorer my only option?
@J kenny – If you didn’t receive a sign on bonus with those cards, you should be eligible for one with the Explorer. If you did receive a sign on bonus the terms and conditions make it appear you won’t be eligible for a new bonus. However…
Some people at FlyerTalk have reported asking Chase via secure online message whether they would be eligible, and are getting a ‘yes’ answer, even though they had a United card in the past. See the post at the bottom of this link:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milesbuzz/1262787-improved-united-airlines-card-offer-14.html
So, suggest logging into your Chase account and sending them a message asking if you would be eligible for the intro offer.
If I don’ spend $3000 within the first 3 months, how the points are counted?
@ncc – If you don’t spend the $3,000 within 3 months, you won’t receive the 50,000 bonus miles. However you will receive miles for the dollars you spent — a minimum of 3,000 miles. If you spend it on 2x bonus categories like travel and dining you can earn up to 6,000 points on that spending.
Can the points be used for flights on Usair?
@Gary – Yes, the points can be used to book US Air flights — just transfer them to United / Continental, and book from there. US Air is one of their ‘Star Alliance’ partners. Just note, you can’t put the points directly in a US Air miles account to combine with existing US Air miles.
Can I merge my chase freedom points with sapphire points if I sign up for sapphire? (I know your site says I can but I just called chase and they said otherwise)
@ Adam – Yes, you should be able to online. We run through how to do it here http://milecards.com/2419/how-to-get-5-points-per-for-your-chase-sapphire-account/
If I transfer bonus points to the mileage account and than cancel Sapphire Preferred (before the end of no-fee year) will there be any penalty? Do I have to give points back?
@puskin- While we think this is a great card to keep for ongoing earning there is no penalty if you cancel early and once those points are transferred out or used they are yours.
What is the cancellation policy? Would it be possible to cancel within one year? Is there a cancellation fee and if so, how much?
@Sia – Yes you can cancel the card before the annual fee is due, and use your points before that with no penalty.
Don’t cancel it, downgrade it to regular.
@pood – Yes that is a good idea — ask to switch to the regular Chase Sapphire that carries no annual fee. Though best to take advantage of the 1:1 point transfer before then as the regular Sapphire doesn’t have that.
Once Continental is fully merged with United, will you be able to transfer points directly to United?
@B Traveler – Yes, you can actually transfer points directly to United Mileage Plus as of last week.
Can points be transferred to American Airlines for miles as with United, Continental etc.? Is it 1:1?
@Bill The Starwood Preferred Guest American Express offers transfer to AA mileage accounts
You can indirectly get the points to work for you in American Airlines by the fact that they can be transferred to your Bristish Airways (BA) mileage acccount. American Airlines is in alliance with BA and BA allows you to book flights using a combination of BA miles and AA miles.
Can I transfer the balance from another credit card to this one to reach the $3000 spending limit and earn the 50,000 miles?
Tony-
Unfortunately no the balance transfer won’t qualify for that but we actually don’t recommend carrying a balance on mile cards because rates tend to be higher.
To help you hit the spend you can try buying some gift cards — American Express ones can be used for any purchase as if they are a pre paid credit card. You can buy them fee free at BigCrumbs.com — and use code e EMSVCA. Or buy gift cards from stores you tend to shop a lot.