The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card–Great For Cash Back Or Travel Rewards

June 11, 2018

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While I love the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card for its travel rewards, its also great for cash back, which is incredibly useful right now.

That's what is so great about the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. You can have it both ways–awesome value for cash back, and for travel for when the world starts traveling again.

The way the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card works is that you earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points (URs), which are still the most flexible and valuable travel rewards currency out there. With the new Pay Yourself Back program, or through the Ultimate Rewards booking portal, each UR is worth 1.25 cents.

Welcome Offer
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Review
Hitting the Minimum Spend For The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Redeeming Your Ultimate Rewards
You Can Also Earn Ultimate Rewards With Other Chase Cards
Other Benefits Of The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Welcome Offer

When you spend at least $4,000 in the first three months of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card from account opening, you earn 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points.

60,000 Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed for $600 in cash back, which might be helpful if you are looking to set aside some cash for an emergency fund with CIT Bank or even to put into a retirement fund with M1 Finance.

Don’t need the money right away? Then stockpile your URs for when the world starts traveling again. The 60,000 point bonus is worth at least $750 in travel when redeemed through the Chase Ultimate Rewards booking portal.

Learn how to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card here.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Review

Here’s a quick snapshot of what the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card has to offer:

Earn 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after reaching the minimum spending requirement of $4,000 in the first three months the account is open
Earn 2x points on travel and dining at restaurants
Earn 1 point for every dollar spent on everything else
$95 annual fee
$0 foreign transaction fees
Additional benefits such as Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance and an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver

Sounds pretty good, right?

Let’s take a closer look at Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.

Learn how to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card here

Redeeming your Ultimate Rewards

Earning 60,000 points sounds well and good, but you want to get the most out of your points. We’ll take a look at the four options Chase gives you, and focus on the last one–which is by far the best!

Redemption option #1–Trade in your points for cash back

Chase gives cardholders the ultimate in flexibility as an option for redeeming points. If you don't plan on any travel in the near future, you can choose to redeem Ultimate Rewards points for cash back through statement credit, check, or direct deposit with a point value of 1 cent per point. That makes your 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points bonus worth a solid $600 in cash back.

Redemption option #2–Travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal

You can book travel directly through Chase’s booking portal–making your life a whole lot easier. The value is 1.25 cents per point if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, so your 60,000 points equal $750 in travel. That’s the equivalent of a couple of plane tickets (depending on where you’re traveling to, of course).

Redemption option #3–Trade in your points for experiences

The Ultimate Rewards program lets you trade in your points to attend exclusive events curated specifically towards you, based on the card you have. These include sporting events, concerts, and culinary experiences.

Redemption option #4–Transfer your points to one of Chase’s airline & hotel partners

These transfer partners include:

British Airways Avios
Aer Lingus AerClub
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
JetBlue TrueBlue
United MileagePlus
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
World Of Hyatt
IHG Rewards Club
Marriott Rewards
Flying Blue
Iberia Plus

The potential value of these points when transferred is significant. In some cases, it even exceeds $1,500 depending on your exact redemption–which is why this last option is our favorite!

You Can Also Earn Ultimate Rewards With Other Chase Cards

The Chase Ultimate Rewards program carries over to many of their other credit cards. Here are current Chase credit cards that earn Ultimate Rewards® points:

Chase Sapphire Reserve (transferable)
Ink Business Preferred Credit Card (transferable)
Chase Freedom Flex
Chase Freedom Unlimited

The first two (plus the Chase Sapphire Preferred) are often considered “premium” cards because the Ultimate Rewards points you earn from them come with the ability to transfer to airline/hotel partners. The other cards do not have that ability by themselves, but you can combine your Ultimate Rewards points into one of your premium card accounts to make all the more valuable transferable points.

Other Benefits Of The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

I’ve outlined the major benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, but there are a few more things to cover. Here are some more benefits that the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card offers:

Rewards never expire as long as your card account is active–but remember, once you transfer the points to one of the 13 transfer partners, you can’t get them back to your Chase account, so make sure to keep them in your account until you’re really sure you know what you want to spend them on and you're ready to book an award flight/night.
You can combine your Ultimate Rewards points with your spouse into one account.
You can also transfer points between authorized users.