Save on food, travel and more: How to get the most from your Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is considered one of the best travel cards in the credit card world, and for good reason. It offers significant rewards on travel and dining purchases, plenty of useful perks on and off travel, and perhaps most importantly, the ability to transfer your points to travel partners and get much more value than you would with a simple cash back card.

Taking full advantage of the card’s many benefits can easily offset the $95 annual fee. But you may be leaving money on the table if you can’t take advantage of everything the card has to offer. Here are my tricks to help you get the most out of your Chase Sapphire Preferred, from earning and redeeming rewards to getting free perks.

1. Transfer your points to travel partners at competitive prices.

Chase gives out a 25% redemption bonus when you redeem travel rewards through Chase Travel℠ (think Expedia run by Chase), giving you a flat 1.25 cents per point. But you can get a lot more use out of your points without even touching the portal.

By transferring your points to one of Chase’s 14 airline transfer and hotel partners and then booking your travel directly through those partners’ own loyalty programs, you’ll earn an average of 2 cents per point Point Guy Ratings (The Points Guy is owned by the same company as CNET). If you’re willing to do a little research, you can find special offers and sweet spots, e.g. Thousands of business class flights to Europe through Iberia Airlines, which costs just 34,000 Ultimate Rewards points, plus taxes and fees. Without using a partner transfer, you will only receive $425 of your points when redeemed for travel through the portal or a cash back amount of $340.

2. Use your $50 Anniversary Credit through Chase Travel.

There are still good reasons to use the Chase Travel portal, and one of them is the Chase Sapphire Preferred Anniversary Credit of up to $50 on hotel bookings through the portal. To use this credit, you must book a hotel room through the Chase Travel portal and pay with your Sapphire Preferred Card. The statement credit will be posted to your account within one to two billing cycles, according to Chase. Please note that you will not earn points on your first $50 in hotel purchases made through the Chase Travel portal as you will receive a credit instead.

While the credit likely won’t be enough for a completely free stay, it’s a nice discount if you were already planning on booking a hotel through the portal. Using this credit covers more than half of the card’s $95 annual fee.

3. Activate your travel protection benefits by paying with your card.

Chase has plenty of protections to help you if something goes wrong during your trip. They include:

• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance: If your trip is canceled or interrupted for a covered reason, such as illness or bad weather, you may be reimbursed for prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip.
• Travel delay compensation: If your flight or transportation is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family will be covered for any food and lodging expenses that your airline does not reimburse you. Coverage limit is $500 per ticket.
• Travel accident insurance: You’re covered for up to $500,000 in the event of accidental death or dismemberment when you pay for an airline ticket using your card.
• Compensation for lost luggage and delayed luggage insurance: If your luggage is delayed more than six hours, Chase will reimburse you for essential purchases (like toiletries or clothing) up to $100 per day for five days. If your baggage or that of an immediate family member is lost or damaged by your carrier, you may be reimbursed up to $3,000 per passenger.
• Collision Damage Waiver for Car Rentals: This benefit covers any damage caused by theft or collision on most rental cars in the US and abroad, up to the actual cash value of the car. To qualify for this benefit, you must waive the rental company’s collision damage insurance and pay for your entire rental car using Chase Sapphire Preferred points or Ultimate Rewards points.

To take advantage of this protection, you must pay for some or all of your trip with your card or Ultimate Rewards points. If you book travel using miles or points directly through an airline or hotel loyalty program, you can still receive travel protection benefits by paying taxes and fees when you book with your Chase Sapphire Preferred.

For complete travel protection terms listed above, contact Chase Sapphire Preferred’s. benefits guide.

4. Save on food delivery with a free trial of DashPass membership.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is a great card for travelers dining out, but it also offers benefits when ordering takeout. Cardholders can get a free trial of DashPass, DoorDash’s premium membership, for a year or more (depending on when you activate the benefit).

DashPass typically costs $9.99 per month and gives you access to a $0 delivery fee on orders over $12 from eligible restaurants on DoorDash and Caviar.

To get this benefit, simply add Chase Sapphire Preferred as your default payment method to your DoorDash account, then follow the onscreen instructions to activate your free DashPass membership through December 31, 2027.

To be eligible for DashPass benefits on a specific order, you must pay with your Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. The card earns 3x points on dining in, takeout, and eligible delivery services (including DoorDash), so you won’t miss out on rewards.

5. Increase your point earning potential with the Chase Trifecta.

What I like about Chase is that you can combine your points between different cards, as long as they earn transferable Ultimate Rewards points (which includes both cards in the Sapphire line, both cards in the Liberty line and three of the four cards in the Chase line). Ink business line). This feature is the basis of the “Chase Trifecta,” an unofficial but popular strategy created by credit card rewards enthusiasts that combines multiple Chase cards together for maximum rewards.

The exact components of the trifecta will vary depending on who you ask, but it typically includes the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve® (you can only have one Sapphire card at a time) and two other cards that earn Ultimate Rewards.

Chase Freedom Flex®* and Chase Freedom Unlimited® are two popular options, but you can also swap them out. Ink Business Cash® Credit CardInk Business Unlimited® Credit Card or Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. There’s no official definition of what the Chase Trifecta should be, so choose the three cards (or two, four or five) that best suit your needs and spending habits.

The trick is to use each card in the spending categories in which it earns the most points to maximize your rewards.

Split rewards across cards

Expense category	Best card to use	Remuneration rate*
Travel booked through Chase Travel℠	Chase Sapphire, Chase Freedom Flex or Chase Freedom Unlimited preferred	5x points
Purchases that fall within the current quarter’s Chase Freedom Flex rotating bonus categories (past examples include Amazon, fitness clubs, and Target)	Chase Freedom Flex	5x points (up to $1,500 in purchases each quarter, then 1x)
Dining room	Chase Sapphire, Chase Freedom Flex or Chase Freedom Unlimited preferred	3x points
Pharmacies	Chase Freedom Flex or Chase Freedom Unlimited	3x points
Purchases not from the above categories	Pursuit of freedom without limits	1.5x points

*Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited cards offer 1% to 5% cash back on purchases. However, rewards are distributed in the form of Ultimate Rewards points, which can be redeemed for cash back, credits, gift cards and more. Chase Freedom Flex and Chase Freedom Unlimited Points can also be transferred at Chase Sapphire Preferred and then transferred to one of the Chase Sapphire Preferred travel partners.

Then combine your points into the Chase Sapphire Preferred program and take advantage of its travel partners or a 25% redemption bonus when you redeem travel rewards through the Chase Travel portal. Compared to using just one of the cards above for all of your purchases, the Chase Trifecta helps you maximize your earning potential by taking full advantage of each card’s bonus category.

6. Know when not to use the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the best travel cards on the market, but it’s not that great if you don’t travel often.

Most of the major perks and benefits are related to travel. If you don’t use your rewards for travel, you’re missing out on the card’s best feature—the ability to transfer your points to airline and hotel partners, some of which are unique to Chase.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred allows you to redeem your points for cash back at a rate of 1 point for 1 cent, but if you’re only interested in cash back rewards, you’ll be better off using one of the Freedom cards or a cash back card. back card from another issuer. This way, you can get most of the same benefits and possibly higher rewards without paying an annual fee.

Even if you travel and can take advantage of Chase Sapphire Preferred transfer partners, you shouldn’t use this card for most everyday expenses. Chase Freedom cards offer equal or greater earning potential on essentials like food, groceries, gas and pharmacy purchases. You can earn more rewards by using the Freedom card to cover everyday expenses, then transfer your points to Chase Sapphire Preferred for its travel partners.

*All information about the Chase Freedom Flex was compiled independently by CNET and has not been verified by the issuer.