Chase Sapphire Preferred: 50,000 Bonus Points

Whether you're familiar with traveling on points or are just getting started, the Chase Sapphire Preferred can be a highly useful rewards credit card for frequent (or aspiring) travelers.

Between the card's sign-up bonus, travel benefits, and flexibility, the Preferred offers great value if you plan to travel and can meet its spending minimum.

Here's a quick overview of the Preferred's perks and benefits:

• Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $625 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® named a 'Best Travel Credit Card' by MONEY® Magazine, 2016-2017
• 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants worldwide & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases.
• No foreign transaction fees
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
• Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, 50,000 points are worth $625 toward travel
• No blackout dates or travel restrictions - as long as there's a seat on the flight, you can book it through Chase Ultimate Rewards

To take advantage of this special offer, visit Chase's secure website to apply now.

Signup Bonus

Meet the spending promotion requirements and you can exchange your 50,000 bonus points for $500 cash back, or redeem them through Chase Ultimate Rewards for $625 toward travel. What really sells this card is its 1:1 points transfer with airline or hotel loyalty programs, which creates the potential to redeem your points for way more than $625 in value.

For example, if you're flying from the continental U.S. or Canada, United Airlines will take you to northern South America and back for 40,000 miles. For 50,000 miles on Air France, you can get to Rome from Los Angeles and back (flight operated by Alitalia).

Travel Benefits

There are options for redemption with hotel partners as well, with some hotels throwing in a free night depending on your booking. Through Marriott, you can redeem 30,000 points for four nights at a Category 1 property with a fifth night thrown in free. If you want to splash out on a high-end stay, 50,000 points is enough to cover one night at top-tier properties by Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG.

The Sapphire Preferred can also help you save on collision and damage insurance for most rental cars. Whereas many travel credit cards offer secondary coverage, the Preferred's primary coverage lets you skip purchasing collision and damage insurance through your rental company - as long as you charge the full rental fee on an eligible car rental to your Preferred card.

The Preferred can even help you maximize rewards from your Chase Freedom or Ink Cash. Instead of redeeming points for cash back with the Freedom (for 1 cent per point), you can move those points to your Preferred account and transfer them to a Chase airline or hotel partner. This makes the Preferred an excellent option for Chase cardholders who want to graduate to a dedicated travel rewards card.

Is It Worth It?

The Preferred has a $0 Intro Annual Fee for the First Year, then $95. In our opinion, it's worth keeping around for the value and benefits of its points.

With its hefty points bonus, hotel and airline partners, and 2x points on travel and dining, the Preferred makes it easy to earn and redeem points toward travel. And once you're abroad, those 2x points on travel and dining abroad (and no foreign transaction fees) make it easy to earn points while you're traveling.

If you're new to the points game and planning your next trip, or if you're a frequent traveler looking to open a credit card with transferrable points, it's definitely worth looking into how the Chase Sapphire stacks up.