Chase Sapphire Rewards: What You Need to Know

Chase has two cards in the Sapphire family: Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Both are highly popular travel reward cards. Both offer a large sign-up bonus and extra points on travel and dining purchases.

You can use points to purchase travel on the Ultimate Rewards travel portal at a discount, or transfer them to Chase airline and hotel partners.

Read on for everything you need to know about Chase Sapphire Rewards.

Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Sapphire Reserve

First, let's go over how the two Sapphire Cards work:

	Chase Sapphire Preferred	Chase Sapphire Reserve
	Interest Rates and Fees
Purchase APR	17.74% to 24.74% Variable based on your creditworthiness and other factors	17.74% to 24.74% Variable based on your creditworthiness and other factors
Balance Transfers APR	17.74% to 24.74% Variable based on your creditworthiness and other factors	17.74% to 24.74% Variable based on your creditworthiness and other factors
Annual Fee	$0 Intro Annual Fee for the First Year, then $95	$450 annual fee
	Benefits and Features
Points Deal	Introductory Bonus Reward Points: 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®	Introductory Bonus Reward Points: Earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
Points	Point Rewards: 2X points on travel and dining at restaurants & 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases worldwide	Point Rewards: 3X points on travel immediately after earning your $300 travel credit. 3X points on dining at restaurants & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Airline Status		Airline Status: $300 Annual Travel Credit (as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card). Complimentary Priority Pass™ Select membership for access to 1,000+ airport lounges worldwide. Enrollment required for Priority Pass Select

Read our detailed Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Reserve comparison for an analysis of which card is better for you.

How Does Chase Ultimate Rewards Work

Ultimate Rewards is Chase's credit card rewards program. It offers many ways to both earn and use your points.

For Sapphire cardholders, here are some ways to earn points fast:

• Bonus points on travel and dining. Both Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve give you extra points on travel and dining purchases. Sapphire Preferred gives you 2x points on travel and dining. While Sapphire Reserve gives you 3x points on travel immediately after earning your $300 travel credit and 3x points on dining.

• Shop online through Chase's shopping portal. Chase has a great online shopping portal that gives you bonus points for every $1 spent at partner merchant websites. Many popular online stores offer 3-5x bonus points, with some going up to as much as 20x points. This helps you rack up the points faster.

• Refer your friends. Chase has a Refer-A-Friend program, where you can earn bonus points if your friends and family sign up for the card through you. You can get up to an extra 50,000 points per year by spreading the word on eligible cards. Note that not all Chase credit cards participate in this program.

What can you do with your rewards? There are several ways to redeem your points, including:

• Cash back or cash equivalent. You can get statement credit, direct deposit, or gift cards at the redemption rate of 1 cent = 1 point.

• Book travel on the Ultimate Rewards travel portal. Chase has a travel booking site where you can book flights, hotels, and car rentals. With both the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve, your points are worth more when used for travel purchases on the travel portal.
  • Sapphire Preferred: points are worth 25% more toward travel on Chase Ultimate Rewards (10,000 points = $125)
    
  • Sapphire Reserve: points are worth 50% more toward travel on Chase Ultimate Rewards (10,000 points = $150)

• Transfer points to Chase travel partners. You can also transfer your points 1:1 to one of Chase's 7 airline partners and 4 hotel partners.

Ultimate Rewards Airline and Hotel Partners

Chase has 7 airline partners and 4 hotel partners. All partners allow you to transfer your points 1:1 to their loyalty programs. In our opinion, this is the most valuable feature of the rewards program. This gives you the potential to use your points at a much higher value.

Chase's travel partners are:

Airlines:

• United MileagePlus
  
• Southwest Rapid Rewards
  
• JetBlue TrueBlue
  
• British Airways Executive Club
  
• Air France Flying Blue
  
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
  
• Iberia Plus
  
• Aer Lingus AerClub

Hotels:

• Marriott Rewards
  
• World of Hyatt
  
• IHG Rewards Club
  
• Ritz-Carlton Rewards

Be careful, not all airline partners are equal. In fact, some have downright terrible redemption value. Read our Do's and Don'ts of Chase Transfer Partners before you make a points transfer.

Is It Worth It

Both Chase Sapphire cards offer great rewards and benefits. If you're a frequent traveler, they're worth checking out. Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the best credit card reward programs on the market. We love that it offers more value for Chase Sapphire cardholders when using their points on the travel portal. The ability to transfer to hotel and airline partners is another valuable feature that make your points worth even more.

At Chase's Secure Site Chase Sapphire Reserve® Earn 50K bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards® $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year Named a 'Best Travel Credit Card for 2017' by MONEY® Magazine 3X points on travel immediately after earning your $300 travel credit. 3X points on dining at restaurants & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases. $0 foreign transaction fees. Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. For example, 50,000 points are worth $750 toward travel 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs Access to 1,000+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select Up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® Intro APR for Purchases Intro APR for Balance Transfer Regular APR Annual Fee N/A N/A 17.74% - 24.74% Variable $450

At Chase's Secure Site Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card 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 Intro APR for Purchases Intro APR for Balance Transfer Regular APR Annual Fee N/A N/A 17.74% - 24.74% Variable $0 Intro for the First Year, then $95