4 reasons to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card now

This article is brought to you by the Personal Finance Insider team. It has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of the issuers listed. Some of the offers you see on the page are from our partners like Citi and American Express, but our coverage is always independent. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page.

Chase recently launched an increased welcome offer on the Sapphire Preferred card. You can currently earn 80,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of having the card.

Before this change, the sign-up bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred was 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points, with the same minimum spending requirement. The annual fee of $95 is not waived on this offer, as it has been on some previous Sapphire Preferred offers, but increasing the welcome offer by a full 20,000 points is a significant jump, and worth considering.

Here are four reasons why you should apply for the new Sapphire Preferred offer now.

We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.

80,000 Ultimate Rewards points are worth up to $1,000

We’ll start with the biggest reason to apply, and that is the 80,000 points that you’ll get after spending at least $4,000 in the first three months of having the card.

If you redeem them for statement credits, 80,000 points are worth $800. But if you redeem through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, you get a 25% bonus, making your 80,000 points worth $1,000. You can also use Chase’s recently introduced Pay Yourself Back feature, allowing you to also get the 25% bonus for grocery stores, dining, home-improvement stores, and eligible charities.

Beyond the sign-up bonus, the Chase Sapphire Preferred earns:

• 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides through March 2022
• 2 points per dollar on travel
• 2 points per dollar on dining
• 1 point per dollar on all other purchases

You can read our full Chase Sapphire Preferred review for more information.

You’ll have access Chase’s valuable transfer partners

Transferring your Ultimate Rewards points to Chase’s hotel and airline partners can be one of the highest-value ways to redeem your Chase points. Chase currently has 10 airline and 3 hotel partners, and they all transfer at a ratio of 1:1.

That means that 1 Ultimate Rewards point will turn into one airline mile or hotel point. It’s possible to get 2 cents per point worth of value or even more by transferring your Ultimate Rewards points to travel partners instead of redeeming through the portal.

It pairs well with the Freedom Flex or Freedom Unlimited

Chase has several different credit cards that offer Ultimate Rewards points. Some of its cards, like the Sapphire Preferred, come with annual fees. Other Chase credit cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠ or Chase Freedom Unlimited® have no annual fee.

 If you only have no-annual-fee Chase credit cards, you still earn Ultimate Rewards, but your points are only worth 1 cent per point and you are not eligible to transfer your Ultimate Rewards to hotel or airline partners.

So if you have a large collection of Ultimate Rewards or cash back from an existing Chase Freedom card, that’s a great reason to apply for the Sapphire Preferred. You can then combine your Ultimate Rewards accounts and even your existing Ultimate Rewards points instantly become worth 25% more. 

You get benefits like primary car rental insurance coverage

In addition to the Ultimate Rewards points that you earn for signing up for the Sapphire Preferred and the points you’ll earn from everyday spending, the Sapphire Preferred also comes with a variety of useful benefits.

One of its best perks is primary car rental insurance. That means you can use it instead of your own insurance, and you don’t need to purchase any coverage from the rental company. While the coverage is not as good as that of the ultra-premium Sapphire Reserve, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is still one of the best credit cards for car rental insurance.

Make sure you’re eligible before applying

There are several great reasons to apply for the Sapphire Preferred card while it’s offering an 80,000-point welcome bonus, but you’ll want to make sure you’re eligible before you hit “apply.”

The first question to determine your eligibility is whether you’ve opened five or more new credit card accounts in the last 24 months. If you have, due to Chase’s 5/24 rule, you will not be approved for the Sapphire Preferred until enough time has passed.

Second, you’re only eligible for this 80,000-point offer if you do not currently hold either the Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve, and if you haven’t received a welcome bonus on either of those cards in the past 48 months.

If you do already have a Chase Sapphire Reserve® (and have had it at least four years), you might even consider ditching your Sapphire Reserve for this new Sapphire Preferred offer. You would need to cancel your Sapphire Reserve card before applying for the new Sapphire Preferred card.