The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Welcome Bonus

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Welcome Offer

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers new cardholders 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on eligible purchases within three (3) months of being approved for card membership.

(All information about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card was collected independently by Eye of the Flyer. It was neither provided nor reviewed by the card issuer.)

Who is Eligible for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Welcome Bonus?

Chase says:

The product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 48 months. If you are an existing Sapphire customer and would like this product, please call the number on the back of your card to see if you are eligible for a product change. You will not receive the new cardmember bonus if you change products. (Bold mine)

So just keep that in mind, given your respective “Sapphire” status.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card carries a $95 annual fee. But the welcome bonus easily recoups several years of that. And keep in mind the card offers a bunch of worthwhile 3X bonus categories. (We’ll discuss this in a minute.)

Also, keep in mind Chase’s 5/24 rule. You won’t be approved for any Chase card if you’ve been approved for five or more credit cards from Chase or other banks within the past 24 months.

“But I’m a Delta Flyer and Only Get American Express Cards!”

How does that Kool-Aid taste? 🙂

I, too, have my share of American Express cards. But I also hold several Chase Ultimate Rewards® cards. Remember that Chase has its own travel booking service — and you can use

points to pay for all sorts of trips. Even Delta flights!

In fact, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card members can redeem their points for 1.25 cents each when purchasing travel through Chase. For example, 80,000 bonus effectively becomes worth $1,000.

And if you ever plan to take a Delta partner mileage run, then $1,000 worth of travel funds may come in pretty handy.

Plus, Chase is a transfer partner to hotel programs such as Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG. I assume you stay in hotels, right? 🙂

Or, just simply award yourself statement credit or cashback (direct deposit to your bank account) at a penny per point. That’s not necessarily the best redemption — but if it works for you, then great.

Keep in Mind These Perks and Points Earnings

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card® Card features eatures a host of benefits.

10% Anniversary Bonus

Cardmembers earn bonus points equal to 10% of their total purchases made the previous year on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. For example, $30,000 spent on the card one year would earn an additional 3,000 bonus points. And that’s on top of whatever else you earn in the card’s bonus categories.

Essentially, the least amount of points each purchase earns is 1.1X. It’s just that the “.1” doesn’t hit your account until your next year of card membership. (Hey, it’s always nice to have something to look forward to, right?)

5X: Travel Purchases Through Chase Travel℠

Like several other credit card providers, Chase offers its own travel booking service. (It’s like their version of Amex Travel.) So when you purchase travel through that service and pay for it on your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you’ll earn five (5) points for each dollar spent. (Fine print: This excludes hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 annual Ultimate Rewards hotel credit.)

This is a great return on flights. And, of course, you’ll still earn frequent flyer points — including elite status qualifiers.

Is it worth using the 5X for hotels? That’s up to you, of course, but I personally wouldn’t. (With an exception we’ll talk about in a minute.) Why? CChase Travel℠ travel booking service is an online travel agency (OTA). And hotels generally don’t honor elite status benefits or award loyalty program points for bookings made through OTA. (So, if your hotel status and points-earning possibilities are a big deal to you, just book directly through the hotel.)

$50 Annual Credit on Hotel Stays Purchased Through Chase Travel℠

Again, consider that the Chase Travel℠ travel portal is an OTA, making this is potentially a double-edged sword if you value elite status benefits and points earnings. But even I can suck it up in most standard hotel rooms if it saves me $50.

5X: Lyft Rides

Earn 5X points on Lyft purchases through September 2027 when you charge them to your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card card.

3X: Dining

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 3X on dining purchases— including eligible delivery services (think DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, etc.), takeout, and dining out.

3X: Select Streaming Services

If you don’t have a card that awards bonus points for streaming services, then the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is certainly a decent option. From my research, some of the eligible “select streaming services” include Apple Music; Disney+; ESPN+; Fubo TV; Hulu; Netflix, Pandora; Sling; SiriusXM; Spotify; Vudu; and YouTube TV.

3X: Online Grocery Purchases (But With a Few Exceptions)

If you’re like my family, you “discovered” (or heavily ramped up your use of) online grocery services like Instacart and curbside pickup at supermarkets since March 2020. So this is certainly a welcome addition to the card.

Please remember that Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs are excluded.

2X: Other Travel Purchases

For other travel purchases not made through Chase Travel℠, you earn 2X points. For example, airfare purchases made directly with airlines, hotel room purchases made directly through hotels or online travel agencies, parking, tolls, etc.

1X: Other Eligible Purchases

Any other eligible purchases not covered above earn one (1) point dollar spent on the card.

What Else Does the Card Offer?

• Chase Luxury Hotel & Resorts benefits
• Visa Signature benefits

Good Trip Coverage

We like that the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card comes with good trip interruption and cancellation coverage. And here’s a big plus: you only need to put a portion of your travel purchase on the card. For example, you may have a cashback balance left on a Delta Pay With Miles ticket. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (or, even better, Chase Sapphire Reserve®) is a great card with which to pay that outstanding amount. (All information about the Chase Sapphire Reserve® was collected independently by Eye of the Flyer. It was neither provided nor reviewed by the card issuer.)