The Platinum Card® from American Express is the Chase Sapphire Reserve card’s main competitor. Winner: A tie (depending on your spending patterns)īecause you can get only one Sapphire product at a time, you might consider a competing card that’s equal or better than one of the Sapphire cards. If you spend a lot on travel, you’ll probably come out ahead with the Sapphire Reserve. If you spend a lot on online grocery purchases, you’ll come out ahead with the Sapphire Preferred. Also, if you book a chain hotel through the portal, you won’t get any elite benefits or earn points or qualifying nights on your stay.Ĭhase Dining has a limited use to most people, so we’ll just leave that out of this analysis. It’s always best to avoid the middleman and book directly with the airline. 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)īuying paid travel through the portal comes with its own set of potential complications, and we would advise against booking flights through the portal.3X points on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out.5X points on travel purchased through Chase travel portal, excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 hotel credit.3X points on other dining at restaurants, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining outĪnd here’s what you can expect to earn with the Sapphire Preferred:.3X points on other travel (after the $300 credit).5X points on flights purchased through the Chase travel portal (after the $300 credit).
10X points on prepaid Chase Dining purchases.10X points on hotels and car rentals purchased through the Chase travel portal (after the $300 credit).Let’s look at the earning rates on the Sapphire Reserve: For example, if you already have TSA Precheck or Global Entry, the $100 credit that you get every four years is of no value to you. Other credits that come with the Sapphire Reserve card are conditional, so let’s leave them off the table for now. To fully take advantage of this credit, you have to find a hotel that costs exactly the same on the portal as it does when booked directly or through another website. The Sapphire Preferred has an annual $50 credit for hotel stays purchased through the Chase travel portal, further complicating our math. That still brings the annual fee on the Reserve card to $250 vs. Presumably, you’re getting one of these cards because you want to travel, so you should have no problems redeeming that credit. You’ll get credited for any travel-related purchases, including tolls, hotels, airfare and more. This is the most flexible and easy-to-use travel credit. The Sapphire Reserve comes with a $300 travel credit. However, there are ways to offset the higher annual fee. The Chase Sapphire Reserve® has a $550 fee, and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a more modest $95 annual fee. So if you transfer the entire sign-up bonus to one of the partners, you’ll come out ahead with the Sapphire Preferred.Īt first glance, you might notice a huge difference between the annual fees on these two cards. Both cards have the same transfer partners, and points transfer at the same rate. You can usually redeem points for much better value when you transfer them to one of Chase’s travel partners, such as United Airlines or Hyatt. However, you should redo the math when the bonuses are different. The points earned with the Sapphire Preferred are worth 1.25 cents each when redeemed for travel.Īfter doing the math, you’ll see that the customary bonus on the Reserve is worth $750 and the bonus on the Sapphire Preferred is also $750. Ultimate Rewards earned with the Sapphire Reserve are worth 1.5 cents each when redeemed for travel via the portal. Let’s look at the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal redemptions first. Which is the best choice? We’re going to do some math. The minimum spending requirements are the same on both cards-you’ll need to spend $4,000 in the first three months.
In the past, we’ve seen introductory offers as high as 100,000 points on both cards, but that’s a highly unusual situation, and this huge bonus probably isn’t coming back any time soon. From time to time, these numbers can change. Usually, the Sapphire Reserve comes with a 50,000-point bonus, and the Sapphire Preferred usually offers 60,000 bonus points. Let’s look at the standard offers for both cards. One of the first things to consider when applying for a new card is the sign-up bonus.
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