Want more credit card news and advice from TPG? While some of these perks can’t be used right now, if you take advantage of these perks later on in 2020 and into 2021, you’ll more than offset the cost of the Sapphire Reserve’s $550 annual fee each year. The Preferred has an 80,000-point bonus, while the Reserve offers a mere 50,000 points. Up to $1,000,000 in coverage. Keep in mind, the Mastercard Black Card has a $495 annual fee ($195 for each Authorized User added to the account), while the Chase Sapphire Reserve has a $550 annual fee . To do so we’ll rely on the following data points for 2017. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page. Either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Read our comparison chart below. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered. If you’re looking for a solid travel credit card with comprehensive protections and a decent rate of return on spending, though, the Chase Sapphire Preferred might be the card for you. These Countries Just Made It Easier for Americans to Move and Work Abroad. Category Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve. The Reserve offers a sign-up bonus offer of 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of card membership. I will show you how to get your 1st $550 annual fee waived in my Ultimate Military Credit Cards course The Amex Gold card is annual fee waived for military. See, a $100 credit for the TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee, The best credit cards for everyday spending, The best credit cards for travel insurance, Limited time: 100% bonus when you buy Hilton points, Pre-departure testing and self-isolation for arrivals: Everything you need to know about traveling to the UK. This is a … Both cards have received temporary benefits from Chase to help cardholders maximize their cards while travel may not be in everyone’s 2020 plans, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve has understandably gotten higher temporary earning rates as well — 10x on select streaming services (on up to $1,500), 5x at gas stations (on up to $1,500) and 5x on Instacart (up to $3,000) through Sept. 30, 2020. Check out our guide on maximizing Chase’s transfer partners. It offers a 25% boost to point value and some pretty good travel and purchase coverage. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card has long been a TPG favorite. For example, if you know you’ll spend $50 per month on Lyft and $1,000 a month on travel and dining, here’s what your yearly earnings would look like with each card: You can see that there is potentially a huge difference in earnings over the course of a year. That would bring your Reserve earnings up to 78,000 points annually ($1,560 in value) versus 51,000 points with the Preferred ($1,020). With the Reserve card, on the other hand, it costs $75 per year for each authorized user (most likely because each gets his or her own Priority Pass Select membership for airport lounge access). That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. But the cards bear other differences that are worth considering. Preferred Benefit Matrix Annual Fee Travel Credit Pts/Dining Pts/Travel Pts/Base Redemption Bonus; Preferred: $95: $0: 2: 2: 1: 25%: Reserve: $450: $300: 3: 3: 1: 50%: Is the Sapphire Reserve Worth It? This is 20,000 more points than the card usually offers. Although they offer some identical benefits, there are a few differences: The Chase Sapphire Reserve is obviously the more premium of the two cards. Our coverage is independent and objective, and has not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by any of these entities. This perk provides reimbursement for damage as a result of collision or theft for rentals of 31 days or less when you decline the rental agency’s CDW. But if you can take advantage of the Reserve’s many value-added perks, you might still want to get it instead. The Chase Sapphire Reserve has a higher earning rate than the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Protections: In terms of travel protections, the differences between these two cards probably won’t affect most travelers. CARD HIGHLIGHTS: 2X points on all travel and dining, points transferrable to over a dozen travel partners. Sign-up bonus: Earn 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a step down from the Chase Sapphire Reserve. *Bonus value is an estimated value calculated by TPG and not the card issuer. Military Money Manual … The Prerferred also offers purchase protection against damage or theft of up to $500 per claim and $50,00 per account, while the Reserve will cover you up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per year. For its part, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of the best premium travel credit cards ever created thanks to valuable perks like annual travel statement credits and access to airport lounges. Long before Chase introduced the Sapphire Reserve, award travelers sang the praises of the Sapphire Preferred card’s auto collision damage waiver (CDW) benefit. The first advantage of the Sapphire Preferred is the most obvious: a significantly lower annual fee. AFAR partners with CreditCards.com and may receive a commission from card issuers. Redemption values: Ultimate Rewards points earned with the Chase Sapphire Preferred are worth 1.25 cents apiece when redeemed directly for travel reservations—such as flights, hotels, and cruises—booked directly through the Chase travel portal. If you decide that you would get more value with the Reserve card’s features, you can always request an upgrade later down the line. Right now, you’ll earn 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months. When the Reserve launched, however, it quickly became a go-to for luxury perks such as a Priority Pass Select membership and the annual $300 travel credit. If that fee doesn’t seem manageable, the Sapphire Preferred Card is a very worthwhile alternative. That's worth $750 when you redeem for travel on Ultimate Rewards. And there’s more: Sapphire Reserve cardholders get one free year of Lyft Pink, which provides 15% off rides, priority airport dispatch, relaxed cancellation fees, and more. The more you plan to spend in those bonus categories, the bigger the difference in rewards. Now through March 2022, cardholders can also register to earn five points per dollar on Lyft rides. I still think the Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the single best overall cards on the market. This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. Here's why the Chase Sapphire Preferred might be a better choice than the more premium Chase Sapphire Reserve. That’s a clear-cut advantage for the Preferred if you intend to transfer your points to one of Chase’s partner airlines or hotel programs. Reserve’s bonus rate is 3 points per $1 spent, while Preferred gives you just 2 points per $1. Chase Sapphire Reserve vs. Also, make sure you don’t bump up against Chase’s infamous 5/24 rule. Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders can register for DoorDash DashPass with the same benefits as Preferred members. This makes using your card on your trips even easier since you have one less thing to think about. Even though it doesn’t offer all the same premium benefits, the Sapphire Preferred Card offers identical transfer benefits to the Reserve card. The Reserve also offers statement credits worth up to $100 toward either a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application once every four years. Christine Krzyszton - UPDATED: January 5, 2021. Credit Cards / Strategies & Guides. With the Preferred, you’ll get 1.25 cents in value per point, while with the Reserve you’ll get a higher value of 1.5 cents per point. Here’s a quick comparison of the two cards. While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they are subject to change at any time, and may have changed or may no longer be available. Figuring out whether to get the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve usually comes down to which card’s annual fee is more within your budget, and whether you’ll get enough value from the Reserve’s extra benefits to justify paying for it year after year. In fact, I’ve held off on upgrading my own Chase Sapphire Preferred to the Chase Sapphire Reserve this year in light of the coronavirus pandemic and my limited travel spending in 2020. The two cards do, however, differ when it comes to redeeming points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal. Please view our advertising policy page for more information. Even though TPG values all Ultimate Rewards (no matter which card earns them) at 2 cents each, the Reserve provides $300 more in annual rewards value in the above example. The Preferred has an 80,000-point bonus, while the Reserve offers a mere 50,000 points. It’s worth hundreds of dollars more without the Reserve’s $550 annual fee. Reserve cardholders can take advantage of Priority Pass lounges while Sapphire Preferred cardholders cannot. The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. If you’re a frequent traveler, the Reserve will likely give you more long-term value. Here’s the caveat: you can only receive one bonus from a Chase Sapphire card within 48 months, which means you need to choose carefully. The sign-up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the ability to earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening. Thanks to Chase’s partnership with DoorDash, Sapphire Preferred cardholders qualify for at least a year of complimentary DashPass membership, which can save them an average of $4 to $5 per order on food deliveries. Ink Business Preferred Overview. The Chase Sapphire Reserve and Ink Business Preferred are two excellent cards, but it can be hard to justify keeping both travel-centric cards when you may not be flying to far-flung destinations anytime soon. You’ll still need a solid score for the Sapphire Preferred (typically somewhere in the high 600s to the 700s), but you might have an easier time getting approved for that card if your score is on the low end of the optimal range. The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is the ability to earn 50,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months. Bank of America Premium Rewards vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred. When considering any travel rewards credit card, though, it pays to look past the initial bonus to how you might be able to maximize a card’s perks over the course of several years. Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve. Chase Sapphire Reserve vs. Its luxury sibling, the Chase Sapphire Reserve has a $450 annual fee, but it also provides more rewards and bonuses. So the Preferred’s bonus is worth $1,000 this way, and the Reserve’s bonus is worth $750. It was the first to earn Ultimate Rewards points that were transferable to a number of different airline and hotel loyalty programs, but offered some other outsized benefits as well. No matter which card you choose, you’ll be able to move your Ultimate Rewards points (earned both through the sign-up bonus and through spending) to the program’s airline and hotel partners at a 1:1 ratio. 03/04/2019 Tell your friends. I don’t typically suggest booking hotels through a third-party portal unless you find a great deal, because you typically won’t earn hotel points, elite credits or have your elite status recognized (though that isn’t always the case). The fact that the Chase Sapphire Preferred’s current sign-up bonus is 30,000 points higher than that of the Chase Sapphire Reserve throws off the usual calculus, though. 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