Chase Sapphire Preferred Increased Welcome Bonus – 80,000 Points

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the most popular credit cards of the decade and for good reason. It has a low annual fee of $95, generous rewards earning structure, useful travel protection and earns extremely valuable points – Chase Ultimate Rewards Points. And now with this new increased offer you can earn 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 within the first three months of account opening. That’s an incredible deal. It’s also an important card to have as part of the Chase Holy Grail. So let’s talk more about the benefits of this card.

1- 80,000 POINTS WELCOME BONUS

The usual welcome bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has been 50,000 points for the longest time. Then that bonus is increased by 20% to 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months. And now it’s at a whopping 80,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first three months. This means the bonus alone is worth a minimum of $1,000 when redeemed for travel.

2- 2X ON BROADLY DEFINED TRAVEL AND DINING

This may not sound like a lot and other cards might earn at higher rates, but not on both categories and not as broadly defined. Yes, some cards earn 5X on airfare, some cards earn 4X on dining. However, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns 2X on very broadly defined travel and dining categories. This is great because these could be very easily the two highest spend categories. The dining category includes all types of restaurants, bars, cafes, lounges, even food delivery services and more. The travel category includes, airfare, hotels, cruises, taxis, Uber, parking, tolls and more. 

3- GREAT REDEMPTION OPTIONS

The easiest and most straightforward way of redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points earned with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is at a rate of 1.25 cents/point for travel purchases through the Chase Travel Portal. This is just like booking through Expedia and doesn’t require searching for award availability or anything like that. 

The other option is transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards points to the many travel partners that Chase has at a transfer ratio of 1:1. Some of the best partners are Hyatt hotels, United Airlines, Singapore Airlines and British Airways. This is where you can potentially get a much higher value for your points than 1.25 cents/point.

For example, high end category 7 Hyatt hotels cost 30,000 points per night where the paid rates can be upwards of $1,000 per night. You can also fly one-way in business class on United from the U.S. to Europe for 60,000 points. 

4- NO FOREIGN TRANSACTION FEES

The welcome bonus alone on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card can get you an international roundtrip flight. It’s nice to take this card with you to use abroad and earn the 2x bonus points on dining and travel without having to pay foreign transaction fees.

5- TRAVEL BENEFITS

• Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance: If your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.
• Primary Car Rental Insurance: Charge the entire rental cost to your card and you’ll get primary coverage which provides reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the vehicle for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.
• Baggage Delay Insurance: Get up to $100 per day for 5 days when your baggage is delayed over 6 hours.
• Trip Delay Insurance: If your travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, you and your family are covered for unreimbursed expenses, such as meals and lodging, up to $500 per ticket

6- SHOPPING PROTECTION

• Purchase Protection: Your new purchases are covered for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account when you pay using your Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.
• Extended Warranty Protection: Extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less on items you buy using your Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.

7- CHASE 5/24 RULE

The main reason why I not only recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card generally, but also to get this card first when you’re starting out in this hobby; is the 5/24 rule. This rule from Chase basically means that; Chase generally won’t approve you for their credit cards if you’ve opened 5 or more credit cards in the last 24 months– That’s what’s called the Chase 5/24 rule. So if you are planning on adding some credit cards to your wallet to earn points and maximize their value, the Chase Sapphire Preferred should be first on your list.

BONUS:

Get unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on orders over $12 for a minimum of one year on qualifying food purchases with DashPass, DoorDash’s subscription service. Activate by 12/31/21.

Earn 5X points on Lyft rides through March 2022. That’s 3X points in addition to the 2X points you already earn on travel.

BOTTOM LINE

More than 10 years later and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is still one of the strongest if not THE strongest mid-tier travel rewards credit card out there. It has a great welcome bonus, good earning rates on high spend categories, great redemption options with a minimum value of $1,000 from the welcome bonus alone and awesome travel and shopping perks. All reasons to make this card a staple in your wallet. And with the Chase 5/24 rule, this card should be the first card you get.