Chase Sapphire Preferred Tips & Tricks

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card is an incredibly lucrative offer when it comes to earning points towards free and discounted travel. It’s also much more than that – offering card holders a plethora of “hidden” benefits. As such, these Chase Sapphire Preferred tips will help you understand how you can make the most of this amazing card product. 

What you’ll find in this article:

• Signup bonus details
• Earning potential
• How to utilize all CSP benefits
• Navigating the Ultimate Rewards portal
• Chase Sapphire Preferred UR transfer partners
• Purchase protection
• Travel insurance
• Primary car insurance details
• No foreign transaction fees
• Extended warranty details
• Apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
• …and much more

Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card Tips, Tricks & Benefits Guide

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is my favorite credit card. There’s an abundance of benefits provided with this card that are easy to use — even to someone who’s new to using points & miles with credit cards. It’s important you understand the value of the benefits provided with Chase Sapphire. If done correctly, Ultimate Rewards points (Chase’s version of credit card miles) can be used for a plethora of free and discounted flights, hotel stays, rental cars and so much more.




Below, we’ll touch on some of our favorite Chase Sapphire Preferred tips that the savviest of frequent travelers use for navigating the globe as well as right here at home. First, let’s cover the basics about what the card provides.

The Current Chase Sapphire Preferred Offer

As of September, 2016 – the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card offers the following incentives to new card members. Note, however, that these benefits only scratch the surface of what this credit card offers. The bullet points noted below are simply the face value benefits of the card as per Chase. Scroll down further in the article for more specifics on additional tips and benefits and how to make the most of them. You can also apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and get a decision from Chase within minutes.

New Chase Sapphire customers can earn 50,000 bonus points when they spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of card opening. In addition, you’ll earn 2x points on any and all travel and dining related purchases, and 1 point per dollar on everything else. If you add an authorized user to your account, you’ll also receive an addition 5,000 bonus points once they make a purchase within the first 3 months of account opening. Chase Sapphire Preferred card members pay no foreign transaction fees, and the card comes with chip-enabled security.

In terms of point transfer benefits, transfer Chase Ultimate Reward points out at a 1:1 ratio to most leading frequent flyer and loyalty programs at full value. Additional travel and shopping benefits are seemingly endless, with Travel and Purchase Protection Benefits, Trip Cancellation Protection, Trip Interruption Insurance and Auto Rental Collision Damage Waivers.

If you need to contact Chase regarding your Sapphire card, you’ll have 24/7 customer service available to you, and no waiting in line to talk to a computer. Talk to a real person directly every time.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card comes with an introductory annual fee of $0 for the first year, and then it becomes $95 annually.

Getting the Most out of Your Chase Sapphire Preferred Ultimate Rewards Points

Damn right it’s time to book a trip.

Ultimate Rewards points are incredibly valuable due to their flexibility when it comes to transferring your earned Chase points to other airline and hotel loyalty programs. Booking through the Ultimate Rewards portal gives you a 20% discount on all transfers. These transfers are simple to enact, and Chase won’t charge you a fee to do so.  Many are also instantaneous, with the exception of Marriott, Korean Air and Priority Club which may take a few days to transfer over. Via the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal, Chase Sapphire Preferred & Chase Ink Plus credit card holders can transfer points at a 1:1 ratio to any of the below transfer partners.

Note that any and all Chase Sapphire point transfers must be done in increments of 1000.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Transfer Partners

Airline Transfer Options

• United Airlines
• British Airways
• Southwest Airlines
• Korean Airlines

Hotel Transfer Options

• Marriott
• Ritz Carlton
• Priority Club
• Hyatt

Other Chase Sapphire Ultimate Reward Transfer Partners

• Amtrak
  • An often overlooked transfer benefit, Amtrak transfers are instantaneous and can be incredibly valuable to consumers looking to book long haul train rides within the continental United States. Amtrak transfers via Ultimate Rewards can exceed 3 cents per mile on long haul bookings.

Which Chase Sapphire Transfer Partners Are the Best?

Now that we’ve listed out all of your transfer options, which ones will net you the most value?

Currently, your best bet is to run with United as an airline transfer option, or Hyatt as a hotel transfer option. But why?

Firstly, United is a Star Alliance partner. That means that points transferred over to United can be used with any of the other airlines affiliated with Star Alliance — including Singapore Airlines & Lufthansa. Hyatt points are equally as valuable when it comes to hotels due to the fact that the nicest Hyatt properties cost significantly fewer points to book when compared to Ritz Carlton or Marriott’s top tier properties. The only downside is Hyatt properties are for the most part not as abundant globally.

Other Options – British Airway’s & Southwest

Alternatively, transferring points over to British Airway’s isn’t a bad idea either as long as you use these correctly. That means, DO NOT transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points over to British Airway’s with the intent to use them on British Airway’s flights. British Airway’s flights always charge incredibly high fuel surcharges and additional fees, rendering your BA miles substantially less valuable.

However, British Airway’s miles (Avios) are exceedingly valuable for domestic short-haul flights on OneWorld airline partners because award bookings are distance based.

British Airway’s is a member of OneWorld.  OneWorld airline partners include American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, which you can hop on board through a domestic award booking without having to pay any fuel surcharges or fees.

Related: Chase and British Airway’s Offer 100k Avios Points to New Card Members

Lastly, Southwest Airlines can be a great transfer option when the airline is having one of their frequent ticket sales. Prices are already heavily discounted on domestic flights, so it’s always best to explore Southwest for both short and long haul flights since ticket prices have nothing to do with the distance of the flight.

Earn 3x Points with Chase Sapphire Preferred on Travel Bookings through Ultimate Rewards

If you’re planning on PURCHASING an airline ticket, hotel or rental car — you may as well do it through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards portal.

Currently, Chase Sapphire Preferred customers can earn 3x points when booking travel directly through Chase Ultimate Rewards. This is significant, as there are currently no other travel credit cards out there that offer such a high point accrual rate on travel purchases. Combine this with a 20% discount on award bookings, and you’re looking at unmatched value.

Hint: I’ve also found rental car purchases to be priced significantly lower when browsing through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Additional Chase Sapphire Preferred Tips & Benefits

A Hefty Signup Bonus

The current Chase Sapphire Preferred offer will net you up to 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $4,000 in your first 3 months of card membership. That signup bonus was just increased from 40,000 last month, making this a great time to signup for the card. This bonus essentially provides over $625 in travel rewards IF you book travel through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards portal.  It also easily makes up for the $95 annual fee (which is waived the first year), 4 times over.

Double Miles on Travel & Food

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is my daily spend card. The majority of my expenditures tend to be on food and travel, so if you’re in the same boat, this card should be your go-to.  It offers 2x points on all travel and dining purchases — including fast food and taxi rides.

Yes, there are other credit cards out there that offer 2x points on travel and dining (Barclaycard Arrival Plus offers 2x on ALL purchases), however, points from other cards aren’t as valuable due to the flexibility Ultimate Rewards points provide for award bookings.

No Foreign Transaction Fees

Take comfort in knowing that you can earn 2x the points on travel and dining while abroad without incurring ANY foreign transaction fees around the world.

Related: Checkout our top picks for the Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards on the market

Amazing & Instantaneous Customer Service

Chase Sapphire Preferred card members get extra special care from Chase’s customer service team. That’s because you get a direct line (absolutely no computerized voices when you call for help) to Chase Sapphire Preferred customer service specialists when you call the number on the back of your card.

These customer service reps are different from the rest of the Chase staff, specifically assigned to help only Chase Sapphire Preferred customers.

Delayed Baggage Insurance

If for some reason your checked baggage is delayed or sent to the wrong location upon arrival with a major airline carrier for at least 6 hours or more, Chase will reimburse you for purchase of essential items needed while your bags are missing.

This benefit covers the primary card holder as well as any immediate family members. You may need to provide the following documentation in order to be eligible for this benefit, so be sure you have it on hand before following through with a claim.

• completed claim form
• copy of the travel itinerary
• written confirmation of the Baggage Delay from the
• Common Carrier
• a copy of the credit card statement that shows the charge for the
• Common Carrier fare
• a copy of the settlement or denial from the Common Carrier
• copies of receipts for the purchase of essential items over
• twenty-five ($25.00) dollars

Trip Delay Insurance

If your trip is delayed for over 12 hours or requires 1 overnight stay due to equipment failure, rough weather, labor strikes or in the rare instance of a hijacking, Chase will cover up to $500 of a purchased roundtrip ticket.

Trip Delay coverage is provided to the primary card holder, their spouse and any of your children under the age of 22.

Purchase Protection with Chase Sapphire Preferred

If an item is purchased with either money or Chase Sapphire rewards points on your card, and it incurs damage or is stolen, Chase will reimburse, replace or repair the item as long as it’s within 120 days of the initial purchase.

Purchase Protection with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card does not exceed $500 per claim, and will cover up to $50,000 for the life of the account. Whether or not Chase will reimburse, repair or replace the item is decided on by the Chase Sapphire Preferred benefits team.

Coverage extends to the primary card holder or to a person who may have received an item from the primary card holder as a gift.

Easy Pay & Security with Chip Technology

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card comes with EMV Smart Chip technology, which allows for enhanced security when making purchases since it’s much harder for thieves to steal data from the encrypted chips. It’s also a much more common way of making a payment on a purchase abroad.

Beginning in October, many banks, like Chase, will start to include chips in their cards, since at that point new liability laws will go into effect. Up until this point, banks have had to pay for any fraudulent charges, but going forward, it will be retail stores themselves who do not have EMV chip readers that will have to start eating the cost.

Expect to see more US based retailers start to use this technology in the coming months.

Extended Warranty Protection with Chase Sapphire Preferred

Possibly one of my favorite (and often overlooked) benefits with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, especially when it comes to big ticket retail purchases like Smart TVs and electronics, is an extended warranty offering.

Chase will add an additional year of repair warranty protection, in additional to the manufacturers warranty on items that come with warranties of 3 years or less.  Coverage is up to $10,000 per claim, and up to $50,000 per account.

The Chase Sapphire is Made Out of Metal

In case you wanted to know, the Chase Sapphire is not your typical plastic credit card. It’s actually got a sturdy and thick metal core. Pull this unit out of your wallet and toss it an unsuspecting merchant by accident and you might take someones head off! Not really. But you’ll probably get some compliments when you hand it to someone, although the card has become so popular most vendors have likely seen it by now.

CDW Rental Car Insurance is Now Primary – Collision Coverage and Damage Waivers

A huge benefit to Chase Sapphire Preferred holders, especially if you’re a fan of renting cars to explore places that are off the beaten path, is Auto Rental CDW insurance. Essentially, card holders are covered on damages incurred during any collision or theft for the current cash value of many rental vehicles.

This coverage is now primary (an upgrade from last year), so Chase will cover damages or theft up to the cash value of the vehicle BEFORE your own insurance company.

In order to be eligible for this benefit, you need to purchase your rental car or truck in full with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card. You must also decline collision waiver that is typically offered by most rental car companies at checkout.

This coverage extends to the primary card holder only (make sure the name on your card matches the name on your rental agreement), and any additional drivers who are allowed to drive the vehicle under the terms of your rental agreement.

Note that this rental car collision coverage may not cover fancy pants and exotic vehicles, so call Chase Sapphire customer service to confirm if your rental is covered if you plan on renting something exotic. In addition, rental car insurance from Chase does not cover rentals that exceed 31 days.

Apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

Interested in the Chase Sapphire Preferred and all it has to offer? You may Apply online and Chase will process your application with speed. Remember, you’ll need excellent credit and a credit report that doesn’t have too many delinquencies on it for the best chance of approval.

If you have questions or require more details on any of the Chase Sapphire Preferred benefits discussed above, you can call Chase Sapphire customer service at 1-888-320-9961.