Chase today announced changes coming to their popular Sapphire Preferred credit card. I have had this credit card for many years and have always kept it for several reasons, but was actually considering closing the account as I’m not actually using ti much. Well, with today’s announcement, I now have a good reason to keep it in the long run, and so do you – though it’s not all good news. Let’s dig in.

If you’ve been eyeing this card, I suggest you apply before June 15th, so that you can make use of the Points Bonus and 1:1 Hyatt transfers before the those changes are implemented! You can apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred here.

Some context: Chase Sapphire Preferred’s current features

Before we go into the changes, let’s have a quick look at what the card currently offers. From compelling bonus categories to useful credits, here’s the main features of the Sapphire Preferred, which carries a $95 annual fee.

In terms of bonus categories, the Sapphire Preferred has a well-balanced offering:

• 5x points on all Chase Travel purchases, including flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, activities and tours
• 2x points on all other travel worldwide
• 3x points on dining worldwide, including takeout and eligible delivery services
• 3x points on top streaming services
• 3x points on online grocery purchases
• 5x points on Lyft rides through September 30, 2027
• 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027
• 1x points on all other purchases

Then, there’s some credits that are also useful:

• $50 annual hotel credit for bookings through Chase Travel.
• DashPass membership, plus up to $10 off a month on groceries, daily essentials, and more on DoorDash.

Finally, the Sapphire preferred comes with a slew of good travel insurance, ranging from lost luggage, to travel delays and car rental collision damage waivers. For the annual fee, the Sapphire Preferred is compelling for that reason. Other than that, you can get a 10% points bonus at the end of the year, which is calculated as a 10% bonus on the dollar value of your purchases (so not 10% bonus on top of the points you earned).

Chase announces changes to the Sapphire Preferred

Chase today announced that we’ll be seeing changes incoming for the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. These changes will kick in as of June 15th, so that is very soon, with some caveats:

• For Preferred card holders who applied before June 15th, the positive changes kick in as of June 15th, while the negative ones will only kick in as of October 1st.
• For Preferred card holders who apply on or after June 15th, all changes will kick in immediately.

With that, let’s dig into the changes.

These are the positive changes

The positives come in a variety of flavors, so let me just list them:

• The annual fee remains $95.
• New bonus categories:
  • 3x points on every dollar spent for gas or EV charging.
  • 3x points on vacation homes booked through Vrbo and AirBnB.
• The $50 annual hotel credit that the Chase Sapphire Preferred awarded for hotel bookings through Chase Travel will be doubleD to an annual $100 credit.
• There is a new $120 TSA PreCheck/Global Entry or NEXUS credit, awarded once every four years when applying for this service and charging the fee to your Preferred card.
• For activation before December 31st 2026, get 1 year complimentary Apple TV subscription.
• Enhanced travel insurance now also covers Emergency Evacuation and Transportation coverage.

These are the negative changes

Unfortunately there are also some negatives, and for some this may well kill some of the value of this card:

• Transfer of Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Hyatt are being devalued specifically for the Chase Preferred and Chase Ink Business Preferred cards: it’s going from 1:1 to 4:3.
• The 10% points bonus will be discontinued definitively.

Note that for card holders who applied before June 15, these changes will only take effect as of October 1st, whereas they apply immediately for those applying for the card on or after June 15.

My take: a keeper, thanks to the $100 hotel credit

The Sapphire Preferred is one of Chase’s most popular credit cards, offering a well-balanced set of bonus categories and a bunch of incremental perks that generally make it a oft-used card for the average credit card holder. With an annual fee of $95, this card stands in some contrast to the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which costs a whopping $795 to have, but comes with a slew of credits to help offset that cost. I personally don’t find this card particularly worthwhile as maximizing the credits typically require you to spend more on certain categories than I would like to do, so I have stuck with the Sapphire Preferred instead. However, the incentive to keep it was starting to wear off, and here’s why.

I just wasn’t compelled to use the card much and was starting to lose money on the annual fee. The $50 hotel credit went some way to recoup it but not enough. The reason most spending doesn’t go to the Preferred anymore is because other cards simply have more valuable bonus categories:

• The Amex Gold gets all dining and grocery spending (4x), and also some airfare spending (3x).
• For foreign purchases (which includes basically all spending on international trips) the Alaska Summit card is basically the go-to card, as it gives 3x spending in that category.
• The Bilt card get all everyday non-bonused spending.

Remaining travel spending then generally went to the Sapphire Preferred, which wasn’t all that much, and the main reason to put it on that card was for the travel insurance.

However, with these changes the card has become a keeper in my wallet. The $100 hotel credit now offsets the annual fee, and since it’s an annual credit, it’s very easy to maximize. The inclusion of the TSA PreCheck/Global Entry/NEXUS credit is also nice, though there’s many cards in my wallet that provide this. I also like the 3x earn rate on gas, which is sure to be handy as well, though I honestly don’t drive much.

On the flip side (and that’s where the negative twist comes from), the devaluation of transfers to Hyatt are painful. Hyatt points are genuinely valuable, and I recently had a great stay at the Hyatt Regency Cape Town that makes me want to stay with Hyatt more. The fact that this devaluation only applies to the Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred cards, makes me wonder if this is a way to get people that are strongly invested in Hyatt to ‘buy up’ to the Sapphire Reserve instead, which will retain the 1:1 Hyatt transfers.

Summary

Chase announced some changes to the Sapphire Preferred that, for my personal situation, are generally positive. I really like the doubling of the hotel credit to now be $100, as it completely covers the $95 annual fee (which is the same as before the changes), and it’s good to see 3x earning on gas and EV charging. The devaluation of Hyatt transfers on the Preferred card is rather painful, as Hyatt points are valuable and allow for some great stays around the world. On the whole, though, these changes cement this card as a keeper in my wallet.

If you’ve been eyeing this card, I suggest you apply before June 15th, so that you can make use of the Points Bonus and 1:1 Hyatt transfers before the those changes are implemented! You can apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred here.