Chase upped the ante once again on its most popular travel credit card on Friday, rolling out a bigger 80,000-point bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card after spending $4,000 within the first three months of card membership.
That's up from the standard offer of 60,000 points for the same spending requirement. And aside from the 90,000-point bonus you can get only by applying in-person at a Chase branch (with a higher spending requirement), this is the biggest and best offer we've seen since last summer.
It's easily among the single best credit card bonuses you can get right now, period. If you don't live near a Chase branch or don't have the time, it won't get better than this 80,000-point bonus.
If you're just getting started with travel rewards credit cards , there's no better place to start than the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. Those 80,000 points are worth at least $1,000 toward travel when redeemed through the Chase travel portal – and potentially much, much more if you send points to the airlines and hotel chains that are Chase transfer partners . Considering the card has an annual fee of just $95, you can easily come out way ahead.
Just keep in mind: Credit cards are serious business. Even an 80,000-point bonus isn't worth it if you can't afford to pay off every dime in spending it takes to earn those points.
Read on for everything you need to know about this stellar offer.
Learn More about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Just How Good is an 80,000-Point Bonus?
Really, really good.
While it's not the best-ever bonus we've seen on this card, it's probably the biggest welcome bonus we'll see on this card going forward, aside from the current 90,000 point offer you can get by applying for the card at a physical Chase branch location. Whether that exclusive in-person offer sticks around much longer is an open question.
Let's go through some history quickly.
For years, the Preferred Card has been a mainstay in travelers' wallets and is easily among the best cards for getting started with travel rewards. For a long time, the card offered a welcome bonus of 50,000 points after spending $4,000. That's certainly not bad … but it's gotten much better.
A few years back, Chase increased that bonus to 60,000 points for the same spending requirement. But as banks tried to dig their way out of the pandemic, they opened the floodgates of bigger bonuses to compete for a share of consumers' wallets. And Chase was no exception.
Here's a brief rundown of the bonuses we've seen on the Preferred Card over the last two years:
In the fall of 2020, Chase launched an 80,000-point bonus on the card for several months – at the time, its biggest welcome offer ever.
They did it again in the spring of 2021, bringing back an 80,000-point offer on the Preferred Card.
Then Chase did the unthinkable: They leveled up to a record-setting 100,000-point bonus in June 2021.
By October 2021, that unprecedented 100,000-point offer ended, bringing the Chase Sapphire Preferred bonus back down to 60,000 points.
After several competing banks flooded the market with eye-popping offers, Chase brought back an 80,000-point bonus on the Preferred Card in mid-April 2022, which later ended in June of the same year.
We may not have a crystal ball, but it's unlikely that a 100,000-point bonus ever comes back. It's simply far too lucrative. So if you are waiting for a bigger online offer than 80,000 points, don't hold your breath.
So what can 80,000 points get you? A lot. Those points are worth a minimum of $1,000 toward flights, hotels, and other travel expenses booked through the Chase travel portal . But by leveraging Chase transfer partners and sending these points to airlines like Air Canada Aeroplan, United, Iberia, or British Airways – or even hotel chains like Hyatt – you can get much, much more value from this 80,000-point bonus.
Read our guide on the best ways to redeem 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points !
Learn More about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Sapphire Preferred Card Benefits
It's not just the big bonus. After the addition of some new benefits a few years back , the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card packs a big punch in terms of benefits, especially when you consider the card's annual fee is only $95.
Here's a look at all the benefits of the Preferred Card.
Welcome Offer Bonus of 80,000 Points
For a limited time, you'll earn 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of card membership. That's up from the standard bonus of 60,000 points for the same spending requirement. This is a limited-time offer!
So long as you apply before Chase pulls this 80,000-point offer, you're set – you don't need to spend the $4,000 sum by that deadline. You may also be able to get a 90,000-point welcome bonus with the same spending requirement by applying at a Chase bank in person.
These points are worth a minimum of $1,000 towards travel … and potentially much more by using Chase's airline and hotel transfer partners.
Read more: Chase Ultimate Rewards: A Guide to Earning and Burning in 2023 and Beyond
Earn up to 5x Points On Travel
When you book flights, hotels, or rental cars through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal , you'll earn 5x Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on an unlimited amount of spending each year.
Any travel purchase you make on the Preferred card outside of the travel portal will earn 2x points per dollar spent.
Chase defines travel purchases to include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds, and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, rideshare services, limousines, ferries, toll bridges, and highways, parking lots and garages.
Earn 3x Points On Dining, Online Grocery Orders, & Streaming Services
The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 3x points per dollar spent at restaurants – including takeout and delivery services like DoorDash and more. That puts it on par with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® – the Sapphire Preferred's bigger and more expensive sibling which charges an annual fee of $550 each year.
You'll also earn 3x points per dollar spent on online grocery orders from services like Instacart. However, this doesn't include Target, Walmart, or wholesale clubs like Costco or Sam's Club.
Finally, you'll earn 3x points per dollar spent on streaming platform subscriptions like Netflix, Disney +, Spotify, and more.
A $50 Annual Hotel Booking Credit
Each and every year you hold the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you'll get a $50 credit to use for hotel bookings made through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.
Simply book a hotel, and Chase will automatically credit you up to $50 toward that booking. You'll also earn 5x points per dollar spent on that booking.
Read More: How to Use the $50 Chase Sapphire Preferred Hotel Credit
Earn a 10% Points Bonus on Your Spending Each Year
Each year when you renew your card, you'll receive a 10% Ultimate Rewards points bonus based on your spending from the previous year.
This isn't based on the number of points you earn from welcome bonuses or category spending bonuses but on the raw dollar figure of how much you spent on the card.
So for example, if you spend $10,000 throughout the year on your Preferred Card, Chase would give you a 1,000-point bonus.
Great Travel and Rental Car Insurance Policies
The coverage you get from charging your car rental to a Sapphire card is some of the best rental car insurance you can get from a credit card.
It covers any damage to your rental and provides cardholders with primary auto rental insurance. And that generally means you can skip additional policies from your rental car company – and even from using your own policy to file a claim if the worst happens.
This benefit alone can be worth the $95 annual fee if you frequently rent cards during your travel.
Read More: All About the Chase Sapphire Rental Card Insurance Benefit
$95 Annual Fee
The Sapphire Preferred charges an annual fee of $95 which is not waived in your first year of card membership.
The card also doesn't charge foreign transaction fees , which makes it a great option for international travel.
Who is Eligible for the Chase Sapphire Preferred 80K Bonus?
Before applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, there are a few things you will need to keep in mind to give yourself the best chance of getting approved.
You’ll Need Good-to-Excellent Credit
The first thing you’ll need to consider before applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (or any card, for that matter) is your credit score.
Chase indicates that you need to fall into the “Good” to “Excellent” credit buckets to be approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. As you can see, that means you’d probably need at least a 680 credit score to get approved.
But this isn't a hard-and-fast rule. There are certainly exceptions – especially if you have a history with Chase. But your best bet for getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred is likely by having a credit score of 700 or higher. If your credit score isn’t at least 680, it’s likely you won’t be approved.
Read More: What Credit Score Do You Need for the Chase Sapphire Preferred?
The Chase 5/24 Rule
The next thing you’ll need to be aware of is something called the Chase 5/24 Rule .
The Chase 5/24 rule is a restriction rolled out years ago in order to limit card applicants from opening credit cards for the sole purpose of earning the bonus rewards.
Here’s what it boils down to:
If you have opened five or more credit cards in the past 24 months from any bank ( not just Chase cards ), you will not be approved for Chase credit cards, regardless of your credit score or history with Chase Bank.
The rule does not count credit inquiries, but rather card products you have applied for and been approved for. That also means mortgages and other lines of credit don’t count.
The rule is not officially published through any of Chase’s platforms. Case in point: If you ask about it in a Chase branch or on the phone with a Chase customer service representative, employees have likely not heard of it.
Have You Earned the Bonus on the Preferred or Reserve Previously?
It’s not just the number of cards you’ve opened that could be a factor. Specific cards could rule you out from earning this bonus, too.
Chase does not allow you to hold both the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve at the same time . That means if you already have a Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card open, you will not be eligible to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Additionally, you will not be eligible to apply for the Sapphire Preferred if you earned a sign-up bonus on either the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve in the last 48 months – four full years .
The four-year restriction starts from the date you earned the bonus points – not the date that you opened or closed either card.
Have either the Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card open but it’s been more than four years since you’ve earned the welcome offer bonus points? you’ve got a few options to move ahead and still be eligible for this bonus.
Cancel your Sapphire Card, and then reapply. It's generally a good idea to wait for at least a full billing cycle before applying again. You'll need to move quickly before this limited-time bonus offer ends.
Downgrade your Sapphire card to one of the no-annual-fee Chase Freedom cards , and then reapply. Again, it may be best to wait for at least a full billing cycle before applying again.
Downgrading to one of the Freedom cards is a good option if you have Ultimate Rewards points in your account. If you close a Sapphire Card with a balance of Chase Ultimate Rewards points, they will be forfeited. Downgrading keeps them intact. Once you open a new Sapphire Preferred Card, you could then transfer those points back to your Preferred Card.
Just keep in mind that when you reapply for the Sapphire Preferred Card, you’ll still need to be under the Chase 5/24 rule and have a credit score that will allow you to get approved.
Read More: Master Guide to Credit Card Applications: All the Rules You Need to Know, Bank by Bank
Learn More about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
What About Personal Referrals?
If you already hold the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card , you can now refer friends and family to the card with your unique link. For doing so, Chase will reward you with 15,000 Ultimate Rewards points of your own capped at 75,000 points each calendar year.
You can log into your Chase account and easily find your own link, and the referral links should be updated with the new 80,000-point offer after spending $4,000 in the first three months of card membership.
Apply for the 60K Point Bonus? Try and Match to the Better Offer
If you've recently applied and been approved for the old 60,000 point offer for spending $4,000 in the first three months of card membership, it's worth contacting Chase by calling the number on the back of your card or through the secure message feature in your account to see if they will match you to the better, 80,000 point offer.
It's no guarantee, but the worst they can do is say no. It's always worth a shot!
Learn More about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Bottom Line
Chase is out with a brand new 80,000 point bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card . That's up from the standard offer of 60,000 points for the same spending requirement and worth a minimum of $1,000 towards travel.
While you may be able to get a 90,000-point bonus by applying in-person at a Chase branch, this is still one of the best offers we've seen on our favorite travel card. And while we don't know how long it'll stick around, it's only available for a limited time!
Learn More about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
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