Chase Sapphire Reserve® vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Which Should You Pick?

If you're interested in travel credit cards, you may narrow it down to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is full of features with an expensive annual fee. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is more budget-friendly while still offering plenty of perks.

Even if you wanted to get both, Chase only allows you to have one Sapphire card. That makes it important to pick the card that's right for you. Here's our comparison to help you decide.

Chase Sapphire Reserve vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred

Both Chase credit cards have a variety of features. Here's a look at the Chase Sapphire Reserve® vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card in all the categories that matter most.

Annual fees

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is much more affordable. It has a $95 annual fee.

Compare that to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® with a $550 annual fee.

Overall, you save $455 in fees with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. While that's a sizable amount, keep in mind that the reason for that is because of the benefits each card offers.

Sign-up bonuses

The Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Chase Sapphire Preferred have equal sign-up bonuses. They each offer 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.

Travel benefits

• Travel credits
• Rewards rates
• Travel redemptions
• Travel and purchase coverage
• Airport lounge access

Travel credits

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers much larger travel credits. That's a key way that it offsets its annual fee.

You get $320 to $325 per year in travel credits with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, depending on whether you use that membership fee credit every four or five years. That's $270 to $275 more than the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers.

Here's a breakdown of the spending credits for the Chase Sapphire Reserve:

• It has a $300 annual travel credit. It applies to any purchases Chase classifies as travel, so it's easy to use. This credit renews each account anniversary year.
• It also has a credit of up to $100 every four years for a Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS membership fee. Memberships last for five years with each one, but you can renew after four years. Overall, this can save you about $20 to $25 per year.

Here's a breakdown of the spending credits for the Chase Sapphire Preferred:

• This card has a $50 annual credit for hotel stays booked through Chase Travel. This credit renews each account anniversary year.

Rewards rates

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers higher bonus rates, but the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a better range of bonus categories. While these Chase credit cards used to have very similar rewards structures, Chase revamped them and made them more unique.

Here's what the Chase Sapphire Reserve® earns:

• 10 points per $1 on hotel and car rental bookings through Chase Travel (excludes spending covered by $300 annual travel credit)
• 5 points per $1 on flight bookings through Chase Travel (excludes spending covered by $300 annual travel credit)
• 10 points per $1 on Lyft rides through March 2025 (excludes spending covered by $300 annual travel credit)
• 3 points per $1 on all other travel purchases (excludes spending covered by $300 annual travel credit)
• 10 points per $1 on Chase Dining purchases with Ultimate Rewards
• 3 points per $1 on other dining purchases, which includes eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out
• 1 point per $1 on all other purchases

Here's what the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns:

• 5 points per $1 on travel purchases through Chase Travel (excludes spending covered by $50 annual hotel credit)
• 5 points per $1 on Lyft rides through March 2025 (excludes spending covered by $50 annual hotel credit)
• 2 points per $1 on all other travel purchases
• 3 points per $1 on dining, which includes eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out
• 3 points per $1 on online grocery purchases (excludes Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
• 3 points per $1 on select streaming services
• 1 point per $1 on all other purchases

For dining and travel, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is more rewarding. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is great for everyday spending, with bonus rewards on online grocery purchases and select streaming. The better option for you will depend on your spending habits.

Travel redemptions

Both cards offer the same ways to redeem points, but the Chase Sapphire Reserve® provides more value on travel bookings that you pay for in points.

Both cards are part of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program. They earn Ultimate Rewards points, some of the most flexible and valuable travel rewards. There are two excellent travel redemption options:

• Transfer points to loyalty programs of Chase's airline and hotel travel partners.
• Use points for cash travel purchases through the Chase Travel portal.

With transfers, these cards are effectively equal. You can send 10,000 Ultimate Rewards points to any partner and get 10,000 points in that partner's loyalty program. It doesn't matter if you're transferring points from the Chase Sapphire Reserve® or Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. The value you get from those points will depend on the award airfare or hotel stay you book. Savvy shoppers can often get more than over $0.02 to $0.03 per point, especially when booking award airfare.

The main difference is using points for cash travel purchases. You can do this through the Chase Travel portal. When you do, you're converting points to cash to make the booking. The value you get per point depends on the card you have. Here's the value you'll get with each:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: $0.0125 per point
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®: $0.015 per point

If you plan to use your points this way, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers more value. Let's say you have 100,000 Chase points. In the Chase Travel portal, those would be worth $1,250 with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. With the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, they'd be worth $1,500.

LEARN MORE: Definitive Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

Travel and purchase coverage

While each card has similar complimentary protections, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® provides more coverage. Neither card is a slouch in this area, though, as both offer:

• Purchase protection
• Extended warranty protection
• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance
• Auto rental damage collision waiver
• Baggage delay insurance
• Trip delay reimbursement

Here's where the Chase Sapphire Reserve® does better in terms of complimentary protections:

• It has much higher purchase protection limits. Both cards cover new purchases against damage or theft for the first 120 days. But the Chase Sapphire Reserve® has limits of $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per year. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has limits of $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.
• It has return protection for eligible items the store won't take back within 90 days of purchase. The limit is up to $500 per item and $1,000 per year. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card doesn't have return protection.

Airport lounge access

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is the only one of these cards to offer airport lounge access. It includes a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership.

Through this membership, you and up to two guests can access the Priority Pass network of more than 1,300 airport lounges. Priority Pass also has other types of airport locations where members can receive benefits, including restaurants and spas. At non-lounge locations, such as restaurants, members normally receive spending credits.

If you travel often, lounge access can be helpful. It largely depends on where you travel, though, and how long you spend at the airport. If you know this is a perk you want, then it makes choosing between these two travel credit cards fairly easy.

Partner benefits

Both cards have partner benefits, but the Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers more. According to Chase, that card has $1,200 in additional partnership benefit value, compared to $200 for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Note that Chase includes Priority Pass airport lounge access as one of these partner benefits for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

However, that doesn't tell the full story. Many of these benefits are similar on both cards. Here's how they compare:

• Complimentary Instacart+ membership: The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers this for one year, compared to six months for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Both require activation by July 31, 2024 and auto-renew.
• $15 monthly Instacart credit: Both cards offer this through July 2024.
• Complimentary DoorDash DashPass subscription: Both cards offer this for a minimum of 12 months. You must activate by Dec. 31, 2024, and the membership auto-renews.
• Monthly $5 DoorDash credit: Only offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve® through Dec. 31, 2024.
• Complimentary Lyft Pink membership: Lasts for two years and is only offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Must activate by Dec. 31, 2024 and the membership auto-renews.

In addition, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers access to The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection, where cardholders can get room upgrades, complimentary daily breakfast, late checkout, and a special benefit worth up to $100.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers a complimentary fourth night at Ennismore Hotel properties. Cardholders can also receive room upgrades, late checkouts, complimentary daily breakfast, a $30 food and beverage credit, and more.

Deciding between the Chase Sapphire Reserve® vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

In the showdown of the Chase Sapphire Reserve® vs. Preferred® Card, they're both top-notch credit cards. It comes down to whether you want luxury travel perks or more everyday benefits.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® benefits are made for frequent flyers with big spending on travel and dining. The Chase Sapphire Reserve® has generous bonus categories that reward you for spending in those areas. And all its travel perks, such as airport lounge access and luxury hotel benefits, can improve the quality of your trips.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the superior rewards card if you don't need all the bells and whistles. It's much cheaper and still has excellent travel benefits. It also earns more points on online grocery orders and streaming services, which is great if those are big spending categories for you.

Still have questions?

Here are some other questions we've answered:

• What Credit Score Do I Need for a Chase Credit Card?
• How to Upgrade a Chase Credit Card
• A Guide to Chase's 5/24 Rule
• What Is the Chase Trifecta?