AFAR partners with CreditCards.com and may receive a commission from card issuers. Our coverage is independent and objective, and has not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are entirely those of the AFAR editorial team.
Some of the offers mentioned below are no longer available. For the latest Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card information, check here.
One of the biggest paradoxes of the past year has been that, just as the travel industry was hobbled by the COVID-19 pandemic, many travel rewards cards posted their best-ever bonuses and began offering even more perks than usual. Well, now travel is (thankfully) rebounding, and folks are booking trips for this summer and beyond due to an ongoing rollout of vaccines here in the United States and easing international border restrictions. Rather than tapering off, though, the credit card bonuses keep rolling in. In fact, today marks the debut of one of the best welcome offers to come along—not just of 2021, but of all time. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has raised its sign-up bonus to an unprecedented 100,000 points. If you don’t already carry this well-rounded travel rewards card, that number of points should be reason alone to apply while this offer lasts.
Chase Sapphire Preferred sign-up offer details and how to score the 100,000 points
First, the details on the Chase Sapphire Preferred and its current welcome bonus.
Welcome bonus
Earn 100,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months. That is more points than the Chase Sapphire Preferred has offered since it first appeared way back in 2009 and nearly double its usual bonus.
Earning points
As of August 16, 2021, earn...
- Five points per dollar on travel booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Three points per dollar (up from two) on dining
- Three points per dollar on select streaming services—including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Netflix, Sling, Vudu, Fubo TV, Apple Music, SiriusXM, Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube TV
- Three points per dollar online grocery purchases, except for Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs
- Two points per dollar on travel not booked through Chase
- One point per dollar on other purchases
Redemption opportunities
Ultimate Rewards points earned with the Chase Sapphire Preferred are worth 1.25 cents apiece for travel reservations booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal or redeemed via Chase’s “Pay Yourself Back” feature for things like dining, groceries, and home improvement store purchases. You can also transfer them to 10 airlines and three hotels, among other options.
Annual fee
$95
Now consider what those Chase points are worth and the other benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred that you can maximize on your travels.
What are 100,000 Chase points worth?
What makes Chase Ultimate Rewards points so valuable is the sheer variety of ways you can redeem them. The number 100,000 is eye-popping in its own right, but it doesn’t really convey how extraordinary this sign-up bonus is.
As mentioned above, you can simply cash in Ultimate Rewards points for travel reservations or other eligible “Pay Yourself Back” purchases through the Chase cardholder portal for 1.25 cents apiece. That pegs the value of the sign-up bonus at $1,250.
But don’t forget that you can also transfer Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio to 11 airlines and three hotels:
Chase airline partners
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue
- British Airways Executive Club
- Emirates Skywards
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Chase hotel partners
- World of Hyatt
- IHG Rewards Club
- Marriott Bonvoy
So depending on the partner you leverage, you can actually get a lot more than $1,250 in value.
For instance, you could transfer your 100,000 introductory bonus points to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and use them to book a round-trip ticket in Delta One business class from the U.S. to Europe (excluding the U.K.), which can cost upwards of $4,000.
Send 95,000 of them to your Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer account and you’ll have enough for a one-way award in the airline’s spectacular business class on flights between the U.S. West Coast and Singapore.
You only need 13,000 British Airways Avios to fly Alaska Airlines or American Airlines each way from West Coast hubs like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle to Hawai‘i. So 100,000 Chase points would be nearly enough for a family of four to travel there and back.
On the hotel side, 100,000 points is more than enough for three nights at 30,000 points apiece at some of the fanciest hotels under the Hyatt umbrella, including California’s iconic Ventana Big Sur, which is part of Alila, and the stately Hemingways Nairobi, which you can book via Hyatt’s partnership with Small Luxury Hotels.
Transfer Chase points to IHG instead, and you would need just 90,000 for three nights at some trendy Kimpton properties such as the recently opened Kimpton Alton in San Francisco.
Although it’s not the best value, you can also simply redeem Chase points for statement credits against charges on your monthly bill at a rate of one cent apiece. So if you earn the full welcome bonus, you’re looking at $1,000 in value spending your points that way. Better to save them for some postpandemic trips.
Read more: How to Win at Travel With Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase Sapphire Preferred benefits
Earning and redeeming points is one thing. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a worthwhile choice because of its other benefits, too.
As of August 16, 2021, cardholders can receive up to a $50 annual credit on hotel stays purchased through Ultimate Rewards. (New cardmembers can earn this credit immediately, while existing cardmembers will start earning this after their next card anniversary.) Each year on the anniversary of opening their account, cardholders will also now earn bonus points equivalent to 10 percent of the total purchases they made the previous year.
Among this card’s other standout perks are the fact that it waives foreign transaction fees, which makes it a great choice for international travel since you won’t pay pesky charges of up to 3 percent on purchases made abroad.
Thanks to Chase’s partnership with DoorDash, cardholders can register for at least a year of complimentary DashPass membership before December 31, 2021. DashPass normally costs $9.99 per month and entitles you to waived delivery fees (usually around four or five dollars per order) and reduced service fees on orders of $12 or more from participating restaurants.
Chase has also linked up with Peloton to offer Sapphire Preferred cardholders up to $60 in statement credits on Peloton Digital and All-Access memberships through the end of 2021. If you’re still rocking an at-home fitness regimen, this could be just the thing to spice it up without going out-of-pocket immediately. Now through March 31, 2022, you can also earn five points per dollar on a Peloton Bike or Bike+ purchase of $1,800 or more, up to 25,000 points total.
Because the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a Visa Signature card, you can use it to book preferential rates through Visa Signature Hotels and enjoy elite-like perks, including room upgrades and late checkout subject to availability, complimentary breakfast for two daily, and $25 in food and beverage credits per stay at over 900 luxury properties around the world, including the Rosewood London and Esperanza, an Auberge Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Finally, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is an excellent choice to pay for trips because not only will you earn bonus points but you’ll also be entitled to the card’s comprehensive travel protections. Those include trip interruption and cancellation coverage of up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip, trip delay coverage that kicks in at 12 hours and will reimburse you for things like lodging and meals if your plans go awry, and all-important primary rental car collision and damage insurance that makes filing claims for dings and dents a breeze.
Read more: 9 Reasons the Chase Sapphire Preferred Is the Best Travel Rewards Card
Why apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred now
This is the best possible moment to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred for several reasons. First is its unprecedented sign-up bonus of up to 100,000 points. If you missed out on its previous limited-time offers of 80,000 points back in March and last September, this should be your clarion call to apply. The Chase Sapphire Preferred has never proffered this many points before, and we’re unlikely to see anything near this number again.
Now that travel is starting to pick up again post-COVID, it’s also going to be harder to come by bargains on airfare and hotels. A points credit card with rewards you can easily redeem for travel bookings—whether you need to save on airfare, hotels, or other expenses—will become that much more important to saving money on your next trip.
While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they are subject to change at any time, and may have changed or may no longer be available. This article was originally published June 4, 2021, and updated August 16, 2021.
