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Credit Card Spotlight

Chase Sapphire Preferred®

The beginner travel card that opens the door to Chase’s full airline and hotel transfer lineup.

✦ Personal Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred®

Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.

Learn More Terms apply. See the issuer’s site for rates, fees, and full offer details.
75,000
Bonus Points
$95
Annual Fee
Good–Exc.
Credit Score
Transferable
Reward Type
Earning Rates

Where it earns

5x
Chase Travel
Booked through Chase Travel℠
3x
Dining
Restaurants, takeout & eligible delivery
2x
Other Travel
Flights, hotels & transit booked elsewhere
1x
Everything Else
All other purchases

The hub of your Chase points. The Sapphire Preferred is where Ultimate Rewards points become fully transferable. Funnel the cash back from a Freedom card into this account and it unlocks Chase’s airline and hotel partners — including Hyatt and Southwest, both useful for Hawaii.

Chase Freedom Unlimited® Chase Sapphire Reserve® Chase Ink Business Preferred®
Scottie Kobayashi
Scottie’s Take
Opinions are Scottie’s own and have not been reviewed or endorsed by any bank or card issuer.

The best first card — with a Hawaii asterisk

If someone asks me where to start with travel points, this is almost always the answer. The $95 fee scares people off, but the 10% anniversary points boost plus transfer-partner access earn it back many times over — if you actually use the points instead of cashing them out.

Here’s the honest Hawaii read: Chase doesn’t transfer to Alaska/Atmos or Hawaiian, so this won’t replace your Atmos strategy. Where it earns its keep for us is Southwest — a 1:1 Chase partner that flies interisland and West Coast–Hawaii — plus United for the mainland and Hyatt for island resorts at a fraction of cash rates.

My view: if you’re building a Chase setup, start here, not with the Reserve. The fee is forgiving, the math is simple, and it pairs perfectly with a no-fee Freedom card. Just go in seeing it as a hotel-and-mainland engine that complements your interisland points, not a one-card solution for Hawaii flying.

Card Benefits

What you get

🌐

Transfer Partners

Move points 1:1 to Chase’s airline and hotel partners, including Hyatt, United, Southwest, and Air Canada Aeroplan.

🏨

$50 Hotel Credit

Up to $50 back each account anniversary year on hotel stays booked through Chase Travel℠.

🛡

Trip Protection

Trip cancellation and interruption insurance, plus baggage delay coverage when you pay with your card.

🚗

Primary Rental Car Coverage

Decline the rental company’s collision insurance and use your card’s primary auto rental coverage instead.

🎬

Complimentary DashPass

Activate complimentary DashPass for at least one year for $0 delivery fees on eligible DoorDash orders.

🎁

Anniversary Bonus

Earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases each year on your account anniversary.

You may not be eligible for the welcome bonus if you currently have a Sapphire card or have previously earned a new cardmember bonus on this card; Chase’s 5/24 guideline also applies. Credit score ranges are estimates only and approval is not guaranteed.