Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Chase Sapphire Reserve

If you've been in award travel circles for more than a few minutes, you've heard of the “5/24 rule” (which you can read about here), and why you should start with Chase cards. Once you confirm that you are below 5/24, your Chase Ultimate Rewards journey begins. The first decision many people make at that point is looking at Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Chase Sapphire Reserve and decide which is the better fit for them. We hope this guide helps you do just that!

How To Choose Which Sapphire Card Is Right For You

Now that we know that Chase is where to start your miles and points journey, thanks to that pesky 5/24 rule, we need to decide which of these two cards is better for you personally. To do that we will take a look at:

• Earning structure
• Welcome offer
• Card perks
• Annual fees

It would be great if you could just get both cards, but Chase changed the rules on that a few years back. You can carry both, eventually via product changes, if you so desire to (not much point to though). You can not, however, hold one and apply for the other. Because of that we will give you tips on what to consider when deciding between the two. Hopefully this will give you a roadmap to getting on your way to racking up tons of points.

CSP vs CSR Ultimate Rewards Earning Structure

First up, let's take a look at the earning structure for the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve. Since they both earn transferrable Ultimate Rewards points it is a true apples to apples comparison here. They both have access to the same transfer partners etc.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

• Earn 5x Ultimate Rewards on
  • Travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal
• Earn 3x Ultimate Rewards on
  • Dining
  • Select streaming services
  • Online grocery (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
• Earn 2x Ultimate Rewards on all other travel
• Earn 1x Ultimate Rewards on everything else
• Earn 10% annual points bonus (meaning add 0.1x to all categories above)

Chase Sapphire Reserve 

• 8x on Chase travel bookings
• 5x on Lyft rides (through 9/30/27)
• 4x on hotels & flights booked directly
• 3x on dining
• 1x on everything else

Earning Structure Quick Thoughts

You may be surprised to see that the less expensive Chase Sapphire Preferred seems to offer the better array of earning structure. Especially when you throw in that 10% bonus at the end of the year (only on base earning). That gives the card a slight advantage on restaurant spend, when compared to the Chase Sapphire Reserve, and some other interesting options in the 3x category.

With the popularity of grocery delivery, and streaming services exploding, I think people will enjoy getting some bonus points there too. The Preferred does lag behind the Reserve in the travel spending area. So, if that is a big area of expense for you that could tip the scales, but more on that in a bit. I would ignore the portal earning rates since you usually will want to book directly and avoid the hassle of dealing with travel portals. That is especially true should something go wrong on your trip.

Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Chase Sapphire Reserve: Welcome Offers

Next up, let's take a look at the welcome offer for the Preferred and Reserve.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

• Earn 75,000 Ultimate Rewards points (URs) after $5,000 in spend within the first three months.

Chase Sapphire Reserve 

• Earn 125,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Welcome Offer Quick Thoughts

With the Sapphire Reserve in a limited time offer window it comes out clearly ahead at this time. For only $1,000 in extra spend you would get an extra 50,000 Ultimate Rewards.

CSP vs CSR Card Perks

Card perks is an area where you need to do some contemplation for yourself.  There are a lot of perks offered with these cards, the Sapphire Reserve in particular. Only you can decide what those are worth to you. I'll highlight some of the bigger ones, but you can look at our Preferred and Reserve reviews for a much more in depth breakdown of them.

I will point out first off that both cards have good car rental, baggage delay and trip interruption insurance. They are pretty much the same in each of those categories too. The one exception is that the trip delay insurance kicks in after 6 hours with the Sapphire Reserve and at 12 hours with the Sapphire Preferred.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

• Get a $50 annual credit on hotel stays purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
• 10% bonus points each year (as noted above)
• Get 25% more for your points when booking through the Chase Travel Portal

Chase Sapphire Reserve 

• $300 travel credit each cardmember year
• Priority Pass Select membership for primary cardholder (no longer includes restaurant access)
• Chase Sapphire Lounge Access
• $120 credit every 4 years for Global Entry or TSA Precheck
• Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables $300 dining credit
  • Get up to $150 in statement credits every 6 months
• $300 credit at StubHub or Viagogo
  • Get up to $150 every 6 months
• $500 Edit credit (nice hotel stays)
  • Get up to $250 in statement credits for each prepaid booking, up to $500 annually
• $250 Chase Travel hotels credit
  • Get up to $250 in statement credits annually on select prepaid hotels through Chase Travel
    • Eligible hotels include: IHG Hotels & Resorts, Montage Hotels & Resorts, Pendry Hotels & Resorts, Omni Hotels & Resorts, Virgin Hotels, Minor Hotels, and Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts

Card Perks Quick Thoughts

Card perks is the toughest area for us to give you a valuation on. For travel insurance the two cards offer a lot of the same coverage, except the time difference in travel delay. If you would prefer to have that window a bit tighter, then the Reserve may get a notch in its belt for that.

The travel credit on the CSR is a way to reduce the annual fee, which we will discuss next. The perk you find the most valuable of the two cards will depend on your travel preferences and needs. One person may really love the Edit or Exclusive Tables credit, while the next may think they are completely worthless.

That is why I encourage you to crunch your own numbers here and decide which areas are most valuable to you. The Chase Sapphire Reserve comes out way ahead in the perks department, but that doesn't mean much if you don't personally value those perks.

Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Chase Sapphire Reserve: Annual Fee

The last section we are going to look at is the annual fees for each card.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

• $95 annual fee

Chase Sapphire Reserve 

• $795 annual fee
• -$300 travel credit
• $495 net annual fee (if you maximize the credit)

Annual Fee Quick Thoughts

I didn't include the $50 hotel credit for the Sapphire Preferred‘s annual fee like I did the travel credit for the Sapphire Reserve because of its requirements. You need to book the hotel through the Chase Travel Portal to get it. That negates earning elite nights and hotel loyalty points so it won't be of use to many. It could make sense for a one off night at a non-chain hotel but that target is small enough I would rather not include it. It is why I didn't include any other Sapphire Reserve credits since their usefulness will be up to the individual. The thinking is that anyone that picks up an expensive premium travel card will have at least $300 in travel expenses a year.

The travel credit on the Reserve works on most travel and can be booked direct. Because of that it can be used fairly easily (think award flight taxes and fees etc.) and I discounted it from the annual fee. Even after all of that the Sapphire Preferred still comes out ahead here.

Crunching The Numbers: Which Card Is Better For You In The First Year?

Now that we have everything laid out you may already be leaning one way or the other in terms of which card is better for you. I wanted to take a second and crunch some numbers with you. This ensures we are covering all the bases.

If we give the Reserve's $300 travel statement credit a 100% valuation (some may discount this slightly), that gives us a net annual fee of $495. When compared to the Preferred, that is an increase of $400. In addition to this cash difference, you should consider how much value you give to the Reserve's additional benefits, like Priority Pass, stronger trip protection, Edit & StubHub credits etc.

When the welcome offer for the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve differ from each other, the numbers can make this a much more clear decision. But when the welcome offers are the same, your analysis mostly focuses on whether the Reserve's additional benefits are worth the additional $400 out of pocket to you.

Valuing The Sapphire Reserve Perks At $0

Let's assume that you value the additional Reserve benefits at $0 (maybe they are redundant with other cards you carry). That gives us a difference of $400 in cost, at least when there is no difference in welcome offers between the two cards. The CSR and CSP earn about the same on dining, although the Preferred gets .1 points more per dollar. That means the real difference in earning is on select travel. Here is where the Reserve earns 2 more points per dollar on hotels and flights. If you value that point per dollar at 1.5 cents each you would make the following calculation:

$400 / $0.03 = $13,333 in spend

That means you would need to spend $13,333 on airfare and hotels a year with your Sapphire Reserve in the first year to make up the difference in value. This isn't including if you spend money in the streaming, or grocery delivery area, with the Preferred either. If you do, then you will want to factor that in as well. People may just value the more robust travel category on the Preferred too, since it includes cruises and tolls etc. at the 2x rate.

Valuing The Sapphire Reserve Perks At $300

If you valued the Sapphire Reserve's perks at $300 then that would close the gap a bit. You would only need to have $3,333 in airline and hotel spend during the year. This is of course assuming that you don't have any streaming, grocery delivery or more general travel spend on the Sapphire Preferred card. That could be true since you likely have a card in your wallet that does better on streaming.

$100 / $0.03 = $3,333 in spend

What About When The Welcome Offers Are Different?

This calculation is for when the offers differ, which can happen at times. This is when, let's say, the Sapphire Reserve has an offer that is 25,000 or 50,000 points higher than the Preferred (or vice versa). You will want to turn that difference in points into a cash value for decision making purposes. So, you could multiple that number by $0.015, or whatever you value Ultimate Rewards at. Then add that to the card's value with the higher number.

For this example let's say the Sapphire Reserve offer was 50,000 points better and you value the card perks of the Reserve at $300. Here is what the full equation would look like:

(50,000 Ultimate Rewards x $0.015) – ($795 CSR annual fee – $95 CSP annual fee – $300 Travel Credit – $300 in perks valuation) = The Sapphire Reserve would be $650 to the positive in year one. Even if you valued the Sapphire Reserve perks at $0, outside of the travel credit, the Reserve is still $350 in value better the first year when the welcome offer is 50,000 points better.

If it went the other way, and the Sapphire Preferred had the 25K higher bonus offer it would look like this (assuming the

(25,000 points x $0.015) + ($795 CSR annual fee – $300 Travel Credit – $95 CSP annual fee – $300 CSR perks valuation) = The Sapphire Preferred would be $475 positive in year one.

What About After The First Year?

As you can see, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is going to be the best option for a majority of people in the first year when the offers are the same. When the offers are different then that can swing things the other way though. What about after the first year though? If we remove the difference in welcome offers for year two, here is what the calculation looks like:

$795 – $300 travel credit – $95 Sapphire Preferred annual fee = $400

This is a large number, but not insurmountable. If you value the following at more than $400 then you make the switch to or continue to hold the Reserve card:

• Priority Pass Select membership
• Global Entry credit
• StubHub credit
• Edit credit
• Exclusive Tables credit
• Improved travel delay insurance

That doesn't include the difference in earning structure either. If you are a road warrior and have a ton of company spend on airfare and hotels then the 4x earning could be the difference. If you instead love streaming and grocery delivery, or dining out, then the increased earning with the Sapphire Preferred could be the better option.

Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Chase Sapphire Reserve: ToP Thoughts

Hopefully this gives you everything you need to make the best decision for you. When there is a difference in the welcome offer it will usually be best to grab the higher offer. Then you can pick which of the two fits your needs better for year two. That is unless you really value the perks the Chase Sapphire Reserve has to offer. If you are just starting out and you don't have other premium cards that offer similar things that just may be the case. Either option is a winner really and it is a great place to get started on your points earning journey with. So, which one are you picking? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or in our ToP Facebook group.