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As of Aug. 16, 2021, you’re going to see some new benefits added to both the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve® credit cards. These benefits include increases in earning rates, hotel credits and point bonuses. Here is a breakdown of the changes that are now live.

Oh, and the Sapphire Preferred is also sporting a new look.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Changes

The previous earning rates for the Chase Sapphire Preferred were 2X on dining (including takeout and delivery) and travel and 1X on all other purchases made with the card.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

LEARN MORE 

The big changes to the Chase Sapphire Preferred are largely focused on increased earning rates with some other nice additions like a hotel credit and a 10% point bonus.  

  • $50 hotel credit annually for new and existing card members when booking a stay through the Chase Travel Portal
  • 5X Ultimate Rewards points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal
  • 3X Ultimate Rewards points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs). Note this also excludes in-store grocery purchases.
  • Other earning rates remain at 2X Ultimate Rewards points on all other travel purchases outside of the Chase Travel Portal and 1X Ultimate Rewards points on all other spending
  • 10% Ultimate Rewards point bonus annually based on your card spending, earned after you renew and pay your annual fee
  • The annual fee still stays at $95 despite these new benefits

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Changes

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® currently offers a $300 travel credit for each card anniversary year. After earning the $300 travel credit, you’ll get 3X Ultimate Rewards points on travel purchases. Dining, delivery and takeout purchases will also earn you 3X Ultimate Rewards points. These benefits still come with the card regardless of the new perks. 

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. 

LEARN MORE 

The changes to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® really put emphasis on the Chase Travel Portal. In the breakdown below, you’ll see that all the increases to earning rates rely on using the Chase Travel Portal.

  • 10X Ultimate Rewards points on Chase Dining purchases through the Chase Travel Portal when you make prepaid restaurant reservations, order takeout or join virtual cooking events.
  • 10X Ultimate Rewards points on hotel and rental cars reserved through the Chase Travel Portal
  • 5X Ultimate Rewards points on airfare booked through the Chase Travel Portal
  • The annual fee stays the same at $550

Our Take on These Changes

It’s pretty clear from these changes and the recent welcome offers that Chase places a higher value on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card vs. the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. While the 5-10X Ultimate Rewards points earning rates that have been added to the Sapphire Reserve sound like a big increase, it all requires making reservations through the Chase Travel Portal which may not always be the best option depending on the price. If you’re someone who usually opts to book hotels directly to earn status or transfer points to hotels and airlines to make bookings, these earning rate increases won’t do much for you.

The changes to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card all seem positive. The existing baseline earning rates stay the same, but now there are increased rates for specific categories that typically have high spending as well as a hotel credit and annual point bonus. 

As a holder of the Chase Freedom Unlimited® on top of the Chase Sapphire Preferred, I already have 3X Ultimate Rewards points on dining purchases and 5X Ultimate Rewards points on travel purchases through the Chase Travel portal, so where I find the most value in the updates is the 3X on streaming services, 3X on online groceries, 10% point bonus and $50 hotel credit. Keep in mind that how much these categories matter to you will depend on your living situation and spending habits. Maybe you live in an area that doesn’t have grocery delivery or you never use the Chase Travel Portal. 

Ultimately, whether or not you take advantage of all these new benefits, it’s a win-win to have them added because there will be no increase to the annual fee for either card. 

Final Thoughts

It’s great to see Chase making updates to these two cards especially as some of their competitors make updates to their cards as well, like The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees). I’d say that these changes make the draw to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card much stronger when compared to the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.