The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the card I'd have kept forever. $95 a year, points that actually go somewhere, and nothing you have to babysit.
Then on October 1, 2026, Chase nerfed it. The Preferred now moves points to Hyatt at 4:3 instead of 1:1. Hyatt is where most of my points go, so I moved to the Sapphire Reserve, the only Sapphire card that still transfers 1:1.
But here's the thing: a nerf to my favorite redemption doesn't make the Preferred a bad card. For most people starting out, it's still the one I'd recommend first.
Full transparency: that's my referral link. It's 75,000 points on the Preferred or 100,000 on the Reserve right now, and I can be rewarded if you apply through it and get approved.
My 3 years with it
I had the Preferred for 3 years before moving to the Reserve. It was an easy decision to get: the signup bonus at the time was a huge 100,000 points against a $95 annual fee. That's not a hard trade.
And honestly, I think it might be even more worth it now, as long as you don't care about Hyatt. The hotel credit went from $50 to $100, which makes it way easier to treat it like a free night certificate: one decent hotel night a year through Chase Travel, and the fee is covered. Add a free year of Apple TV, DashPass, and a $10 monthly DoorDash promo on non-restaurant orders, and it's a no-brainer card.
The Hyatt thing was just too big for me to ignore. I'm mainly in the Chase ecosystem for the Hyatt transfers, so 4:3 took away the main reason I was there.
What the Hyatt nerf actually means
Let's do the math, because "4:3" sounds abstract until you see it.
A standard 25,000-point Hyatt night used to cost 25,000 Chase points. Now it costs about 33,300 Chase points. That's a third more, on every single Hyatt redemption.
If you book Hyatt once a year, whatever. If Hyatt is your whole strategy, like it is for me, that adds up fast. That's the entire reason I upgraded.
But if you mostly fly, or you transfer to airlines like United or Air Canada Aeroplan, nothing changed for you. Those are still 1:1.
What you get for $95
Earning:
- 5x on travel booked through Chase Travel
- 3x on dining, including takeout and delivery
- 3x on gas stations and EV charging (new in 2026)
- 3x on select streaming and online grocery
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everything else
Credits and perks:
- $100 hotel credit every account year on hotels booked through Chase Travel (it used to be $50)
- Global Entry / TSA PreCheck / NEXUS credit, up to $120 every four years
- DashPass free for 12 months, plus a $10 monthly DoorDash promo on non-restaurant orders
- Apple TV free for a year. I used this one back when I had the card.
Protections:
- Primary rental car coverage up to $60,000. This is a big one for a $95 card.
- Trip cancellation / interruption up to $10,000 per person
- Trip delay up to $500 if you're stuck 12+ hours or overnight
- Baggage delay up to $100/day for 5 days, and lost luggage up to $3,000
My rule for whether it's "worth it"
I only count a credit if I'd spend the money anyway. By that standard, the Preferred is almost unfairly easy to justify:
- If you book one hotel a year through Chase Travel, the $100 hotel credit alone covers the $95 fee. Treat it like an annual free night and you're already ahead.
- If you eat out and drive, the 3x categories quietly pile up points on spending you were already doing.
- The rental car coverage can save you hundreds the first time something goes wrong.
You don't have to change your life to make it pay off. That's what makes it a good first card.
Who should get it
Get the Preferred if:
- It's your first travel card and you want something simple
- You mostly fly, or transfer to airline partners
- You want premium-card protections without a premium-card fee
Get the Reserve instead if:
- Hyatt is your go-to redemption. 1:1 vs 4:3 is a real difference.
- You travel enough to use a $300 travel credit without thinking
- You want lounge access with free guests
The verdict
The Hyatt nerf hurt me personally. I'm not going to pretend it didn't. I loved this card for 3 years, and I only left because the one thing I used Chase for got 33% more expensive. But a card isn't bad just because it stopped being perfect for one specific redemption.
For a $95 card, the Preferred still does what it's always done: it turns the money you already spend on food, gas, and travel into trips. If you're just getting started, start here.
