Both Chase Sapphire cards were rebuilt in the last twelve months, so most of the comparisons you will find online are out of date. The Sapphire Reserve jumped to a $795 annual fee in June 2025 and was reloaded with lifestyle credits. The Sapphire Preferred got its own refresh in June 2026 — it kept the $95 fee but added new bonus categories and adopted the same Points Boost redemption engine the Reserve uses. Here is the honest 2026 answer to which one you should carry.
Chase Sapphire Preferred — 60,000-point welcome bonus
Spend $4k/3mo. Transfer 1:1 to United, Hyatt, Virgin Atlantic.
The short version: for most people the Preferred is the smarter card. The Reserve only wins if you will genuinely use enough of its credits to bury that $795 fee — and a lot of people overestimate how many of those credits they will actually touch.
Pointify Pro
Stop guessing — see every award and cash option in one search
Unlimited award search across 80+ programs, fare prediction (book or wait), hidden-city & self-connect routing, and 25 price alerts.
See Pro plans →
What changed in 2025 and 2026
- Reserve (June 2025): annual fee rose from $550 to $795 ($195 per authorized user). In exchange Chase piled on credits — a travel credit, a hotel credit for "The Edit," a dining credit, plus subscription perks.
- Preferred (June 2026): fee held at $95. Chase added 3x on gas and EV charging and 3x on vacation-home stays (Airbnb, Vrbo), doubled the anniversary hotel credit to $100, swapped the old flat "25% more in Chase Travel" for Points Boost, and ended the 10% anniversary points bonus for anyone who applies on or after June 15, 2026.
Annual fee and the credits that pay for it
This is the whole decision. The Preferred's $95 is trivial to justify — a single hotel booked through Chase Travel claws back the $100 anniversary credit, so the effective fee is roughly zero. The Reserve's $795 is a different conversation: you have to actually use the credits, and most of them come with conditions.
| Sapphire Preferred | Sapphire Reserve | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $95 | $795 |
| Authorized user | $0 | $195 |
| Annual travel credit | — | Up to $300 |
| Hotel credit | $100 (Chase Travel) | Up to $500 (The Edit) |
| Dining credit | — | Up to $300 (Exclusive Tables) |
| Lounge access | — | Priority Pass + Sapphire Lounges |
On paper the Reserve's credits exceed its fee. In practice, the travel credit is easy, the dining and hotel credits require you to book in specific places, and the subscription credits only count if you would have paid for them anyway. Add up only the credits you will realistically use, subtract from $795, and compare that real number to the Preferred's near-zero effective fee.
Earning rates, head to head
| Category | Preferred | Reserve |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Travel | 5x | 8x |
| Flights & hotels booked direct | 2x (all travel) | 4x |
| Dining | 3x | 3x |
| Streaming | 3x | 3x |
| Online groceries | 3x | 1x |
| Gas & EV charging | 3x | 1x |
| Vacation homes (Airbnb/Vrbo) | 3x | 1x |
| Lyft (through Sept 30, 2027) | 5x | 5x |
| Everything else | 1x | 1x |
The Reserve earns more on travel booked through Chase and on direct flights and hotels. The Preferred quietly earns more on everyday spending — groceries, gas, EV charging, and vacation rentals all hit 3x on the Preferred and just 1x on the Reserve. Unless you book most of your travel through Chase Travel, the Preferred's broader 3x categories often out-earn the Reserve on real-world spend.
Where the real value is: getting points out
Earning is only half the equation — redemption is where Ultimate Rewards points actually become trips. Two things matter here, and they are identical on both cards:
Free · No card required
Never miss a mistake fare or price drop
Create a free Pointify account to track your routes and get price-drop & mistake-fare alerts by email.
Get free alerts →
- The same transfer partners. Both cards transfer Ultimate Rewards 1:1 to the exact same airline and hotel programs (United, Air Canada Aeroplan, World of Hyatt, Virgin Atlantic, and more). Your award potential is the same whether you hold the $95 card or the $795 card. For premium-cabin redemptions, transferring to partners almost always beats taking cash value.
- Points Boost. Both cards now use Points Boost, which lifts the cents per point you get on select flights and hotels booked through Chase Travel — variable, but with no blackout dates.
Because the transfer partners are the same, the "which card redeems better" question mostly comes down to Points Boost on Chase Travel and how many points each card earns — not to any exclusive redemption access. Before you book any award, it is worth checking award availability and comparing the cash price against the points price so you only spend miles when they beat cash. That is exactly what Pointify does: it shows cash and points side by side on every result, surfaces the sweet spots worth transferring for, and flags mistake fares so your points stretch further.
Get points tips in your inbox
Fare alerts, points strategy guides, and exclusive sweet spots. No spam.
By subscribing you agree to receive emails from Pointify. Unsubscribe anytime.
Who should get the Preferred
- You want a travel card that pays for itself without homework.
- Your spend is everyday — groceries, gas, dining, the occasional trip — rather than heavy Chase Travel bookings.
- You want full 1:1 transfer-partner access (the real source of outsized value) at the lowest possible cost.
- You are new to points and want one card that does almost everything.
Who should get the Reserve
- You will actually use The Edit hotel credit, the dining credit, and the travel credit — that is most of the fee right there.
- You book a lot of travel through Chase Travel and want 8x plus the strongest Points Boost.
- You value lounge access (Priority Pass plus Chase's own Sapphire Lounges) enough to pay for it.
- You spend enough at the top to make 4x on direct flights and hotels meaningful.
Can you hold both? The downgrade play
No — Chase only lets you carry one Sapphire product at a time. A common strategy is to open the Preferred for its welcome bonus (currently 100,000 points after $5,000 of spend in three months, as of mid-2026), keep it for the cheap transfer-partner access, and only move up to the Reserve in a year when you know you will use the credits. You can product-change between the two without a new application, which preserves your account history.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve worth $795?
Only if you will use enough of its credits to offset the fee. Add up the travel, hotel, and dining credits you will realistically use, subtract from $795, and compare that to the Preferred's near-zero effective fee. If you would not have spent in those specific places anyway, the Preferred is the better value.
Chase Sapphire Reserve — 75,000-point welcome bonus
$300 annual travel credit, Priority Pass, 3x dining/travel.
Do the Sapphire Preferred and Reserve share the same transfer partners?
Yes. Both transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points 1:1 to the same airline and hotel partners, so your ability to book award flights is identical. The cards differ on earning rates and credits, not on redemption access.
Should I get the Preferred or the Reserve for travel?
For most travelers the Preferred is the better pick — it unlocks the same transfer partners for $95. Choose the Reserve only if its credits and lounge access genuinely fit how you spend and travel.
What is Points Boost?
Points Boost is Chase's redemption feature, now on both Sapphire cards, that raises the cents per point you get on select flights and hotels booked through Chase Travel, with no blackout dates. The Reserve gets the stronger boost on Chase Travel bookings.
Can you have both the Sapphire Preferred and Reserve at the same time?
No. Chase allows only one Sapphire card per person. Many people open the Preferred first and product-change to the Reserve later if the credits start to make sense.
Card terms, welcome bonuses, and credits change — always confirm the current offer on Chase's site before applying. Whichever Sapphire card you carry, Pointify helps you turn those Ultimate Rewards points into the most valuable trip possible.
Search this deal on Pointify
Live availability, cash + points side by side, book in 2 clicks.
