7 Things to Know Before Getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has long been a popular choice for both newbie and advanced travel credit card aficionados alike. The card has a slew of spending category bonuses, including 5x total points on all travel booked through Chase, 3x points on dining (including qualified delivery services, takeout and dining out — up from 2x points) and 3x points on some streaming services.

Throw in the card’s relatively low annual fee of $95, the 25% boost in value for points redeemed for travel through Chase, the ability to transfer points to Chase's travel partners and other benefits like travel insurance, and it’s easy to see why people love this card.

Right out the gate, new cardholders can also earn the card's current sign-up bonus offer: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Here are seven things to consider before submitting your application.

1. Your credit score

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card isn’t a credit card for everyone — you’ll need to have good to excellent credit to have a chance at getting approved.

We recommend having a FICO score of at least 690 before applying for this card. If you need to wait a bit and work on your credit, it’s a good idea to do that. Here are the best starter cards NerdWallet recommends.

2. Your Chase 5/24 count

You won’t be able to get this card if you’re not under Chase’s unpublished (but widely known) 5/24 rule. That means if you’ve opened five or more credit cards in the last 24 months (from any bank), your chances for approval are slim to none.

» Learn more: The best Chase credit cards right now

3. The annual fee

Though not as high as the $500+ annual fees you can expect from premium travel credit cards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card still has an annual fee of $95. You'll have to consider whether this annual fee fits into your budget, especially considering any other annual fees you are already paying with your existing cards.

It can be easy to recoup a large portion of the annual fee through the annual $50 credit on hotels booked through Chase.

Also, consider the value of the points you'll earn on the card all year. Let's say you spend about $1,300 per year on dining and streaming services. Those categories earn 3x points, so you'll earn 3,600 Chase Ultimate Rewards points® per year on the card. As a holder of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can redeem those 3,600 points for travel booked through Chase's portal at a rate of 1.25 cents apiece. That travel redemption is worth $45 in cash, which also makes up for a portion of the annual fee.

Still, if you don’t use the card often — particularly when it comes to the bonus categories — or you don't travel at least once per year, you might be better off with a no-annual-fee travel credit card.

» Learn more: Is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card worth its annual fee?4. Your eligibility for the welcome bonus

Chase has put rules in place to limit eligibility for their bigger welcome bonuses. You can only collect bonus points on Sapphire-branded Chase credit cards every 48 months. That means if you’ve received bonus points from the Chase Sapphire Reserve® within the last 48 months, you’ll need to wait.

Also, if you now have the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and you were to downgrade your card to a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you wouldn’t qualify for the bonus points.

» Learn more: The best travel credit card sign-up bonuses right now

5. Your current Sapphire situation

Cardmembers are only able to have one Sapphire branded card at once. That means if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve® already, you’ll need to wait until you cancel or downgrade it to a no-fee card to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

However, considering No. 3 above, there’s really no sense in applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card if you can’t get a nice welcome bonus — which means you would want to wait 48 months before applying.

» Learn more: Chase Sapphire showdown: Reserve vs. Preferred

6. Your spending plans

Before applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you want to think about your spending plans for the next few months. Make sure you can meet the minimum spend to actually receive your bonus points. For instance, if you’re planning to book a lot of travel or even have some home improvement projects to do, it might be easier to meet the minimum spend than if you’re trying to conquer a no-spend month.

Ideally, a good chunk of your spending falls within the card’s bonus categories. Those are:

• 5x total points on all travel booked through Chase.

• 5x points on Lyft rides through March 2025 (that's 3x points plus the 2x points you already earn on travel).

• 3x points on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out,

• 3x points on some streaming services.

• 3x points on online grocery purchases (except Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs).

• 2x points on travel booked outside of Chase.

You earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

» Learn more: The best benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

7. How often you'll travel

Before applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, consider your travel preferences and habits. If you want complimentary airport lounge access or credit toward your TSA PreCheck fees, you'll need a more premium credit card, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

While it commands a higher annual fee, it also comes loaded with a significantly higher earning rate: 10x total points on hotel stays and car rentals purchased through Chase and 5x total points on air travel booked through Chase.

Some Chase Sapphire Reserve® travel benefits that the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card doesn't have:

• A free Global Entry, NEXUS or TSA PreCheck credit.

• Complimentary airport lounge access into Priority Pass lounges and Chase’s own airport lounge brand (Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club).

• A $300 annual travel credit.

• A 1.5 cents per point redemption rate when booking through Chase's travel portal.

Another travel aspect to consider is whether you are likely to fly or stay with any of Chase's transfer partners.

If you usually stay at Hilton properties, for example, and want the ability to transfer credit card points to Hilton, you'd likely be better off with a card from a different issuer that is a transfer partner of Hilton.

» Learn more: The best travel credit cards

If you're considering the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card can be a useful travel credit card to have if want one with a low annual fee and you want to redeem at least some of your rewards for travel. Just be sure your ducks are all in a row when it comes to your credit score, 5/24 count and bonus eligibility.

And as always, make sure you have a logical plan in terms of how to hit your spending bonus and how to make the most of the card's ongoing perks.