Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

This is an excellent all-around card for ALL travelers, and the one we consider the #1 card for beginners. With 14 travel transfer partners and the Chase Travel℠ portal, it’s one of the most flexible cards available.

At a minimum, this card’s value is $1,000, with even more possible using Points Boost in the Chase Travel℠ portal. The biggest value usually comes from transfer partners such as British Airways, United, Southwest, and Marriott (all 1:1) or World of Hyatt (4:3, see note below). Because of these partners, we value Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 1.5 cents per point, putting an even higher value on the current welcome offer.

Everyday earning is excellent: 3x points on dining, select streaming, online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs), gas, EV charging, and vacation rentals like Airbnb and Vrbo, plus 2x on travel (5x through Chase Travel).

The benefits more than cover the $95 annual fee: a $100 annual hotel credit for prepaid stays through Chase Travel℠ (no minimum nights), up to $120 toward Global Entry, TSA PreCheck®, or NEXUS every four years, a one-year Apple TV subscription (activate by December 31, 2026), no foreign transaction fees, primary rental car coverage, and travel protections including up to $100,000 in emergency evacuation coverage.

About that 4:3 Hyatt ratio: Existing cardmembers (cardmembers prior to June 15, 2026) still transfer at a 1:1 ratio through October 1, 2026. This applies only to Hyatt; all other partners stay 1:1. One important exception: the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ keep the full 1:1 Hyatt ratio. If you have either card, you can move your Chase points over to it and still transfer to Hyatt at 1:1. And even at 4:3, Hyatt is still often a solid deal: a 25,000-point Hyatt night costs about 33,400 Chase points, which can beat cash rates of $500 or more.