Chase Sapphire Preferred 80,000-point Welcome Bonus

You can redeem the Chase points you earn with the Sapphire Preferred card in all sorts of ways. And flexibility is what makes this card’s offer so useful.

If you don’t want to bother figuring out other redemption options, you can always get cash back as a statement credit or deposit into a checking account or savings account at a rate of one cent per point. That makes this new bonus worth a minimum of $800. Once you factor in the card’s $95 annual fee, you’re walking away with $705 in profit.

You can trade in Chase points for gift cards at the same rate you can cash them out and there are frequent sales for 10% to 20% off, which increases the value of your points slightly. However, Chase points are worth 25% more with the Sapphire Preferred card when you use them to book travel through the Chase Ultimate rewards site. So the 80,000 bonus points are worth $1,000 in travel booked through Chase and it’s easy to use your points this way.

You just log in to the Chase travel portal and search for flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises or activities. At checkout, you can pay with points, cash or a combination of the two. Plus, the Sapphire Preferred comes with up to $50 in hotel credits for stays you book through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

The best way to maximize Chase points is to transfer them to one of Chase’s partner travel programs to book flights. By taking advantage of each airline partner’s award pricing system, you can book flights that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars. For example, by transferring 80,000 Chase points to the right partner, you could book two to three round-trip flights to Hawaii or a round-trip business-class flight to Europe.

Chase reviews your credit history, income and other factors to determine who is eligible for its credit cards. While nothing is set in stone, you’ll typically need a FICO score of at least 700 or more to qualify for the Sapphire Preferred.

Chase has additional guidelines that further limit your eligibility. First, you can qualify for a welcome bonus for any Sapphire card once every 48 months, as long as you’re not a current Sapphire cardholder. This includes the intro bonuses for the Sapphire Preferred or the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card card.

This means that if you currently have any version of a Chase Sapphire card, you aren’t eligible for this new bonus. And if you’ve earned an intro bonus on a Sapphire card in the past 48 months, you won’t qualify for this offer.

If you have five or more credit cards, you may run into an issue with Chase’s 5/24 rule. Under this rule, Chase will only approve you for a new Chase card if you’ve been approved for less than five credit cards in the past 24 months. One exception to this rule is small business cards, which typically won’t add to your 5/24 count because most business accounts won’t appear on your credit report.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card has a limited-time increased welcome offer of 80,000 points, which you can earn after spending $4,000 on the card in the first three months from account opening.

These points are worth $800 in cash, $1,000 in travel purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards site and potentially much more if you take advantage of Chase’s transfer partners. Normally, the Sapphire Preferred’s welcome offer is 60,000 points, so this deal is worth 33% more for the same spending requirement and annual fee.

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