The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Here Is What Is Changing On The Sapphire Preferred And Ink Preferred Cards
During our conversation last year, Sam Palmer mentioned that The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card would be refreshed in 2026 and that the bank was paying attention to customer feedback about the card.
Last month, Chase confirmed to us that the card would be refreshed in the near-term.
And now we have all the details. Changes will go into effect on June 15th for new and existing Sapphire Preferred cardholders.
The good:
Annual fee:
- While many people were concerned we would see a major increase to $149 or even $199, this will not be the case. The annual fee will remain unchanged at just $95/year. Impressively, that fee hasn’t changed since the card’s launch in 2009. If it were adjusted annually for inflation, it would now be at $148!
Spending categories:
- Earnings on gas and EV charging will increase to 3 points per dollar spent.
- Earnings on vacation rentals directly from Airbnb, Vrbo, Plum Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com, and Vacasa will increase to 3 points per dollar spent.
- Other earnings (5x Chase Travel, 5x Lyft, 5x Peloton, 3x dining, 3x streaming, 3x online groceries, 2x travel) are unchanged. This is a pleasant surprise considering that all travel continues to earn 2 points per dollar spent, while Sapphire Reserve lost the general travel category spending bonus during last year’s refresh.
Annual travel credits:
- The annual Chase Travel Hotel credit will increase from $50 to $100 per cardmembership year. There is no minimum stay length for this credit. If you already used your $50 credit, you will receive an additional $50 credit.
Global Entry:
- Cardmembers will now be eligible for a $120 Global Entry, Nexus, or TSA PreCheck credit every 4 years.
Apple TV:
- Cardmembers can enroll in a free year of Apple TV if they enroll by 12/31/26. This is a one-time credit, not an annual offer.
Travel protections:
- Cardmembers paying for a trip on their card can now receive Emergency Evacuation and Transportation coverage. If a covered traveler is injured or becomes sick during a trip 100 miles or more from home that results in emergency evacuation, they can be covered for medical services and transportation up to $100,000.
- Other protections, such as car rental coverage, Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance, Trip Delay Reimbursement, Travel Accident Insurance, and more, remain the same.
Points Boost, DoorDash, Pay Yourself Back, and Gift Cards
- These benefits remain unchanged:
- Cardholders will continue to receive bonus value on select flights and hotels via Chase Travel.
- Cardholders will continue to receive DashPass plus $10 off monthly on non-restaurant purchases from DoorDash.
- There will continue to be Pay Yourself Back redemption categories.
- There will continue to be redemption bonuses for gift cards. Current gift card promotions, as of June 10, 2026, include: Apple Inc (15% off), Fandango Marketing Inc (15% off), Ulta (15% off), Wayfair.com (15% off), Fanatics (15% off), Adidas (10% off), Home Depot (10% off), Instacart (10% off), Food & Laughs (10% off), Happy Moments (10% off), On the Run (10% off) and Under Armour (10% off).
The bad:
Anniversary bonus
- As previously reported, the 10% Anniversary Bonus will be discontinued. This is the 2nd time the Sapphire Preferred nixed an anniversary bonus.
- For existing cardholders who applied prior to June 15, 2026, eligible purchases made through October 1, 2026, will continue to earn the 10% bonus. All eligible bonuses earned will be awarded by January 31, 2027.
- For cardmembers who apply as of June 15, 2026, no anniversary bonus will be awarded.
The ugly:
Even after the recent Hyatt devaluation, one of the most valuable Chase redemption options is via transfers to Hyatt. You can often receive a value of at least 1.5 cents per point, 2 cents, or better by transferring points to Hyatt.
Sadly, point transfers to Hyatt will be devalued for non-Reserve customers to a 1K:750 ratio.
This breaks with the Chase tradition of all points transferring at a 1:1 ratio. Other transfer partners will remain at parity.
- For existing Sapphire Preferred cardholders who applied prior to June 15, 2026, this devaluation will take place on 10/1. You can transfer points at parity through 9/30.
- For Sapphire Preferred cardmembers who apply as of June 15, 2026, the 1K:750 transfer ratio to Hyatt will apply immediately.
- For new and existing Ink Business Preferred® Credit Cardholders, Ink Plus, and Corporate Flex cardholders, this devaluation will take place on 10/1. You can transfer points at parity through 9/30.
- The only way to transfer points to Hyatt at parity as of 10/1 will be if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card, a Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ Card, or a JPMorgan Reserve card.
- You will still be able to transfer points from Sapphire Preferred, Ink Business Preferred, Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, Chase Freedom Flex, or Chase Freedom Unlimited® to a Reserve card and then transfer points to Hyatt at parity.
- You can also transfer points to someone living at your address, so you can still transfer to your spouse if only one of you have a Reserve card in order to transfer to Hyatt at parity. Once the points are in a Hyatt account, you can transfer points to anyone else’s Hyatt account.
Dan’s Quick Thoughts:
Overall, this card refresh is a lot better than the Sapphire Reserve refresh, thanks to new credits and spending categories at the same low annual fee.
Unfortunately, the loss of transfers to Hyatt is truly a massive loss for the Preferred cards. Of course, not everyone used their points for Hyatt, and if you didn’t, the card’s refresh is a massive win.
For big spenders and redeemers, it will make sense to have a Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred card for their excellent spending categories, as well as a Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Reserve for Business for transfers to Hyatt and increased Points Boost redemption offers.
That strategy won’t make sense for everyone due to the high annual fees, but you can read more about the consumer Sapphire Reserve here and the business Sapphire Reserve here to see if those cards will make sense. With the Preferred cards’ Hyatt transfer devaluation, Chase has simultaneously improved the overall value proposition of the Reserve cards by maintaining their status quo.
If you do want to take advantage of Hyatt transfers at parity through 9/30, you may want to apply for a Sapphire Preferred card before 6/15.
What do you think about these changes, and how will they affect your card strategies?
