How to start maximizing your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card right now

Written by: Eric Freeman
• Updated •4 min read
This date may not reflect recent changes in individual terms.
A guest stands at a hotel reception desk with their hand on the handle of their suitcase as a concierge assists them with check inImage: A guest stands at a hotel reception desk with their hand on the handle of their suitcase as a concierge assists them with check in
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The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers several opportunities to earn value in your first few months of card membership, but it takes a little work to maximize all of them.

From the sign-up bonus to some useful credits, this card offers a few ways to start earning back the $95 annual fee (and then some). But you’ll need to know how to qualify for and activate all the benefits to take full advantage.

  1. Earn the sign-up bonus
  2. Use the $50 hotel credit
  3. Add your card to a DoorDash account
  4. Learn the bonus spending categories

1. Earn the sign-up bonus

The best way to maximize the value of your new Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is to earn the sign-up bonus. Currently, the bonus offer includes 60,000 points when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months of card ownership.

When redeemed through the Chase Travel portal, those bonus points are worth $750 in travel value. Your bonus could be worth even more if you transfer your points to one of Chase’s airline or hotel partners — just make sure to research your points’ value and find a valuable redemption before transferring.

Plus, your bonus might also include the current offer of $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel purchases within your first year of card membership.

2. Use the $50 hotel credit

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card’s annual $50 hotel credit offers enough value to offset more than half the card’s $95 annual fee.

To earn the credit, book a qualifying hotel stay through the Chase Travel portal. Given that many hotel stays cost more than $50 per night, you shouldn’t have much trouble earning the full credit with a one-night stay.

Just keep in mind that you won’t earn rewards points on this purchase — qualifying hotel bookings don’t earn the card’s typical 5 points per $1 on Chase Travel purchases until after you earn the full $50 credit.

3. Add your card to a DoorDash account

If you order delivery often, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card provides the potential for considerable value with a complimentary membership to DoorDash’s DashPass service.

DashPass provides $0 delivery fees and lower service fees on eligible orders with DoorDash and Caviar, and you’ll get it for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027. Chase lists the value of this perk as worth $120 over 12 months. Plus, you’ll also earn up to $10 in monthly credits on one non-restaurant DoorDash order every month.

To earn these perks, you’ll need to add your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card as your default payment method on both DoorDash and Caviar, and then click the activation button. You’ll also need to continue to use the card as your payment method on DashPass-eligible orders.

Even if you don’t use delivery services regularly, these DoorDash benefits could prove useful enough to save you a bit of money here and there.

4. Learn the bonus spending categories

While taking advantage of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card’s perks and credits are great ways to maximize value right after getting the card, your first few months of card membership are also a great time to start building your rewards balance.

Apart from the sign-up bonus, the best way to earn points is to spend in the card’s bonus categories. You’ll earn:

  • 5 points per $1 on travel purchased through Chase Travel
  • 3 points per $1 on restaurants (including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out), online grocery purchases and select streaming services
  • 2 points per $1 on other travel purchases
  • 1 point per $1 on all other purchases

It’s possible that you have another card that gets you more value in one of these categories, and it won’t be right for everyone to shift all their spending to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

But if you’re looking to maximize this card’s value over time, you’ll need to spend enough to keep a high rewards balance that you regularly redeem for travel.

Next steps

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has other perks that can earn value, like bonus points on eligible Peloton purchases.

But the benefits we’ve called out above are most likely to help you find value early in your card membership. As you continue to use your card and build a rewards balance, you’ll likely want to consider other great ways to redeem your points with Chase.

Once you start using your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card more often, you might find that it has some gaps you’d like to fill. For instance, if you do a lot of driving, you can save big on fill-ups with a gas credit card. Or if you’re looking to relax before boarding your next flight, you might want to check out the top credit cards for airport lounge access.

About the author: Eric Freeman is a writer and editor at Credit Karma, specializing in credit cards and credit scores and reports. He strives to make personal finance relatable for readers and to ground complicated issues in everyday e… Read more.