For the seventh year in a row, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has been named Best Travel Rewards Credit Card by the TPG Awards, with praise centered on its low $95 annual fee, strong earning rates, valuable transfer partners, and travel protections.
Each year, the moment the TPG Awards results drop, there’s one card that seems to land back in the spotlight—again and again. This time, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has snagged the award for Best Travel Rewards Credit Card for the seventh year in a row.
TPG staffers called it a consensus favorite, pointing to a familiar mix of reasons: a low annual fee, the ability to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, an excellent roster of transfer partners, ease of use, and generous travel benefits and protections.
The appeal starts with how the card behaves for new travelers. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is positioned as the “little sibling” of the Chase Sapphire Reserve®—the premium sibling with a $795 annual fee. In that comparison, the Sapphire Preferred keeps winning on simplicity and ease of use.
New applicants, TPG says, can earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 within the first three months of account opening. Based on TPG’s April 2025 valuations, the welcome offer is described as worth $2,050.
Then comes the math. The annual fee is $95—described as modest and comparable to mid-tier competitors. While the card doesn’t include perks like lounge access or travel statement credits. it does come with a straightforward annual $100 statement credit for any hotel booked through Chase Travel℠. If that credit is used, the annual fee can be fully offset.
Earning potential is where the card gets especially detailed. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns:
5 points per dollar spent on travel booked through Chase Travel
5 points per dollar spent on Lyft rides (through Sept. 2027)
5 points per dollar spent on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases of $150 or more (with a limit of 25. 000 bonus points through Dec. 2027)
3 points per dollar spent on gas. EV charging. vacation homes at top brands like Airbnb and VRBO. dining. select streaming services and online grocery store purchases (excludes Target. Walmart and wholesale clubs)
2 points per dollar spent on all other travel not booked through the Chase Travel portal (travel is broadly defined by Chase and includes things such as parking. tolls. ferries and campgrounds)
1 point per dollar spent on everything else.
TPG frames those categories as broad, uncapped, and especially friendly to travelers who spend abroad—since purchases made abroad are eligible for bonus points.
For redemption, the card’s flexibility is part of the recurring story. Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be used to book travel through the Chase Travel portal at a value of up to 1.75 cents per point (depending on the specific redemption). Points can also be redeemed for a statement credit at 1 cent per point. and can be higher at times if you use Chase’s Pay Yourself Back feature. Gift cards are listed at 1 cent per point.
But the redemption path TPG favors most is transferring points to partners. Based on TPG’s April 2025 valuations, Ultimate Rewards points are said to be worth 2.05 cents each through this redemption route.
Chase’s roster of 14 transfer partners includes 11 airline and three hotel partners. TPG also says transferring and redeeming points is relatively easy, and highlights “sweet spot” redemptions for outsize value.
Among the partners, TPG lists three favorites: Air Canada Aeroplan, Southwest Rapid Rewards and World of Hyatt. The article points to hotel redemptions worldwide, including the Grand Hyatt Barcelona, where the author says they routinely get up to 4 cents per point in value.
There is also a coming change for Hyatt transfers. TPG notes that new Sapphire Preferred cardholders who apply on or after June 15, 2026, can transfer Chase points to World of Hyatt at a 4:3 rate. Existing Sapphire Preferred cardholders will move to the 4:3 rate on Oct. 1, 2026.
And then there are the protections—the kind of benefits that can feel abstract until something goes wrong. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card includes travel protections and insurances such as baggage delay insurance. lost luggage reimbursement. primary rental car coverage. purchase protection and extended warranty protection. trip cancellation insurance. trip delay insurance. and emergency evacuation and transportation coverage.
TPG also points out that purchase and extended warranty protection can be useful for larger buys, and that even for travelers who go only once or twice a year, those protections can bring peace of mind when plans don’t go smoothly.
Put it together—earnings that cover everyday categories without complex caps. a $95 annual fee that can be offset by a $100 annual hotel credit through Chase Travel℠. and transfer partners that open up multiple redemption routes—and TPG’s message is straightforward: the Chase Sapphire Preferred is again worthy of taking home the crown as the Best Travel Rewards Credit Card.
Chase Sapphire Preferred TPG Awards Best Travel Rewards Credit Card travel rewards Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners World of Hyatt 4:3 rate travel protections
7 years in a row? Sounds rigged lol.
Wait so it’s $95 a year and you can basically get it back with a $100 hotel credit if you book through Chase Travel? That seems too good to be true but I guess if you actually travel it makes sense.
I don’t get why people keep saying it has good travel protections like that matters if the airline just cancels anyway. Also “transfer partners” sounds like a fancy way of saying you can move points around but then you never actually find flights. The 100k points thing too… spend $5k in 3 months for that right? Might as well be a $5k requirement disguised as a deal.
TPG awards always pop up in my feed like it’s the law. If it’s the little sibling of the Sapphire Reserve then why am I still seeing people with lounge access bragging? The article says no lounge and no travel statement credits but then says $100 hotel credit, which like… is that only for certain hotels? Feels kinda confusing.