The Best Second Card After the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

I got my first travel rewards card when I was well over (cough, cough) 50 years old. I had spent an entire career paying cash for vacations because I grew up in a house where a credit card was something you kept for emergencies. It took working at Daily Drop before I realized I could earn vacations just by spending normally and paying it off at the end of the month.

I put a cruise to Rome on a Sapphire Preferred, watched the points land, and immediately became annoyed with myself that I’d waited this long to get a travel rewards card.

If you're reading this, you're probably past that part. You have the Sapphire Preferred, you've made a redemption or two that felt like you got away with something magical, and now you want to know what goes next to it.

Next, people usually land on the same question, “Which card do I get next?”

After nine months of using myself as the guinea pig, my answer is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, for two specific reasons that have nothing to do with it being flashier. It isn't flashier. It simply covers ground that Chase doesn't. 

Why the Sapphire Preferred Needs a Second Card

Now, I’m not dumping my Sapphire Preferred. It’s still the best first travel card to me, and the reason is the transfer partner list. Chase points move to Hyatt, Southwest, Air Canada, Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic, among others. The value offered by these partners is truly hard to beat.

The $95 annual fee is low enough that the $100 anniversary hotel credit through Chase Travel℠ and the up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit cover all of it before you earn a single point.

So definitely keep it.

The trouble starts outside the bonus categories. The Sapphire Preferred earns:

• 5x points on travel booked through Chase Travel℠, qualifying Lyft rides (through Sept. 30, 2027), and on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 (through December 31, 2027)

• 3x points on dining, select streaming, online grocery, gas and EV charging, and vacation rentals at top brands (like Airbnb and Vrbo)

• 2x points on other travel

• 1x points on everything else

Everywhere else is your dentist, your car insurance, the orthodontist, the plumber, the HVAC company that showed up in August. For plenty of households that pile is bigger than the dining and travel pile, and it is earning at the lowest rate in your wallet. 

Why Not the Chase Freedom Unlimited®?

Most articles answer the “second card after the Sapphire Preferred” question with the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. For a lot of readers that's the right call, so I want to address it before I make my case for the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

The Freedom Unlimited earns 1.5% on purchases outside its bonus categories and charges no annual fee. Its rewards pool into your Sapphire Preferred where they can reach Chase transfer partners.

One ecosystem, one set of partners, no second fee. If your goal is to build toward one big Chase redemption and you don't want to think about a second currency, go for the Freedom Unlimited and stop reading.

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card makes more sense when your goal is different. It earns more on the same spending, it opens a second set of airline and hotel programs Chase doesn't have, and it can pay for travel that no transfer partner will touch.

For Annual Fee: $95 and a second login, you get that much more reach. 

How Much More You Earn on Everyday Spending

The Venture Card earns 2x miles on every purchase, with no categories to track.

Say you spend $2,000 per month on purchases that don't fall into any bonus category. For an entire year’s worth of spending, this is what that looks like across these three cards:

The Venture Card also earns 5x miles when you book hotels, vacation rentals, or rental cars through Capital One Travel, and it includes up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®.

Both of these duplicates what Chase already gives you, so I wouldn't count them twice. 

Where the Chase and Capital One Transfer Partners Differ

Capital One has more than 15 transfer partners, and roughly half of Chase's list appears there too, which sounds like an argument against a second card until you look at the rest. Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, EVA Air, Japan Airlines, Avianca, Finnair, TAP Air Portugal and Qantas all sit on the Capital One side, and none of them are Chase partners.

If you've ever read an award redemption piece and thought that you couldn't do that with your points, there's a decent chance the program involved was one of those. Holding both cards means you end up with two currencies that open mostly different doors. 

At a Glance: Sapphire Preferred vs. Venture Card

Who Should Skip the Venture Card

If nearly all of your spending already falls inside the Sapphire Preferred's bonus categories, you don't have the 1x problem this card solves, and the Freedom Unlimited is the cheaper way to shore up the rest.

As with any credit card, if you're carrying a balance month to month, your interest charges nullify any travel points you’re earning. If you can’t pay off the card at the end of the month, don’t get one. And if a second card would nudge you into spending more than you otherwise would, my advice would also be to pass. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Venture Card worth it if I already have the Sapphire Preferred?

For most travelers, yes. The Venture Card earns 2x miles on every purchase compared to the Sapphire Preferred's 1x outside bonus categories, and it transfers to airline programs Chase doesn't partner with.

It's worthless to you if almost all of your spending already falls into Chase bonus categories.

Do Chase points and Capital One miles transfer to the same airlines?

Partially. Roughly half of Chase's transfer partners also appear on Capital One's list, including Air Canada, Air France/KLM, British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. Capital One additionally partners with Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, EVA Air, Japan Airlines and others that Chase does not.

Should I get the Freedom Unlimited or the Venture Card as my second card?

Choose the Freedom Unlimited if you want to keep all your rewards in one currency and avoid a second annual fee.

Choose the Venture Card if you want a higher flat earn rate, a second set of transfer partners, and the ability to cover travel purchases that you can’t book through a loyalty program (like cruises, trains, etc).

Should I Get the Venture Card Even Though I Don’t Fly Much Internationally?

If you’re looking at the list of transfer partners, you’ll notice a lot of them are international airlines. But this is where the magic of airline alliances comes in, because they allow you to use one program to book on another airline’s actual plane.

For example, with Capital One, you can book domestic American Airlines flights through either Etihad Guest or Qantas (neither of which Chase partners with). There are a number of great redemptions to be found here, like many shorter-haul flights for under 10,000 miles:

…you get the idea. Lots of domestic options.

Bottom Line

The Venture Card is the strongest second card for a Sapphire Preferred holder because it closes the two gaps Chase leaves open.

It earns 2x miles on the everyday spending your Chase card only earns 1x on, and it reaches a set of transfer partners Chase doesn't have while also covering travel all travel purchases, including ones that you can’t book through a loyalty program.