The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has long been one of the easiest travel cards to recommend.
For a reasonable $95 annual fee, cardholders get valuable bonus categories, access to Chase's transfer partners, solid travel protections, and a few extra perks sprinkled in for good measure.
Now, Chase is giving the card a pretty major refresh, and I suspect it will be “love it or hate it” for most people.
Starting June 15, 2026, the Sapphire Preferred will gain new bonus categories, a larger annual hotel credit, a Global Entry credit, and a handful of other benefits.
Best of all, the annual fee isn’t going up a single cent.
Sounds great, right?
Well... mostly.
Let's take a look at what's changing. 👇
New Bonus Categories
The biggest earning-rate change is the addition of two new 3x bonus categories:
3x points on gas stations and EV charging
3x points on vacation rental brands like Airbnb, Vrbo, and more
For many people, gas is one of their largest monthly expenses, so it's nice to see Chase finally rewarding cardholders for it.
The vacation rental category is also a welcome addition.
While hotels get most of the attention in the points world, plenty of travelers still book Airbnbs and vacation homes – especially when traveling with families or larger groups.
Personally, I wouldn't suddenly start putting all of my everyday spending on the Sapphire Preferred because of these changes, but both additions feel genuinely useful for most normal people.
The rest of the earning structure remains largely unchanged:
5x points on travel booked through Chase Travel℠
2x points on all other travel
3x points on dining
3x points on online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
3x points on select streaming services
1x point on everything else
The Hotel Credit is Doubling
One of the card's most useful benefits is also getting an upgrade.
Currently, Sapphire Preferred cardholders receive up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel bookings made through Chase Travel.
Beginning June 15, that credit will double to $100 annually.
Now let’s do some math:
If a card has a $95 annual fee and a $100 hotel credit… yeah, that already makes the card worth holding. 🤓
Surprisingly, that wasn’t the only credit addition or increase…
Global Entry Finally Arrives
Another notable addition is a new credit of up to $120 every four years for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS.
If you hold multiple credit cards, odds are you already have (at least) one card that has this credit.
But if you want a one-size-fits-all card (low annual fee, good earning rates, decent perks), the Sapphire Preferred could now fit that bill.
Plus, if you travel with a family, holding multiple cards with these credits means being able to get free TSA PreCheck for the whole fam.
Other New Perks
The refresh also includes a few smaller additions.
Cardholders will receive a complimentary year of Apple TV+ when activated by December 31, 2026 through Chase, which is identical to the credit offered on the Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
There are also expanded travel protections, including new emergency evacuation and transportation coverage.
Both are nice additions, though I suspect most people will get more value from the larger hotel credit and Global Entry reimbursement than they will from Apple TV+.
Now For the Bad News
Okay. There’s no way to sugarcoat this part…
Chase is reducing the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3. This applies to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, Ink Plus, and Corporate Flex — but if you hold the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, the 1:1 transfer ratio to Hyatt remains unchanged.
In plain English, that means that 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points will soon become just 750 Hyatt points.
That's a 25% haircut on what is by FAR the best transfer partner.
Personally, I basically use all of my Chase points exclusively for Hyatt. So, for me, this change alone completely disqualifies this card from my wallet. 🤷🏼♂️
But for casual cardholders or anyone who prefers to use points for airlines rather than hotels, this may not matter much.
Another Benefit is Disappearing
There's one more casualty worth mentioning…
The Sapphire Preferred's 10% anniversary points bonus is going away.
To be fair, this was never a headline perk.
In fact, I'd be willing to bet that a decent number of you didn’t even know it existed. 😉
Still, it basically provided an extra 0.1x points per dollar spent throughout the year, so its disappearance does reduce the card's overall value… even if just slightly.
Final thoughts
For the average cardholder, the refreshed Sapphire Preferred is probably better than the version it replaces.
The addition of gas and vacation rental bonus categories, a larger hotel credit, and a Global Entry credit make the card easier to justify than ever.
But for points nerds like me, the Hyatt transfer devaluation is… devastating.
In the end, whether this refresh feels like an upgrade or a downgrade will ultimately depend on how you use your points.
