The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Costco Anywhere Visa are both popular credit card options.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the most popular travel rewards cards because it offers nice welcome bonus and extra points on travel and dining, which can be transferred to airline and hotel partners or redeemed directly for travel at a rate of 1.25 cents per point through Chase Travel℠. The Sapphire Preferred also offers great travel and purchase protections for a card with a $95 annual fee.
The Costco Visa offers bonus rewards on gas, dining, and travel but falls short for regular shopping needs with its low base earning rate. The card’s once-yearly reward distribution and required Costco membership limit its usefulness for most consumers.
This article will compare each card based on several factors to help you make an informed decision on which card is the best to add to your wallet.
Full Reviews: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi.
Overview: Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Costco Visa
Welcome Bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred:
Let’s begin with one of the most attractive aspects of the Chase Sapphire Preferred: the welcome bonus. Currently, new cardholders can earn the following welcome bonus: Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
Costco Visa:
Unfortunately, the Costco Anywhere Visa Card doesn’t currently offer a sign-up bonus for new cardmembers. Despite the lack of an initial welcome offer, you’ll want to look at the card’s strong long-term earning potential through its rewards structure, especially if you’re already a Costco member. The absence of a welcome bonus is balanced by having no annual fee for Costco members. Keep in mind that you’ll need an active Costco membership to apply for the card, which starts at $60 for a standard Gold Star membership.
Earning Points
Chase Sapphire Preferred:
The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns Ultimate Rewards points and offers bonus points on spending in several categories:
Costco Visa:
The Costco Visa lets cardholders earn cash back in the following categories:
Winner:
The Chase Sapphire Preferred emerges as the clear winner in earning potential, with its impressive 5x points on Chase Travel bookings and 3x points across multiple everyday categories. The card’s 10% anniversary points boost adds significant extra value to all spending throughout the year.
The Costco Visa’s earning structure, while solid for gas and travel, is limited by category restrictions and caps that constrain long-term earning potential. Plus, only 1% back on everyday spending is not competitive.
Card Benefits
Chase Sapphire Preferred:
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers nice benefits, including: 10% Points Bonus: You will earn bonus points equivalent to 10% of your total spending in points earned with your Chase Sapphire Preferred Card during the past account anniversary year. For example, if you spent $10,000 during your cardmember year, you would receive an additional 1,000 points ($10,000 * 10% = 1,000 points). $50 Hotel Credit: The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers up to $50 in statement credits every account anniversary year if you book your hotel stays through Chase Travel. DashPass Membership: This card offers a one-year DashPass membership for free, which includes DoorDash and Caviar, offering unlimited deliveries with free delivery fees and reduced service fees for eligible purchases. The offer must be activated by December 31, 2027. Once the free membership is over, you will be automatically enrolled in DashPass at the prevailing monthly rate. Instacart Membership: Have your groceries delivered to your doorstep with a complimentary 6-month Instacart+ membership plus a $15 credit once every quarter. Enrollment is required by July 31, 2024. No Foreign Transaction Fees: You’ll save money on every purchase while traveling internationally since this card doesn’t add the typical 3% surcharge that many other cards impose. Primary Rental Car Insurance: When you rent a car and pay with this card, you’ll receive comprehensive coverage including damage and theft protection. Simply decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver and charge the entire rental to your card to activate coverage. This insurance covers damage, theft, and valid loss-of-use charges worldwide. Trip Cancellation & Interruption Insurance: This protection reimburses you for non-refundable, prepaid travel expenses if you need to cancel before departure or cut your trip short due to covered situations like severe illness or weather events. Coverage activates when you pay for your trip with the card, but it’s important to note that reimbursement only applies for specific covered reasons rather than any cancellation. Trip Delay Insurance: When your trip is significantly delayed due to covered reasons like equipment failures or severe weather, this protection reimburses you for reasonable expenses including lodging, meals, toiletries, and medication. The coverage activates when you pay for travel with your card and extends to family members on the same itinerary, though you’ll need to seek reimbursement from the travel carrier first. Lost Luggage Reimbursement: Your checked luggage gets extra protection against loss, theft, or damage beyond the basic compensation offered by carriers when you pay for travel with this card. Baggage Delay Insurance: Missing luggage doesn’t have to derail your trip – this coverage steps in to reimburse you for essential purchases when your checked bags are delayed by airlines, trains, or other carriers. You can grab the necessities you need, from a fresh outfit to personal care items, while waiting for your bags to arrive. 120-Day Purchase Protection: Get 120 days of protection against damage, theft, and even loss of your purchases – one of the longest windows available. This premium coverage automatically applies when you pay with your card. Extended Warranty Protection: Your purchases gain an extra year of warranty protection when bought with this card, extending manufacturer warranties of three years or less without the inflated prices of store warranty plans.
Travel Benefits
Purchase Benefits
Costco Visa:
The Costco Visa offers the following card benefits: Secondary Rental Car Insurance: This card provides backup protection for rental car damage or theft when you charge the full rental to your card. No Foreign Transaction Fees: You’ll save money on every purchase while traveling internationally since this card doesn’t add the typical 3% surcharge that many other cards impose. 120-Day Purchase Protection: Get 120 days of protection against damage, theft, and even loss of your purchases – one of the longest windows available. This premium coverage automatically applies when you pay with your card. Extended Warranty: This Citi credit card offers one of the best extended warranty protection because it extends the manufacturer’s warranty on an item for an additional 24 months for products with warranties up to 5 years. Roadside Dispatch: Get access to 24/7 emergency roadside assistance for situations like dead batteries, flat tires, fuel delivery, and mechanical breakdowns. While you’ll need to pay for the actual service provided, having access to reliable help when stranded can be invaluable.
Winner:
The Chase Sapphire Preferred wins the benefits category with its comprehensive suite of travel protections, including primary rental car insurance and trip cancellation coverage. Its additional perks like credits and memberships help add to its benefits.
While the Costco Visa offers decent purchase protection and extended warranty coverage, it lacks the premium travel benefits that make the Sapphire Preferred stand out.
Value of the Annual Fee
Chase Sapphire Preferred:
The Chase Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee, which may give some people pause. However, as a frequent traveler, I’ve found that the card’s benefits and rewards can easily offset this cost. Think about it this way: if you take advantage of the welcome bonus and redeem those points for travel, you’ve already recouped the annual fee many times over. Plus, the ongoing rewards and perks like travel insurance, hotel credit, and no foreign transaction fees can save you money and provide peace of mind during your trips.
Costco Visa:
You won’t pay an annual fee for the Costco Anywhere Visa card, but you’ll need an active Costco membership which starts at $60 for Gold Star level or $120 for Executive level.
Winner:
The Costco Visa takes this category since it has no annual fee for existing Costco members.
The Sapphire Preferred’s $95 annual fee, while offset by its benefits for frequent travelers, still represents an upfront cost that some may want to avoid.
The Costco card’s fee structure essentially becomes free for those who already maintain a Costco membership for shopping purposes.
Redeeming Points
Chase Sapphire Preferred:
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers exceptional flexibility when it comes to points redemption, allowing you to create the travel experiences you’ve been dreaming of. One popular redemption option is booking travel through the Chase Travel portal. Here, your points are worth 1.25 cents apiece, meaning that a substantial amount of points can be redeemed for a significant value towards travel. I’ve used this option to book flights, hotels, and rental cars, and I appreciate the simplicity of the process. Plus, when you book through the portal, you can still earn airline miles and hotel points on your reservations. If you’re looking to stretch your points even further, transfer to Chase’s airline and hotel partners. Some notable transfer partners include United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, British Airways, Air France/KLM, Hyatt, and Marriott. By strategically transferring points, you can unlock incredible redemption opportunities like first-class flights or luxurious resort stays. In my experience, transferring points to Hyatt has yielded some of the most valuable redemptions. By leveraging my Ultimate Rewards points, I’ve booked top-tier properties like the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme and the Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort for a fraction of the cash price. Of course, if you’re not in the mood for travel, you can always redeem your points for statement credits or gift cards at a rate of 1 cent per point. While this may not provide the most bang for your buck, it’s a decent option to have for those times when you need a little extra cash in your pocket.
Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partners [1 to 1]
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Aer Lingus
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Air Canada Aeroplan
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Air France/KLM
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British Airways
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Emirates
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Hyatt Hotels
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Iberia
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IHG Hotels
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JetBlue
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Marriott
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Singapore
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Southwest
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United
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Virgin Atlantic
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Costco Visa:
The rewards redemption process on the Costco Anywhere Visa follows a unique annual schedule that requires a bit of patience. You’ll receive your cash back rewards just once per year in the form of a reward certificate, which arrives after your February billing statement closes. When you’re ready to redeem, you’ll need to visit a physical U.S. Costco warehouse – online redemption isn’t an option. The good news is that you can choose to redeem your certificate for either merchandise or cold hard cash, giving you flexibility in how you use your rewards. Keep in mind that some Costco locations may provide your cash back via check or electronic transfer, depending on the reward amount and location. While waiting a full year to access your rewards might feel restrictive compared to other cards that offer monthly redemption options, the ability to convert your rewards to cash puts this card ahead of typical store cards that limit you to merchandise redemptions.
Winner:
The Chase Sapphire Preferred handily wins the redemption category with its flexible Ultimate Rewards program offering 1.25 cents per point value through Chase Travel and valuable transfer partnerships with airlines and hotels.
The Costco Visa’s once-yearly redemption schedule and requirement to visit a physical warehouse location for reward certificates significantly limit its redemption flexibility. The Sapphire Preferred’s ability to transfer points to travel partners can unlock outsized value that the Costco card simply cannot match.
The Verdict
After analyzing both cards extensively and having personally used the Chase Sapphire Preferred for years, I confidently recommend it as the standout winner to friends and family.
Having redeemed Ultimate Rewards points for everything from weekend getaways to international flights, I can attest that its $95 annual fee is a small price to pay for the flexibility and comprehensive travel protections that have saved me thousands.
While the Costco Visa offers solid rewards for gas and wholesale club purchases, it makes more sense as a supplementary card for dedicated Costco shoppers rather than as a primary rewards card.
Which will you choose – the versatile Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Costco Anywhere Visa?
