The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Freedom Unlimited® are two of the most popular credit cards from Chase. However. these cards offer different rewards and benefits, so it’s important to carefully choose the card that aligns with your spending habits and needs.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited is a cashback card that gives 1.5% cashback on all purchases, with no restrictions.
The Sapphire Preferred is a travel rewards card that lets you earn points on everyday purchases and offers a bigger welcome bonus and more benefits for travel redemptions, such as a 25% boost in value and transfers to airline and hotel partners.
In this article, we’ll highlight the differences between the two cards and help you choose which card is best for you.
Full Reviews: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Freedom Unlimited.
Overview: Sapphire Preferred vs Freedom Unlimited
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- 5x Points on Travel Booked Via Chase
- 3x Points on Dining and Eligible Delivery Services
- 2x Points on All Other Travel Purchases
- 10% Anniversary Points Boost
- Trip Delay and Trip Cancellation Insurance
- Primary Rental Car Insurance
- $95 Annual Fee
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- 5% Cash Back on Travel Purchased Via Chase
- 3% Cash Back at Restaurants and Drug Stores
- 1.5% Cash Back on All Other Purchases
- 0% Intro APR for 15 Months (After that, a reg_apr,reg_apr_type APR.)
- Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty
- No Annual Fee
Application Link: card_name
Welcome Bonus
The Chase Sapphire Preferred currently offers the following welcome bonus:
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The card_name offers a welcome bonus of an additional 1.5% on all purchases up to $20,000 in the first year ($300 Max Bonus).
For example, that is equivalent to 6.5% cash back on travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 4.5% cash back at drugstores and on dining, and 3% cash back on all other purchases (up to $20,000 in purchases the first year).
Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred.
The Sapphire Preferred’s welcome offer more value when redeemed through the Chase portal. Plus, it offers more flexibility since it can be transferred to several transfer partners.
Earning Points
The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns Ultimate Rewards points and offers bonus points on spending in several categories:
- 5 points per dollar on travel booked through the Chase travel portal;
- 5 points per dollar on Lyft purchases (through March 2025);
- 5 points per dollar on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases of $250 or more (through March 2025, with a limit of 25,000 bonus points);
- 3 points per dollar on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out;
- 3 points per dollar on online grocery store purchases (excludes Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs);
- 3 points per dollar on select streaming services, including Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, Youtube TV, Pandora, Apple Music, SiriusXM, Sling, Vudu, Fubo TV, Hulu, and ESPN+;
- 2 points per dollar on all travel not booked through the Chase travel portal; and
- 1 point per dollar on all other eligible spending.
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The card_name earns the following cash back:
- 5% cash-back on travel purchased via the Chase Travel portal.
- 5% cash back on Lyft rides (through March 2025).
- 3% cash back on dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery services.
- 3% cash back at drugstores.
- 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.
Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Overall, the Sapphire Preferred is more superior since it offers more earning categories, giving cardholders different ways to earn points.
But for those wanting simplicity, the Freedom Unlimited could also be a good choice with its 1.5% cash back on all purchases.
Card Benefits
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers nice benefits, including:
- Receive 25% more value on points redeemed for travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal.
- $50 annual credit on hotel stays purchased through Ultimate Rewards.
- 10% Points Bonus for each Cardmember anniversary.
- A complimentary one-year subscription to DashPass by DoorDash when you enroll by December 31, 2024.
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance (up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip).
- Primary car rental insurance.
- Lost luggage reimbursement (up to $3,000 per passenger)
- Baggage delay insurance (up to $100 per day for five days).
- Trip delay insurance (up to $500 per ticket for a delay longer than 12 hours or overnight).
- Extended warranty.
- 120 days purchase protection (up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per year).
- No foreign transaction fees.
- Free 6-month membership to Instacart+ (activate by July 31, 2024).
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® offers the following benefits:
- 120-day purchase protection.
- Extended warranty.
- Trip cancellation/interruption insurance ($1,500 per person up to $6,000).
- Secondary rental car insurance.
- Free 3 months of Instacart+ (activate by July 31, 2024).
- Free 3 months of DashPass (activate by 12/31/2024).
Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred.
The Sapphire Preferred offers cardholders a suite of valuable benefits, including travel and purchase protections, anniversary bonuses, and complimentary subscriptions.
Annual Fee
The Chase Sapphire Preferred comes with an annual fee of $95.
While some users might be initially deterred by this cost, it’s important to consider the value and benefits that come with the card.
The rewards points, travel benefits, and purchase protections can help offset the cost of the annual fee for frequent travelers.
The Freedom Unlimited doesn’t have an annual fee. This provides cardholders with the freedom to use their card for everyday purchases, without the added stress of worrying about hitting a certain spending threshold or earning a specific amount of rewards to justify the annual fee.
Winner: Chase Freedom Unlimited.
The Freedom Unlimited has no annual fee.
Redeeming Points
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns Ultimate Rewards points, one of the most flexible points currencies.
You can use your points to book flights, hotel stays, and even rent a car through Chase Travel — all at a fixed rate of 1.25 cents per point. For example, 100,000 points are equivalent to $1,250 towards travel.
You can unlock even more value than 1.25 cents per point by transferring rewards to Chase airline and hotel partners.
Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partners [1 to 1]
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Aer Lingus
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Air Canada Aeroplan
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British Airways
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Emirates
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Air France/KLM
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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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To redeem the points or rewards on your Chase Freedom Unlimited® card, log in to your Ultimate Rewards® account, navigate to the “Earn/Use” tab on your home page, and choose the type of redemption you want. The most popular options include:
Cash Back: Redeem your points in the form of a statement credit towards your balance or receive a direct deposit into a bank account.
Gift Cards: Convert your rewards into a gift card from your preferred retailer, with gift card options starting at 500 points for $5, so that’s worth 1 cent per point.
Pay With Points: Use your points to pay for Amazon or PayPal purchases. However, we don’t really recommend this option since redemption values are typically less than 0.8 cents apiece. Amazon Gift cards would be a better option.
Travel: If you book a trip through Chase’s travel portal, you redeem your rewards at one cent per point.
But you can easily increase the value by 25-50% of this card’s rewards by holding a premium Chase Ultimate Rewards card, including:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (review)
- Chase Sapphire Reserve® (review)
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (review)
These three cards allow you to transfer this card’s Ultimate Rewards to the other Chase card to unlock:
25% Bonus: If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred, you can redeem points for 1.25 cents per point for a travel purchase, which is a 25% bonus over the standard 1.0 cents per point.
50% Bonus: If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can redeem points for 1.5 cents for a travel purchase, which is a 50% bonus over the standard 1.0 cents per point.
Potentially More Than 50% Bonus: With the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, and Ink Preferred cards, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards to Chase’s airline and hotel partners, including Hyatt, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, and Air Canada Aeroplan. This allows you to earn even more value, especially for business-class flights.
Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred
Points earned on the Sapphire Preferred have higher redemption values and are more flexible since they can be transferred to several airline and hotel partners.
The Verdict
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® credit card is undoubtedly the superior option when compared to the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card.
The Sapphire Preferred not only offers a higher welcome bonus and earning rates, but it also provides cardholders with more benefits and better redemption options and values. Although the Sapphire Preferred has an annual fee of $95, the benefits and rewards it offers easily offset this cost.
The only reason why you’ll want to choose the Freedom Unlimited is if you want a simple rewards program and don’t want to pay annual fees.
However, if you’re willing to pay for an annual fee and want a more versatile rewards program, the Sapphire Preferred is your best pick. Overall, the Sapphire Preferred stands out as the better card in several different aspects, making it a great option for those looking for an affordable credit card with valuable rewards and benefits.
- bonus_miles_full
- 5x Points on Travel Booked Via Chase
- 3x Points on Dining and Eligible Delivery Services
- 2x Points on All Other Travel Purchases
- 10% Anniversary Points Boost
- Trip Delay and Trip Cancellation Insurance
- Primary Rental Car Insurance
- $95 Annual Fee
