Why the Chase Sapphire Preferred should be your first card out of college – The Points Guy

To the Class of 2023: Congratulations! Graduating from college is a huge milestone, and your hard work and efforts should be celebrated.

Whether you’re jumping into your first job or embarking on a post-grad trip, it can feel overwhelming to launch into adulthood.

Don’t fret — there are tools to make this transition easier. A significant step into adulthood is opening your first credit card. Perhaps you’re ahead of the game and have been a proud owner of a student card throughout your four years as an undergrad. Or you may be shopping around for your first “adult” credit card.

Either way, we firmly believe the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card should be every graduate’s first credit card. And as a graduation present, it’s currently offering a fantastic bonus of 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in your first three months of account opening.

For a card with a (reasonable) $95 annual fee, you’re looking at 60,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. TPG values Ultimate Rewards points at 2 cents each, meaning that this sign-up bonus is worth a whopping $1,200.

But before you get too excited, ensure you can manage the spending requirement to get the bonus. It works out to about $1,334 in monthly spending for your first three months, which you can easily hit if you’re about to spend a solid chunk on moving expenses and a professional wardrobe for your launch into adulthood. Still, make sure you don’t charge more than you can afford to pay off, no matter how good the bonus is.

Related: Not just for the established elite: TPG millennials and Gen Z staff weigh in on their experience with premier rewards credit cards

If you want to learn about the world of points and miles, you’ve come to the right place. Here at TPG, we have a plethora of resources to get you started — including our beginner’s guide and our list of best first credit cards.

One of the things you’ll see in these guides is that Chase Sapphire Preferred is always at the top of the list. It’s a beginner-friendly card that will ease you into “travel hacking” or learning how to use your credit card rewards to unlock free flights or hotel stays. There are many redemption options with this card, but you’ll find the most value as a travel rewards card by using your points for travel.

To break it down in simple terms, you have two options for booking travel with this card. First, you can book through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards portal at a 25% points bonus or a rate of 1.25 cents each. For example, 10,000 points translates to $125 value in travel. You can book a variety of travel on this portal, including flights, hotels, car rentals and cruises.

Once you get comfortable booking travel through the portal, you can dip your toes into transferring your points to loyalty programs. Chase lets you move your points at a 1:1 rate to 11 airline and three hotel partners, so your 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points can equal 60,000 points in the loyalty program of your choice.

Of course, some partners are better than others, but some of our high-value favorites include Air Canada Aeroplan and World of Hyatt. With these partners, getting much more than 1.25 cents of value per point is possible. We’ve even gotten up to 4.5 cents in value with a business class ticket on Air France before, so the sky is the limit when it comes to Chase’s transfer partners.

Related: From no credit to free flights: An inside look at a 23-year-old’s credit journey

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a popular card, especially among Gen-Z’ers, since it comes with many useful partner benefits that can help you save money and reward you at the same time.

One of the most valuable perks is a complimentary one-year membership to DoorDash DashPass (activate by Dec. 31, 2024.) This membership will get you free delivery fees and reduced service fees on eligible orders of $12 or more. This subscription service usually costs $9.99 monthly, so this benefit is valuable enough to justify the card’s $95 annual fee.

You’ll also enjoy 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides (through March 2025.) Depending on how often you use Lyft, this is a fantastic way to earn bonus points on this rideshare service.

Finally, it’s worth checking the Chase Offers on your card. They’ll update every week or so.

All of these partner offers can help you save money on your everyday purchases.

One more reason you’ll love the Sapphire Preferred: No other card with a $95 annual fee comes with as many travel and shopping protections. Hopefully, you never have to use any of these benefits, but these coverages will give you peace of mind and save you money if an emergency arises:

• Primary car rental coverage: Covers theft and damage up to the actual cash value of the rental car on bookings of less than 31 consecutive days. Note that most credit cards only offer secondary coverage.
• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance: Reimburses you up to $10,000 per person (or $20,000 per trip) for your pre-paid, nonrefundable trip expenses due to covered reasons, such as sickness, severe weather and more.
• Baggage delay insurance: Reimburses you up to $100 per day (for up to five days) for baggage delays more than six hours to cover the purchase of essential items.

• Trip delay reimbursement: Reimburses you up to $500 per ticket to purchase meals or lodging for trip delays of 12 hours or more (or requiring an overnight stay).
• Lost luggage reimbursement: Covers loss or damage to your luggage by a common carrier (such as an airline) for up to $3,000 per passenger.
• Travel and emergency assistance: Receive emergency assistance and referrals if you encounter problems while traveling.
• Extended warranty protection: Extends a U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year on warranties of three years or less.
• Purchase protection: Covers damage or theft on new purchases, up to $500 per claim and up to $50,000 per account.

For any of these to apply, you must pay for your purchase with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card. You can file a claim with the Benefits Administrator online through Card Benefit Services.

Related: Chase Sapphire Preferred perks

Official application link: Chase Sapphire Preferred with 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months.

Additional reporting by Emily Thompson.