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Chase Sapphire Card Review
Chase Sapphire Card: Good Rewards, No Annual Fee
The Chase Sapphire card has upped its game as one of the top credit cards on the market. Enough so, that this is only the second credit card I’ve ever fully reviewed in 2 and a half years on this blog. At a time when most credit cards have implemented annual fees with the recent passage of the Credit Card Act, the Sapphire card has no annual fee. It also offers a good rewards program (a true rarity to have both these days). Here’s a look at it:
- 25,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months – or $250 towards a flight or other reward.
- Two points per dollar spent on dining
- One point for every dollar spent on all other purchases
Cash Back Rewards that Don’t Take Back
Fortunately, there are no earning caps on rewards, point expirations, or blackout dates. You are also not tied down to using the rewards on miles, or to buy junk you don’t need. You can simply redeem them for cash – which is what I strongly recommend people do. Here’s a look at the cash back rewards options with the Chase Sapphire card:
Use points to redeem for a cash-back Rewards Check. Credits begin at 2,000 points for $20.
- 2,000 points: $20 cash value
- 5,000 points: $50 cash value
- 10,000 points: $100 cash value
- 50,000 points: $500 cash value
An added bonus with all of Chase’s cards is that you get free access to Chase BluePrint, which helps guide you to pay off balances and achieve financial goals.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
If you’re a business owner or travel heavily for work, the Sapphire Card has a rewards-on-steroids brother, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. The Preferred card caters to those who like to travel a lot. You can earn a whopping 50,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months – worth $625 towards airfare or hotels. The other main difference between the two cards is that points are worth 25% more when you redeem for airfare, and there is a 7% annual points dividend, so you can earn points on your points.
However, all good things have a downside, and the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card’s is that it has an annual fee of $95. This fee is waived in the first year, which is great. If you’re not a business owner that charges a lot or is looking for travel rewards, you’re probably better off sticking with the no annual fee version of this card.
The Downsides to Chase Sapphire & All Credit Cards
Any time I mention a credit card on this site, I feel compelled to step into my pastor shoes and give the “only use credit cards if you pay off your balance every month” speech. So do that, otherwise, you should not be using a credit card, and credit card rewards programs are pointless. For more on that, check out my ‘Dave Ramsey credit card‘ post. The Sapphire Card has a relatively low APR for credit cards (12.24% at the time of this post), but it is still way too high to have to pay.
All-in-all, the Chase Sapphire card is one of the top in no annual fee rewards cards out there. Have you tried the Sapphire card? What’s your take on it?
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My name is G.E. Miller and 
The Sapphire card is what I use. It’s great. No annual fee, 1% cash back, a nice signup bonus, and good customer service. Simple stuff, really. The way credit cards should be. No complaints from me. And I pay everything off month-to-month as you suggest.
Great post! Chase is my favorite credit card company. I just learned about the signup bonus they are currently offering for a Sapphire card tonight through this post. While the signup bonus is generous, they only offer 1% cashback for all purchases, while the Chase Freedom Card gives you 5% cashback in rotating categories like gas, department stores, etc as well as no annual fee. Chase Freedom is what I use for all of my purchases.
Can anyone provide a list or open link to those “select merchants through the Ultimate Rewards Mall”?
I was looking for a new card, and I think Chase may be the one for me! Thanks for the post.
and I think Chase may be the one for me! Thanks for the post.
Can someone explain how the points relate to the points used by United millage plus or American Advantage (i.e. 25000 = a roundtrip flight)? Or are those such as Sapphire somehow related
to dollars of airfare and only full fare prices
So I am not a heavy traveler but I somehow got wrapped into the Chase Sapphire Preferred card because previously I had a Chase Marriot Card and a Chase Continental Card. So the assumption was made that I was a big traveler. I don’t want a fee card so I was thinking about canceling after my first year and getting the Freedom Card. Why am I waiting??….because I don’t want to put another credit card request in so soon after I just got the Sapphire. I am told that this could hurt my credit score. What do you think? Before I close my Sapphire card out at the end of the year I will of course redeem all of my points for cash. This might work well considering I am taking a few big trips in 2011 and will get 25% more and 7% Dividends in my first year and still not paying a fee.