Both Chase Sapphire cards work best for people who spend time in restaurants and travel versus other things. For example, if you’re a young professional who wants to explore the world or an empty nester with a desire to travel, these cards can help you with your journey.
The ability to trade your points for those with other programs is key for maximizing the benefits of both cards. Chase has 1:1 deals with airlines such as Star Alliance, Oneworld, and Skyteam, which means you CAN use your points to travel on airlines where 1:1 transfers are not available. However, due to the greater value of points within the Chase Travel portal, it may make sense to spend points that way. The worst value you can get for your points is 1 cent per point, which isn’t terrible. You’ll likely get your best value by trading your points in for luxury travel that would cost far more if you paid cash.
Additional perks of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card are the major differentiators here. The Priority Pass Select Membership is a $500 value that could be great for people who either like to arrive early at airports or who frequently have lengthy layovers. The Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit could be great for people taking short, frequent international trips and do not have a travel health insurance policy.
There are also fantastic bonuses for Reserve cardholders if they use the Chase Travel portal to both purchase and redeem travel rewards. This will be an ever-changing wildcard. The benefits to using this card are most likely greater for people living in New York, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, LA and other larger cities who enjoy fine dining.
Unless optimizing points is a major hobby of yours, it’s likely that you’ll redeem the points for cash. Comparing these two cards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is likely better for anybody who spends less than $20,000 per year on travel. But people who spend over $20,000 annually on travel will get more value out of the Reserve Card.
If you spend over $20,000 per year on travel or you can benefit from free entry to airport lounges, then go for the Reserve. But if you’re not a jet-setting executive or a super-big travel spender, you’ll likely be better off with the Preferred. In either case, have fun with your points.