Why the Chase Sapphire Preferred Might Be the Best Card for Foodies

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Chase recently updated the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, a popular travel rewards credit card, with higher bonuses and new perks that are particularly good for foodies. If you like restaurants, food delivery and online grocery shopping, you may earn enough rewards every year for a couple of free plane tickets, or maybe even an entire vacation.

Here’s a look at the new benefits and how you can travel for pennies on the dollar with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

New Sapphire Preferred Rewards

Chase added a slew of new rewards to the Sapphire Preferred card that went into effect on August 16th. Here’s a look at the full details of the new benefits:

NEW Chase Sapphire Preferred Benefits (starting August 16):

  • 5x total points on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 3x points on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out (previously 2x)

  • 3x points on select streaming services

  • 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)

  • $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased through Ultimate Rewards. New cardmembers will start earning towards the credit immediately and existing cardmembers will start earning after their next account anniversary.

  • 10% Anniversary Point Bonus. Each account anniversary, cardmembers will earn bonus points equal to 10% of total purchases made the previous year. That means, $25,000 in spend will earn an additional 2,500 bonus points.

  • Plus, new Sapphire Preferred cardmembers can currently earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening, worth $750 in travel booked through Ultimate Rewards.

  • The Sapphire Preferred card will also feature a sleek new card design, which will be available to new and existing cardmembers after August 16

Sapphire Preferred cardmembers will continue enjoying all the card already offers, including 2x points on travel and 25% more value when points are redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, all for the same annual fee.

What You Can Earn for Food Purchases

Just focusing on food-related benefits, there’s a lot to get excited about. The main benefits for food and dining are:

Restaurants and Delivery

3x points per dollar

Online Grocery Purchases

3x points per dollar

All Non-Bonus Purchases

1x point per dollar

DashPass from DoorDash

The card also gives you a complimentary membership to DoorDash DashPass, which gives you free delivery and lower service fees on eligible purchases. When logged into the rewards portal, you can also find exclusive dining opportunities through Sapphire Dining, including chef events and hard-to-get reservations.

Cardholder Anniversary Point Boost

Another new benefit gives you a 10% points bonus for all purchases made in the calendar year. That means you really earn 3.3x points per dollar on restaurants, delivery and groceries and 1.1x on other purchases. There are few cards with rewards so good for restaurants and groceries.

Ultimate Rewards Redemption Value

When you factor in the current 60,000-point signup bonus (worth $750 in free travel when booked through Chase) and 1.25 cents per dollar redemption rate when booking travel through the Chase rewards website, it’s easy to see how you can be jetting around the world for free in no time. You’ll make the annual fee back more than 12 times over with the sign-up bonus alone.

Check out our full review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Other Top Rewards Cards for Foodies

If you’re not sold on this card because you’re bad at math or don’t like free travel, here are other cards to consider that are great for restaurant rewards and grocery rewards:

  • Capital One Savor and SavorOne: These cards offer either 3% or 4% cash back on dining, entertaining, grocery stores and select streaming services, among other benefits.

  • American Express Gold Card: Earn 4x on dining and 4x on up to $25,000 in grocery store purchases and an Uber Eats Pass, among other travel rewards benefits.

  • Chase Freedom Unlimited: Earn 3% cash back on restaurant and eligible food delivery services, 5% cash back on groceries up to $12,000 in the first year and 1.5% back everywhere else with no annual fee.

You Could Earn a Huge Bonus Starting Out

We’ve mostly focused on the food-related rewards here, but it’s important to remember the current 60,000-point signup bonus after spending $4,000 in the first three months. That 60,000 points could be enough for a round-trip flight to Europe if you book well. And you can earn those points with everyday spending you would do anyway.

I signed up for my Chase Sapphire Preferred account about a decade ago, and it’s still alive and well today. That’s a testament to the value you can get from Chase Sapphire cards. If you’re into food and online groceries, among other new benefits, the card offers an even better deal with no added cost.


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