I'm Breaking Up With My Chase Sapphire Preferred. Here's Why the Love Is Gone
Viva Tung/CNET
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card* has saved me a lot of money on flights and hotels over the years. It was even CNET's best travel card and one of my personal favorites. But not anymore.
Sadly, Chase recently removed my beloved 25% boosted redemption rate when booking travel through Chase Travel℠. Chase's Ultimate Rewards portal lets you redeem your points for travel, gift cards, experiences and even shopping. Sometimes, my points added up to a free round-trip flight, which was a game-changer.
Chase replaced it with a Points Boost program, which offers a higher per-point value than the 25% bonus. Here's the catch: It's only for specific flights and hotels, and the deals periodically change. If you book travel for any other non-boosted offer, you'll earn a measly 1 cent per point. And I'm not happy about it.
I guess you could say it's good that other money-saving card benefits are sticking around, like the $50 hotel credit and the 10% anniversary bonus points. But if I'm using more points to book with the new rewards program, the card and Chase travel portal both feel a lot less valuable.
This big change might persuade me to swap cards. Let's walk through the program and figure out if the Chase Sapphire Preferred is still worth it for you.
What is Chase's new Points Boost program?
The new Points Boost program went into effect last month. However, any points earned before Oct. 26, 2025, can be redeemed under the previous rewards program for the next two years.
But any points earned after Oct. 26 will be valued at up to 1.5 cents per point on select flights and hotels, and up to 1.75 cents per point on premium flights. However, the boosted offers will change.
That can mean good savings if you're booking a first-class flight or find a good deal on a hotel, but the promise of a flat 1.25-cent redemption value regardless of the day or form of travel was an easy way for me to secure value.
I'm glad I'll have two years to use my points as I have been. Points redeemed during this time will qualify for the Points Boost program, too. That gives some time to compare the value and savings.
Why I'm not excited about Chase's Points Boost
Chase's Point Boost feels like gambling for a travel deal. You may spend more points for the same deal you could get for less. Here's how the math shakes out.
If I book an economy round-trip flight from Charlotte to New York's LaGuardia airport, I'll spend $179 or 14,316 points booking through the Chase portal. But if those points were redeemed at only 1 cent, I'd need 17,900 points.
If I'm lucky enough to score a Points Boost offer that lets me redeem points at 1.5 cents per point for the flight, I'll need fewer points: 11,933. But the big question is, Will the offer apply when I'm ready to book, since offers are limited and can change?
Where once there was certainty in landing a good deal, it now feels like it's up to Chase's whims to decide when I can earn more value and when I'll miss out.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve's new annual fee isn't worth it, either
The Chase Sapphire Reserve®* is Chase's premium travel card, and though it may seem like the next best choice if you're not happy with the CSP's changes, think again.
The Sapphire Reserve could be worthwhile if you use the myriad of perks and annual credits attached to its steep $795 annual fee, but the Points Boost changes will apply to the CSR, too.
Seeing that I'll run into the same problem with my points, the card's benefits and annual fee don't make sense for my wallet.
I'm not breaking up with Chase yet, but it's complicated
Although I don't like the new Points Boost program, it's not all bad. For example, I like that Marriott is a Chase travel partner, and I'm a fan of the card's travel insurance perks. But I'm on the fence. So is my colleague Evan Zimmer, a CNET money editor who's covered credit cards for eight years.
He typically uses the Chase portal to book flights and has been able to score some savings. But he's not certain of his future with the CSP.
"I'll keep the card for the foreseeable future, but the redemption changes certainly are making me reconsider it," he said. "I'll probably wait to see if I notice a big difference in savings."
I'll likely do the same, but in the meantime, I'm shopping for new cards that are a better fit for my wallet and have a better redemption value than what Chase will give me, like the Capital One Venture X and the American Express Gold Card.
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