Citi Premier vs Chase Sapphire Preferred: Which travel rewards credit card is best for you?

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The Citi Premier® Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card are both mid-tier credit cards that offer generous rewards, impressive (and overlapping) transfer partners, and travel perks. While the two cards have a great deal in common, each offers distinct benefits that the other does not.

So which card should you get? That depends on the card features you're looking for. 

Here's a look at how the Citi Premier® Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card stack up against each other.

Welcome bonus offers

The Citi Premier® Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card have similar minimum spending requirements, but their welcome bonus offers differ: 

• Citi Premier® Card: Earn Citi Premier® Card (worth around Citi Premier® Card in travel, based on Insider's valuations)
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Earn Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (worth around Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card in travel, based on Insider's valuations)

The Citi Premier® Card offers a higher welcome bonus than the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. However, it's worth mentioning that the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a referral program that lets you earn 15,000 bonus points per successful referral every year.

You'll earn the equivalent of a welcome bonus if you refer the maximum of five successful applicants per year. Citi does not currently have a referral program for US cardholders. 

Winner: Citi Premier® Card

Rewards on everyday spending

A large welcome bonus is great, but a credit card's ongoing earn rate will determine its long-term value. You want a credit card that rewards you for your daily spending. The Citi Premier® Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card both offer generous category bonuses that can help you earn points long after the welcome bonus is spent. 

Citi Premier:

• 3x points at restaurants (including cafes, bars, lounges, and fast-food restaurants)
• 3x points at supermarkets (excluding discount superstores and warehouse clubs)
• 3x points at gas stations (excluding gas purchases at warehouse clubs, discount stores, department stores, and convenience stores)
• 3x points on air travel and hotels (including travel agencies)
• 1 point per dollar on all other purchases

Chase Sapphire Preferred:

• 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards® (excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 annual Chase Ultimate Rewards hotel credit)
• 5x points on Lyft rides through March 2025
• 3x points on dining (including eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out)
• 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
• 3x points on select streaming services 
• 2x points on all other eligible travel purchases
• 1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases

The Citi Premier® Card is great if you want a card that earns generous rewards at supermarkets, gas stations, and restaurants. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers bonus points in some of these categories, but it's a bit more limited.

For example, instead of earning 3x on all supermarket spending, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card cardholders only earn 3x on online grocery spending. While Citi Premier® Card cardmembers earn 3x points on air travel and hotels, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card limits its 5x bonus to travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal (all other travel bookings earn 2x points).

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card does have an advantage over the Citi Premier® Card: Every account anniversary, cardmembers earn bonus points equal to 10% of their total purchases made the previous year. So if you charge $25,000 to your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you'll earn an extra 2,500 points. This increases your overall earning rate to at least 1.1 points per dollar spent. 

While both cards offer generous rewards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers the potential to earn more rewards thanks to its 10% annual bonus and extensive category bonus list. It's also worth noting that Citi doesn't offer any type of travel protection. So even though you earn 3x points on air travel and hotels, your trip won't be protected in case of a problem. You probably don't want to charge an expensive trip to the Citi Premier® Card and pay for travel insurance when it's included with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Travel credits

Both cards offer annual hotel credits valid on bookings made with each card's respective travel portal. The Citi Premier® Card's $100 credit is valid on bookings of $500 or more and applies before taxes. While the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card's $50 credit is lower, there's no minimum booking and if you don't use it all in one booking, it rolls over to the next one. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred's $50 credit applies after taxes, while the Citi Premier® Card's applies before taxes. Let's look at a two-night stay this fall at the H Hotel in Los Angeles to demonstrate how this works out. A deluxe room with two queen beds costs $501 through the Citi ThankYou travel portal and $499.60 through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal. After the $50 credit, the Chase booking drops to $449.60, while the Citi booking totals $408.40. 

So which hotel credit is best? That comes down to how you plan on using it. The Citi Premier® Card will save you more money if you anticipate booking at least one $500+ hotel stay. But if your hotel bookings typically cost less than $500, then the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers more flexibility. Not only do you get $50 off any hotel booking, but if your hotel costs less than $50, the credit rolls over. We'll call it a tie since the "best" credit comes down to preference.

Winner: Tie

Shopping and travel benefits

As mid-tier cards, the Citi Premier® Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offer standard benefits like no foreign transaction fees. Through the World Elite Mastercard program, the Citi Premier® Card also offers three months of free DashPass membership, with $5 off the first order per month.

Additionally, Citi Premier® Card cardmembers get a $5 credit after using the card for three Lyft rides per month. As an added bonus, cardholders can take advantage of the Mastercard Luxury Hotel and Resorts portfolio. You'll get perks like complimentary breakfast, free nights, and resort credits when booking hotels through this program.

Meanwhile, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers free DoorDash DashPass membership through December 31, 2024, and a $10 monthly Gopuff credit through December 31, 2023. Recently, Chase added six months of Instacart+ free and up to $15 per quarter in statement credits on Instacart.com purchases (once activated). 

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card cardholders can also book through the Chase Luxury Hotel and Resort Collection, which offers elite-like benefits including free breakfast, property credits, and room upgrades.

The winner here really depends on which of these perks are most valuable to you, and if you already use any of these services. It's also important to remember to look past the upfront dollar amount of each credit. For example, while a DashPass membership and credits may appear valuable, DoorDash is notorious for marking up prices for items ordered through the app and giving businesses a small fraction of the sale. 

Winner: Tie

Travel and purchase protections

Travel and purchase protections are essential benefits you should consider when deciding between the Citi Premier® Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. Citi infamously removed most of its credit card protections in 2019, paring it back to $10,000 in purchase protection per incident (up to $50,000 per year) and extended warranty coverage of 24 months. 

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card cardholders get purchase protection that covers their purchases up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account,  and extended warranty for up to an additional year. That's less than what Citi offers, but Chase also offers valuable travel protections for Chase Sapphire Preferred® Cardcardholders:

• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance: Up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip
• Primary car rental insurance: Up to the cash value of most rental cars
• Baggage delay insurance: Up to $100 per day for five days
• Trip delay reimbursement: Up to $500 per ticket after a 12+ hour or overnight delay

A lot can go wrong when you're traveling that could ruin your trip. You don't want to be left paying thousands of dollars out of pocket if your trip is interrupted, your baggage is lost, or your rental car is involved in an accident. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card's travel protections can save you money in case of a loss.

Winner: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Redeeming rewards

Of course, you can't compare bonuses merely on numbers. Redemption options matter just as much as how high a welcome bonus offer is. Both programs offer an impressive line-up of transfer partners you can use to travel virtually anywhere.

The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has 16 airline and hotel transfer partners, while Chase Ultimate Rewards has 14. The two programs have five transfer partners in common: Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Emirates Skywards, JetBlue TrueBlue, Singapore Krisflyer, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. If these are programs you frequently use for travel bookings, transfer partners won't be a huge factor when choosing a credit card.

Citi ThankYou transfer partners

• Aeromexico Club Premier
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Avianca LifeMiles
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Choice Privileges 
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• Eva Air Infinity MileageLands
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
• Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• Wyndham Rewards

Chase Ultimate Rewards partners

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards
• Iberia Plus
• IHG One Rewards
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Marriott Bonvoy
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• World of Hyatt

Despite having five transfer partners in common, the two programs stand out in different ways. Citi ThankYou partners with Turkish Miles&Smiles, which offers incredible sweet spot awards like 7,500-mile award tickets to Hawaii and 45,000-mile business class seats to Turkey. This is a valuable program to have in your portfolio, as it allows you to book several awards for less.

On the other hand, Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the few currencies that transfer to World of Hyatt. Hyatt is one of the few hotel loyalty programs offering reasonable redemption rates (awards start at 3,500 points per night). Being able to quickly top off your Hyatt account for an award is indeed valuable.

Keep in mind Citi only partners with a single domestic airline program (JetBlue) and Chase partners with three (JetBlue, United, and Southwest). If you typically travel within the US, Chase may be a better bet, especially if you're not an expert award traveler. The best option for you really depends on your preferred airlines, hotel chains, and travel style.

Winner: Tie

Comparison of the Citi Premier and Chase Sapphire Preferred

Bottom line

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the winner in two out of six categories, while the Citi Premier® Card comes out on top in one — the two cards are tied in the rest. Overall, although the Citi Premier® Card offers a better welcome bonus and more transfer partners to redeem points, the card falls short in providing travel and purchase protections, which are massively valuable for both frequent and occasional travelers.

If you want peace of mind, knowing your trip is protected against unexpected surprises, then the various merits of the Citi Premier® Card might be irrelevant since you'll get more value from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. 

The best card for you may boil down to your spending and travel habits, and there's no bad choice here — they're excellent cards. But getting both cards might make sense if you want the best of both worlds since they each have a reasonable annual fee and offer optimal protections and generous rewards, when combined.