What’s the Break Even Point for Chase Sapphire Cards?

How much do you have to spend each year for a Chase Sapphire annual fee to be worth it? The answer depends on:

Whether you spend in the bonus categories often
How much you value Chase Ultimate Rewards points

It depends on your spending habits, but let’s take a looky-loo

I’ll break down spending in 3 scenarios:

Half bonus/half non-bonus spending with points worth their base rate for each card
Half bonus/half non-bonus spending with points worth 2 cents each
All bonus spending with points worth 2 cents each

Boom!

1. Chase Sapphire Preferred

Link: Chase Sapphire Preferred – Compare this card
Link: The Top Card for Beginners? Yeah, the Chase Sapphire Preferred

CSP, you’re up first.

If you’re new to collecting points & miles, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is hands down the best place to begin. It’s where I started. And when anyone asks me “What’s the BEST points card if you can only have one?” (I get this question a lot), this one is the answer.

I loved this card to start with and always think of it fondly

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you get:

2X Chase Ultimate Rewards points on travel and dining purchases
1X Chase Ultimate Rewards point on all other purchases

The card also has a sign-up bonus of 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. And the $95 annual fee is waived the 1st year – so you won’t have to worry about these calculations until the second year.

The points you earn are worth at least 1.25 cents each because that’s their base rate on travel booked through Chase. However, I like my points to be worth 2 cents apiece, so I save them for high-value travel awards to get the best bang for my buck. Okurr?

Half/half & 1.25 cents each

Let’s say you spend roughly half on travel or dining, and the other half on everyday spending. And you use the points to book travel through Chase, where they’re worth 1.25 cents each.

To recover the cost of the $95 annual fee the second year (because it’s waived the first year), you’d need to earn 7,600 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Of those, you’d need to spend:

$1,900 on travel and dining (to earn 3,800 points @ 2X)
$3,800 on other purchases (to earn 3,800 points @ 1X)

Per month, you’d need to spend:

~$158 on travel and dining
~$317 on other purchases

Which is totally doable if you keep this as your everyday card. Once you recover the cost of the annual fee, all the other points you earn are yours to spend however you want!

Half/half & 2 cents each

In this scenario, you’d only need to earn 4,750 Chase Ultimate Rewards points in a single year to make the card worth keeping. It breaks down to:

~$1,188 on travel and dining (to earn 2,375 points @ 2X) or ~$99 a month 
$2,375 on other purchases (to earn 2,375 points @ 1X) or ~$198 a month

That’s even easier. And attainable for even casual points earners.

Full 2X & 2 cents each – My personal valuation

I added this one because this is how I personally spend and view the points. With these values, the card is an exceptional no-brainer to have and keep long-term.

Again, you’d need to earn 4,750 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to make the card worth keeping.

If you eat out a lot, the CSP is easy to justify keeping

But if all your spending is for travel and dining, you’d only need to spend $2,375 a year to earn that. That’s only ~$198 a month in those categories.

I personally spend much more in those categories. Because “travel” includes things like:

Airbnb bookings
Toll tags
Parking garages
Award bookings (taxes and fees)
And of course air travel and hotels

Remember, travel and dining are both broadly defined

The “dining” category is broad, too – and includes:

Fine dining
Bars (yep!)
Fast food
Casual restaurants (like Panera, Start, and similar)
Coffee shops (Starbucks, Coffee Bean, and similar)

So really, the Sapphire Preferred is worth keeping for nearly anyone if you transfer your points to travel partners.

2. Chase Sapphire Reserve

Link: Chase Sapphire Reserve – Compare this card
Link: Why I Product Changed to the Chase Sapphire Reserve

Think of this card as the Sapphire Preferred’s older sibling. The one who grew up and got all fancy.