Chase Sapphire Preferred Card vs. Citi Premier Card [Detailed Comparison]

Whether you’re ready to select a rewards-earning credit card for the first time or you’re planning to add a card to your current collection, our article today will be of interest.

We’re looking at 2 very popular cards that work well for the frequent traveler for both earning rewards on travel purchases and providing good value options at redemption time.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card and the Citi Premier^® Card are seasoned cards with proven value, but one may be a better fit for your particular spending mix and travel goals.

Join us as we look closer at the attributes of these travel rewards cards, including earning potential, redemption value, and the benefits and protections you’ll find on each card.

It’s an interesting comparison of 2 cards that have a lot of similarities, but in the end, your priorities will determine which card offers the better value for you.

Let’s get started.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card vs. Citi Premier Card — Overview

When comparing 2 dynamic travel rewards cards such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the Citi Premier card, there’s a lot of information to process. A side-by-side comparison helps bring all of the information together so you can easily compare the key features and benefits of each card.

Here’s how our 2 cards compare in each category:

The Value of a Welcome Bonus

The initial welcome bonuses offered on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Citi Premier card provide a valuable opportunity to jumpstart your rewards earning.

But welcome bonus opportunities can be fleeting, as you’ll have an initial window after card approval in which to meet minimum spending requirements to qualify for the bonus.

You’ll also find that bonuses fluctuate, so always check for current offers before applying.

Additionally, the value of the welcome bonus will differ depending on the redemption options you select — we’ll talk more about those redemption options shortly.

But first, here’s a snapshot of current welcome bonuses for our 2 cards, the associated minimum spending requirements, and our estimated value for each one.

Bottom Line: The Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Citi Premier card both offer welcome bonuses earned after meeting minimum spending requirements within the first few months after card approval. While welcome bonus values on our featured cards are similar, the actual value of any welcome bonus will depend on how you choose to redeem your rewards. 

Chase Ultimate Rewards Points vs. Citi ThankYou Points

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card earns Ultimate Rewards points while the Citi Premier card earns ThankYou Points. While these reward currencies differ, you’ll experience accelerated earnings in bonus category spending on both cards and have several similar redemption options.

Let’s look closer at each card’s earning possibilities and the choices you’ll have at redemption time.

Earning Potential

Both cards feature robust earning levels on travel purchases, select everyday spending, and at least 1x earnings on all other purchases.

Here’s how our 2 cards compare in the earnings category:

It’s worth noting that Chase defines online grocery stores with the following clarification:

“The online grocery (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs) category includes purchases for grocery pickup and delivery that are placed online with grocery stores, specialty food stores, or delivery service merchants that classify as grocery store merchants (excluding membership and subscription fees). Meal kit delivery services are included.”

Citi clarifies its supermarket category with this statement:

“You won’t earn three points for purchases made at general merchandise/discount superstores, freezer/meat locker provisioners, dairy product stores, miscellaneous food/convenience stores, markets, drugstores, warehouse clubs, wholesale clubs, specialty vendors, bakeries, candy stores, nut stores, confectionery stores, and meal kit delivery services. You also won’t earn three points for purchases made at online supermarkets if the merchant does not classify itself as a supermarket by using the supermarket merchant code.”

Bottom Line: While both cards offer great earning potential, the Citi Premier card may have the edge for earning on everyday purchases, such as at supermarkets, gas stations, and on dining. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card edges out on travel purchases if you can utilize the Chase travel portal and on general travel purchases that fall outside of air travel and hotels. 

Earning Examples

The better card for earning points will depend on your spending mix. Let’s look at a couple of annual spending mix examples to illustrate the difference in earnings:

• $5,000 on air travel and hotels
• $7,200 at supermarkets
• $3,600 on dining out

Let’s assume 50% of the travel was purchased via the Chase travel portal on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and 50% was not. With 5x earnings on $2,500 (12,500 points), 2x earnings on the other $2,500 (5,000 points), 1x earnings at supermarkets (7,200 points), and 3x earnings on dining (10,800 points), you would earn a total of 35,500 Ultimate Rewards points (worth $710 by our valuation).

With the Citi Premier card, you would earn 3x on all $15,800 in purchases for a total of 47,400 ThankYou Points (worth $758 by our valuation).

Let’s look at another annual spending mix example:

• $10,000 on airfare and hotels
• $3,000 at online grocery stores
• $1,200 on streaming services
• $2,400 at gas stations
• $4,000 on dining

Once again, we’ll assume the airfare and hotels purchased with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card were 50% on the Chase travel portal. This would result in 5x earnings on $5,000 (25,000 points), 2x earnings on $5,000 (10,000 points), 3x on online grocery store purchases (9,000 points), 3x on streaming (3,600 points), 1x at gas stations (2,400 points), and 3x on dining (12,000 points). The total earnings would be 62,000 Ultimate Rewards points (worth $1,240 by our valuation).

The Citi Premier would earn 3x points on the travel purchase (30,000), 1x for online groceries (3,000), 1x for streaming services (1,200), 3x at gas stations (7,200), and 3x on dining (12,000), for a total of 53,400 ThankYou Points (worth $854 by our valuation). Note that some online grocery stores could code as regular grocery stores and earn 3x versus 1x.

These examples are only meant to illustrate how spending mixes can affect your ultimate earnings. Additional non-bonus spending was not considered, and actual real-life spending mixes will differ.

Earnings are just a piece of the value proposition, as the actual value of your rewards will surface at redemption time.

Let’s look at the choices you can expect to have when redeeming rewards with each card.

Redemption Options

The value you receive at redemption time will depend on how you redeem your points. You could redeem your points for a gift card, for example, or transfer points to a travel partner and have the potential of receiving much greater value.

We like that points earned on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Citi Premier card are flexible and transferrable, making these rewards more valuable than fixed-value rewards such as airline miles or other rewards that have limited redemption options.

Here are the redemption options you’ll find on our featured cards:

Hot Tip: Watch for periodic transfer bonuses — both Chase and Citi offer occasional transfer bonuses that allow you to receive additional bonus points when transferring your rewards to various hotel or airline programs. Transfer bonuses have included a Chase 50% bonus when transferring points to Marriott Bonvoy and a 30% bonus when transferring to British Airways. Citi examples include a 25% bonus to Air France-KLM Flying Blue and an offer of a 25% bonus to Avianca LifeMiles. 

Redemption Examples

While Ultimate Rewards points and ThankYou Points are unique rewards currencies, redeeming points for travel by transferring to airline or hotel partners generally results in the best potential value, regardless of which points you’re using.

Let’s look at some examples of how you can redeem these rewards for good value.

Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

Chase offers a unique opportunity to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to the World of Hyatt hotel loyalty program, where you may find great potential value such as the Category 8 Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort for 35,000 to 45,000 points. Check out our list of amazing Hyatt redemptions offering great value for your points.

Transferring Ultimate Rewards points to Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and using those miles to book British Airways flights can be one of the best ways to get to the Caribbean from the U.S.

Citi ThankYou Points

Transferring ThankYou Points earned on the Citi Premier card to Air France-KLM Flying Blue frequent flyer program for flights to Hawaii can be a good use of your points. Points transfer nearly instantly at a ratio of 1:1 and can be used to book with Flying Blue’s partner, Delta Air Lines. A business class flight from the U.S. mainland may be secured for just 30,000 miles.

See our list of dozens of ideas on the best ways to redeem your ThankYou Points.

Bottom Line: While there are several redemption options available for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Citi Premier card, the best value can generally be found by transferring points to airline or hotel partners to book award flights or free hotel nights. 

Travel Benefits and Protections

Earning potential and redemption options may offer sufficient overall value to warrant selecting a specific travel rewards-earning card. However, benefits and protections may save you money or provide needed protection during your travels, therefore creating additional value to consider.

Both the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Citi Premier card come with these distinct travel benefits:

• Luxury Hotel Benefits — The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers access to elite-style benefits via the Chase Luxury Hotel and Resorts Collection. Benefits include daily breakfast for 2, complimentary Wi-Fi, an onsite amenity, room upgrades, late checkout, and early check-in (when available). The Citi Premier card offers the same benefits via the Mastercard Luxury Hotel and Resorts Portfolio.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees — Both featured cards travel well, with neither card charging foreign transaction fees.

While the Citi Premier card does not offer any additional key travel perks, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card comes with a long list of travel benefits and protections.

Additional Travel Benefits and Protections — Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

• Rental Car Collision Damage Waiver — Pay for your entire rental with your card, decline the rental agency’s CDW/LDW coverage, and receive coverage for theft or damage to the rental car. Coverage is primary, which means you do not have to file a claim with any other insurance prior to card coverage kicking in.
• $50 Hotel Statement Credit — Book a hotel via the Chase travel portal and receive up to $50 as a statement credit each card anniversary year.
• Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Insurance — Should your trip be canceled or interrupted due to a covered reason, you could receive up to $10,000 per person, a maximum of $20,000 per trip.
• Trip Delay Reimbursement— If your trip is delayed more than 12 hours or overnight, receive up to $100 per day, a maximum of 5 days, for incidentals.
• Roadside Dispatch — Get help when you’re stranded with 24/7 roadside assistance. One flat-rate fee for each service call can include towing, jumpstart service, changing your flat tire, lockout service, fuel delivery, and standard winching. Terms and limits apply.
• Baggage Insurance — Receive up to $500 for incidentals if your luggage is delayed 6 hours or more and up to $3,000 if your luggage is lost or stolen.
• Travel and Emergency Assistance — Make a single call for assistance 24/7 for legal or medical referrals, translation services, help with emergency transportation, and more. Cardholders are responsible for the cost of services received.

Bottom Line: The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers a broad selection of travel benefits and protections that is difficult to beat. With primary car rental insurance, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement, baggage insurance, and more, it’s clearly the superior card in this category. 

Shopping Benefits and Protections

Saving money is always a good thing, and having purchase protection can help make things right if something goes wrong.

Here are the shopping benefits and protections you’ll receive with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the Citi Premier card:

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

• Chase Offers — Log into your online Chase account and check out the list of savings offers available for specific card purchases.
• Shop through Chase — Earn up to 25 points per dollar spent when shopping via the Chase shopping portal.
• Gopuff Monthly Credit — Receive up to $10 each month for purchases via food delivery service Gopuff (through December 31, 2023).
• Purchase Protection — Purchase an eligible item with your card and receive coverage for theft or damage for 120 days from the purchase date. Coverage is limited to $500 per item and  $50,000 per year.
• Extended Warranty — Eligible items with manufacturer warranties of 3 years or less will receive an additional 1 year of extended warranty. Coverage is limited to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
• DoorDash DashPass — Receive a complimentary DashPass subscription. If activated by December 31, 2023,  the subscription is active through December 31, 2024. If activated during the 2024 calendar year, the subscription will be valid for 1 year from the date of activation.
• Instacart+ Benefits — Cardholders are eligible for a free 6-month Instacart+ membership plus a $15 quarterly credit.

Citi Premier Card

• Citi Merchant Offers — While not as robust as Amex Offers or Chase Offers, you may find some local dining or shopping offers in addition to national merchant offers.
• World Elite Mastercard Shopping Benefits — Receive shopping benefits such as discounts at nearly 100 retailers and free 2-day shipping with your complimentary ShopRunner membership, a 3-month DoorDash DashPass trial membership, Lyft and Fandango discounts, and more.
• Purchase Protection — Purchase an eligible item with your card and receive protection for 90 days from the purchase date for damage or theft. Coverage limits are $10,000 per incident, $50,000 per calendar year
• Extended Warranty — Pay for at least part of an eligible item with your card and receive up to 24 months of additional extended warranty coverage added to the manufacturer’s warranty, up to a maximum of 7 years total. There is a $10,000 maximum coverage per item.

Bottom Line: While the Chase Sapphire Preferred card excels in offering travel benefits and protections over the Citi Premier card, the latter holds its own in the shopping benefits and protections category. 

Annual Fees and Authorized Users

If you’re paying an annual fee on a rewards-earning card, receiving value beyond the expense of that annual fee is important.

The same is true regarding any fees charged to add authorized users to your card.

Here’s how our 2 featured cards compare regarding annual fees and the cost to add additional users:

• Annual Fees — Both featured cards charge a modest annual fee:
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred – $95 annual fee
  • Citi Premier – $95 annual fee
• Adding Authorized Users — Neither card charges an annual fee for adding additional users.

Bottom Line: Both the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the Citi Premier card keep the cost of being a cardholder low with each card charging just a moderate annual fee. Plus, neither card charges for adding additional users. 

Final Thoughts

When it comes to overall value, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card edges out the Citi Premier card with its collection of travel benefits and protections. Add in the additional value that could be realized when redeeming Ultimate Rewards points for travel and you have a valuable combination.

Yet the Citi Premier card does offer excellent potential earning power on everyday spending. If your spending mix matches well with its bonus category offerings, the card may be a good choice.

If you’re looking for a travel rewards card that offers travel benefits and protections, the Citi Premier card won’t live up to those requirements. Consider the card only if you have a travel rewards card that already offers these benefits.