Chase Sapphire Preferred Card vs. Bank of America Premium Rewards Card [Detailed Comparison]

If you’re in the market for a travel rewards credit card and trying to decide between the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card and the Bank of America^® Premium Rewards^® Card, how should you determine which one is right for you?

While both cards are designed to be great all-around travel rewards cards with flexible rewards, they also have some unique differences that can really make one better suited for you than the other — depending on your spending habits and travel goals.

In this post, we will provide a detailed comparison between the 2 cards to help you decide which is the better fit for you.

Bank of America Premium Rewards Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred Card — Summary

We will examine each category in greater detail below, but first, let’s do a quick overview of what each card offers cardholders.

* Bank of America Preferred Rewards members earn 25% to 75% more points on purchases

Bottom Line: Both cards are very similar, but there are some significant differences regarding how you’re able to earn and redeem points that can dramatically alter the value you receive from the card. 

The Value of a Welcome Bonus

Welcome bonuses are a great way to kickstart your rewards earning. Here is the current offer for each card.

Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

The Bank of America Preferred Rewards program is a fixed-value currency, and your points will always be worth 1 cent per point, no matter what you decide to redeem them for. Given that, with a 50,000-point welcome bonus, you’d be able to redeem that for $500 in travel through the Bank of America Travel Center, $500 in cash-back, or even gift cards.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

One area where the Chase Sapphire Preferred card really stands out is how flexible its rewards are. Due to this, we value Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 2 cents per point.

While you could still redeem them for cash-back at a rate of 1 cent per point, you can also redeem them through the Chase travel portal with a 25% bonus at 1.25 cents per point, or transfer them to high-value transfer partners like Virgin Atlantic and World of Hyatt where you can relatively easily get more than 2 cents per point in value.

Earning Potential

When you get a new credit card, you want it to earn as many points as possible on your purchases, as the more you earn, the closer you will be to your next vacation. Both cards vary quite a bit when it comes to how they earn points, so let’s break that down.

* Requires having status in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program

You likely immediately noticed that the Bank of America Premium Rewards card has 2 sets of earning rates. While all cardholders will earn at least 2x points per $1 on travel and dining purchase, plus 1.5x points per $1 on all other purchases, these rates can be boosted by 25% to 75% if you hold status in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program.

Bank of America Preferred Rewards is the bank’s elite status program that provides added perks to depositors in addition to boosted rewards. Gold status requires $25,000 worth of deposits and/or assets and comes with a 25% rewards bonus, Platinum status requires $50,000 worth of deposits and/or assets and comes with a 50% rewards bonus, while Platinum Honors status requires $100,000 worth of deposits and/or assets and gives a 75% boost to your rewards.

That said, even with boosted rewards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred still comes out ahead when it comes to purchases made through its native travel portal, Lyft rides, online grocery store purchases, and select streaming services. It also wins out on dining if you don’t have Platinum status or above in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program.

Further, Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders earn bonus points equal to 10% of their total purchases made the previous year. For instance, if you spend $30,000 on purchases with your Chase Sapphire Preferred card in a year, you’ll receive 3,000 bonus points on your account anniversary. This effectively means you’ll earn an added 0.1x points per $1 on all purchases.

That said, while the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers higher rewards in more bonus categories, the simplicity of the Bank of America Premium Rewards card will be a win for many. Not to mention that those who hold Platinum Honors status will earn an uncapped 3.5x points per $1 on all travel and dining purchases, plus 2.625x points per $1 on all other purchases.

Bottom Line: To decide which card is better suited for you, consider what items you spend the most on each month. Do those purchases tend to fall within the various bonus categories that the Chase Sapphire Preferred card includes? Or would you be better off opting to earn between 1.5x to 2.625x points per $1 on purchases that fall outside of those bonus categories with the Bank of America Premium Rewards card? 

Redemption Options

Bank of America Premium Rewards Card

The Bank of America Preferred Rewards program is a fixed rewards currency, with all points worth 1 cent apiece towards redemptions. You can redeem your points as a statement credit to offset card purchases, for travel purchases through the Bank of America Travel Center, or gift cards.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you’ve got significantly more redemption options available to you, some of which will allow you to get much more value than 1 cent per point.

For instance, you can transfer your points to one of the Chase travel transfer partners, like United MileagePlus and Virgin Atlantic to book business class flights or World of Hyatt to book 5-star hotel stays, for next to nothing compared to their standard cash price. Oftentimes, we find that redeeming our Chase Ultimate Rewards points this way can give us 2 cents per point or more in value.

While using transfer partners can require a bit more legwork, Chase also offers a simple redemption option by allowing you to redeem your points straight through the Chase travel portal with a 25% bonus at a rate of 1.25 cents per point. These redemptions can be made for virtually any travel purchase, including flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, and more.

Of course, if you prefer to redeem your points for cash-back, gift cards, or through shopping partners, you can still do so at a rate of 1 cent per point.

Bottom Line: The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is clearly the winner when it comes to redemption options. Not only does it offer you more options, but those options also allow you to get significantly more value out of your hard-earned points. 

Statement Credits

While both cards charge an annual fee, they also offer solid credits to help offset those annual fees.

Bank of America Premium Rewards Card — Airline Incidental and Global Entry

With the Bank of America Premium Rewards card, you’ll receive a $100 annual airline incidental credit that you can apply towards purchases like seat upgrades, baggage fees, inflight services, and airline lounge fees.

You’ll also receive an up to $100 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit to help you skip those lengthy lines at airport security. Note though that while you can apply the credit towards either Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, we highly recommend you opt for Global Entry as it also includes TSA PreCheck, but TSA PreCheck alone does not include Global Entry.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card — Annual Hotel Credit, GoPuff, and Instacart

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers 3 different credits to give added value to cardholders.

First, you’ll receive a $50 annual statement credit towards a hotel stay booked through the Chase travel portal. You can book with any hotel available through the portal, with no minimum purchase amount, and no minimum stay required.

Cardholders also receive a $10 monthly GoPuff credit on orders through December 31, 2023. This amounts to $120 in annual savings towards these orders, which can offset the cards annual fee on its own if you are someone who often orders through GoPuff already.

Lastly, you’re eligible to enroll in a free 6-month Instacart+ membership with a $15 statement credit each quarter to help you save on your online grocery delivery orders while earning 3x points per $1 as an added card benefit.

Altogether, these 3 credits can save cardholders up to $230 each year.

Additional Card Benefits

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card — DoorDash

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you’ll also receive a free 12-month subscription to DoorDash DashPass which offers free delivery and reduced service fees on orders of $12 or more. This can be especially useful for those who order from DoorDash often, as a DashPass subscription would usually cost you $10 each month.

Travel Protections

Everyone hopes that they never need to use these perks, but it is always good to know that they are there if anything goes wrong. Here is how each card keeps you covered:

Both cards are pretty similar when it comes to keeping you covered during your travels. The biggest difference is that the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers primary rental car insurance, while the Bank of America Premium Rewards card insurance is secondary to your standard auto coverage, and the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers more trip cancellation insurance coverage.

However, while both cards offer baggage delay insurance, the Bank of America Premium Rewards card also includes lost luggage reimbursement, while the Chase Sapphire Preferred card does not.

Hot Tip: The rental car insurance offered on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is primary rental coverage, which means you do not have to access other insurance first. This allows you to decline the rental car company’s coverage with confidence and still be covered.

Shopping Benefits and Protections

Let’s review how each card keeps you covered on everyday purchases.

The Bank of America Premium Rewards card offers these benefits:

• Purchase Protection — If an eligible item purchased with the card is stolen or damaged within 90 days of purchase, it is eligible for repair, replacement, or reimbursement, up to $10,000 per claim.
• Return Protection — If you are dissatisfied with the item for any reason within 90 days of the purchase and if the retailer will not accept the return, you’re covered up to $250 per eligible item and up to $1,000 annually.
• Extended Warranty Coverage — The manufacturer’s warranty is doubled, up to 1 additional year, for eligible items with warranties of 3 years or less that are purchased with your card.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers these benefits:

• Chase Offers — Receive discounts with select merchants.
• Purchase Protection — New purchases are covered against damage or theft for up to 120 days from purchase with up to $500 in coverage per claim and $50,000 per account.
• Extended Warranty Coverage — The U.S. manufacturer’s warranty is extended by an additional year on eligible warranties of 3 years or less.

Annual Fees and Adding Authorized Users

Annual Fees

Both cards charge a $95 annual fee, so you’ll want to run the numbers and make certain you’ll be able to get more value out of the card than the fee that you’ll pay. That said, this should be easy for most when you combine the points you’ll earn with the card’s perks and annual statement credits.

Authorized Users

Neither card charges a fee to add authorized user cards, and all authorized users receive the same benefits and rewards earnings as the primary cardholder, with the exception of the card’s statement credits.

Final Thoughts

Both the Bank of America Premium Rewards card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred card have plenty to offer, and deciding which is best for you largely comes down to what you are looking for out of a new card.

In our view, those who are looking for a very simple earn and redeem card, and especially those who have high levels of elite status in the Bank of America Preferred Rewards program, should opt for the Bank of America Premium Rewards card.

On the other hand, those that are looking for a card that offers a wider range of bonus categories, and flexible redemption options that allow for much more upside through airline and hotel transfer partners, should select the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

The information regarding the Bank of America^® Premium Rewards^® credit card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.