The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns between 1 and 5 points per dollar, depending on where you spend. These rates are called point multipliers, because they multiply the base rate of 1 point per dollar. In June 2026, Chase refreshed the card and added two new 3x categories: gas and EV charging, and vacation homes such as Airbnb and Vrbo. The annual fee stayed at $95. Here is every multiplier on the card, what counts in each category, and how much the points are worth once you earn them.

What Counts in Each Category

The 5x rate applies to travel you book through Chase Travel, the bank’s own booking site. That includes flights, hotels, rental cars, and other trips paid for there with your card. If you book the same flight directly with the airline, it earns 2x instead, so the booking site you choose changes your rewards.

Dining at 3x covers restaurants worldwide, takeout, and eligible food delivery services. This has long been one of the card’s strongest categories, since most households eat out or order in every week.

Gas and EV charging became 3x categories on June 15, 2026. Before that, these purchases earned only 1x. For people who drive a lot, this is the most useful change in the refresh, because few travel cards with a fee under $100 pay a bonus on fuel.

Vacation homes also moved up to 3x. Rentals from brands such as Airbnb and Vrbo used to earn 2x as general travel. They now earn 3x when you book directly with those companies.

The online grocery category pays 3x on groceries ordered online for delivery or pickup. Purchases at Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs such as Costco are excluded. Groceries bought in person at a store earn only 1x, which surprises many new cardholders.

Select streaming services, such as major video and music subscriptions, also earn 3x. Chase keeps a list of eligible services, and it can change, so check it if a subscription is a big part of your spending.

The 2x travel category is broader than many people expect. Besides flights and hotels booked directly, it includes things like parking, tolls, ferries, and campgrounds. Everything that doesn’t fit a bonus category earns 1x.

Who Gets the New Rates and When

All cardholders, new and existing, received the new 3x categories for gas, EV charging, and vacation homes on June 15, 2026. You don’t need to activate them. They apply automatically when you use the card.

The refresh also removed one benefit. The card used to pay a 10% anniversary bonus, worth 10% of the points you earned on your purchases during the year. If you spent $20,000, that added 2,000 points. Chase dropped this bonus for anyone who applied on or after June 15, 2026. People who held the card before that date earned it on purchases through October 1, 2026, with the final bonus points due by January 31, 2027. For most cardholders, the new 3x categories make up for the loss, especially if they buy gas regularly.

How Many Points a Typical Budget Earns

The easiest way to see what the multipliers mean is to run a monthly budget through them.

Over a year, that adds up to 48,480 points. The number of points only tells half the story, though. What matters is how much each point is worth when you spend it.

What Your Points Are Actually Worth

The Sapphire Preferred earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points. You can use them in several ways, and each one gives a different value per point. Value is usually measured in cents per point.

The simplest option is cash back or a statement credit at 1 cent per point. The 48,480 points from the example above would be worth $484.80 this way.

You can also book travel through Chase Travel. Standard bookings there also give 1 cent per point. Some hotels and flights are marked with Points Boost, a Chase feature that raises the value for selected bookings. For Sapphire Preferred cardholders, boosted hotels give up to 1.5 cents per point. Boosted flights give 1.25 cents in economy, 1.5 cents in premium economy, and up to 1.75 cents in business or first class. At 1.5 cents, the same 48,480 points would cover $727.20 of travel.

Before Points Boost, the card offered a fixed 1.25 cents per point on any Chase Travel booking. Chase replaced that in 2025. If you held the card before June 23, 2025, points you earned before October 26, 2025, keep the old 1.25-cent rate until October 2027. Points earned after that date follow the newer rules.

The third option is transferring your points to airline and hotel programs, called transfer partners. Most of them, including United, Southwest, Marriott, and IHG, accept Chase points at a 1:1 ratio. World of Hyatt is the exception for this card. Since October 1, 2026, Sapphire Preferred points transfer to Hyatt at 4:3, so 1,000 Chase points become 750 Hyatt points. Transfers can give the highest value, often more than 1.5 cents per point on award flights and hotel stays, but they take more planning and can’t be reversed.

Getting the Most From the Multipliers

Small habits make a real difference in how many points you collect. Here are the ones that matter most:

• Book flights, hotels, and rental cars through Chase Travel when the price matches what you would pay elsewhere, so you earn 5x instead of 2x.
• Order groceries online for delivery or pickup instead of paying in the store, as long as the store isn’t Walmart, Target, or a wholesale club.
• Book vacation homes directly with Airbnb, Vrbo, or another eligible brand to get 3x.
• Pair the card with a no-annual-fee Chase card, such as the Freedom Unlimited, which earns 1.5x on everyday purchases that the Sapphire Preferred pays only 1x on.

That last point explains why many people hold two Chase cards. The Freedom Unlimited’s points can be combined into your Sapphire Preferred account, where you can transfer them to travel partners. Using each card where it earns more raises your total points without adding another annual fee.

Does the Card Pay for Itself?

The $95 annual fee is the cost of earning these multipliers. The card also comes with a $100 credit each account anniversary year for hotel stays booked through Chase Travel. If you book at least one hotel a year that way, the credit alone covers the fee.

Without the hotel credit, the math depends on your spending. In the example above, the card earns 48,480 points. A no-annual-fee card paying a flat 1.5% on the same $2,380 a month would earn about $428 a year. The Sapphire Preferred’s points are worth $484.80 at 1 cent each, or $389.80 after the fee. That’s less than the flat-rate card. At 1.5 cents per point through Points Boost or a good transfer, the points are worth $727.20, or $632.20 after the fee, which is clearly ahead.

This shows how the card works best. The multipliers reward spending on dining, gas, groceries, and travel, but the real value comes from redeeming points for travel at more than 1 cent each. If you plan to take your rewards as cash, a no-fee cash back card is usually the better choice. If you travel at least once a year and are willing to compare point prices before booking, the Sapphire Preferred’s multipliers can earn noticeably more than a flat-rate card.

Before applying, check the current welcome bonus and card terms on Chase’s website, since offers and category details can change. Then add up a few months of your own spending by category and multiply it by the rates in the table above. That gives you a realistic estimate of how many points you would earn in a year.