Thanks to its plethora of premium travel perks, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is well-known in the travel credit card space. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the Sapphire Reserve's mid-tier sibling that features a $95 annual fee — which is also the more affordable card considering the Reserve's annual fee is $550 — and remains a top pick, winning Best Travel Rewards Credit Card for the sixth straight year at the 2023 TPG Awards.
No matter which Sapphire card you have, Chase clearly defines what counts as travel. Both cards generously award for travel booked through Chase Travel℠ and all other travel purchases.
We'll go over the purchases that count (and don't count) toward earning bonus points in this guide.
How many points do the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred cards earn on travel?
The Chase Sapphire Reserve awards 10 points per dollar on hotels and car rentals booked through Chase Travel and 5 points per dollar on flights booked through Chase Travel.
But suppose you're looking to book directly with the airline, hotel or another company or get awarded for other travel purchases like taxi rides and parking fees. In that case, you'll still earn 3 points per dollar on these purchases.
The Sapphire Preferred earns 5 points per dollar on all travel purchases booked through Chase Travel and 2 points per dollar on other travel purchases.
You'll also earn a boosted rate of 10 and 5 points per dollar spent on Lyft rides on the Reserve and Preferred, respectively (through March 2025).
'Travel,' according to Chase
The Chase Travel portal allows you to book various types of travel. For "all other travel purchases," here's how Chase defines it:
Merchants in the travel category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages.
Compared to bonus categories from other credit cards, Chase's travel category is extremely generous.
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While cards such as the American Express® Gold Card and The Platinum Card® from American Express offer bonus points for airfare purchases made directly with the airline (with a spending cap of $500,000 on the Amex Platinum per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar), the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cards let you earn a bonus on virtually every trip-related charge.
The travel category encompasses a wide variety of purchases, from hotels and airfare (which doesn't have to be booked directly with the airline) to cruises, tolls and even parking fees. Uber and Airbnb purchases count as travel as well.
The following purchases do not apply toward the 2 or 3-points-per-dollar bonus categories on these cards, but most of them shouldn't be a huge surprise or disappointment:
Merchants in this category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages. Some merchants that provide transportation and travel-related services are not included in this category; for example, real estate agents, educational merchants arranging travel, in-flight goods and services, on-board cruise line goods and services, sightseeing activities, excursions, tourist attractions, RV and boat rentals, merchants within hotels and airports, public campgrounds and merchants that rent vehicles for the purpose of hauling. Purchases from gift card merchants or merchants that sell points or miles will not qualify in the travel category.
A few notable travel-related charges that have not been posted as travel for the purposes of bonus points with Chase for TPG staffers in the recent past include an RV rental as well as some vacation rentals via Vrbo and similar services. Whether a vacation home rental automatically codes as travel depends on whether an individual or a conglomerate operates it. In the latter case, that charge may code as "professional services" instead of travel.
If you're ever unsure whether a given purchase counts as travel, it could be worth making a small charge and checking whether it earns any bonus points on your online Chase account.
Additionally, suppose you feel like a travel purchase should have earned bonus points but didn't. In that case, you can always try calling or secure messaging Chase and requesting consideration for that charge to be awarded points as a travel charge. Even if you don't get the outcome you're looking for, you'll at least get some clarity on how certain charges are coded and can plan future spending accordingly.
What does Chase typically count as travel purchases?
- Airlines
- Buses
- Campgrounds
- Car rental agencies (excludes RV and boat rentals)
- Cruise lines
- Discount travel sites
- Ferries
- Hotels
- Limousines
- Motels
- Parking lots and garages
- Passenger trains
- Taxis
- Timeshares
- Toll bridges and highways
- Travel agencies
- Vacation rentals (including some VRBO rentals operated by an individual)
What does Chase typically not count as travel purchases?
- Educational merchants arranging travel
- Excursions
- Gift card merchants
- Inflight goods and services
- Merchants that rent vehicles for the purpose of hauling
- Merchants within hotels and airports
- Onboard cruise line goods and services
- Purchasing points or miles
- Public campgrounds
- Real estate agents
- RV and boat rentals
- Sightseeing activities
- Tourist attractions
- Vacation rentals (some VRBO rentals operated by a conglomerate rather than an individual)
Bottom line
Cardholders of the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred have plenty of opportunities to earn 3 or 2 points per dollar spent, respectively, on "other travel purchases." Based on TPG's valuations, that means you could be getting a return of up to 6.15% on these purchases, and you can put your points to use with Chase's airline and hotel partners.
On top of that, these Chase cards have some of the most generous travel and purchase protections on the market, making either card a valuable addition to your wallet.
Apply here: Chase Sapphire Reserve with a 75,000-point sign-up bonus after you spend $4,000 in the first three months of account opening.
Apply here: Chase Sapphire Preferred with a 75,000-point sign-up bonus after you spend $4,000 in the first three months of account opening.
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
