Update: The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card sign-up bonus offer is now 50,000 points when you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months.
Chase is now waiving the $95 annual fee for the Sapphire Preferred and offering 25,000 Ultimate Rewards points when you spend $3,000 in the first three months.
While it is not widely publicized, Ultimate Rewards points transfer to Hyatt, Continental, British Airways, Marriott and Priority Club at a 1:1 ratio and usually instantly (check out the full Ultimate Rewards program booklet here though note this is from last summer before the Hyatt card launched. Since the Hyatt card is issued by Chase, Ultimate rewards points can now be transferred to Hyatt- if you are skeptical, call to confirm before applying for the card). There's also no foreign transaction fee and you get a 7% annual dividend on the total amount of points you accrue throughout the year (even if you spend them). So if you spend $25,000 a year, you'll earn 25,000 Ultimate Rewards Points plus 1,750 extra points as your dividend.
Personally, I think it's a great value when transferring to Hyatt, since the to category 6 hotels are 22,000, so this offer equals a free night at a $500+ Park Hyatt, with 3,000 points left over. This would also be 5 nights at a category 1, so if you want to redeem for lower level properties, this card may make more sense than the $75 Hyatt card which only gives 2 nights.
This is one of the credit cards that I do get credit if you sign up, but I want to stress I'm not promoting it for that reason. Considering the huge value with Hyatt and the waived annual fee and no pesky foreign transaction fees, which I wrote about yesterday, I firmly believe this is a solid card all around.
