How to Use Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card’s $50 Hotel Credit Benefit? [2023]

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On August 15, 2021, Chase added a $50 hotel credit benefit to the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card. The benefit resets every account anniversary, and you can use the benefit for any hotel accommodation purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel site. 

Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card is one of my favorite travel rewards credit cards with a low annual fee of $95. Factoring in the annual $50 hotel credit benefit drops the card’s annual fee to just $45. That is incredible, considering other valuable travel benefits of this credit card.
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  • The $50 hotel credit is good per your card membership year, not the calendar year: 
    • If you applied and approved for the card, you can use the $50 hotel credit benefit immediately. 
    • The Chase system makes it easy to know when you can use the $50 hotel credit benefit. See below under When Are You Eligible For Chase Sapphire Preferred $50 Hotel Credit? 
  • You can only use the credit once per card membership year. So you use it or lose it! 
  • You don’t have to spend $50 at once, and the credit is good up to a maximum annual accumulation of $50, including taxes and fees. In other words, if your booking is less than $50, you’ll receive a statement credit in that amount and have credit left over for your next hotel booking through Chase. 
  • You can use the credit for hotel reservations made through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel site. There’s no minimum stay requirement. 
  • You must book through Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel. So you won’t earn points or elite night credits through your favorite hotel loyalty programs. 
  • You receive the credit as a statement credit that will automatically be applied to your account.

When Are You Eligible For Chase Sapphire Preferred $50 Hotel Credit?

If you opened Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card and are approved, you can use the $50 hotel credit benefit immediately after you receive the card. 
For those that are not sure when the hotel credit benefit applies to your account, follow the instruction below: 
  • Go to the Chase Ultimate Rewards Benefit page. 
  • Select Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card from the list if you have multiple Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) earning cards. 
  • Under Featured Benefits, click on Learn More under the $50 annual Chase Travel hotel credit.
  • Under the Offer Overview, you can find out your next account anniversary date that you are eligible for the $50 hotel credit. See the screenshot below.
How to Use Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card's $50 Hotel Credit Benefit?
Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card’s $50 Hotel Credit

How to Redeem the Chase Sapphire Preferred $50 Hotel Credit

It’s worth re-iterating the following:
  • The Chase Sapphire Preferred $50 hotel credit benefit will be issued as a statement credit after your qualifying hotel booking(s) through Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel
  • The benefit resets every card membership year, not the calendar year. 
To use Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card’s $50 hotel credit benefit:
  • Go directly to the Chase Ultimate Rewards hotel booking site
  • Log in with your Chase account if you are not logged in. 
  • Select Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card from the list if you have multiple Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) earning cards. 
  • Enter your hotel search parameters and click on the green Search button
  • Review your hotel’s reservation details and follow the booking interface to finalize your booking. Make sure you pay with your Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card.
  • Once your purchase is posted to your Chase Sapphire Preferred account, Chase will automatically issue up to a $50 hotel statement credit to your account within a few days. 

Can You Use the $50 Hotel Credit For Points & Cash Bookings?

Yes. When you book hotel accommodation through Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel. You have the option of how you choose to pay for the reservation:
  • You pay with Chase Sapphire Preferred points 100%. 
    • Chase Sapphire Preferred points are worth 25% more when redeeming them for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
  • You pay with cash only.
  • You pay with Chase Sapphire Preferred points plus cash. (See the screenshot below).
    • Chase Sapphire Preferred points are worth 25% more when redeeming them for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
After applying your Chase Sapphire Preferred points, Chase will issue up to $50 hotel statement credit towards the remaining balance you pay with cash. 
How to Use Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card's $50 Hotel Credit Benefit?
Photo Credit: Chase

How Long Does It Take for Chase Sapphire Preferred $50 Hotel Statement Credit to Post?

It is fairly fast for Chase to issue the $50 hotel statement credit for Sapphire Preferred credit card on eligible purchases. According to Chase:
  • Statement credit(s) will post to your account within two days after your purchase posts and appear on your monthly credit card billing statement within 1-2 billing cycles.
My timeline below matches what Chase stated regarding when the $50 hotel statement credit posts:
How to Use Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card's $50 Hotel Credit Benefit?
Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card’s $50 Hotel Credit

Chase Sapphire Preferred Hotel Credit Not Showing Up

First, the process to receive the Chase Sapphire Preferred hotel credit is automatic and within a few days after an eligible purchase is posted to your account. You do not need to contact Chase. 
However, if, for some reason, your Chase Sapphire Preferred hotel credit is not showing up, consider doing the following:
  • Ensure your purchase is eligible through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel
  • Your Chase Sapphire Preferred account has the charge posted. 
  • Wait a few days after the charge is posted to see if the credit is posted, if not:
    • Ensure your Chase Sapphire Preferred account has not used the $50 hotel credit during the card membership year. To do so, read the section in this post: When Are You Eligible For Chase Sapphire Preferred $50 Hotel Credit? It will clearly state whether or not you have the $50 hotel credit to use. 
    • Contact Chase via secured message or call as the last resort so that they can manually review the issue. 

Is Chase Sapphire Preferred $50 Hotel Credit Worth It?

The Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card is already a low $95 annual fee credit card that offers nice travel rewards and benefits, including dining. Now that Chase added an annual $50 hotel credit benefit to this credit card, it makes a big difference as it lowers its annual fee to just $45.
When the internal Chase document showed, new benefits were being added to the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card, the miles and points community predicted that the card’s annual fee may increase. But that did not happen, and it’s unknown whether Chase will raise the card’s annual fee or not in the future. Therefore, if you want this credit card, you should consider getting it to lock in the high sign-up bonus points offered with the current $95 annual fee and immediately receive the $50 hotel credit benefit. This particular Chase credit card has much going on regarding travel rewards and benefits. See the highlights of the card below. 
$50 hotel credit per year is not a lot, so personally, I would aim to use the credit for hotel accommodation that does not have loyalty programs. From time to time, I may be traveling to a location where I cannot redeem points for hotel stays; that’s when I tend to look for other hotels and don’t care much about earning points or elite night credits. It really comes down to how much I can save in that situation!
Furthermore, it is important to note that while Chase offers you a $50 hotel credit to book directly through their Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel site, the available rate is not always the cheapest and the best. Therefore, I always recommend that you search and compare to see which booking website gives you the best rate to cut down on your total savings!

4 thoughts on “How to Use Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card’s $50 Hotel Credit Benefit? [2023]

  1. I applied this card in branch at Aug 26, and have the $50 Hotel Credit benefit. In the Chase Ultimate Rewards Benefit page, it shows "You have until your statement closing date on 09/20/2022 to earn towards this year's statement credit". I am confused that shoudn't it be like for the card opened after Aug 15,2021, I am eligible to use the $50 hotel credit benefit immediately?

  2. Hello, that statement means that you have until 09/20/2022 to use that $50 hotel credit. So yes, you can use that $50 hotel credit benefit any time through September 2022.

  3. I attempted to use this benefit. I booked a hotel through ultimate rewards on 8/22 (I opened my card in late July, but the benefit came up on my account so I believe I should have access to it). I called about a week later because the credit hadn’t posted, and they said it can take up to 14 days. I called again today (over two weeks later) and they said the credit won’t post until my card anniversary next July?? That will be months after the hotel stay! I’m very frustrated as this was not at all clear in the terms.

  4. I think the hotel credit benefit is too new, so Chase agents are not quite familiar with it yet. Because you applied for the card in late July, you cannot use that credit until your card's next anniversary date. This means that the hotel credit benefit that you attempted to use will not be reimbursed or posted at all even after your next anniversary date. What the Chase agent told you was not correct.

    The way it works is you must book the hotel "after" the benefit is available for you to use which is your card's next anniversary date because you applied in late July. If you attempt to use it before that, you will not be getting the credit. Please see the section in this article "When Are You Eligible For Chase Sapphire Preferred $50 Hotel Credit?" so you know exactly when that benefit will be available for you to use next year.

    If the hotel reservation offers free cancellation, you can cancel and receive a refund.

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