Chase Sapphire cards to earn bonus points on groceries

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Chase continues to beef up its flagship travel credit cards with useful quarantine-related perks while many cardholders stay at home. Today Chase is announcing a temporary expansion of bonus categories for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve®!

Earn bonus points on grocery purchases with the Chase Sapphire cards

The Sapphire cards normally earn bonus points for travel and dining purchases. But from Nov. 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021, you can add grocery stores to that list. You’ll earn:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred – 2 Chase points per dollar on groceries
• Chase Sapphire Reserve – 3 Chase points per dollar on groceries

You don’t have to enroll — your card will automatically earn these rates when the promotional period begins.

We estimate that Chase points are worth about 1.7 cents each toward travel. This increased earning rate means using your card at grocery stores will net you between 3.4% and 5.1% back. You’ll earn this bonus for up to $1,000 in spending per month. With this promotion lasting six months, you could potentially earn up to 12,000 more points than normal, depending on which of the above cards you have.

You could transfer that extra 12,000 points to Hyatt for a stay at a hotel such as the Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach, which regularly sells for hundreds of dollars per night.

This new bonus category is a great deal, especially considering some of the current welcome bonuses. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is currently offering a bonus where you’ll earn 100,000 points after spending $4,000 within the first three months of account opening. You can use Chase’s Pay Yourself Back feature to erase grocery purchases at a rate of 1.25 cents per point. Meaning 60,000 points would cover $750 in groceries.

Chase Sapphire Reserve expanded travel credit extended

Also getting a six-month extension is the Chase Sapphire Reserve annual $300 travel credit’s ability to be used at grocery stores and gas stations through June 30, 2021. This perk was supposed to disappear Dec. 31, 2020.

Bottom line

It’s great to see Chase expanding the bonus categories on its most popular cards. For those who are weighing if they should renew their Sapphire cards during this period of slower travel, this may tip the scale.

Let us know what you think of these enhancements! And subscribe to our newsletter for more card news like this delivered to your inbox once per day.

Featured image by iStock.