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If you enjoy traveling but hate spending a fortune, securing a rewards-earning credit card to help offset travel expenses is a logical consideration. Whether you’re looking to cover the cost of flights, lodging, or even experiences, a travel rewards card or hotel-branded card can help you achieve that objective.
Today’s comparison looks at 2 popular cards that are perfect examples of a travel rewards card and a hotel-branded card that offer much more value than just earning rewards to use for travel.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card and Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card have elevated earnings on common purchases, plus flexible options at redemption time. Additionally, the cards come with travel insurance benefits, money-saving statement credits, and purchase protections.
With so many features and benefits, you’re probably wondering which card is better.
We’re happy to help you with that decision by providing all the needed information in today’s article.
We’ll get into all the details of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Hilton Surpass card coming up next.
It can be helpful to first look at a side-by-side comparison of how the cards compare overall. Here’s a quick breakdown of the features and benefits of the 2 featured cards:
Feature or Benefit
Welcome Offer
Earn 75,000 points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
Earn 130,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points after you spend $3,000 in the first 6 months of Card Membership.
Top Earning Categories
Top Redemption Options
Redeem points for up to 1.75 cents each for select travel via Chase Travel, transfer points to airline/hotel partners
Free Hilton hotel nights, fifth night free
Top Travel Protections and Benefits
Car rental insurance, trip cancellation/interruption, annual $50 hotel credit
Car rental insurance, Hilton Honors Gold elite status, up to $200 hotel credits
Top Shopping Protections and Benefits
Purchase protection, extended warranty, shopping offers
Annual Fees and Authorized Users
The opportunity to earn significant rewards in a short time is one compelling reason for selecting a travel rewards card. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the Hilton Surpass card come with welcome offers that allow you to do just that!
After meeting minimum spending requirements within the specified period immediately following approval, you’ll earn a welcome bonus, potentially worth hundreds of dollars in travel.
Here are the most current offers, plus more card information for each of our featured cards:
A fantastic travel card with a great welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.
Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance. With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.
Chase Ultimate Rewards
An excellent high-earning Hilton credit card that comes with perks like Hilton Honors Gold status and up to $200 in Hilton credits every year.
If you're approved and accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
If you’re someone who loves traveling and loves staying in Hilton hotels, adding a co-branded Hilton hotel card to your wallet is almost a no-brainer. From automatic Hilton elite status to up to $200 in Hilton credits every year, the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card can be a great fit for Hilton loyalists looking to up their travel game.
Hilton Honors
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card and the Hilton Surpass card each come with a generous welcome bonus that can be earned by meeting minimum spending requirements.
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The Chase Sapphire Preferred card earns flexible Ultimate Rewards points, while the Hilton Surpass card earns valuable Hilton Honors points.
A key attribute of these 2 rewards cards is earning well on travel-related purchases. In addition, both cards have several bonus-earning categories that include everyday purchases. Earning well on purchases you make frequently helps you accumulate rewards faster.
Let’s look closer at how you’ll earn rewards on each of our featured cards:
Earning Category
Travel
Dining
3x points for restaurants, eligible delivery services, and takeout
6x points at U.S. restaurants
Select Streaming Services
3x points
3x points
Supermarkets
2x points for online grocery purchases
6x points at U.S. supermarkets
Online Retail Purchases
1x points
4x points at U.S. online retail stores
Gas Stations
1x points
6x points at U.S. gas stations
All Other Purchases
1x points
3x points
Both the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Hilton Surpass card have robust earning structures that focus on rewarding travel and select everyday purchases.
If you are comfortable purchasing travel via Chase Travel and spend a lot on Lyft rides, dining, online groceries, select streaming, and travel in general, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card will work well. Also, note that the card offers a 10% point bonus each year based on the total points you’ve earned.
Earning with the Hilton Surpass card makes sense if you’re spending at Hilton globally, dining, gas stations, and supermarkets (in the U.S.).
And, while you’ll have no trouble creating a fine stash of rewards with either card, the value you receive at redemption time may matter most.
Let’s review your choices when it’s time to redeem rewards and see how value plays an important role in your card selection.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card earns rewards best on travel purchased via Chase Travel. The Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Hilton Surpass card both earn well on general travel purchases and select everyday categories.
Once you’ve used your Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Hilton Surpass card for purchases and accumulated points, it’s time to get excited about redeeming those rewards.
Ultimate Rewards points earned on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Hilton Honors points earned on the Hilton Surpass card are valuable rewards currencies. However, values will vary at redemption time.
The actual value you receive will depend on the redemption option you select — so you’ll want to choose wisely. Before we touch on redemption examples, here are the options for redeeming rewards earned on each card:
Redemption Option
Travel
Statement Credits
Redeem points for 1 cent each for a general statement credit, Pay Yourself Back
N/A
Additional Redemption Options
Shopping at select retailers, gift cards, experiences, Amazon, Apple Products, charitable donation
Shopping at select retailers, Ticketmaster, Amazon, Lyft rides, car rentals, charitable donation
The redemption options with the greatest potential for outsized value are to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to airline/hotel partners or to redeem Hilton Honors points for free hotel nights.
We value Ultimate Rewards points at approximately 2.0 cents each. You can use this guideline as a benchmark when redeeming your points.
For example, if you transfer 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points to an airline partner and redeem the subsequent miles for a flight that costs $2,500, you will have received 2.5 cents in value for each point.
Hyatt is known for delivering good value when transferring Ultimate Rewards points to the World of Hyatt loyalty program. Checking the Hyatt Regency at Los Angeles Airport, the per-night rate can exceed $300 with taxes/fees. Since Ultimate Rewards points transfer at a ratio of 1:1 to Hyatt, you would need just 12,000 Ultimate Rewards points to book the hotel, which is also a 2.5 cent per point value.
Additionally, you can redeem Ultimate Rewards points via Chase Travel for up to 1.75 cents each thanks to Points Boost offers.
While we value Hilton Honors points at just 0.5 cents each, there is still great value to be found when redeeming Hilton Honors points for hotel nights.
One key benefit of having the Hilton Surpass card is that the card comes with Hilton Honors Gold elite status. Elite status members can use points to book award hotel nights and receive a night free when booking 5 consecutive nights.
To illustrate this value, we looked at the Iceland Parliament Hotel, Curio Collection, in Reykjavik, Iceland, for a 5-night stay during June. The cash price for a king room totals $2,914 (400,900 Icelandic króna). To book the 5-night stay with Hilton Honors points, you would pay for just 4 nights for a total of 320,000 points (80,000 points per night). That’s a total of just $1,600 worth of points when using a valuation of 0.5 cents per point, but you’ll get over 0.9 cents per point in value!
Even without using the fifth-night-free benefit, you’ll find plenty of value in redeeming Hilton Honors points for free hotel nights.
You can also transfer Hilton Honors points to airline programs, but the transfer ratio can be 10:1, which is not a good value for your points.
The best potential value for Ultimate Rewards points earned on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is to transfer points to airline/hotel partners. You can also redeem points for up to 1.75 cents each via Chase Travel. The best value for Hilton Honors points earned on the Hilton Surpass card is to redeem them for free hotel nights.
Travel benefits, like those relating to hotels or car rental, can make your trip more comfortable or help you save money on travel-related purchases.
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Here are the top car rental-related benefits that come with both of our featured cards.
Reserve and pay for your car rental with your card, decline the rental agency’s CDW/LDW coverage, and receive car rental insurance.
Receive discounts with Avis, Hertz, and Budget through Visa Signature on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Enroll your Hilton Surpass card in National Car Rental’s Emerald Club and receive complimentary Emerald Club Executive status.
Travel protections come complimentary with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and Hilton Surpass card. These protections can reimburse unexpected or prepaid travel expenses when your trip is disrupted or needs to be canceled for a covered reason.
First, we’ll review the top travel protections that come with both of our featured cards. We’ll then tell you about those that are unique to each card.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card has a long list of travel insurance benefits, including primary car rental insurance and trip interruption/cancellation/delay coverage. The Hilton Surpass card has fewer travel insurance benefits but offers strong Hilton Honors-related benefits and a free night certificate after spending $15,000 annually.
When you use the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or Hilton Surpass card for purchases, you could receive additional product protection and benefit from savings offers.
Here are the shopping protections and benefits you’ll find on our featured cards and those that are unique to each card:
Eligible purchases made with either the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the Hilton Surpass card could purchase protection and/or extended warranty coverage. Both cards also come with shopping discounts and offers for select purchases.
When considering any type of rewards card, it’s wise to be aware of any fees you’ll need to pay.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card charges an annual fee of $95. The Hilton Surpass card has a fee of $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150. Offer Ends 8/13/2025. (rates & fees).
Neither card charges a fee to add authorized users.
Both cards make great travel companions as you won’t be charged fees for transactions you make abroad.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is one of the best value-based travel rewards cards available. First-time cardholders can learn quickly how to earn lots of Ultimate Rewards points. Redemption options are easy to utilize, and the card comes with a long list of travel insurance protections and benefits. With a lower annual fee, the card can be a great overall choice.
As a hotel-branded card, the Hilton Surpass card delivers a nice balance of elevated rewards earning, a fast path to earning free hotel nights, and Hilton-centric benefits. The card also sports a lower annual fee compared to the accompanying protections and benefits.
If you’re a Hilton loyalist, you might consider both cards. If you’re not a Hilton fan, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is a good choice for a primary travel rewards card without a high annual fee.
For the car rental loss and damage insurance benefit of the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card, car rental loss and damage insurance can provide coverage up to $50,000 for theft of or damage to most rental vehicles when you use your eligible card to reserve and pay for the entire eligible vehicle rental and decline the collision damage waiver or similar option offered by the commercial car rental company. This product provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered. geographic restrictions apply. Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. 
For the baggage insurance plan benefit of the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card, baggage insurance plan coverage can be in effect for eligible persons for eligible lost, damaged, or stolen baggage during their travel on a common carrier (e.g. plane, train, ship, or bus) when the entire fare for a common carrier vehicle ticket for the trip (one-way or round-trip) is charged to an eligible account. Coverage can be provided for up to $1,250 for carry-on baggage and up to $500 for checked baggage, in excess of coverage provided by the common carrier (e.g. plane, train, ship, or bus). For New York State residents, there is a $10,000 aggregate maximum limit for all covered persons per covered trip. Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
For the extended warranty benefit of the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card, when an American Express^® card member charges a covered purchase to an eligible card, extended warranty can provide up to one extra year added to the original manufacturer’s warranty. Applies to warranties of five (5) years or less. Coverage is up to the actual amount charged to your card for the item up to a maximum of $10,000; not to exceed $50,000 per card member account per calendar year. Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is the better overall travel rewards card as it earns flexible and valuable Ultimate Rewards points. These points can be transferred to airline and hotel partners or redeemed via Chase Travel. The Hilton Surpass card offers great value for the Hilton loyalist who wants Hilton-centric benefits and rewards that can be redeemed for free hotel nights.
Transferring Hilton Honors points to airline partners and purchasing award flights is possible, but it is not a good value for your points.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card does not come with lounge access. The Chase Sapphire Reserve® comes with complimentary Priority Pass Select membership, which offers worldwide lounge access to over 1,500 properties.
You will need to spend $15,000 in a calendar year to receive a complimentary free night certificate.
Yes, you can use Ultimate Rewards points to book hotel nights. When you use Chase Travel to redeem your points, you will receive up to 1.5 cents each toward purchasing a hotel stay. Keep in mind that you may not receive any associated hotel loyalty program perks when doing so.
The information regarding the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees for The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card, click here.
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Christine ran her own business developing and managing insurance and financial services offices. This stoked a passion for points and miles and she now has over 2 dozen credit cards and creates in-depth, detailed content for UP.
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