The Chase Sapphire Preferred does not include lounge access. Cardholders pay the $95 annual fee for a transferable-points engine (1:1 transfers to Hyatt, United, Air Canada Aeroplan, others), 1.25 cents per point through the Chase Travel portal, primary rental car insurance, and a $50 annual hotel credit. Lounge benefits are not part of the bundle.

This is one of the most-asked questions about the CSP because the card sits one tier below the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which does include Priority Pass Select with unlimited visits and access to Chase Sapphire Lounges. The two cards share the same Ultimate Rewards earning logic, the same transfer partners, and the same redemption pathways. They differ on three things: the annual fee, the credits, and the lounge access.

Last updated: April 2026.

What the Sapphire Preferred actually includes

For the $95 annual fee:

  • 5x Ultimate Rewards points on travel booked through Chase Travel.
  • 3x on dining, including takeout and eligible delivery services.
  • 3x on online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target, and warehouse clubs).
  • 3x on select streaming services.
  • 2x on all other travel purchases.
  • 1x on everything else.
  • 1:1 transfers to all Chase Ultimate Rewards partners (Hyatt, United, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM, World of Hyatt, Marriott, IHG, others).
  • 1.25 cents per point redemption value when booked through Chase Travel.
  • $50 annual hotel credit on Chase Travel hotel bookings.
  • Primary rental car collision insurance.
  • Trip cancellation, trip interruption, and lost luggage protection.
  • No foreign transaction fees.

The CSP is the standard "first travel card" pick for a reason. The earning structure is competitive with cards twice the fee, and the transfer partners include Hyatt, which alone routinely returns 2.5 to 3.5 cents per point on all-inclusive resort redemptions.

What it doesn't include: any form of airport lounge access, Global Entry/PreCheck reimbursement (the CSR has that), or annual travel credit (the CSR has $300).

How to get lounge access if you hold the Sapphire Preferred

Three paths, depending on what you actually need:

1. Upgrade to the Sapphire Reserve at $550

The CSR includes Priority Pass Select with unlimited visits at over 1,300 lounges, plus access to Chase Sapphire Lounges as the network expands. The annual fee is $550, but the bundled $300 travel credit and $100 Global Entry reimbursement bring the net cost down to roughly $225 before lounge value. For travelers who'll use both the credit and the lounge access, the math works.

Chase allows direct product changes from CSP to CSR without a hard credit pull, preserving credit history continuity. The CSR welcome bonus, however, requires a new application and is subject to the Chase 5/24 rule.

2. Hold the Capital One Venture X at $395

The Venture X covers most of the lounge-access space at a lower annual fee than the CSR. Capital One Lounges at major U.S. hubs (Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth, Washington Dulles, Las Vegas, JFK, with more in rollout) plus Priority Pass access through the Plaza Premium Network. The $300 annual travel credit (Capital One Travel only) plus 10,000-point anniversary bonus offsets most of the fee for travelers who use the travel credit.

Pairing a Sapphire Preferred (for Hyatt and United transfers) with a Venture X (for lounge access) is one of the cleanest two-card setups for the under-$500 combined annual fee tier.

3. Pay for Priority Pass directly

Priority Pass Standard is $99 per year (10 visits, $35 per additional). Priority Pass Standard Plus is $329 per year (unlimited visits but with restaurant restrictions). Priority Pass Prestige is $469 per year (unlimited visits, full restaurant access).

For occasional lounge users (10 to 20 visits per year), the Standard or Standard Plus tier paired with a Sapphire Preferred costs $194 to $424 in combined annual fees, which is below the CSR's $550 net before bundled credits. The drawback is that Priority Pass purchased directly doesn't include all the partner lounges that Priority Pass Select (CSR-issued) includes. Coverage is meaningfully narrower.

When the CSP's lounge gap matters and when it doesn't

For travelers who fly five or fewer paid trips per year, lounge access is a marginal benefit that doesn't justify a fee jump from $95 to $550. The CSP is the right card.

For travelers who fly eight or more paid trips per year through Priority Pass-served airports, lounge access becomes a meaningful quality-of-travel benefit. At that point, the question is whether to upgrade to the CSR ($550) or pair the CSP with a Venture X ($95 + $395 = $490 combined), which is functionally cheaper than the CSR alone and adds Capital One's lounge network on top.

For Delta-loyal frequent flyers, the comparison is the American Express Platinum at $695, which includes Delta Sky Club access on paid Delta tickets. The CSP plus Amex Platinum combination is the heavy-traveler stack: $95 + $695 = $790 annually for the broadest possible lounge access plus dual transfer-partner programs.

The Sapphire Preferred is still the right entry point

Most readers asking this question want a clear yes-or-no on lounge access. The answer is no for the CSP, yes for the CSR, and the gap between the two is the structural reason both cards exist in the lineup.

For travelers who don't need lounge access often enough to justify the upgrade, the Sapphire Preferred remains one of the strongest first travel cards on the market. The $95 annual fee earns back through transfer-partner redemptions on a single Hyatt all-inclusive stay or an off-peak United partner business class redemption. Lounge access is a real perk, but it's a perk for travelers who have already maxed out the value of the Sapphire Preferred's earning and redemption pipeline.

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