Most value a year
VentureAbout $69 a year apart on your spending, after the annual fee.
SwitchWize decision guide
Sapphire Preferred vs Venture calculator: which card pays you more?
The fees are the same, so only your spending decides this. Preferred pays more in a few categories and less on everything else. Venture pays the same rate everywhere. Enter what you spend in a year and see which comes out ahead.
What you can expect
- No login required
- No credit pull
- Assumptions shown
- Sources included
Quick answer
If most of your spending is dining, gas, streaming and online grocery, Preferred tends to pay more. If most of it is everything else, Venture tends to pay more. Enter your own numbers to see where you land.
At $19,100 a year of spending, Capital One Venture pays about $69 more than Chase Sapphire Preferred after the annual fee. That assumes each point is worth one cent. Preferred pulls ahead when more of your spending is dining, gas, streaming or online grocery, or booked through Chase Travel.
Compare travel credit cardsIf sapphire Preferred
Pays more when a large share of your spending is dining, gas, streaming or online grocery, or trips booked through Chase Travel.
If venture
Pays more when most of your spending falls outside those categories, since every purchase earns the same rate.
Key number to watch
Preferred pays more once $8,550 of your $17,100 everyday spending goes to dining, gas, streaming and online grocery. You entered $5,100.
Test your situation
See your result in dollars
Change any number below to match your situation. No login is required. Saved decisions stay on this device, and signed-in users can revisit them across devices.
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Restaurants, takeout and food delivery. Add up a few months of statements and scale to a year.
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Fuel at gas stations and public EV charging. Your card statements show these.
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Popular streaming services and grocery orders placed online. Trips to a grocery store do not count. Chase says exclusions apply.
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Flights, hotels and rental cars booked directly or through other sites.
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Only Preferred pays its top travel rate here. On Venture these trips earn its normal rate.
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Only Venture pays its top travel rate here. On Preferred these trips earn its normal travel rate.
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Groceries in stores, bills, shopping and anything not listed above.
Your answer so far
Capital One Venture pays about $69 more a year on your spending. Preferred is worth $218 a year and Venture $287, after the annual fee.
See the full breakdownCapital One Venture pays about $69 more a year on your spending. Preferred is worth $218 a year and Venture $287, after the annual fee.
Sapphire Preferred
$218
value a year after the fee
Venture
$287
value a year after the fee
$69 vs. baseline
Try a scenario
What could change this
Preferred pays more once $8,550 of your $17,100 everyday spending goes to dining, gas, streaming and online grocery. You entered $5,100.
How certain: moderate
Say points and miles are worth the same, and you book no trips through either travel site. Then Preferred needs more than 50% of your everyday spending to be dining, gas, streaming and online grocery.
How certain: moderate
If your other numbers stay the same, the cards pay the same when a Chase point is worth 1.22 cents to you.
How certain: scenario dependent
What matters most
Least to keep track of
VentureVenture pays one rate on every purchase, so there are no categories to remember.
Side-by-side comparison
Annual fee
- Sapphire Preferred
- The same as Venture
- Venture
- The same as Preferred
Dining, gas and EV charging
- Sapphire Preferred
- More points per dollar
- Venture
- The same rate as all purchases
Streaming and online grocery
- Sapphire Preferred
- More points per dollar. Exclusions apply, and grocery stores do not count.
- Venture
- The same rate as all purchases
Everything else
This is where Venture usually wins.
- Sapphire Preferred
- Its lowest rate
- Venture
- The same rate as all purchases
Travel booked through a card travel site
- Sapphire Preferred
- Top rate only on Chase Travel
- Venture
- Top rate only on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars through Capital One Travel
Hotel credit
- Sapphire Preferred
- Yes, for hotel stays bought through Chase Travel
- Venture
- None counted here
What could go wrong
Chase Sapphire Preferred
- What needs to work
- A large share of your spending goes to dining, gas, streaming and online grocery.
- Common problem
- Putting everyday bills on it, where it earns the lowest rate.
- What it could cost
- The extra miles Venture would have earned on that spending.
- How to prepare
- You can switch cards at renewal. Check last year's spending first.
Capital One Venture
- What needs to work
- Most of your spending is not dining, gas, streaming or online grocery.
- Common problem
- Spending heavily on dining and gas, where Preferred pays more.
- What it could cost
- The extra points Preferred would have paid in its categories.
- How to prepare
- You can switch cards at renewal.
A simple backup plan
Sort your spending before you pick
The answer depends on how much you spend on dining, gas, streaming and online grocery, and how much on everything else.
- 1Add up a year of dining, gas, streaming and online grocery from your statements.
- 2Add up everything else.
- 3Enter travel by where you book it: directly, Chase Travel or Capital One Travel.
- 4Set a point value for each card. One cent is a safe guess.
- 5Read the result. It also shows how much dining, gas, streaming and online grocery spending Preferred needs to pay more.
Educational illustration only. The right amount depends on your needs and timing.
What to do next
Question 1
Is more than half of your everyday spending dining, gas, streaming or online grocery?
Yes: Preferred likely pays more. Check with your numbers.
No: Venture likely pays more. Check with your numbers.
Question 2
Do you book trips through a card travel site?
Yes: Enter them on the matching line. Each site's top rate works on its own card only.
No: Enter your travel on the line for trips booked elsewhere.
Question 3
Does either card earn back its fee on your spending?
Yes: Take the one that pays more.
No: Look at a card with no annual fee.
Plain-text decision tree. Is more than half of your everyday spending dining, gas, streaming or online grocery? If yes, Preferred likely pays more. Check with your numbers. If no, Venture likely pays more. Check with your numbers. Do you book trips through a card travel site? If yes, Enter them on the matching line. Each site's top rate works on its own card only. If no, Enter your travel on the line for trips booked elsewhere. Does either card earn back its fee on your spending? If yes, Take the one that pays more. If no, Look at a card with no annual fee.
When to check again
- Either card changes its annual fee or how many points it pays.
- Your spending changes in a big way.
- You start or stop booking travel through a card travel site.
- Your card comes up for renewal.
Methodology
Each spending line earns the rate that card pays on it. A trip booked through one card's travel site earns the normal travel rate on the other card. Points are turned into dollars at the value you enter. The hotel credit counts only if you say you will use it, and never more than your Chase Travel bookings. The annual fee is then taken off.
Annual fees, point rates and the hotel credit come from each card's own page. We treat each one as out of date 30 days after we read it. If any is missing or out of date, the calculator names no card.
- • Welcome offers are left out because we do not have current terms for them.
- • Other credits, travel insurance and purchase protections are not counted.
- • Point values are your own numbers. The calculator does not predict them.
- • Each card decides which purchases count in each category. Some purchases may not count.
- • Approval is not part of this. Nothing here says you would be approved.
Card terms are read again from the issuer pages about every 30 days. Editorial conclusions do not depend on affiliate availability.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Which card earns more, Sapphire Preferred or Venture?
It depends on your spending. Preferred pays more on dining, gas, EV charging, streaming and online grocery. Venture pays the same rate on every purchase. That beats Preferred on everything else. Enter your yearly spending in the calculator to see your answer.
How much of my spending must be in the Preferred categories?
More than half of your everyday spending. That assumes points and miles are worth the same to you. It also assumes you book no trips through either card's travel site. The calculator shows the exact amount for your numbers.
Do the annual fees differ?
No. Both cards charge the same annual fee, so the fee does not change which one comes out ahead. Your spending does.
What does a point value mean?
It is what one point is worth to you when you use it, in cents. One cent is a safe starting guess. If you get more from your points, raise it.
Do grocery store trips count as online grocery?
No. Preferred pays its higher rate on grocery orders placed online, not on trips to a grocery store. Chase also says exclusions apply. Put store trips under everything else.
What if I book travel through Chase Travel or Capital One Travel?
Each card pays its top travel rate only on its own site. Venture's top rate covers hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. A trip booked on one site earns the normal rate on the other card.
Is the welcome offer counted?
No. We do not have current welcome offer terms, so they are left out. The result shows what each card pays you in a normal year.