5 reasons the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a powerhouse within the increasingly competitive credit card space

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider may receive a commission from The Points Guy Affiliate Network.

• The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is one of the most popular rewards cards available - and it's easy to see why.
• With a fantastic sign-up bonus, generous rewards, and a low annual fee (which is waived the first year), the card offers significant on-going value.
• Read on for the five ways you can get top value from the Sapphire Preferred.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of the all-around best rewards credit cards available, when taking everything into account - annual fee, sign-up bonus, rewards earning, ways to redeem rewards, travel perks and protections, and more.

The Sapphire Preferred was the singular must-have card before the Chase Sapphire Reserve launched in 2016, and is still a powerful contender for those who don't want to front the $450 annual fee for the "CSR."

While the credit card rewards space has gotten more and more competitive over the past few years, here's why the Chase Sapphire Preferred is still a powerhouse.

Keep in mind that we're focusing on the rewards and perks that make this card a great option, not things like interest rates and late fees, which can far outweigh the value of any rewards.

When you're working to earn credit card rewards, it's important to practice financial discipline, like paying your balances off in full each month, making payments on time, and not spending more than you can afford to pay back. Basically, treat your credit card like a debit card.

1. You can get 50,000 points when you sign up

When you open a new Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can earn 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points when you spend $4,000 in the first three months.

The value of the sign-up bonus depends on how you choose to use those points, but based on subjective valuations by travel website The Points Guy (a Business Insider e-commerce partner), 50,000 points is worth about $1,000. While they can be redeemed for $500 of cash or $625 of travel booked through Chase, you can get a significantly higher value when you transfer them to an airline frequent flyer partner.

2. You'll earn double points on every travel and dining purchase

The Sapphire Preferred offers 2x points on all travel and all dining, and both categories are defined incredibly broadly. "Travel" includes everything from subways, taxis, parking, and tolls to hotels and airfare, and dining including bars, restaurants, delivery services like Seamless and Grubhub, and more.

The card has no foreign transaction fees, and unlike competitor cards from AmEx, the card offers the travel and dining bonus on purchases made outside of the US, too.

You'll earn even more points with the Sapphire Reserve, which offers 3x points in the same categories, which brings us to the next benefit...

3. You won't pay an annual fee for the first year - and it's fairly low every year after that

The Chase Sapphire Preferred has an annual fee of $95, but it's waived for the first year. That puts it right in the "mid-tier" range. While it has an annual fee, it's under $100, and the card still offers lucrative rewards and premium benefits.

For comparison, the Sapphire Reserve's fee is $450, and you'll have to pay it on your first statement when you get the card. While the rewards and benefits more than make up for that, you'd still need to have the liquid cash available to pay the fee upfront, then get the value back later.

4. There are a ton of redemption options when it's time to use your points

Chase offers a few valuable ways to use your points - you can read our full guide here.

One option is to redeem them for cash or gift cards at a rate of 1¢ per point. That means that your 50,000 point sign-up bonus would be worth $500.

The next option is to use points to book travel through Chase. When you do that, you'll get a 25% bonus in value - points will be worth 1.25¢ each, so that 50,000 points would be worth $625.

The best option - the one that gets the most value - is to transfer them to one of Chase's 13 frequent flyer and hotel loyalty partners.

While that last method can get complicated, it can easily be worth it; that's how I've booked flights in first class for as few as 62,500 points.

5. The card comes with a suite of useful travel benefits and protections.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a handful of excellent travel benefits, including primary rental car insurance, trip and baggage delay insurance, trip cancellation/interruption coverage, and more. These benefits can save you hundreds of dollars when something goes wrong on a trip - or every time you rent a car, since you can decline the rental company's collision damage waiver.

Bottom line

Combine normal points earning with a sign-up bonus of 50,000 points when you spend $4,000 in the first three months, and you'll be able to build a hefty balance of points quickly - especially if you and a partner use "two-player mode."

For example, to earn the points we needed for our first class Japan flights, I opened a Sapphire Preferred, then earned a few bonus points for referring my wife (and a few friends). Between those sign-up bonuses, our normal spending, and a few reimbursable travel expenses for work trips - plus a handful of frequent flyer miles we already had - we had enough miles for the flights. We even saw our credit scores increase, since the new accounts added to our credit history.

There are a few different ways to use your Chase points - and tricks to get the most value - but no matter how you plan to redeem them, there's no doubt that the Sapphire Preferred offers a great value.

Click here to learn more about the Sapphire Preferred from Insider Picks' partner: The Points Guy.