Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card vs. Wells Fargo Autograph(SM) Card

We compare two credit cards offering elevated rewards on travel and everyday expenses. The  Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is one of the best travel credit cards available. It has a low annual fee and offers great rewards and travel benefits. Wells Fargo AutographSM Card may be better for those who don’t travel often. What about getting both? Let’s dive in and find out which one, or if both, can work for you.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Overall Rating
4.9

Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points

Rewards Range
1x - 5x points

Annual Fee
$95

Regular APR
21.49%-28.49%

0% APR on Purchases
N/A

0% APR on Balance Transfers
N/A

Foreign Transaction Fee
$0

Wells Fargo AutographSM Card

Overall Rating
4.8

Welcome Offer
Earn 20,000 bonus points

Rewards Range
1x to 3x points

Annual Fee
$0

Regular APR
20.24%, 25.24%, or 29.99%

0% APR on Purchases
12 months from account opening

0% APR on Balance Transfers
N/A

Foreign Transaction Fee
None

Welcome Offer

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠. You can also transfer your points to any of Chase’s 11 airline partners or three hotel partners at a 1:1 ratio and they may be worth more when redeemed this way.

Wells Fargo AutographSM Card: Earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend $1,000 in purchases in the first 3 months – that’s a $200 cash redemption value.. Wells Fargo doesn’t have transfer partners, so you can’t squeeze more value out of the bonus.

This is an easy win for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Cash Back Rewards

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card gets you 5x points on travel booked through Chase, and 2x points on all other travel. Chase has a pretty broad definition of travel: it includes airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rentals, campgrounds, ferries, taxis, parking lots, and more. You also get a $50 hotel credit. You’ll earn 3x points on dining, 3x points on online grocery store purchases and on select streaming services, and 1x on all other purchases. You get complimentary access to DashPass, which gets you free delivery on eligible orders from DoorDash.

Wells Fargo AutographSM Card gets you 3x points per dollar spent on restaurants, travel, transit, gas stations, streaming services, and phone plans (either cell and/or landlines). This covers most everyday spend categories except groceries, and it’s all unlimited–you won’t have to worry about how much you’re spending. You also get 1x per dollar on everything else.

This is a tough call. Both cards offer valuable cash back rewards. Chase offers better travel rewards; Wells Fargo offers better rewards on everyday purchases, with the exception of groceries. We’re going to call it a tie.

Here are the details for each card.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Rewards:  

1x points
On all other eligible purchases
1x points on all other purchases
2x points
Travel
2x points on all other travel purchases
3x points
U.S. supermarkets
Earn 3x points on online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
3x points
Streaming services
Earn 3x points on select streaming services
3x points
Dining
3x points on dining
5x points
Travel
5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel(SM)

Wells Fargo AutographSM Card

Rewards:  

1x points
On all other eligible purchases
Earn 1x points on other purchases
3x points
Cell phone service
3x on cell phone and landline providers
3x points
Streaming services
3x on popular streaming services
3x points
Travel
3x on airfare, hotels, cruises, and car rentals
3x points
Dining
3x on restaurants, dining in, take out, delivery, catering and more
3x points
Gas
3x at gas stations and electric charging stations
3x points
Transit
3x on subways, ride shares, parking, tolls and more

Rates and Fees

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has an annual fee of $95. It is not offering any 0% APR on either purchases or balance transfers right now.

Wells Fargo AutographSM Card has an annual fee of $0. There is also a 0% intro APR offer on purchases for the first 12 months from account opening. Neither card charges foreign transaction fees.

If you need to make a major purchase, the Autograph card is a better bet. Since it has no annual fee, we’re going to give the win to Wells Fargo.

Who the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is Best For

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a fantastic card for anyone who travels a few times a year and has everyday expenses they want to earn rewards on. If you have other Chase cards, you can transfer the points from those cards to this one to get 25% more value when you use your points to book travel through Chase. You also get a $50 hotel credit, plus a DashPass subscription for a year, and an Instacart subscription for the first six months. It does not provide airport lounge access, though, so if that’s important to you, consider a premium travel card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® instead.

Who the Wells Fargo AutographSM Card is Best For

Wells Fargo AutographSM Card checks a lot of boxes. Cash back on most everyday purchases, check. No annual fee? Check. 0% intro APR on purchases? Check. You even get cash back on cell phone plans, plus cell phone protection (up to $600) as a benefit. This is a great card that should appeal to almost everyone.

Does it Make Sense to Get Both Cards?

It sure does! Getting both cards would get you the enhanced travel rewards of the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the cash back rewards on gas and phone plans with the Wells Fargo AutographSM Card. There is some overlap in cash back benefits, but since the Wells Fargo card doesn’t have an annual fee, getting both cards is a win-win.

Approval Odds

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

App StatusDateCredit ScoreBureauCredit Limit
Approved08/03/2023
872
Not Provided
$19,500
Approved04/19/2023
737
Equifax
$16,000
Approved04/19/2023
747
Experian
$16,000
Approved04/19/2023
747
TransUnion
$16,000
Approved11/11/2023
800
Not Provided
$16,800
Approved04/18/2023
790
Experian
$17,300
Approved05/21/2023
703
Experian
$17,300
Approved04/04/2023
735
Equifax
$17,300
Approved04/04/2023
825
Experian
$17,300
Approved07/06/2023
735
Experian
$5,000
Approved07/06/2023
745
Equifax
$5,000
Approved07/06/2023
755
TransUnion
$5,000
Approved10/19/2023
720
Not Provided
$19,500
Approved06/14/2023
759
Experian
$6,000
Approved04/06/2023
897
Not Provided
$23,800
Approved04/14/2023
765
Experian
$7,200
Approved04/14/2023
777
Equifax
$7,200
Approved04/14/2023
777
TransUnion
$7,200
Approved10/23/2023
745
TransUnion
$5,000
Approved10/03/2023
761
Equifax
$18,000
Approved10/03/2023
767
Experian
$18,000
Approved10/03/2023
774
TransUnion
$18,000

Wells Fargo AutographSM Card

App StatusDateCredit ScoreBureauCredit Limit
Approved10/17/2023
825
Equifax
$30,000
Approved04/03/2023
748
TransUnion
$15,000
Approved04/03/2023
754
Equifax
$15,000
Approved04/03/2023
767
Experian
$15,000
Approved04/22/2023
695
Experian
$2,500
Approved06/17/2023
768
TransUnion
$30,000
Approved11/19/2023
741
Experian
$14,000
Approved11/19/2023
743
Equifax
$14,000
Approved11/19/2023
746
TransUnion
$14,000
Approved10/27/2023
765
TransUnion
$16,000
Approved10/27/2023
786
Equifax
$16,000
Approved10/27/2023
788
Experian
$16,000

Wells Fargo appears to consider granting credit to those with lower credit scores, but it’s not guaranteed. And don’t forget that Chase will not approve you for a card if you’ve opened five or more accounts in the past 24 months, otherwise known as the 5/24 rule.