Sapphire Reserve

By-Jason Steele Recently, Chase announced that it was increasing the annual fee of its flagship Sapphire Reserve card from $550 to $795. Thankfully, the higher annual fee comes with increased benefits, but these new benefits may not be worth the additional fee for all users. Let’s take a look at what you now get for your money, and see if it’s right for you. Chase Sapphire Reserve new account bonus Currently, new applicants can earn 125,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $6,000 on new purchases within three months of account opening. These points are worth a minimum of one cent each, or $1,250 when redeemed for merchandise or gift cards, and two cents each, $2,500 total, when redeemed for travel booked through Chase using their new Points Boost option.  But these rewards are potentially worth much more when transferred to airline miles or hotel points, and redeemed for high-value reservations. When I’m able to transfer my Ultimate Rewards points to airline miles, and book international business class flights, I can often receive 2-4 cents in value per point redeemed, and fly in luxury in a way I could have never afforded otherwise.  Sapphire Reserve Rewards for Spending While this card has great benefits, as I’ll show later, it offers enough rewards for spending to make you want to use it over your other cards. It features an astounding 8x points for all purchases made through Chase Travel, which includes not just airfare, hotel and rental cars, but tours, transfers and cruises too. You also earn 4x points for flights and hotels booked directly with the provider. As before, you still earn 3x points on dining, but just one point per dollar spent on all other purchases.  Statement credits, AKA  “The Coupon Book” The big trend in credit cards right now is to raise the annual fee, while offering a variety of merchant specific statement credits, which is often compared to having a “coupon book.” As with a variety of new credits, the Chase Sapphire Reserve Goes all-in on this trend, starting with a $500 annual credit towards bookings in its collection of high-end hotels that it calls The Edit. Like many of these credits, you can’t use this $500 credit all at once – instead you get a credit of $250 every six months. You do get to use the $300 annual travel credit any time you want, Towards any travel purchase you make with your card. There’s also a $120 credit (every four years) towards a Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS application fee.  Other credits include $250 a year towards subscriptions in AppleTV+ and Apple Music, $120 in annual statement credits towards Peloton, and $300 in credits towards StubHub purchases, doled out in $150 chunks, twice a year. Throw in 12 months of DoorDash DashPass membership, worth $120, and $10 a month if Lyft credits, and there you have it. Finally, there’s a $300 dining credit, issued as two, $150 credits twice a year towards restaurants in Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables.  I won’t insult your intelligence by adding up the “value” of all of these credits, and claiming it all as actual savings. You simply have to estimate their realistic value to you. For example, I can easily use the $300 travel credit, but it’s unlikely that I would have spent money on much, if any of the other products. I might get an AppleTV subscription or occasionally use the Lyft credits and the StubHub credit for a concert ticket. And I could try the dining credits, but my hunch is that these $150 credits will barely cover half my meal in a very high-end restaurant. So it’s hard for me to value these discounts much over $500, but your take may be different.  Looking for Other Premium Credit Cards? Not sure if the Sapphire Reserve’s perks are worth it? Compare it with other Premium Benefits Credit Cards that offer luxury travel perks, airport lounge access, and more—sometimes with a lower annual fee. Explore Premium Cards Now. Airport lounge benefits This perk is often what separates the premium cards for the rest of the pack, and the Sapphire Reserve does well here. It offers a Priority Pass Select membership, which is valid for access to over 1,300 lounges around the world, as well as a handful of Sapphire lounges in cities like, Boston, New York (JFK and LGA), Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and Hong Kong, with new locations expected to open in Dallas, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Plus, you also get access to Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafés in the U.S., Canada and Europe with an eligible boarding pass. Travel protection and purchase coverage Simply put, the Sapphire Reserve comes with the best cardholder benefits for travel insurance and purchase protection. I could write a whole article on how great this coverage is, but one highlight includes trip delay coverage of up to $500 that takes effect with a mere six hour delay or an overnight stay. I’ve used this before when my family had a flight out of Paris cancelled, and we were able to get all of our hotel rooms and meal costs reimbursed by Chase. Other highlights include auto rental, baggage delay, lost luggage and trip cancellation. But the really amazing things are $2,500 of emergency medical and dental insurance, $100,000 of emergency evacuation and transportation coverage and four paid roadside assistance services a year, which you can’t get in any other card. I’ve used this numerous times to tow my car when I got a flat or another mechanical issue.  Who should get the Sapphire Reserve? This is a card for frequent travelers who love Chase Ultimate Rewards points. The chance to earn 8x points on travel booked through Chase is incredible, especially if you’re in a position to book travel that’s reimbursed by your company or clients. The $300 travel credit easily brings the net cost of the $795 annual fee down to under $500, and you