The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a premium travel credit card that often goes unnoticed but definitely deserves your attention. This card offers a range of impressive benefits that make it one of the top choices for frequent travelers. Among its most attractive features are the annual $300 travel credit, which can be applied to expenses such as hotels, flights, and car rentals, and the enhanced value of points when booking travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal.
When cardholders utilize the Chase Travel℠ platform to arrange their travel, their points are worth 50% more, significantly increasing the value of their rewards. Moreover, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® allows for a 1:1 points transfer to leading hotel and airline partners, ensuring that you can take full advantage of your earned rewards across multiple travel providers.
60,000 Bonus Points: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Chase Sapphire Reserve Review
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is great for those who travel often and who like flexibility. If you are very loyal to one airline or hotel, you may get more value out of a co-brand card.
Additionally, cardholders can earn up to 10x Chase Ultimate Rewards® points on purchases. There are no limits to how many points you can earn worldwide.
In this Chase Sapphire Reserve review, I’ll show you how the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s benefits can be worth the $550 annual fee. Through the use of the benefits and perks, that annual fee can easily be offset. Plus, there are $0 foreign transaction fees with the Sapphire Reserve.
Earn Points On Dining and Travel
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® earns unlimited:
- 10x total points on hotels and car rental purchases through Chase Chase Travel℠ (after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually)
- 10x total points on Chase Dining purchases with Chase Travel℠
- 5x total points on flights when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ (after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually)
- 3x points on other travel worldwide (after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually)
- 3x points on other dining at restaurants, including eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out
- 1x points for all remaining purchases
You can also earn up to 10x Ultimate Rewards on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025.
You will not receive rewards points on your first $300 in annual travel purchases as the annual travel statement credit reimburses these purchases.
However, to earn points on travel, you must first earn your $300 annual travel credit to be eligible. Once you do, you will immediately begin to earn points on travel.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve outearns almost every other travel rewards card and co-brand airline credit card that only earns 2x points on travel purchases.
While you are probably considering the Chase Sapphire Reserve for its travel benefits and 1:1 points transfers, the 3x earning bonus means you can quickly rack up the points to make your next award trip sooner—which is the sole purpose of owning a travel rewards card.
60,000 Bonus Points: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
$300 Annual Travel Credit
Almost every premium travel credit card offers an annual travel credit. The Chase Sapphire Reserve is definitely the most flexible of all the premium rewards cards.
The $300 travel credit is reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year. It can be redeemed for any travel-related purchases from plane ticket purchases, cruise tickets, and hotel nights to a guided tour. Some of the other premium travel credit cards only cover checked baggage fees and in-flight purchases.
Sign-Up Bonus: $900 in Award Travel
New Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholders can earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $900 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel℠.
1:1 Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partners
One benefit that distinguishes the Chase Sapphire Reserve from many other travel rewards cards is the option to transfer your rewards points directly to one of the following airline or hotel Chase travel partners. This Chase Sapphire Reserve review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning these:
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- British Airways Executive Club
- Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM
- Emirates
- Iberia Plus
- Korean Air SKYPASS
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- IHG Rewards Club
- Marriott Bonvoy
- World of Hyatt
Although each Ultimate Rewards point is worth 1.5 cents each when you redeem them through Chase for award travel, many Sapphire Reserve cardholders almost always transfer their points to one of the Chase travel partners where the points can be worth more than 1.5 cents each.
Considering most travel rewards cards only have a maximum redemption value of 1 cent each, the 50% point redemption bonus and 1:1 travel partners are extremely valuable.
Complimentary Priority Pass Select Membership
Frequent flyers will enjoy the complimentary Priority Pass Select membership that lets you and your travel companions enter one of the 1,300+ locations for free. Whether you get to the airport early or have a long layover, you can visit one of these lounges for free to relax, refresh, and even catch up on work.
An annual Priority Pass membership with unlimited visits currently costs $429 per person. This benefit alone almost pays the $550 annual fee itself. Plus, you can bring two guests with you for free.
Other rewards credit cards offer access to other lounge networks in addition to Priority Pass, but Priority Pass is still the most extensive network that you can access regardless of which airline you’re flying.
But it’s not as great as the Centurion lounge access you get with select American Express products.
Global Entry and TSA PreCheck Reimbursement
Like the other premium travel rewards cards, your application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck will be reimbursed with a fee credit of up to $100. This benefit saves you $100 and the headache of standing in the long airport security and customs lines.
60,000 Bonus Points: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Additional Chase Sapphire Reserve Benefits
The most valuable Chase Sapphire Reserve benefits are the $300 travel credit, 1:1 point transfers or 50% point redemption bonus, and complimentary Priority Pass lounge access.
Some of the additional travel benefits that you’ll also enjoy are:
- Up to $10,000 in trip protection insurance
- Primary rental car collision damage waiver coverage
- Avis, National, and Silvercar discounts and upgrades
- Bonus amenities with The Luxury Hotel and Resorts Collection stays
- Exclusive Sapphire events like going to the Emmys
Partnerships With the Chase Sapphire Reserve
Cardholders can also save money on lifestyle-related purchases with these limited-time partner offers:
- Complimentary DoorDash DashPass access for at least one year (activate by December 31, 2027)
- Receive $5 in DoorDash credits as a DashPass member
Cardholders can easily activate these partnerships.
Chase Sapphire Reserve Advantages
When you factor in the $300 travel credit, Priority Pass lounge access, and Global Entry application fee reimbursement together, these three benefits are worth $720 each year.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is worth the $550 annual fee when:
- You use the $300 travel credit and Priority Pass lounge access
- Redeem or transfer your points for award travel
- Travel frequently to maximize the 3x dining and travel (once eligible) purchase rewards
- No foreign transaction fee
60,000 Bonus Points: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
Sapphire Reserve Disadvantages
The Sapphire Reserve isn’t for everybody. You’ll want to consider a different card when:
- Travel infrequently
- Don’t visit Priority Pass lounges
- Cannot qualify for a sign-up bonus
- Are loyal to one airline or hotel
- Don’t have excellent credit (here’s the credit score needed for the Chase Sapphire Reserve)
Even if you travel frequently but primarily use one airline or hotel, you might be better off with their co-brand card. You will earn more reward points for your brand purchases and will enjoy other complimentary benefits. For example, free checked bags can be worth more than the $300 travel credit.
Some of the best Chase credit cards are also co-brand airline and hotel cards.
Alternative to the Chase Sapphire Reserve
If you found in this Chase Sapphire Reserve review that it isn’t worth the $550 annual fee, here’s an alternative that still offers flexible travel rewards.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
If you enjoy the Chase 1:1 point transfer opportunities but won’t benefit from the Sapphire Reserve’s other travel benefits, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers these two travel rewards:
- Unlimited 1:1 point transfers
- 25% point redemption bonus (points are worth 1.25 cents each)
The annual fee for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is only $95 per year, and additional cardholders are free.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns unlimited:
- 5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠ (excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 Anniversary Hotel Credit)
- 3x points on dining (including eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out)
- 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target®, Walmart®, and wholesale clubs)
- Also 3x points on select streaming services
- 2x points on all other travel purchases
- 1x point per $1 spent on all non-bonus purchases
There is a $50 annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit. It comes in the form of a statement credit that will automatically be applied to your account when your card is used for hotel accommodation purchases made through the Ultimate Rewards program, up to an annual maximum accumulation of $50.
Plus, on each account anniversary, you’ll earn bonus points equal to 10% of your total purchases made the previous year. So, if you spend $25,000 on purchases, you’ll get 2,500 bonus points.
This review of the Chase Sapphire Reserve vs Chase Sapphire Preferred can provide a better look at how these two cards compare.
Summary of Chase Sapphire Reserve Review
In conclusion, the Chase Sapphire Reserve review can show you it is worth it if you travel on a regular basis and want flexibility because you’re not loyal to a particular airline or hotel. If you maximize the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s benefits, it can definitely be worth more than the $550 annual fee.
60,000 Point Bonus: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
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Sorry guys this card is horrible and didnt meet my simplest need. They did not hold their part of the deal! After calling to let them know I’ll be out of the country and to allow access to my card, still the card was blocked overseas. I was forced to use another card and pay foreign transaction fees, which is the only reason I got this card is so that I don’t have to pay foreign fees. When I called, it took 30 minutes to get no where. They said that next time I leave the country there’s no guarantees the card will work again…So my response to that was waive the annual fee and I will close my account right now since I’ve only use the card for one month and I will pay the rest in full. No one cared and no one wanted to work towards a sensible solution or fix their mistake or make the customer happy. Mind you, this card had a $450 annual fee. A huge mistake and I will not be using this card anymore.