Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card

Riya KapoorSeptember 2, 2022

9 minutes read

The Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card has a high annual fee and requires a good credit score to be approved, but it delivers top rewards on dining and travel purchases. But wealthy profits, opulent benefits, and versatile redemption choices make this travel card appealing to avid travellers. You can recoup its cost and more over the course of a year if you make significant purchases in its key areas and utilise all of its advantages.

For serious travellers with outstanding credit looking for a high-end travel card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is an appealing option. However, it might also be a fantastic choice for regular consumers who only make a few trips annually but still want to take advantage of luxuries while travelling. The card’s worth is further increased by the $100 credit (every four years) for Global Entry or TSA Precheck, and free access to more than 1,000 airport lounges improves trip comfort.

If you spent about $108 each week on a combination of travel and dining—both of which earn 3 points per $1 spent—and redeemed those points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you could more than break even on the card’s annual fee after accounting for the travel credit.

For those who already have other Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points or who are open to receiving them, Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card is especially advantageous. That’s because you can move points back and forth between your account for this card and those cards. You may then decide which Chase card will earn you the most points for each transaction and transfer those points to your Chase Sapphire Reserve account. As a result, you can benefit from the bonus rate on trips booked with Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card One-Time Offer

After completing transactions totaling $4,000 or more during the first three months of opening an account, new cardholders can earn 60,000 bonus points. When the points are utilised to make trip arrangements through Ultimate Rewards, it is worth $900. Within six to eight weeks of meeting the requirements for the incentive, points are credited to your account.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card-Rewards Earning Details

Earn 10 times as many points overall with Ultimate Rewards when you use Chase Dining. Earn points at a rate of 3x for all other forms of travel and 5x for flights. Earn three times as many points when using qualified takeout, delivery, or other restaurant services. Earn one point for every dollar spent on additional purchases.

The expenses that qualify as travel expenses are broadly defined by Chase. In addition to purchases made from airlines, hotels, and motels, eligible purchases also include those made via timeshares, bargain travel websites, campgrounds, car rental companies, and cruises (not counting purchases made aboard the boat). Expenditures on gasoline and other fuels are excluded, but public transit, limos, taxis, ferries, highways, toll bridges, parking lots, and garages are included. Both fast food places and fine dining establishments are included under dining.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card-Rewards Redemption Details

This card excels in providing a variety of options to redeem points. Using the Chase Ultimate Rewards website, you may book travel and a variety of other activities using any points you earn. However, points can also be exchanged for gift cards, cash back, Amazon.com shopping, and Apple purchases.

When using Chase Ultimate Rewards, points can be redeemed for travel at a rate of 1.5 cents per point and for cash back, experiences, and gift cards at a rate of 1 cent per point. For redemptions for purchases made on Apple.com and Amazon.com, you earn 0.8 cents less per $1. Unless you can’t wait to turn points into cash back before you buy from these companies, these transactions are a bad choice.

As long as your card is active, your Ultimate Rewards points will never expire.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card-Transferring Points

To one of Chase’s travel partners, points can be transferred in a 1:1 ratio. If you’re a member of a loyalty club and discover a great offer through a travel partner, that can be really useful. You may be able to significantly raise a point’s worth by using your Ultimate Rewards points to benefit from momentary deals provided by Chase’s travel partners.

Its hotel travel partners include:

IHG Rewards Club
Marriott Bonvoy
World of Hyatt

How to Maximize Your Rewards

By making sure you take advantage of the card’s introductory bonus, you can start reaping the most value from it right away. Since you must spend at least $4,000 in the first three months of card membership to qualify for the 60,000-point bonus reward, it could be necessary to make some preparations, such as delaying any anticipated large purchases. (Be mindful of when and how you will repay the purchases to prevent having interest costs reduce your net benefit from the bonus.)

Next, carefully examine the points benefits you receive from any other Chase cards you may have that also generate Ultimate Rewards points. Compared to the rates you’re getting with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, these are cheaper. Use the Chase card that delivers the best reward for any given purchase because you can transfer points from those cards to this one. To take advantage of this useful points-transfer feature, you may eventually wish to get additional Chase cards that provide larger points in some categories.

Consider transferring your reward points to Chase’s travel partners if you are a member of one. While using your points to book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards system gives you a 50% bonus on their value, transferring your points to partners may still give you a better return. Because points transfer at a 1:1 ratio, there is a greater chance that using them in a partner programme may be advantageous.

Don’t forget to utilise the card’s financial advantages as well. For instance, it provides trip interruption and cancellation insurance, which isn’t included in the benefit packages of other other travel cards.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card-Average Case

Let’s calculate the costs and benefits for a typical household, which, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, spends $2,375 per year on eating out. The Chase Sapphire Reserve would reward 7,125 points for those purchases. Adding a trip worth $1,500 in airfare each year would result in 3,600 extra points (you earn 3X points on travel). Since most rewards cards, including some no-fee ones, offer comparable earnings, we have excluded earnings at the 1 point for every $1 spent for everyday transactions.

So in total, this card might reward our family with 10,725 points for travel and eating. With the 50% bonus at Chase Ultimate Rewards, those points would be worth $160.76 when used to purchase travel (as opposed to $107.25 if used to purchase cash back).

When booking travel with Chase Ultimate Rewards, you may earn 10 times as many points on hotels and vehicle rentals. Earn 10 times as many points overall with Ultimate Rewards when using Chase for meals. Earn points at a rate of 3x for all other forms of travel and 5x for flights. Earn three times as many points when using qualified takeout, delivery, or other restaurant services. Earn one point for every dollar spent on additional purchases.

You would be qualified for sizable bonuses because you spent 1,500 on vacation, which might help you pay the $550 yearly charge.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card-Aspirational Case

Those who use restaurants frequently and travel frequently will, unsurprisingly, earn higher rewards with this card. They’ll be able to fully benefit from its advantages as well.

Let’s now compute the advantages vs the cost for a household that spends three times as much on dining and travel as is reasonable for a family that pays for a high-end travel and dining credit card like the Chase Sapphire Reserve. For dining, they would shell out $7,125 and accumulate 21,375 points. They would also spend 4,500 on flights and accumulate roughly 21,000 points. At Chase Ultimate Rewards, these 41,375 points would be worth $635.63 in travel value or $413.75 in cash back.

Frequent travellers and eaters would allow the rewards to cover the $550 annual charge while also benefiting from additional perks including lounge access, 3X the points on eating, and earning 1 point for every $1 spent on other purchases.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card’s Outstanding Benefits

Statement credit up to $100 every four years for Global Entry or TSAPrecheck
Access to more than 1,000 airport VIP lounges worldwide
Complimentary benefits with the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
24/7 access to customer service specialists

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card-Standard Benefits

No foreign transaction fees
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
Primary auto rental collision insurance
$3,000 in lost luggage reimbursement
Trip delay reimbursement up to $500
Emergency evacuation and transportation up to $100,000
Purchase and return protection
Extended warranties

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card-Pros

Excellent point rewards for travel and dining: This card features one of the greatest rewards programmes among high-end travel cards, even better than its more affordable sibling, the Chase Sapphire Preferred, with 3 points for every $1 spent on dining and travel-related expenditures.
Points are worth 50% more for travel bought through Chase: When points are used to book travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, their value rises from 1 cent to 1.5 cents each. Since you receive 3 points for every $1 spent on travel and eating thanks to this boost, your effective rewards rate is 4.5%. The incentive is only valid if points are used to purchase travel, even though the Chase portal allows points to be redeemed for cash back, gift cards, and transfers to Chase points partners.
Large bonus for new cardholders: Few travel credit cards provide bonuses as big as the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which helps to explain why the card is so well-liked. After making $4,000 in purchases within the first three months of having an account, new users can earn 60,000 extra points. When you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards, it amounts to $900 for vacation.
Exceptional luxury travel benefits: Gain free access to more than 1,000 VIP airport lounges around the world, up to $100 in statement credits (every four years) for Global Entry or TSA Precheck, and other advantages with the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card-Cons

$550 annual fee: The annual fee for this card is $550, making it one of the most expensive ones available. The expense of this card makes it more important to assess your likelihood of travelling and dining out frequently enough for the investment to be profitable in advance.
Limited high-rewards categories: In addition to offering significant earnings on many or most transactions, some cards give their best benefits across a variety of categories. That card isn’t the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Chase only allows travel and eating as 3-points-per-$1 rewards on this card. All additional purchases get just 1 point for every $1 paid after that.
Strong credit appears to be required: Chase does not set a minimum credit score requirement for any of its cards, in contrast to many other card issuers that do. The Chase Sapphire Reserve, however, advises having good credit, which is defined as a score of at least 750.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card-Cardholder Experience

In the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study, Chase came in fourth place out of 11 national card issuers and received a score that was one point below the industry standard.

Cardholders receive a number of complimentary features that are also common with most other cards, such as 24/7 access to a customer service representative from anywhere in the world and a complimentary credit tool, called Credit Journey by Chase, that instantly alerts you to potential fraud. Additionally, the card comes with a free credit score.

Customers can utilise Chase’s credit card resources centre to discover how to dispute a charge, get answers to frequently asked questions about their credit card, and access education materials regarding credit cards.

The self-service tool kit can assist you with things including setting up account notifications, adding authorised users, validating and replacing your card, and enrolling for automated payments.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card-Security Features

Customers of Chase credit cards receive a number of security advantages, many of which are quite common among card issuers. When login in via the website or mobile app, Chase includes security measures like repeated authentication checks. Additionally, it encrypts your login, password, and other private account information while monitoring your profile to look for signs of fraud.

Chase offers round-the-clock fraud monitoring for its credit cards; the bank will notify you if any atypical activity takes place on your account. In the event that your card is lost or stolen, it also offers card replacement services, and it won’t hold you liable for any unauthorised charges that are made with your card.

This card has chip technology built in for increased security when making purchases.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card-Fees to Watch out For

Your Chase Sapphire Reserve card charges $75 for every additional authorised user; while these fees are common for premium cards, not all of them do so. The other fees are typical for the sector.

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