Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is an elite credit card that Chase created to cater to frequent travelers. I’ve carried the card since Chase first introduced it in 2016. While it’s well known for its signup bonus and earning Chase Ultimate Rewards, some of its most valuable features are not as well known. We’ll cover all of this, and even a Chase Sapphire Reserve Rewards Calculator, in this detailed review.

A word about my approach to credit cards. As regular readers know, I save and invest ALL of my credit card rewards. For Chase Ultimate Rewards, I use them to book travel through Chase, thereby taking advantage of the 50% rewards bonus offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (more on that below). When I book this “free” travel, I then take what the trip would have cost me out of my checking account and deposit it into what I call my Credit Card Financial Freedom Fund (CCFFF). As of today, my CCFFF totals over $32,000.

I mention this because I evaluate all credit cards based on numbers and nothing else. Save the Instagram pictures of somebody sipping champaign on an 8-hour flight in first class. What you never see on Instagram is the same person a week later back in their cubicle grinding away in real life. I’d prefer the financial freedom I can enjoy investing the rewards I earn.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Snapshot

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

• Welcome Offer: Earn 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 within your first 3 months.That’s $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
• $300 Annual Travel Credit. Through December 31, 2021, gas station & grocery store purchases will count towards earning your Travel Credit.
• 10x points on hotels and car rentals booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 5x points on flights booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• 3X points on other travel and dining immediately after earning your $300 travel credit.
• 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
• $0 foreign transaction fees.
• Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
• Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™
• Select Up to $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre?®

While it does come with a high annual fee ($550), the rewards that come from using this card will make up for the annual fee cost for those who travel even once or twice a year. You’ll receive a valuable signup bonus if you meet the spending requirements, earn up to 10x points and receive $300 in annual travel credits every year.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Rewards

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® reward structure centers around Chase Ultimate Reward (CUR) points. That’s the “currency” Chase uses for rewards on several of its credit cards (Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Freedom Flex(SM), to name a few). The key is to understand that this “currency” has different values depending on how you use it.

Before we can use CUR points, however, we must earn them. That’s where the Chase Sapphire Reserve® comes in. With the card you earn CUR points in one of three ways: the Signup Bonus, 3x rewards, and 1x rewards.

Signup Bonus Points

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards bonus points once you spend $4,000 or more within your first after opening your account.

So how much are 60,000 these points worth? Simply put, they are worth 1 cent each. As we’ll cover in more detail below, however, CUR points earned from the Chase Sapphire Reserve® enjoy a 50% bonus when you redeem them for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. Thus, 60,000 CUR points redeemed for travel through CUR are worth $900.

Everyday Rewards

Chase recently launched a new rewards system, introducing 10x and 5x point categories. Keep in mind that these rewards are not applied when the $300 travel credit is used. Here’s what you need to know:

10x: The card pays 10 points for every dollar spent on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards. You’ll also earn 10x points on Chase Dining purchased through CUR.

5x: You’ll earn 5 points for every $1 charged to the card on airline flights booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

3x: For travel and dining that doesn’t qualify for the 10x reward rate above, you’ll earn 3 points for every dollar charged to the card.

1x: Finally, you’ll earn 1 point for every $1 spent on all other purchases. For this reason, we don’t recommend the Chase Sapphire Reserve® as an everyday card. It should be paired with a card that pays 1.5% or even 2% on all purchases.

Transactions that Do Not Earn Points

There are some transactions on the card that will not earn CUR points:

• travel purchases that qualify for the $300 Annual Travel Credit
• balance transfers
• cash advances
• travelers checks, foreign currency, money orders, wire transfers or similar cash-like transactions
• lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, race track wagers or similar betting transactions
• any checks that access your account
• interest
• unauthorized or fraudulent charges
• fees of any kind, including an annual fee, if applicable

Redeeming Rewards

Chase offers its card holders many options when it comes to redeeming their rewards. These redemption options, however, are not created equal. We’ll get into the details, but here’s a table on redemption values:

*Some gift cards are sold at a 10% discount, increasing the value of Chase Ultimate Reward points.

The takeaway here is clear. Chase Ultimate Reward points should be redeemed for one of two things, and only two things–travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards or transferred to travel partners. We’ll cover those two options first, and then look at the remaining redemption methods.

50% Chase Ultimate Rewards Bonus

A key feature of the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is its 50% point bonus when you redeem points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. The bonus turns points normally worth 1 cent into 1.5 cents. The effective result is that travel and dining purchases earn a rewards rate of 4.5% (3x points + the 50% bonus).

A word of caution. I’ve found that sometimes the cost of travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards is higher than what I can find on other websites. This is particularly true with hotels, in my experience. Chase even points this out in the fine print of Chase Ultimate Rewards terms and conditions:

The cost of travel is based on the rates and fares available through the Ultimate Rewards website and travel center, and may not reflect all rates and fares that are available through other sales channels.

Chase

So compare prices before making a final decision on any travel.

Transferring Points to Chase Travel Partners

There is no set value for points transferred to Chase travel partners. It all depends on the airline or hotel, and how you use the points or miles after the transfer. As a general rule of thumb, we assume the Chase points have a value of 1 to 2 cents after the transfer. Of course, you’ll need to do your own assessment based on the specific transfer partner and how you’ll use the rewards.

What we do know is how many points or miles you earn for each CUR point–it’s 1:1. We also know that points must be transferred in 1,000 point increments. Here are the travel partners:

• Airline Partners
  • Aer Lingus AerClub
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Emirates Skywards
  • Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM
  • Iberia Plus
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
  • United Airlines MileagePlus
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• Hotel Partners
  • IHG Rewards Club
  • Marriott Bonvoy (including Ritz-Carlton)
  • World of Hyatt

Here are more details on the other redemption option:

• Cash
  • Redeem points for cash through an account statement credit
  • Redeem points for cash through an electronic deposit into an eligible savings or checking account located in the U.S.
• Gift Cards
  • Choose from over 150 different companies for gift cards such as Lowe’s, Amazon, Home Depot, Airbnb, and more. Points that are used for redeeming gift cards are currently valued at 0.1 cents each, although some cards offer a 10% discount.
• Checkout
  • When using points at checkout, such as on Amazon, the current point value is 0.8 cents.
• Shop on Amazon
  • Connect your Chase Sapphire Reserve card account to your Amazon account and begin shopping. With this option, you can use points to help pay part or even all of an order.

Combining Points with Other Chase Credit Cards

A little known secret is that you can move Chase Ultimate Reward points between Chase credit cards. Each card must be eligible to earn CUR points. One way to take advantage of this is to get the Chase Freedom Flex card, which pays up to 5% cash back. Those rewards can be turned into CUR points and transferred to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® where the enjoy the 50% bonus on travel purchased through CUR (see below).

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Rewards Calculator

To help you estimate the value of the Chase Sapphire Reserve® based on your specific spending habits, we’ve created the following calculator. Just enter an estimate of how much you spend with the card each month for travel, dining, and all other purchases.

Note that the first $300 spent on travel does not earn CUR points due to the $300 travel credit. Keep in mind that if you redeem points for something other than travel through CUR, the value will be higher or lower than what’s reflected in the calculator.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Travel Credits

One key feature of the Chase Sapphire Reserve® are its travel credits. The primary credit is $300 toward travel purchases, but that’s just the start.

• $300 Travel Credit: An annual credit of $300 will automatically be applied to travel purchases on the card. In addition, through the end of 2021, gas station and grocery store purchases will also count toward earning the travel credit.
• $100 Global Entry or $85 TSA Precheck Application Fee Statement Credit: From the Chase website, “To be eligible for this statement credit you must use your Chase Sapphire Reserve card to either complete the Global Entry application and pay the $100 application fee, or complete the TSA Precheck application and pay the $85 application fee. A statement credit will be processed after the Global Entry program application fee OR TSA Precheck application fee (whichever program is applied for first) is charged to your Chase Sapphire Reserve card. You are entitled to either: one (1) $100 statement credit per account, OR one (1) $85 statement credit per account, every 4 years in connection with the Global Entry or TSA Precheck program application fee.”
• $60 DoorDash Credit: Earn up to $60 in statement credits on qualifying DoorDash purchases through 12/31/2021. Statement credits will automatically be applied to your account when you make qualifying DoorDash purchases, up to an annual maximum accumulation of $60.
• $199 Lyft Membership Credit: Your Chase Sapphire Reserve account will receive one complimentary Lyft Pink membership for 12 consecutive months, a minimum value of $199, when the membership is activated with a Chase Sapphire Reserve® by 03/31/2022.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Travel and Insurance Protection

Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver: When using your Chase Sapphire Reserve® for rental car usage, you can receive primary collision and theft coverage. To be eligible you have to decline the waiver from the rental car company collision insurance. Coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to $75,000 for theft and collision damage for rental cars in the U.S. and abroad.

Extended Warranty Protection: Upon purchasing an item with your Chase Sapphire Reserve®, Chase will extend the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by one year on eligible warranties of 3 years or less.

Purchase Protection: Items bought with a Chase Sapphire Reserve® will be protected up to 120 days from the date of purchase against damage or theft. This card will cover up to $10,000 for each claim and $50,000 each year.

Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance: If your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels.

Lost Luggage Reimbursement: If you or an immediate family member bring any luggage that becomes damaged or lost by the carrier, you will be covered up to $3,000 per passenger.

Trip Delay Reimbursement: If your carrier service becomes delayed for more than 6 hours, or requires an overnight stay, you and your family will be covered for unreimbursed expenses up to $500 per ticket.

Emergency Evacuation & Transportation: This benefit helps cover you or an immediate family member up to $100,000 in medical expenses. This is only accepted if you or the family member get injured or become sick on a trip away from home that results in an emergency evacuation.

Complimentary Airport Lounge Access: This allows you access to the 1,000+ VIP lounges in over 500 cities worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select. This gives you great relaxation time prior to your flight departure.

Lyft: You can earn 10X points on Lyft rides through March 2022.

Annual Fee

The annual fee for the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card is $550. Of course, the $300 travel credit makes up more than half of this amount. The other credits, if you use them, can make up much of the rest. Ultimately, however, how you use the card will determine if the card is worth the cost.

Last year the card generated $1,151.72 in rewards for me. The vast majority of this came from earning 3x rewards on travel and dining (only $28.93 came from 1x rewards). Factor in the $300 travel credit and subtract the $550 annual fee, and the net value to us was $901.72.

In contrast, had I used a 2% cash back card with no annual fee, the total rewards value would have been $537.59. So clearly the Chase Sapphire Reserve® was well worth the cost for us. And these calculations don’t account for the other benefits, such as lounge access and travel protections.

Pros & Cons

What we like

• Signup Bonus of 60,000 points
• $300 in annual travel credit
• 3x points on worldwide travel and dining
• 50% more value when redeeming through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• No foreign transaction fees
• $100 Global Entry or $85 TSA Precheck Application Fee Statement Credit
• $120 DoorDash Credit
• $199 Lyft Membership Credit
• Complimentary Airport Lounge Access (through Priority Pass Select)
• Excellent travel and purchase protections
• Transfer points 1:1 to Chase airline and hotel travel partners

What could be better

• $550 annual fee that Chase does NOT waive the first year
• Requires excellent credit
• Base rewards rate is 1%, which is not ideal for those who want to use just one credit cards.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

For my money, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is the best travel card available today. Its rewards are easily worth $1,000 or more each year, even after factoring in the annual fee. Of course, your mileage may vary, so make sure to do the math before applying.

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