I receive compensation for content and many links on this blog. Citibank is an advertising partner of this site, as is American Express, Chase, Barclays and Capital One. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners. I do not write about all credit cards that are available — instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Terms apply to the offers and benefits listed on this page.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® has been such a rich card that in my view there’s been no way for Chase to ever make money on it. When the card was introduced it immediately cut Chase’s profits by as much as $300 million. And high income and assets for the average cardmember suggest they’re unlikely to earn enough on revolve to pay back the bank’s cost to acquire a customer.
It has seemed like the card hasn’t added much (aside from merchant-funded offers such as with DoorDash, Lyft, and Peleton) in several years. They haven’t repeated the card’s big initial bonus offers from when the product was introduced in 2016. And readers relay that it’s been tough to get approved for the card.
So it really struck me that Chase has shifted to a mode where they’re looking to acquire new customers for the card. They’ve increased the initial bonus offer by 20%, and you can now rarn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. T
Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a $550 annual fee card and comes with a $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
Earn is 5x total points on air travel and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
You can take your points and transfer them to a variety of airlines and hotel programs, or use your points at 1.5 cents apiece towards travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal. In addition, with Pay Yourself BackSM, your points are worth 50% more during the current offer when you redeem them for statement credits against existing purchases in select, rotating categories.
Current transfer partners include:
- Airlines: United MileagePlus, British Airways Executive Club, Air France KLM Flying Blue, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Iberia Plus, Aer Lingus AerClub, Emirates Skywards, Air Canada Aeroplan
- Hotels: World of Hyatt, Marriott Bonvoy, IHG Rewards Club
The card comes with easy, one-time enrollment for a Priority Pass Select with unlimited visits (including for up to 2 guests) subject only to capacity at 1300+ lounges around the world. They do not exclude participating airport restaurants from the benefit.
It’s been one of the top premium travel rewards products for years, and now that Chase is getting more aggressive acquiring cardmembers it’s time to consider the product if you have had fewer than 5 new cards in the last 24 months, do not currently have a Sapphire card product, and haven’t received a bonus for one in the past 48 months.
