Chase Updates the Sapphire Reserve Card…And It’s Underwhelming

I guess it’s time for my annual post!

When Chase released the Sapphire Reserve card almost 10 years ago, it’s value proposition was easy to see. It was a great card for travelers, and even when they increased the fee to $550 a few years back, the added $300 travel credit made it worthwhile for most.

Today they’ve announced a new update, increasing the annual fee to a massive $795 and adding credits that will work for some and not for others. My summary is that Chase is “muddying the water” so most people can’t tell whether they’ll be getting a good deal or not, despite the new benefits sounding good and having large dollar amounts attached.

Let’s look at each of the major changes, followed by my thoughts on each. Note that I’m not going to do a post on the new Sapphire Business Card, but just know that it’s worse than this personal card.

Read more: Chase Updates the Sapphire Reserve Card…And It’s Underwhelming

Points Earning

This one’s pretty black and white – either this works for your spending or it doesn’t. If you spent a lot on parking, cruises, AirBnB, and other items that fall into “Other Travel” then you like the old one better unless you buy through Chase Travel. If most of your spend is on regular flights and hotels, the new is better. I’d guess more people will like the new version.

Travel Credit, Lounge Access, Point Transfers, and Travel Protections

These are essentially unchanged as far as I can tell, with the exception being that Authorized User cards increase from $75/year to $195 – they’re literally just raising the price on those with no actual changes. Otherwise, the new card still gets $300/year in travel credit, the same lounge access, the same transfer partners, and the same travel protections. Global entry credit also remains the same.

Chase Travel Point Redemption Value

The old version values points at 1.5 cents per point when redeemed through Chase Travel, so 100K points can buy you $1,500 worth of travel when booked through Chase Travel. The new card will value points between 1 cent and 2 cents.

It sounds like they’ll have partnerships with certain airlines (United Airlines, Air Canada, Southwest Airlines, Emirates, Qantas, Singapore Airlines to start) from time to time and offer better redemption rates on some itineraries and cabins. Hotels part of “The Edit” (Chase’s version of Fine Hotels and Resorts) will have a 2 cent redemption value.

Again, whether this is good or not depends on how you use your points. If you only book for high end hotels like those in “The Edit” list, this is a win. If you book economy and other cheap flights, this is a loss. If you only transfer points, you don’t really care.

DoorDash

There are no changes, but I wanted to rant a bit.

The most clear example of muddying the value proposition is with the DoorDash benefits. If you already had a Sapphire Reserve or even other Chase cards, you likely have had DashPass since about 2020. They announced last year this benefit is extending to 12/31/27 – so DashPass was essentially an existing benefit. Chase, and many of your favorite bloggers, advertise “$25 in monthly credits” – but in reality it’s monthly credits of $5 on restaurants and two separate $10 credits for non-restaurant purchases.

If you shop on DoorDash frequently enough to make use of them, great for you. You sound like you don’t care about saving money anyway, so this refreshed card is likely for you. For the rest of us, this sounds ridiculous. They advertise it as $420 in DoorDash credits when I would be surprised if even 10% of cardholders make use of every bit of those credits.

New Sapphire Reserve Benefits

1. $500 in credits to use on “The Edit” hotel bookings. BUT…it’s not that easy.

• You get $250 for each half of the year (use it or lose it)
• Your stays have to be 2 nights or more.

One of the big perks of programs like “The Edit” are one night stays still get you free breakfast and a $100+ property credit. If you could find a low rate (very possible with planning), you end up way ahead. Chase is adding hurdles to make it harder to use for those people.

2. $300 in dining credits for “Exclusive Tables” Restaurants

• You get $150 for each half of the year (use it or lose it)
• Only for a handful of high-end restaurants in mostly major cities. See this list.

I live in Orange County, California and there’s only 2 restaurants here. Los Angeles and other large metro areas have many more. If you live in or near one of those areas, you can probably have a nice meal twice a year with some planning. I’d make use of it, but I’m not a fan of it.

3. Free Apple TV+ and Apple Music

• These are credits for these stand alone services
• You WILL NOT get a credit if you already have these services through Apple One

Free subscriptions for a couple of years “worth $250 annually” is great if you already pay for those separately. Everyone I know with an iPhone pays for at the very least iCloud, and if they have both the Music and TV service they’ve likely signed up for Apple One. But if you’re signed up for iCloud or Apple One, you don’t get any credits. That’s just silly.

4. $300 Stubhub Credit

• You get $150 for each half of the year (use it or lose it)

Why? Again, Chase is trying to make it seem like they’re providing value to you ($300 worth for this one) when most people otherwise wouldn’t use these.

5. $10 Credit Each to Peloton & Lyft

At least the Peloton and Lyft credits are a flat $10/month without any additional hurdles. Yay.

6. IHG Platinum Status & Chase Travel Designers

IHG Platinum isn’t particularly valuable and Chase Travel Designers are just travel agents.

7. Additional Benefits with $75k in Annual Spending

• IHG Diamond Status
• Southwest Airlines A-List Status
• $500 Southwest Airlines credit
• $250 “Shops at Chase” credit

This random assortment of credits is not really exciting. IHG Diamond is better than Platinum, but I don’t think most people strive to stay at IHG hotels enough for this to move the needle. Most people will take the Southwest credit and status and call it a win (though I wonder how many $75k spenders on this one card are very interested in flying Southwest). The Shops at Chase is new and is just a bunch of random brand name items on sale at retail price. Below is a snapshot of what $250 gets you. Whoop-dee-doo.

Few people would/should be interested in moving their spending from other cards to this one just for these four items.

Final Thoughts

They’re making this a “lifestyle” card instead of a travel card. “Lifestyle” is broad and people don’t spend their money the same way. The people that will benefit are, and I’m just guessing here, a particularly small number of current cardholders. But that’s the thing – they’re going after people with disposable income that they can convince to spend more money than they otherwise would by giving credits.

Not a lot of people paying $800 for this one credit card are going to sit in concert/sports seats that cost just $75 each (I’m assuming you take someone with you to make use of the $150 credit every 6 months). So you’ll spend more than $150 to get decent seats, which is a win for Stubhub. Meanwhile you’ve spent more money on something you otherwise wouldn’t have. The same is true for many of the other credits.

Here’s how I recommend checking if this card is worth it for you: Did you spend money on these services or direct competitors in the last year? For example, did you spend on Stubhub (or SeatGeek or Vivid Seats)? Did you go to restaurants on the dining list, or is it easy for you to shift your spend to them for the dining credits? Did you spend 2+ nights on “The Edit” or similar programs (Fine Hotels & Resorts, Capital One Premier Collection, etc.) in the last year?

If you’re “forcing” yourself to spend money to use the credit, that’s not great. If you already did, then this is a win for you. I can break even or maybe do a bit better personally, but can probably stretch to make it worth more. Regardless, I’m underwhelmed and I think most people will be.

Also, I give it 2 years before many of these benefits change substantially. Many are set to expire in 2027, and I suspect we’ll be having a similar conversation when that happens.

Let’s see what ridiculousness Amex comes up with later this year to “compete” on the way to the bottom.