Chase Sapphire Reserve^® Review

If you’re a jetsetter who values flexibility and will take advantage of all its benefits, the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® is definitely worth putting in your wallet.

One of our picks for the best Chase credit cards, the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® offers plenty of value to recoup the high annual fee.

The generous Chase Sapphire Reserve^® benefits start accruing right away with a competitive sign-up bonus that lets you earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. This bonus more than wipes out the annual fee, making the card especially valuable in the first year.

Cardholders also get a yearly $300 flexible travel credit, which negates more than half the $550 annual fee. Factor in the airport lounge access, with a retail value of $469, and these two luxe perks alone make the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® worth it for frequent travelers.

However, the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® card also has its drawbacks, the main one being the annual fee of $550, plus $75 for each authorized user. The card offers good value only for avid travelers, and you need excellent credit to qualify.

• Generous sign-up bonus

  The Chase Sapphire Reserve^® sign-up bonus allows you to start reaping value right away. Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. You can redeem for travel through the Chase Travel portal at a value of 1.5 cents per point, a 50% boost over the usual value of 1 cent per point.

  And you may be able to squeeze even more value out of your sign-up bonus by transferring your points to a Chase travel partner, especially if you book an international business or first-class flight with the right airline. Depending on the partner and the route you choose, you may be able to cash in your bonus for a flight that would cost you thousands of dollars if you paid cash.

  However, the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® sign-up bonus falls a bit short of some offers on similar cards, like The Platinum Card^® from American Express and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.

• High earning rate on travel and dining

  The high earning rate on the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® makes the card especially valuable for cardholders who travel and dine frequently. You earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ 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.

  The dining bonus includes eligible delivery services and takeout. Make sure to read the fine print, though: Food and drink vendors in sports stadiums, hotels, casinos and other facilities don’t qualify for the higher rewards rate.

  When it comes to earning points, the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® has an edge over similar cards, including The Platinum Card^® from American Express and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. For example, The Platinum Card^® from American Express offers a similar rate on flights booked with airlines or through American Express Travel, but doesn’t offer bonus points on hotels, car rentals or dining. The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card includes a bonus on flights, hotels and vacation rentals, but no bonus for dining.

• $300 flexible travel credit

  The $300 flexible travel credit is one of the most attractive perks the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® has to offer, covering a large part of the annual fee each year. You get statement credits for any card purchases that fall into the travel category, up to $300 annually. These get applied automatically until you reach the maximum amount in a given year.

  The credit covers a wide variety of travel purchases:

  • Airline purchases (including airfare)
  • Car rental agencies
  • Cruise lines
  • Campgrounds
  • Hotels
  • Travel agencies or sites
  • Buses
  • Ferries
  • Limousines
  • Trains
  • Highway tolls

  There are some exclusions, though. For example, you might not get a statement credit for certain goods and services you buy on a cruise or flight, or for sightseeing activities, excursions or RV or boat rentals. But that shouldn’t stop frequent travelers from earning this credit quickly.

  In fact, the credit is much more flexible than some competing cards. For example, The Platinum Card^® from American Express offers a $200 hotel credit, but only on select prepaid bookings made through American Express Travel. And it offers up to a $200 airline credit, but that applies only to “incidental fees” charged by airlines.

• Valuable, flexible points

  The card earns Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, which are extremely flexible and valuable. The points are worth 1 cent per point when you redeem for cash back, but you can maximize their value by redeeming for travel. Cardholders can redeem through the Chase Travel portal for a 50% bonus, boosting the value to 1.5 cents per point.

  And you may get even better value for your UR points by transferring them to a Chase travel partner and redeeming for an international first- or business-class airline ticket. Chase Ultimate Rewards® points transfer at a 1:1 value, meaning one Chase UR point is worth one travel partner point.

  Chase travel partners include more than 10 airline and hotel loyalty programs:

  • Aer Lingus AerClub
  • Air Canada Aeroplan
  • British Airways Executive Club
  • Emirates Skywards
  • Flying Blue Air France KLM
  • Iberia Plus
  • JetBlue TrueBlue
  • Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  • Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
  • United MileagePlus
  • Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
  • World of Hyatt
  • IHG Rewards Club
  • Marriott Bonvoy®

   

  You need at least 1,000 points to make a transfer to a Chase travel partner. Chase sometimes will offer deals of bonus points for transferring to a specific travel partner. For example, Chase has offered a 30% bonus for transferring to Virgin Atlantic.

• Priority Pass lounge access

  One of the most coveted benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® is its Priority Pass airport lounge access, which offers you a quiet space to recharge and refuel during your journeys.

  This is a valuable perk, since Priority Pass membership with unlimited free lounge visits normally costs $469 a year, and members must pay a $35 fee for each guest.

  You get free entry to over 1,300 VIP airport lounges in more than 500 cities, along with free dining credits at over 30 airport restaurants and bars. Each card user also may take up to two guests into lounges for free, and additional guests for $27 each, charged to the card.

  Priority Pass lounges offer comfortable seating and free Wi-Fi and charging stations, along with a spread of complimentary food and beverages. Most lounges offer alcohol at no charge, so you can sip a wine, beer or cocktail if you wish.

  To get the Priority Pass™ Select benefit, you must first activate your membership through the Chase portal. You’ll then receive a membership card you can use to gain access to the lounges on your next trip.

• Top-notch travel insurance

  One of the best benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® card is a robust slate of travel insurance that covers a variety of mishaps, from getting sick right before a big vacation to being stranded at an airport in a snowstorm. The coverages and dollar amounts stack up well in comparison to other similar cards.

  Here’s the travel coverage you get with the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® card:

  • Trip cancellation/interruption insurance: Up to $10,000 per person or $20,000 per trip for prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses such as passenger fares and hotels, when a trip is canceled or cut short due to covered situations including severe weather and illness.
  • Trip delay reimbursement: Up to $500 per ticket for expenses such as meals and lodging for trip delays that last six hours or more, or require an overnight stay.
  • Lost luggage reimbursement: Up to $3,000 per passenger for checked or carry-on luggage lost or damaged by the carrier.
  • Emergency evacuation and transportation: Up to $100,000 for medical services and transportation if you or a family member get sick or injured far from home, requiring medical evacuation.
  • Auto rental collision damage waiver: Up to $75,000 for collision damage or theft of a rental car in the United States or abroad when you pay the entire rental cost with your card and decline the rental company’s collision insurance.

  This travel insurance is more comprehensive than the coverage on competing cards. For example, The Platinum Card^® from American Express offers similar trip cancellation, interruption and delay insurance¹ in the same dollar amounts, but it lacks lost luggage and emergency evacuation coverage.

  To get these benefits, you’ll need to pay with your Chase Sapphire Reserve^® card. In addition to travel benefits, the card also comes with shopping protections, including purchase protection, return protection and extended warranty coverage.

• Other valuable travel benefits

  The Chase Sapphire Reserve^® card also comes with other benefits that can save you money:

  • No foreign transaction fees. You can shop internationally without getting hit with extra charges.
  • Global Entry/TSA Precheck/Nexus membership. Get a $100 statement credit to reimburse you for the application fee every four years
  • Instacart membership. One year of Instacart with $15 a month in Instacart statement credits for a year.
  • Dashpass membership. You also get DoorDash for a minimum of one year with activation of the perk by the end of 2027.
  • Lyft benefits. Get 10x points on Lyft rides and two years of Lyft Pink All Access membership, which gives you discounts on luxury rides and bike sharing.

• High annual fee

  The biggest downside to the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® card: it’s eye-popping $550 annual fee. Since you can get a solid travel credit card without quite as many luxe perks for an annual fee of less than $100, you may want to weigh the pros and cons before applying.

  If you don’t fly frequently enough to justify such a high annual fee, the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card, which has a $95 annual fee and no extra charge for authorized users, may be a good choice for you.

• $75 authorized user fee

  The Chase Sapphire Reserve^® card charges a $75 annual fee for each authorized user, making an already costly card even more expensive. This is a definite drawback since many credit cards allow you to add an authorized user for free, including the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card. Some cards even offer extra points or other perks for doing so.

• Excellent credit required

  The Chase Sapphire Reserve^® card requires you to have excellent credit for the best chance of getting approved, and it’s one of our picks for best credit cards for excellent credit. The definition of excellent credit varies based on the scoring model, but you may need a FICO score of 740 or higher to get a Chase Sapphire Reserve^® credit card. That leaves consumers with fair credit out of the running for this premium credit card.

The Platinum Card^® from American Express

The Platinum Card^® from American Express may be a better option for frequent and luxury travelers who don’t mind paying a high annual fee in exchange for a package of rich perks. This card has a $695 annual fee, which is $145 more than the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, but the extra benefits more than cancel out the difference.

For starters, it has a larger welcome offer: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. The card also offers more than $1,000 worth of travel, shopping and entertainment credits that cancel out the fee. This includes up to a $200 incidental airline fee credit that covers baggage fees and similar charges (enrollment required), as well as a $200 credit on select prepaid hotel bookings made through American Express Travel.

Plus, you get membership with the The American Express Global Lounge Collection. You get entry into luxe American Express Centurion lounges, plus Delta Sky Club and Priority Pass™ Select lounges (enrollment required).

 

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card may be a better choice for value-minded travelers who want solid travel perks but prefer a less pricey card.

It has an annual fee of $95, and no fees for authorized users. You’ll earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. The downside is that you don’t get the fanciest travel perks, as there’s no airport lounge access. But the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card does offer a $50 yearly statement credit for hotel stays booked through Chase Travel^SM, which cancels out over half of the annual fee.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card also comes with excellent travel insurance. You get the exact same trip cancellation and delay coverage you’d get with the Chase Sapphire Reserve^®. Some of the other coverage dollar amounts are lower, and you don’t get emergency medical evacuation insurance. Still, the mix of value and benefits make this one of our picks for best Visa cards.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card may be a good alternative to the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® for frequent travelers who want the premium perks for a slightly lower annual fee. It costs $395 a year, more than $150 less than the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® (see rates & fees). It includes a $300 travel credit that can cover a large part of that annual fee, though it’s only good for travel booked through Capital One.

You also get airport lounge access for cardholders and up to two guests, for Capital One lounges and over 1,300 airport lounges from Priority Pass and the Plaza Premium Group.

And you can earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel, as well as 10,000 anniversary bonus miles each year. Overall, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card may be a better option for frequent travelers looking to get the most perks at the lowest price.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve^® card may be a fit for frequent travelers who value flexible perks, robust travel insurance coverage and generous earning bonuses on both travel and dining. Its flexible travel credit can easily cover a large portion of the annual fee each year, and you’ll get Priority Pass lounge access and fantastic travel insurance.

But some very frequent luxury travelers may find they’d get a greater dollar value and better lounge access from The Platinum Card^® from American Express. And those who want premium travel perks with savings might want to look at the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which offers many of the same perks for a slightly less hefty annual fee (see rates & fees).