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One of the premier travel rewards and benefits credit card might soon undergo a major refresh — and see its annual fee jump from $550 to $795. And a whole host of “coupon book”-style benefits would be added. Southwest A-List status, IHG Diamond status, Stub Hub credits, and much more are all part of what might become the updated Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
(We first heard word from Doctor of Credit, who links back to a Reddit thread and more details are here.)
All information about the credit cards below was collected independently by Eye of the Flyer. It was not provided by nor reviewed by the card issuer.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®’s Rumored Updates
Here are the purported changes.
- Fee and Points
- $795 annual fee
- 8X Chase Travel hotel and cars (reduced from 10X)
- 8X Flights booked through Chase Travel℠ (increased to from 5X)
- 4X Direct flights and hotel (increased from 3X)
- 1X General/other travel (i.e., rideshare, taxi, bus, subway, parking, etc) (reduced from 3X)
- New Benefits
- $500 Chase hotel Edit credit ($250 semi-annually) $250/semi-annual (hotel portal run by Chase for select hotels. More info here)
- $300 Sapphire Reserve Tables dining credit ($150 semi-annually)
- $300 StubHub credit ($150 semi-annually)
- $300 DoorDash credit ($25 a month)
- $120 DoorDash membership
- $250 credit toward Apple TV+ and Apple Music
- $120 Lyft credit ($10 a month)
- $120 Peloton credit ($10 a month)
- Big Spenders: $75,000 Spent on the Card During a Year
- $500 Southwest Airlines credit
- Southwest A-List status
- IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite Status
- $250 The Shops credit
Whether that $75k is over a calendar year or cardmember year remains to be seen — and that’s if the changes come to fruition.
The 8X on Chase Travel flights would be the best points earnings for airline travel across any credit card (at least, that I know of).
REMEMBER: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card ($95 annual fee): Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 in eligible purchases (Expires 9:00 AM PST on May 15.)
Quick Thoughts
I might need to draw the line at a $795 annual fee. That’s a pretty big check to write and work to recoup.
It looks like the $300 general travel credit would disappear.
My travel habits (and budget) rarely find enough use for American Express’ Fine Hotels & Resorts feature. I don’t know that Chase’s Edit hotel collection would do me much good, nor would the Sapphire Reserve Tables. I rarely attend live events anymore, so $150 every six months for StubHub is kind of a non-starter. The DoorDash credit could be handy. I don’t hate the $10 a month in Lyft credit — when I actually use it.
The Southwest and IHG perks are nice, sure. But I rarely stay anywhere IHG Diamond status would do me any good (“Welcome to the Holiday Inn Express. We’ve upgraded to you to a street view from a back parking lot view! And here’s some water.”). I fly Southwest a few times a year but don’t necessarily “need” the A-List status, especially since my Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card card gets me four upgraded boardings. Who knows what’ll happen with that when Southwest’s assigned seating kicks in?
And I wouldn’t put $75,000 of personal spending on the card anyway. I don’t have that kind of money. Plus, the 1X earnings for everyday purchases other than dining (3X) are very meh. The current general travel earnings include parking, rideshares, and much more. That would go to 1X. I can do better, even with my Chase Freedom Unlimited®.
The 50% bonus when applying Chase points toward travel purchases made through Chase Travel does factor into my “Maybe I should keep it” column.
If the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is your only card with lounge access — and you actually use it for lounges — then it might be worth hanging on to.
I discussed the rumored changes with some friends late last night. Their reactions aren’t appropriate for publication in this space. 🙂
But again, we’re still at the rumor stage.
Final Approach
Rumors say that the Chase Sapphire Reserve®’s annual fee will climb to $795 and a major “coupon book” overhaul is in store.
What do you make of these possible changes? Do you think they’ll actually happen? Are you more inclined to keep or get the card? Or stay away from it?
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
A reason to go for this card NOW before any changes! My player two will be today who is under 5/24
And STILL be denied entry to the lounges because of Etihad pax for $800…..yeah…..NO.
This is our primary card for thousands of dollars of purchases a month and we
will instantly cancel if they make this move.
This would be the end of my reserve card. The $300 travel credit is easy to use now. The 1.5X point use redemption is great. The fancy hotel credit I would never use. I don’t purchase much directly on the portal, only spend points.
$500 Chase hotel Edit credit ($250 semi-annually) $250/semi-annual (hotel portal run by Chase for select hotels. More info here). Sounds like hoity toity hotels we can’t afford anyway. Is this to bring down the price at $700+ a night hotels to $400+? That’s not in my budget.
$300 Sapphire Reserve Tables dining credit ($150 semi-annually). We don’t eat at fancy places that are 500 miles minimum away.
$300 StubHub credit ($150 semi-annually). We don’t attend concerts anymore.
$300 DoorDash credit ($25 a month) We don’t order overpriced food brought to our door. We are not that lazy.
$120 DoorDash membership. Ditto.
$250 credit toward Apple TV+ and Apple Music. We already subscribe to most streaming services.
$120 Lyft credit ($10 a month). We might use this 4-5 months out of the year when we need to get to an airport for a flight.
$120 Peloton credit ($10 a month). I don’t own a Peloton.
Perhaps this is a card meant for rich people especially with the rumored changes, we are not in that category. This change will be so sad. They just keep squeezing for that last penny!
“$250 credit toward Apple TV+ and Apple Music.”
Side note: if you want Apple TV and/or an Apple person, I highly recommend looking into AppleOne. It saves my family a ton of money. (Part of my photo editing job requires me to watch movies and TV shows so I’m familiar with who’s in what projects, so I spend a lot on streaming. This is a fantastic deal and I get to share it with my family.)
I really thought Chase would never succumb to the AMEX way of doing business. f this is true, sooo sad.
Sorry for the typo: “If”
The card lost a lot of value when the Priority Pass restaurant credit went away. I already maintain IHG diamond status, so it would encourage me to quit staying there as often. Sadly the transfer partners are not impressive and I won’t book through chase travel. Might consider giving this one up. But final version of perks could change my mind.
Definitely dropping the card, which we’ve had and has been our main for over six years now, if these changes go through. What would put me over the edge is the removal of the $300 travel credit.
The hotel and restaurant credit would not be used by us. Stub hub credit is useless as well.
Super disappointed and hope this is not the future for the card. If chase is looking to implement these changes, perhaps they could spin up a different card.
What we utilize the most is the 3x dining credit and the 1.5x redemption for travel. But Capital One’s Savor card offers 3x on dining AND groceries, which can be received through cash back, statement credit, or gift cards. For no cost a year. We’d definitely look towards cancelling our Reserve card and using the Savor card mainly.
What’s also upsetting is that we just added my husband to this card as an authorized user for the steep fee of $150.