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Chase Sapphire Reserve® review
Earn up to 10x points on Chase portal purchases, plus great luxury travel benefits.
finder.com’s rating: 4.6 / 5
★★★★★
- Get this card if: you’re a frequent traveler who wants one of the top travel cards on the market.
- Pick something else if: you don’t travel enough to take advantage of this card’s benefits.
- Apply with an excellent credit score of 740 or higher.
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60,000
Points as welcome offer
Up to 10x
Points
$550
Annual fee
21.24% to 28.24%
Purchase APR (variable)
Details
| Annual fee | $550 |
|---|---|
| Welcome offer | Earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months, from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards® |
| Rewards | 5x points on flights and 10x points on hotels and car rentals through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3x points on other travel after earning your $300 travel credit, 10x points on Lyft rides, 10x points on Chase Dining through Ultimate Rewards, 3x points on other dining and 1x points on all other purchases |
| Purchase APR | 21.24% to 28.24% variable |
| Balance transfer APR | 21.24% to 28.24% variable |
| Minimum credit score | 740 |
| Issuer | Visa |
cta text | Go to site |
Review by
Steven Dashiell
steven.dashiell@finder.comSteven Dashiell is a senior personal finance writer at Finder, specializing in all things banking and credit cards. With more than 300 articles under his belt, he aims to help readers embrace credit cards and maximize their banking rewards. Steve is studying to become a Certified Educator in Personal Finance, and is a frequent face on Finder’s YouTube channel, offering the latest in credit card hacks and advice. His expertise has been featured in U.S. News & World Report, Time, CBS, Fox Business, Lifehacker, Martha Stewart Living, among other top publications.
Expert review
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is the premier travel rewards offering under the Ultimate Rewards banner. For the $550 annual fee, it comes with a 60,000-point welcome offer after you spend $4,000 within your first 3 months of account opening, earns 5x points on flights through the Chase travel portal, 10x points on hotels and car rentals through the Chase travel portal, 10x points on Chase Dining purchases, 3x points on all other travel and dining purchases, and 1x points on everything else. It also offers a a $300 annual statement credit, $100 toward the application fee for Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check, and countless additional travel perks.
This card is, in fact, the second credit card I ever decided to add to my wallet. That might sound a bit risky based on the card’s annual fee, but I knew there was nothing to worry about just by reading the card’s features: This card sweats value into your wallet so long as you’re using the card’s benefits. Case in point: I immediately used the $300 statement credit to pay for my partner and I’s annual trip to the east coast. Think of it as shaving $300 off the annual fee of the card – travel once with this credit and you only have to generate another $250 in value to make up for the card’s cost. We did this handily by signing up for the card’s complimentary Priority Pass Select membership, which is a value of over $400. All told, this card more than paid for itself within the first flight I took after getting the card.
This card has continuously demonstrated its value in the years since I’ve had it: I’ve since earned free amenities and breakfast at hotels from the Luxury Hotel and Resort Collection, enjoyed a complimentary full year of Lyft Pink, had several free meals through DoorDash and regularly redeem my earned points at 1.5x value through the Chase Travel Portal. Not even COVID-19 travel restrictions COVID-19 hurt this card’s value as Chase moved quickly to add temporary benefits and ways to spend credits. And this card now leans into its strengths even harder by offering much more earning potential on Chase travel purchases.
Finder experts pick Chase Sapphire Reserve® as a 2021 best product for credit cards.
How do I apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®?
Applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is simple and straightforward. First, to qualify, you’ll need at least an excellent credit score of 740 or higher. Then, simply follow these steps:
- Learn more about how to apply for Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
- Fill out the required information and click Submit.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® benefits
- Earn Ultimate Rewards points. The Chase Sapphire Reserve® earns 5x points on flights purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 10x points on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase, 10x points on Chase Dining purchases, 3x points on all other travel and dining purchases and 1x points on everything else. The new 5x and 10x point bonuses are a nice and potentially lucrative addition that further incentivize booking travel through Chase when possible. The Sapphire Reserve now also earns 10x points on Lyft car rides, a terrific earning rate and among the highest available for ride-shares.
- Welcome offer. Spend $4,000 within your first 3 months of account opening and you’ll earn a substantial 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points. That is roughly a $900 value when you redeem these through the Chase Travel portal.
- Higher points value on travel redemption. Redeem your points on travel purchases through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal and get 50% higher points value. This makes your 3x points on travel and dining be worth 4.5x, which is one of the highest rates you can earn with a credit card.
- Statement credits. Each year you’ll enjoy $300 back in statement credits on travel purchases. Plus your first year and every four years thereafter, you’ll receive a $100 statement credit toward the application fee for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry.
- Travel perks. This card offers numerous travel benefits, including Priority Pass membership, a year of Lyft Pink membership, concierge service and travel protections. Many of these, such as the Priority Pass membership, are worth hundreds of dollars on their own, so taking advantage of these is a simple way to make up for the cost of the card.
- Transfer points to partners. Transfer your points to airline and hotel partners in 1:1 ratio. Partners include IHG, Marriott, Hyatt, United Airlines, Southwest, Jet Blue and more. Sometimes, transferring your points can get you the best value for your points.
- Travel insurance. As a cardholder, you get access to a host of travel insurances offered by Chase. This includes baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, auto rental collision damage waiver, emergency evacuation and transportation, trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance and trip delay reimbursement.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® drawbacks
- Annual fee. The Chase Sapphire Reserve® demands a $550 annual fee from cardholders. Generally, this won’t be a problem if you travel and take advantage of the card’s perks. Although, if you’re an infrequent traveler, you might find it hard to get enough value out of the card to cover the annual fee.
- No intro APR. While not a huge deal for a rewards card, a lack of intro APR means you’ll need to start paying back interest on balances immediately after opening your card. Considering you’ll want to shoot for the welcome offer as well, you’ll need to take care to pay off your balance in full to avoid unwanted interest.
- High credit score requirements. You’ll need an excellent credit score to get this card.
Is the annual fee worth it?
Absolutely. When my partner and I applied for this card, we made sure to do so a few months ahead of a planned cross-country trip.
Once we received the card, we booked our flights using it, instantly taking advantage of the $300 travel credit — a significant portion of our annual fee. Really, even a single trip can help take the bite out of your annual fee if you take advantage of all of the card’s features.
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Chase Sapphire Reserve® reviews and complaints
Praise
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a favored card from users across a variety of social media. Many customers tout the generous travel credits and signup bonus as big factors in their happiness with the card, with several users on Reddit recommending frequent travelers upgrading from the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Complaints
Among social media complaints for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, some cardholders felt the card wasn’t worth the high annual fee. Others complained about a lack of lounge coverage through the Priority Pass program — a sting felt by yours truly. Finally, a few cardholders felt Chase customer service was lacking when they encountered issues.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® rewards
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a travel rewards workhorse. It offers plenty of ways to earn Ultimate Rewards points on top of its base earning rate. Moreover, it also allows you to redeem earned Chase rewards at a higher rate than average, and even transfer your points to other eligible rewards programs.
The name of the game with making the most of your points is pairing up your Chase rewards cards. By pairing up the Chase Freedom Unlimited with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can earn bigger rewards on purchases you wouldn’t earn otherwise earn accelerated rewards on. And from there, you can move the points you earn on the Unlimited over to the Reserve, allowing you to redeem those points for greater value. Check out our Chase Trifecta guide for more information on maxing your rewards.
The Chase Freedom Unlimited® can also prove useful for this technique, providing a steadier 1.5% base cashback rather than rotating categories, in addition to the same accelerated categories as the Chase Freedom Flex℠.
The “One Sapphire” rule
Chase restricts cardholders to only one Sapphire card per person. There are a few things to note about this ruling:
- If you want to move from a Sapphire Preferred to a Sapphire Reserve or vice versa, you’ll need to apply for a product change.
- If you make a product change up or down, you can’t earn the welcome offer on your new card.
- If you closed a Sapphire card, you’ll need to wait upwards of four years before you can qualify for another Sapphire.
The bottom line
With a terrific signup bonus, tremendous earning rates on travel and dining through Chase Ultimate Rewards, more than $300 in statement credits and a plethora of travel perks, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is more than worth your time if you’re a frequent traveler. And if you were like me and hardly traveled much beforehand, this card’s benefits might motivate you to go out and see the world. Or at the very least, visit your family once in a while.
If you like the perks mentioned here but don’t quite travel enough to make this card worth it, compare rewards cards to find one that best suits your needs.
Compare Chase Sapphire Reserve® with other cards
Frequently asked questions
Do my reward points expire?
Your reward points don’t expire as long as there’s no change in your account status.
Is there qualifying criteria to get complimentary airport lounge access?
No, but you’ll need to enroll in Priority Pass Select.
How many interest-free days do I get on purchases?
There will be a gap of at least 21 days between your next due date and the close of the previous billing cycle. If you pay the entire balance from purchases during this period, you won’t pay interest on your charges.
What is the Chase Sapphire Reserve phone number?
If you have issues with your card, call 800-432-3117. This isn’t a dedicated Chase Sapphire Reserve® number, but it’s Chase’s support line for personal credit cards.
Credit card ratings
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