Chase Sapphire Reserve® review

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:

1. Learn more about how to apply for Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
2. 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 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points. That is roughly a $750 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. You also get 50% higher redemption value on groceries, dining (including delivery and takeout), home improvement stores (such as Home Depot or Lowes) and donations to eligible charities with the Pay Yourself Back feature, which is available until September 30, 2021. 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 and DashPass by DoorDash 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.

Compare Sapphire Reserve to similar credit cards

Here’s a look at how the Sapphire Reserve stacks up to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the American Express® Gold Card, which are other popular travel card options.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

★★★★★

Finder Rating: 4.6 / 5

Terms apply, see rates & fees

Go to site
Minimum credit score 740
Annual fee $550
Purchase APR 16.99% to 23.99% variable
Balance transfer APR 16.99% to 23.99% variable
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
Welcome offer 50,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months, a value of up to $750 through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

★★★★★

Finder Rating: 4.6 / 5

Go to site
Minimum credit score 670
Annual fee $95
Purchase APR 15.99% to 22.99% variable
Balance transfer APR 15.99% to 22.99% variable
Rewards 5x points on travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 3x points on dining and 2x points on all other travel purchases
Welcome offer 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months.

American Express® Gold Card

★★★★★

Finder Rating: 4.6 / 5

Terms apply, see rates & fees

Go to site
Minimum credit score 670
Annual fee $250
Purchase APR See Pay Over Time APR
Balance transfer APR N/A
Rewards 4x at restaurants including delivery and Uber Eats; 4x at US supermarkets on up to $25,000 annually (then 1x points), 3x points on directly-booked flights and 1x points on other eligible purchases
Welcome offer 60,000 points after spending $4,000 in the first 6 months

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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.

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.