Chase just launched their ‘new’ Sapphire Reserve card. It’s more expensive, and the earning and redemption proposition is different. There’s a lot going on, and I covered it in my writeup of the news. I also provided some analysis of where the changes are good and bad for cardmembers.
- They’re raising the annual fee from $550 to $795, but offsetting this with what they say is more than $2,700 in credits.
- They’re changing points-earning by replacing 3 points per dollar on all travel with 4 points per dollar on airline and hotel spend. All travel spend through Chase’s portal will earn 8 points per dollar (even airline tickets!).
- And they’re changing redemption by replacing 1.5 points per dollar on spend through Chase’s portal with Points Boost offering up to 2 cents per point on eligible hotel and airline itineraries.
Much of the writeup was informed by conversations with Chase executives in advance of the news. But there are other nuances that I did not cover laying out the changes to the product, that readers are going to want to know.
It seemed worth pulling out separately things like ‘what happens to my existing Sapphire Reserve points?’ and ‘when does this change actually go into effect for existing customers?’ And perhaps even more importantly, ‘is there a brief window for me to choose whether I like the old or new product better?’
Can you hold both a Chase Sapphire Preferred and a Sapphire Reserve? Does having Sapphire Preferred preclude applying for the new Reserve card?
Previously, you could not get approved for a Sapphire Reserve if you already had an open Sapphire Prefered card. That will no longer be the case, as Chase explains to me:
Beginning June 23, 2025 you will be able to have both the Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Preferred cards. New account bonus offer eligibility for either card will be based on factors including previously earned bonus offers and the number of cards opened and closed, among others.
Can a Sapphire Reserve cardmember apply for Sapphire Preferred with these changes?
Yes.
Will it be possible to get approved for a Sapphire Reserve if you aren’t eligible for a bonus? (I’ve been asking for this for years – I’ve always thought it was a terrible experience, for instance, for a United Global Services member or Marriott Ambassador to have had too many recent new cards and therefore get rejected for the United or Marriott cards.)
Consumers applying through most channels will be notified during the application process if they are not eligible for a bonus offer and given the choice to continue the application or cancel the application with no impact to their credit score.
What new bonus restrictions will be in place?
We are transitioning away from the family of cards every 48 month eligibility to a same product premium eligibility. The timeframe will be longer than 48 months but we aren’t able to share additional details.
The $300 travel credit is based on cardmember year. What about other new credits like The Edit and Stubhub?
All other credits are accrue either monthly, semi-annually, or based on calendar year.
For the new $75,000 benefits threshold, does spend in full year 2025 count even though members don’t start with the new benefits structure until later in the year?
Chase tells me: “Yes, it does.”
Does spend on a Chase Sapphire Preferred ‘carry over’ if converting/product changing to Sapphire Reserve?
Chase tells me: “No, it does not.”
Do these same product changes for Sapphire Reserve flow through to J.P. Morgan Reserve? It’s basically a Sapphire Reserve plus unpublished benefit of United Club membership at the same price, and a different card design.
Yes.
I’m an existing Sapphire Reserve cardmember, when do these changes apply to me?
Existing cardmembers transition to the new system October 26 but have access to Points Boost right away. The new $795 annual fee will apply on your annual renewal that occurs October 26 or later.
Can I still get in under legacy product rules?
The new card product launches June 23rd. You can apply (or product change) before then, and have the legacy rules apply. You won’t get the new benefits (other than Points Boost) until October 26th, but you’ll get the $550 annual fee for one year, and you’ll get grandfathering of 1.5× Chase Travel redemptions on points held in your account as of October 26, 2025 until October 26, 2027.
@ Gary — 8x on travel is great if the portal doesn’t suck. I assume the Chase travel portal sucks?
Do existing card members continue to earn under the old point multipliers until October 26th? Or do the new multipliers kick in for everyone on June 23rd?
So for those of us with a CSR and, say, a freedom unlimited, we should transfer the freedom unlimited points to the CSR by October 26 to preserve the optionality of a 1.5x point redemption?
Thanks for this!
What about transferring points to partners, does that change at all?
Gary, I know you have to try and put lipstick on a pig to stay in the good graces of your contacts at Chase, but this is a lot of lipstick and a lot of pork. I lose 3x on hotels and car rentals, pretty much the only things I use CSR for, unless I book through the Chase travel portal. The Chase travel portal stinks. In my 8 years with CSR I have used the portal once, maybe twice.
Instead they are making me jump through a million hoops to get my rewards, and charging me $800 for the privilege. Saying this adds up to $2700 in benefits is silly. No one could jump through that many hoops to get those alleged benefits. $2700 is just marketing BS. They may as well advertise this as the “we don’t want your business. Please go back to American Express” card.
Sounds like Amex PUJ style now, with Chase. Along with the coupon-book credits as well.
@Joseph N- “I lose 3x on hotels and car rentals”
No, you gain 4x on hotels (8x if booked through Chase’s portal including The Edit hotels which go from 3x to 8x)
And I don’t say that this is $2,700 in benefits, but for me personally it’s legit 80% of that.
@Gary – no change to points transfers to partners
@Peter – i would
@Matt – existing cardmember earn structure stays until oct 26
@Gene – I would not prefer to book through Chase’s travel portal just because I don’t want to deal with their agents if I need to make changes, since it’s slower than dealing direct with the airline. But for flights that won’t change at all.. you know you will take the trip, and you’re booking within say 60 days of travel… there’s a good case to earn 8x
So, basically, thanks to this, I’m gonna have to prepay major ‘travel expenses’ before October to still get the 3x as opposed to the 1x, for, say, a balance on a cruise or a safari? I know, first world problems.
@ Gary — Since those criteria rarely apply to our bookings, I would avoid the portal like the plague.
The only way they can make this card stink less is by torpedoing the rest of their portfolio.
Gary, when that happens are you going to sing the praises of the “New, simplified 1x anywhere rewards structure” on the Sapphire Preferred? All to get that sweet, sweet, $392 total in affiliate cash?
I never found the old CSR to be worth the fee as I just use all my UR points to transfer to Hyatt.
The CSP plus Chase Freedom Unlimited seems better.
Is there any single thing that makes this new card more compelling at the higher price?
My big trip is in September so the only good news is that I will still get the 3x for travel for this trip. My wife has the CSP. We used the CSR mostly for travel expenses, not including air travel where we used the Amex Platinum. Can you recommend another card that will still give 3x for travel without having to go through a portal? Thanks Gary.
We have 2 cruises we’re doing next year. I think I should go ahead and pay for them ASAP on the Chase Reserve card to earn 3x points. What’s my deadline to do that?
Changes don’t look as onerous as I thought they would be.
So I guess we lose the priority lounge pass?
@Dave – no changes to Priority Pass
If I read this right. If I apply now I get the $550 fee and the 1.5x point boost for 2 years and get the new benefits in October?
@Steven S – Wells Fargo Autograph Journey is 5x hotels, 4x air, 3x dining and other travel… they have limited transfer partners, have said they’re adding more but we are still waiting on that.
So if i get the reserve right now I pay the $550 AF and get the 1.5x point boost for 2 years. When October rolls around I get the new benefits without paying the new AF?
@Alan Wong – you’d get two years of 1.5x on the points in your account in october, and you won’t pay the higher annual fee until card renewal next year
I’ve had the CSR since its inception. I assumed that a steep annual fee price hike was coming, which I could live with, if I was getting value. I am not.
The elimination of the 3x multiplier for “other travel” is a show stopper. This eliminates cruises, vacation packages, tours, Ubers and taxis. I spend more on these than I do on airfares. As for hotels, their own cards are more beneficial than CSR even at 3x.
Some of their other benefits are so ridiculous, I wonder who at Chase thought of them. A $500 credit on Southwest for 75K spend ? Is that a joke ? Any Costco member can get generous credits on Southwest. For 75K I’d expect a Polaris round trip.
Hi Gary,
I had the CSR until Nov. 2021 when I product changed to the Preferred (and I still have that card). Am I eligible for the CSR and sign up bonus?
@James – we don’t ‘actually’ know because it seems Chase is being less transparent, thogh it does seem they may lengthen the period between bonuses so the old 48 months might not even suffice (though perhaps only starting June 23?)
Thanks Gary. Fingers crossed! I had gotten the CSR in Fall of 2016 so hopefully that will be enough of a distance from the original sign up bonus.
Another question…..If I read the Edit credit correctly, if one applied for the new CSR after July 1 (say in August), they’d get the $250 Edit credit for the 2nd half of 2025, then again first half of 2026 and starting July 1, 2026 they’d get it again. So conceivably 3x before their annual fee came due again (Aug. 2026). Does that sound correct?
I’m struggling to see the benefits to this card now. Just a lot of extra hoops to jump through to recover the massive renewal costs. We all know the Chase travel postal sucks, so thats why they are trying to force users to the site.