It Costs More Than Ever — Yet To Me, Chase Sapphire Reserve Finally Feels Worth It

Changes to the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card (See rates and fees) are actually great for me. I know they’re controversial to some of you. And in some ways I wasn’t sure at first how to balance the changes between new benefits and what’s lost.

However, now that we’re past October 26th when my exiting card converted to have all of the new benefits I am glad that it did. In fact, I was tempted several times to call Chase and have them convert me sooner, even though that meant paying the higher annual fee up front instead of my seeing it next year.

• I rarely used the 1.5 cent per point redemptions. I would have if my primary points use were domestic coach travel, but it’s not. I aim to get a lot more value than 1.5 cents per point, so really considered redeeming at 1.5 cents to be a waste. It just wasn’t in my redemption path, so losing this doesn’t actually cost me anything.

• Meanwhile, Points Boost is huge. There are times I’d consider 2 cent per point business class redemptions against inexpensive premium fares. And I do transfer points to Hyatt, where I might at times only get 2 cents apiece. Being able to pair Points Boost redemptions with Chase’s The Edit extra benefits like an on-property credit, and not just with Hyatt hotels but others too, is great. And this is far better than transferring points to Marriott or IHG!

  

• 4x on air and hotel is huge, plus 8x on air through Chase travel. I lose 3x on non-air and hotel direct travel spend, like Airbnb and cruises, but I don’t book through Airbnb much and I don’t take cruises. I will gain more on the points side than I lose and will probably book a bunch of my air through the Chase portal for the extra points-earning, even compared to Amex Platinum.

  

• The Edit and Dining credits, for me, will not just cover the $200 increase in annual fee, but will cover basically cover the annual fee itself for me – since I’ll use these for stays I’d take anyway and for restaurant meals I’d otherwise pay for. A bunch of my favorite local restaurants are on the Exclusive Tables list. I already eat at Clark’s Oyster Bar, Este, Kemuri Tatsu-Ya, and Emmer & Rye.

  I guess I’m losing 3 points per dollar on dining for the restaurant visits I get credited back to my card, so it’s not literally as good as cash (there’s still a tradeoff). But it’s close. And that’s without even the card’s $300 annual travel credit. And it’s without the StubHub credit for tickets I would have purchased anyway. The card was marginal, and not a money-maker, before. It is one after the refresh.

  

• I’ve already spent over $75,000 on my card this year, and that means I’ll get credits that amount to an additional 1% rebate on card spend plus two new statuses:
  • Southwest A-List Status: which means free preferred seat at time of booking, and extra legroom seats within 48 hours; priority boarding; free checked bag; priority check-in.

    

  • IHG One Rewards Diamond Status: (I rarely stay there as Hyatt is my primary focus, but this will be nice when I have to stay at an IHG property)

    

    

  • $500 Southwest credit: for bookings through Chase’s portal. Southwest is 41% of the seats from my home airport in Austin so I’m going to fly them. A $500 credit is real money to me.

    

  • $250 Shops at Chase credit: worst case I buy Aesop products there and save real money I’d otherwise be spending.

I’ve booked Southwest trips without the A-List status and that’s probably dumb. I should’ve just called Chase and upgraded early. I haven’t done it, but then I go to dinner at a place like Kemuri Tatsu-Ya and I smack myself on the forehead, “could’ve had a V-8!”

Bottom line for me is that the card was somewhat marginal before, but it’s a no-brainer now. It has great credits and benefits, and unlike Amex Platinum it’s a card I actually use for spending. Which makes it great for me and for Chase I guess. I realize that not everyone loves the card’s changes but for me they’re a huge win.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®