Tag Archives for chase sapphire reserve.
Chase Sapphire Reserve is getting even more valuable in 2026, adding a new $250 hotel credit and making its $500 Edit credit easier to use.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® (See rates and fees) Chase’s bonus offer to launch the refreshed Sapphire Reserve product has ended. I assumed we’d see fewer points on offer now, but that’s not what happened! Instead the new offer lets you earn 125,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s the most points that have ever been offered for a Sapphire card, period. The launch offer was 100,000 and a $500 travel portal credit after $5,000 in spend. This new offer is 25,000 more points, doesn’t include the travel credit, and requires $1,000 more spend to earn. Some of you will do the math and say the launch offer was bigger. However, It’s no longer available The travel credit required you to book through the portal, the…
The relaunched Chase Sapphire Reserve is now available. Those applying today get the new card value proposition right away. Here’s what I really think about the new card – as a standalone proposition, and about the changes for current Sapphire cardmembers. Should you get the card? Should you keep it?
Pondering this sent me down a rabbit hole, pouring through LA city documents about the upcoming Chase Sapphire Lounge at LAX in the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Ongoing operating costs for the lounge are about $20 million a year. But this one number stood out to me in particular.
The product was wildly successful attracting young, affluent cardmembers. But it wasn’t profitable. Early on Chase filed SEC 8-Ks outlining greater than expected costs. My understanding is that in the first five years after launch they’d cumulatively lost around $2 billion on the product.
Chase is revamping its Sapphire Reserve card. It’ll be more expensive, and the earning and redemption proposition will be different. There are a lot more credits than before. So what’s the next effect on cardmembers – are the changes to Sapphire Reserve good or bad?
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?’
Until now they haven’t had a business version of the popular Sapphire Reserve card. That’s surprising. Amex has the Business Platinum. Even Capital One has Venture X Business. Yet Chase’s small business cards focused on the entry-level Ink and the mid-tier product that was closer to Sapphire Preferred.
While some members will find reason to be disappointed, overall I think they’ve done a really great job re-engineering the economics of the card both to benefit their own book and to offer more value to cardmembers.
Chase’s new Sapphire Terrace is now open in the Austin airport. It’s the bank’s first airport space in the U.S., though not officially a ‘Sapphire Lounge’. That’s because it’s unique, not a full lounge and mostly outdoor space. It’s also open to Sapphire Reserve cardmembers but not a part of Priority Pass.
The space has been really transformed compared to just a week ago when I looked in on it.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
