Nick Ewen: Hey, everyone! Nick Ewen, senior editorial director here at The Points Guy, and really excited to talk about one of my favorite card products that just underwent a major refresh. This is the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees), one of the 20-plus cards that I currently carry in my wallet, and I’m going to be chatting this through with one of my very well-qualified colleagues.
Carly Helfand: Hi, everybody! I’m Carly Helfand, director of points and miles, and credit card content here at TPG. And yeah, I’m going to be talking about why I’m not super excited about this refresh and instead vouch for one of my favorite cards, the Sapphire Reserve’s little sister: the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees).
Nick: Yeah. I would say, “little sister” is probably underselling how valuable that card is. We’ll get into that in a little bit. But for those of you who missed the news, huge changes to the Chase Sapphire Reserve were officially launched Monday, June 23, for new applicants on or after that date. You now have a ton of additional credits and benefits, new earning rates and a huge welcome offer of 100,000 bonus points plus a $500 Chase Travel℠ credit when you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months. For existing cardholders like me, you have access to one of the new benefits, Points Boost, as of June 23, but the rest of the benefits will come starting Oct. 26. Your next renewal on or after that date will have the higher $795 annual fee, so it’s a hefty fee increase compared to the Sapphire Preferred.
Carly: When the Sapphire Reserve debuted in 2016 with a 100,000-point welcome offer, that was such a pivotal moment in the world of points and miles. It had an industry-leading welcome offer and just exceptional earning rates on travel and dining, and while the fee was on the higher side, it was largely offset by the flexible $300 travel credit, which still exists today.
Nick: Yeah, the fee at launch was only $450.
Carly: So that $300 travel credit made it a card that effectively cost $150. If you can maximize that versus a $95 card, at the time, I thought that card was the best thing since sliced bread. I had it. I was very happy with it for a long time.
Then the annual fee went up to $550, and when the Sapphire Preferred came out with a 100,000-point offer [no longer available], I didn’t feel that by switching, I was really giving up any major benefits.
I’m also now at a point where it’s difficult to keep track of these new credits — and, you know, are these good credits? Can you maximize them? But even if you can, $795 is a big fee to hit at once.
Nick: Oh, I think there’s definitely a math element to it where everyone needs to crunch the numbers and see. But before we get into some of those benefits, let’s start off just talking about earning points. The Sapphire Preferred has no changes — so you still earn 5 points per dollar spent on all Chase Travel purchases, 3 points per dollar spent on dining, online grocery and select streaming purchases, and 2 points per dollar spent on all other travel purchases.
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The Sapphire Reserve now earns 8 points per dollar spent on Chase Travel purchases and then 4 points per dollar spent on direct purchases through airlines and hotels (up from 3 points). Then, the 3 points per dollar spent on dining earning rate remains in place (that matches the Sapphire Preferred), and the big thing is that travel now drops to 1 point per dollar. Now, originally, when I heard that these other travel purchases (think: Uber, Lyft, Airbnb stays, parking, tolls), I initially thought, “That’s a shame.” But then I pulled my spending over the first five months of this year from my Sapphire Reserve account, and I found out that I’d come out ahead by over a thousand points if these earning rates had been in effect.
This is why I encourage everyone to sit down and do the math. An Uber is generally not going to be anywhere near as expensive as a flight, especially if you’re often traveling with your family. A hotel is not going to be the same price as a parking fee or an automatic toll replenishment.
I think it’s important to crunch the numbers and not just think, “Oh, I’m canceling it because I’m no longer going to get 3 points per dollar on my $19 parking fee when I go to see a show.”
Carly: Yeah, I think that’s a really important point, but the bigger issue for me is that those still aren’t good enough for me to switch my spending in those categories. I have The Platinum Card® from American Express, and that earns 5 points per dollar spent on direct flight bookings (up to $500,000 on these purchases each calendar year, then 1 point per dollar after that), and I’m a huge fan of my hotel cobranded cards. My World of Hyatt Credit Card (see rates and fees) already earns 4 points per dollar spent on Hyatt bookings, and by putting the spend there, I’m also spending my way to a second free night certificate [after spending $15,000 in a calendar year; valid at Category 1-4 properties]. With the Sapphire Reserve just offering 4 points per dollar spent on direct hotel bookings and flights, I’m not going to be moving that spend over.
Nick: This is again where it comes to looking at your own spending, including the other bonus categories on the Sapphire Preferred, like online groceries. I tried it during the coronavirus pandemic. Not a fan. I need the control of seeing the groceries, picking things out. I have other cards that give me different streaming credits for the services that I use there.
But where I may come out ahead is the increased earning rates on Chase Travel purchases. It’s now 8 points per dollar spent on any purchase that you make there, and where this has a lot of potential is with The Edit properties. At the end of last year, Chase started adding the ability for online bookings of some hotels through Chase Travel to count toward loyalty programs. You’ll now see a “Loyalty program eligible” moniker for those properties. I typically would never have considered booking a Hyatt or Marriott property through Chase Travel because I love my status; I’m not going to give that up. If I have the chance to earn 8 Chase points per dollar spent, plus I can access the great perks of The Edit, plus I get the statement credit by booking these stays — those things become really, really appealing to me.
Carly: Well, first of all, I just need a second to rebut the online grocery thing. Honestly, that earning rate is a primary reason that I hold the Sapphire Preferred. I never stopped online grocery shopping after the pandemic. I still do some in person — I also like to pick out my produce — but it’s the other things that I don’t need to see in real life that are annoying to carry. I can earn a ton of points on baby formula or cases of seltzer or packaged goods. I would never part with that earning rate.
Going to Chase Travel, I have found if something gets changed or something goes wrong and you try to call the airline, they’re like, “Well, you booked this through an online travel agency,” and you call the online travel agency and they’re like, “You have to talk to the airline” — and it’s happened to me a couple of times. My flights are getting booked directly with the airline, and for the best earning rate, that’s going to stay on Amex for me.
Nick: And again, this is why you’ve got to look at your unique situation. Decide which is going to make the most sense for you, especially with this refresh on the Sapphire Reserve. Right off the bat, the $300 travel credit is staying the same as it was. It is far and away the most flexible travel credit out there. Without fail, that’s immediately dropping the annual fee down to $495. My wife is a loyal Peloton user. She got it right before the pandemic, so we have a membership every month. Now, we’re going to shift to the Sapphire Reserve — [up to] $10 a month [statement credit on Peleton memberships through Dec. 31, 2027] (up to $120 annually) that we are currently spending immediately put back in our pocket, so that lowers the effective annual fee down to $375.
That means I just need to pick off one or two other credits here and there — maybe one of the biannual credits for The Edit [up to $250 from January to June and up to $250 from July through December] or one of the Chase Sapphire Exclusive Tables credits [up to $150 from January to June and up to $150 from July to December]. And right there, without touching any of the other benefits, I’ve made my annual fee back. That’s the kind of math that we encourage everyone to do.
Carly: I will point out that the StubHub credit would give me a good option in a category where I didn’t already have one, but my main complaint with all of these is that they’re coming after so many other cards have introduced benefits like this. It’s just … too much. With the Sapphire Preferred, if that’s all you’ve got, it’s travel, dining and online groceries. There’s nothing else to think about.
Nick: Well, one of the biggest differences outside of the statement credits between these two cards is lounge access. The Chase Sapphire Lounges are probably my favorite, but the fantastic thing is that with this refresh, Chase has kept the guest privileges. That’s powerful for me, because I am often traveling with my wife and my now 10-year-old daughter. These facilities are simply top-notch, and I can’t wait for them to continue to grow. Carly, you’re not getting access to these lounges with your Sapphire Preferred.
Carly: I know. And we keep coming back to this idea of evaluating it for yourself. For you, I very clearly see the case there. And now I’m going to tell you why lounge access does not matter to me. I am never getting to the airport early. Never. I’m only ever in the airport lounge, really, when I’m connecting. Also, I think you have to look at where the lounges are. Most of the existing Chase lounges don’t make any sense for me, living in Oregon. I can absolutely see how they would be a big selling point for other people. It’s just in my situation, it’s a total nonfactor.
Nick: And there’s very little difference between the travel protections on the two cards. Back in 2019, there was a power outage while I was flying home from South America. They were writing boarding passes at the check-in desk! We landed in Lima, Peru, missing our connection to Miami. I booked the taxes and fees on our award ticket using my Sapphire Reserve, and the travel protections covered the hotel and the Uber to the hotel and back to the airport, as well as meals while we were on the ground. Another situation: We had to cancel a trip at the last minute because both my wife and I caught COVID-19. There was a cancellation fee associated with the award ticket that we had booked, and it was super easy to get that refunded. Either one of the cards offers a ton of peace of mind.
Carly: Also, the rental car coverage is really good on both cards. I’m someone who has rented cars internationally a ton of times. I love a road trip. And just knowing that can be your primary rental car insurance on either of these cards, at least for me, is a super important perk.
Nick: Yeah, let’s get into redemptions now, because there are some notable differences and some changes on both cards. As of June 23, both Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Preferred cardholders now have access to a points accelerator program called Points Boost, where your points are potentially worth more for select flights and travel bookings through Chase Travel. For new cardholders, this has replaced the previous 1.25 cents you got on the Sapphire Preferred (and 1.5 cents on the Sapphire Reserve). Existing cardmembers still can leverage those through Oct. 26, 2027, for points you earn prior to Oct. 26, 2025. During that two-year period, you’re going to get the better of those values.
But for me, this is not going to change anything. I have used my points directly through Chase a few times, but I will now probably only consider that when I see a Points Boost opportunity. The majority of my Chase redemptions are transfers to partners, and nothing changes.
Carly: Yeah, at the time that I switched cards, the 1.5 cents per point redemption rate did feel like a loss. I did book some United Airlines flights through there at the time because they counted as revenue flights and helped me with elite status. But I am still sad to see that go on behalf of people for whom transferring still feels scary or complicated. Honestly, for me, the biggest impact of these changes is just something that was simple got way more complicated. And I’m sticking with my simple card.
Nick: And what Carly’s getting to here: She’s sticking with her Sapphire Preferred, and I’m sticking with my Sapphire Reserve. That, I think, is probably one of the biggest things that we would recommend. You are probably missing out if you are not participating in the Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem with one of these cards. With lounge access, statement credits, points earning and those travel protections that these cards offer, there’s some real value to be had. And with this new complexity, maybe this is the push you need to get into transferable points and really start figuring out when it makes sense to convert those points to Hyatt, Air Canada or United — so maybe take this as an opportunity to take your strategy to the next step.
Carly: Yes, I could not agree more.
Nick: Awesome. Any final thoughts on these two Sapphire products?
Carly: I still do feel like for a $95 card, the value on the Sapphire Preferred is unmatched. You’re getting the travel protections, the transfer partners, the rental car coverage and the earning rates. If you have a premium card getting too high in price, you’re still doing pretty good if you downgrade or switch to the Sapphire Preferred.
Nick: Yeah, crunch the numbers to figure out whether the new perks on the Sapphire Reserve make sense or if the Preferred might be the better option. But sitting on the sidelines is not what we’d recommend, because getting in the game is the only way that you can turn that everyday spending into fantastic rewards. And I would argue that there are few better programs out there than Chase Ultimate Rewards to do so.
Carly: I would be shocked if you found a TPG staffer without one of these cards, so we really recommend having at least one of them in your wallet.
Nick: Well, there you have it. Carly, I enjoyed our conversation, and happy travels to everyone out there!
