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Is the 60K Sapphire Reserve worth applying for before a rumored annual fee increase to $795? This is $245 more than the current $550 fee, and there are other changes to card category bonuses and benefits, although the $300 annual travel credit is expected to remain in place, making this effectively a $495 per year card before accounting for any of the other potential credits below.
Changes (in addition to annual fee increase to $795)
- 3X points for direct bookings of airlines and hotels increased to 4X
- 3X points for other travel (non-airline, non-hotel) reduced to 1 point per dollar
- 5X points for Chase Travel bookings of airlines increased to 8X
- 10X points for Chase Travel bookings of hotel and cars reduced to 8X
New Benefits
- $500 Edit Credit, via $250/semi-annual (The Edit is a hotel portal run by Chase for select hotels)
- $300 Dining credit via Sapphire Reserve Tables, via $150/semi-annual
- $300 DoorDash credit via $25/month
- $120 DoorDash membership
- $250 towards Apple TV+ and Apple Music
- $120 Lyft credit via 5% $10/month
- $120 Peloton credit via 10x $10/month
For Cardholders After Spending $75,000 in a Calendar Year
- $500 Southwest credit
- Southwest A-List status
- IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite Status
- $250 The Shops credit
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Analysis
If implemented, the Chase Sapphire Reserve would be the most expensive (by annual fee) premium public travel credit card on the market (we're excluding the AMEX Centurion Card which requires an invitation), since the AMEX Platinum card that the Sapphire Reserve competes with currently has a $695 annual fee. That said, the $200 AMEX airline incidental statement credit is more difficult to use than the CSR's $300 statement credit for any travel. And after taking into account those statement credits, the cards' effective $495 annual fees are equal–which could even be how Chase landed on the annual fee increase to $795.
While some cardholders may easily make up the card's increased annual fee via the new statement credits, for us and for many of our clients, they're close to worthless, because they don't fit current spend patterns. Chase is trying to get cardholders to book travel via its portal, but good luck getting good customer service (AMEX Travel isn't immune from customer service problems either, which is why we NEVER recommend booking flights through AMEX either; much better to book through the airline directly). Similarly, with luxury hotels, if there are any issues, you'll get better resolution and service recovery if you have TravelSort or another luxury travel expert in your corner, than if you booked through AMEX or Chase.
The “couponing” via these statement credits also gives a cheap feel to both the AMEX Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve: most of our HNW clients highly value their time and simplicity. They do look for value, but they don't want to jump through hoops to get it. Speaking of which: who is Chase targeting with the Southwest and IHG “perks” after spending $75K on the card? Neither brand connotes luxury, quite the opposite. Of course, Delta is already aligned with AMEX, but if there's going to be an airline benefit, it should at least be United. If Southwest is the best airline and IHG is the best hotel Chase can get perks from for high spenders . . . maybe it's time to go back to the drawing board.
The combination of the annual fee increase (and most likely an authorized user fee increase as well) with the elimination of the 3X points for other, non-airline/non-hotel travel spend (such as TravelSort and other travel companies, trains, taxis, cruises, tours, etc.) is particularly disappointing to us and our clients and is likely to lead to a number of product downgrades and shift in spend to other credit cards.
What's your take on the proposed Chase Sapphire Reserve changes, and will you get the current version of the card before the annual fee increases?
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Source: DofC
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