KEY POINTS
I've had a Chase Sapphire Reserve® card in my wallet for about eight years, and it'll stay there so long as the perks remain as good as they are now.
The card carries a steep annual fee of $550, but it's still one of the best travel cards on the market. I could downgrade to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, which costs only $95 per year. However, I easily earn back my annual fee -- and then some -- through rewards.
Here are three of the biggest reasons I expect to keep this card for years to come.
On Chase's Secure Website.
On Chase's Secure Website.
Good/Excellent (670-850)
Intro APR
Purchases: N/A
Balance Transfers: N/A
Regular APR
21.49% - 28.49% Variable
Rewards Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.
5x points on flights and 10x points on hotels and car rentals through Chase Travel℠.
Annual Fee
$550
Welcome Offer Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
60,000 bonus points
All the perks we've come to expect from a top travel card, including a $300 annual travel credit, airport lounge access, and big bonuses on travel and dining. Points are transferable to airline and hotel partners or worth 50% more if you book through Chase Travel. The annual fee is hefty, but if you can use all its features, this card could be well worth the cost.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® card pays a credit for your first $300 in travel spending each year. So if you travel even just once per year, you're practically guaranteed to get $300 back.
Earning categories include:
On top of that, your points are worth 50% more when you redeem them for travel through Chase.
Between the annual credit, the rewards points, and the bonus redemption rate, I've saved over $1,000 on airfare in the past year alone.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholders get a free DoorDash DashPass subscription (normally $10 per month) and a $5 monthly DoorDash credit. DashPass gets you $0 delivery fees and reduced service fees. I save $5 to $10 on every order, and I order from DoorDash once or twice a week. That means I'm saving a few hundred bucks a year.
I also use rideshare services to get around sometimes, and my card got me a free Lyft Pink subscription. Granted, this was a limited-time promotion that has since ended; my free Pink membership runs out in November. But until then, I'll enjoy faster pickup times and 5% off every ride, which for me is worth at least $40 a year.
And if history is any guide, there will be more valuable limited-time promotions to come.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholders get access to over 1,300 Priority Pass airport lounges.
There's no limit to how many lounge visits they can make, and they can bring a guest for free. That means my partner and I almost always have a place to relax with free food and drinks before our flights.
This is a rare and valuable perk that most cards -- including the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card -- don't offer. Without the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card, a similar Priority Pass membership costs $469 a year -- and you still have to pay extra for guests.
Cardholders also get access to the new Sapphire Lounge®, which currently has only six locations. We recently stopped by the Sapphire Lounge® at Boston Logan, and let me tell you, it was luxe.
Chase has kept me pretty happy for eight years running. So long as I keep getting my annual fee back several times over, I feel no need to downgrade to a card with a lower fee.
That said, I'll continue to keep an eye out for exciting sign-up bonuses and other reasons to switch up my main spending card -- as should you.
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