Chase Sapphire Reserve Review: Ultra-Premium Rewards and Perks With a Price Tag to Match

Chase Sapphire Reserve Benefits

Buckle up, because with this update, the list of Chase Sapphire Reserve benefits is longer than ever, and there’s a lot to unpack.

Intro Bonus

The Sapphire Reserve is offering an incredible welcome bonus of 125,000 points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. This is an excellent opportunity to stock up on Ultimate Rewards points for upcoming award travel.

Ongoing Rewards

The Sapphire Reserve continues to be an excellent earner when it comes to travel spending, though the recent updates do skew earnings more in favor of purchases made within the Chase Travel program.

Now, you’ll earn 8x points on all Chase Travel purchases, including for airline tickets, hotels, rental cars, cruises, activities, and tours. Previously, the card earned 5x points on flights and 10x points on hotels booked through the platform. For cardholders who love booking all their trip accommodations and activities through Chase, this update brings the opportunity to load up on rewards.

Here’s the part of the earning update that’s a bit harder for me to swallow as someone coming up on nine years of cardmembership: Now, instead of offering 3x points on travel, the Sapphire Reserve will earn 4x points on all flights and hotels booked directly. This means no more triple Ultimate Rewards on Airbnbs, Ubers, Lyfts, parking, trains, buses and even airline incidental fees. Maybe this won’t matter as much to other cardholders, but to me, I loved that the Sapphire Reserve could be my go-to card for earning bonus points on virtually every travel-related purchase other than gas, with no second-guessing required.

That’s not to say that 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly isn’t great. My other favorite premium travel card, The Platinum Card® from American Express (an advertising partner), offers 5x points on flights booked directly with airlines or Amex Travel (up to $500,000 in spending per calendar year, then 1x), but 3x on the Sapphire Reserve was as much as I could hope for previously when booking a hotel stay.

The Sapphire Reserve will continue to offer 3x points on dining worldwide, and 1 point per dollar on everything else. Even if you don’t love every update to the earning rates, you have to admit that frequent travelers have the opportunity to earn a pretty sum of Ultimate Rewards under this new scheme.

1:1 Point Transfer

Combined with great earning rates, the ability to transfer points to Chase’s travel partners makes the Sapphire Reserve an incredibly valuable card. You can move Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 rate to hotel and airline programs, including:

• United MileagePlus
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Marriott Bonvoy
• World of Hyatt
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

I regularly transfer Chase points to World of Hyatt, where I’ve been able to book some incredible stays, such as the Alila Ventana Big Sur, a beautiful property on the coast in central California, where rooms go for at least $2,000 per night if you pay in cash. I’ve also transferred points to United and Singapore to book flights in premium cabins. In general, having a healthy sum of Chase Ultimate Rewards points is one of the top award travel rules I live by because they’re so valuable.

Travel Benefits

$300 Annual Travel Credit

Thankfully, one of the card’s hallmark features isn’t going anywhere. The Sapphire Reserve will continue to offer a $300 annual travel credit that applies to almost any travel expense, from airlines and hotels to tolls and parking fees and Ubers.

This benefit applies to the first $300 in eligible travel purchases you make with the card each account year, beginning on your account open date. If you spend at least $300 on travel — which you absolutely should if you’re considering this premium travel card — this is an easy way to effectively knock $300 off the annual fee.

$500 Annual Credit for Hotel Stays Through The Edit

Just as the Sapphire Reserve’s new earning categories focus more heavily than ever on spending within Chase Travel and the issuer’s The Edit℠ hotel collection, a new statement credit is meant to make stays booked through the issuer more rewarding.

Cardholders can get up to $500 in annual statement credits for stays with The Edit, a curated collection of 1,000+ hotels and resorts. This will be divided into two credits of up to $250 each, one for bookings made from January to June each year and one for bookings made from July through December.

Notably, this statement credit only applies to prepaid bookings of two nights or more. Also, The Edit collection skews quite pricey; as of publish time, featured hotels included the Ritz Paris and The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort, in the Bahamas. So while getting $250 off your stay is nice, you’re going to be spending a lot of money on your hotel room regardless.

Similar to the Fine Hotels & Resorts program offered by the Amex Platinum (which I’ve booked through a handful of times and enjoyed), The Edit offers cardholders extra hotel benefits on bookings, including complimentary room upgrades when available, free daily breakfast for two, and a $100 on-property credit. You can book The Edit stays with points, but the statement credit only applies to prepaid cash bookings.

Points Boost

As part of its big Sapphire Reserve update, Chase introduced a new Points Boost feature, which lets cardmembers redeem points for 2x the value when booking select airline tickets and hotels through Chase Travel. The Points Boost program will feature rotating offers where the 2x redemption option applies, including premium-cabin airfare and hotels.

This could be a good opportunity for cardmembers who already frequently book through Chase Travel to get extra value from their Ultimate Rewards points. But compared to Chase’s transfer partners, which offer you the ability to get virtually unlimited value from your points, you’re still locked at a fixed value of 2 cents per point with this new Points Boost option.

Complimentary IHG Platinum Elite Status

Another new benefit added with this latest revamp is complimentary IHG Platinum Elite status for Sapphire Reserve cardholders (enrollment required).

The IHG hotel chain includes a wide range of brands, from budget- and family-friendly picks like Holiday Inn and Candlewood Suites to high-end and resort-y options including InterContinental, Regent and Six Senses.

Platinum Elite is the second-highest status tier in IHG’s One Rewards program, and it offers several perks that could improve your stay at IHG properties. You’ll get a 60% points bonus on stays, complimentary room upgrades when available, early check-in and late checkout when available, free internet, and a welcome amenity at check-in.

If you already stay at IHG hotels frequently, these benefits could add some extra value, though if you’re an IHG loyalist, you may already have Platinum Elite Status or higher through stays, or through holding the Chase IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, which includes Platinum Elite status as a benefit. If IHG properties don’t coincide with your travel plans, this complimentary status probably isn’t worth making any itinerary adjustments to take advantage of it. You won’t get complimentary breakfast, for instance, which is one of the big ways that hotel elite status can save you money beyond room upgrades.

Airport Lounge Access

The Sapphire Reserve continues to offer generous airport lounge access with a handful of options. Cardholders can access Chase Sapphire Lounges, currently available at a handful of airports including New York (LGA and JFK), Boston (BOS), Philadelphia (PHL), Phoenix (PHX) and San Diego (SAN), with plans to expand to Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX) and more. Cardholders (and up to two guests) are eligible to enter the lounge with proof of their activated Priority Pass Select membership, which is another Sapphire Reserve benefit.

With the card’s Priority Pass Select membership, you get access to a much wider network of over 1,300 airport lounges around the world. Additionally, as a cardholder, you can access more than 20 Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafés while traveling on a Star Alliance airline.

Statement Credits

The Sapphire Reserve added several statement credits as part of its recent update, including the following:

• Up to $300 annual dining credit (up to $150 from January to June and up to $150 from July to December) and primetime reservations at Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables, available for booking on OpenTable
• $250 annual value through complimentary subscriptions to Apple TV+ and Apple Music
• $300 annual StubHub and Viagogo credit, divided into two biannual $150 credits (activation required)
• Up to $120 in annual statement credits (up to $10 per month) toward Peloton memberships (along with 10x points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases) through Dec. 31, 2027 (activation required)

If you fully maximize all of these new statement credits, you’ll get $970 in value. The card will continue to offer the following existing statement credits as well:

• Up to $120 in annual Lyft in-app credits, up to $10 monthly, plus 5x total points on eligible Lyft rides (through Sept. 30, 2027)
• Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS credit every four years
• Up to $300 per year in monthly DoorDash promos and a complimentary DashPass membership worth $120 annually (activation required by Dec. 31, 2027)

Travel Insurance

The Sapphire Reserve offers among the most comprehensive trip protections among travel rewards cards, and luckily, that’s not changing with the recent update. The card will continue to offer excellent travel insurance, including trip cancellation and interruption insurance, baggage delay coverage and primary rental car coverage.

Premium Benefits Unlocked With $75,000 Spent Each Calendar Year

Chase added a handful of benefits to reward Sapphire Reserve cardholders who spend $75,000 or more on the card in a calendar year. The benefits will be available for the remainder of the calendar year in which you hit the $75,000 threshold as well as the following calendar year:

• IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite Status, the highest level of IHG elite status, which offers 100% bonus points on reservations, free breakfast and other perks
• Up to $500 Southwest Airlines travel credit when you book through Chase Travel
• Southwest Airlines A-List Status, which gets you priority boarding, a free checked bag, a 25% points bonus and more
• A $250 credit to The Shops at Chase, an online shopping experience including brands such as Dyson, Sony, Therabody and Tumi

If you were already planning on spending $75,000 or more on the card annually, these perks are a nice reward, but it’s not necessarily worth going out of your way to get them. That’s especially true if you value benefits on other cards that require hitting a spending threshold, such as getting an extra Category 1 to 4 free night for spending $15,000 on the The World of Hyatt Credit Card in a calendar year.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Drawbacks

The (Even Higher) Annual Fee

The Sapphire Reserve’s previous $550 annual fee had been enough to raise eyebrows, but for most avid travelers it was easy enough to justify by subtracting the $300 annual travel credit, Global Entry/NEXUS/TSA PreCheck credit, and DoorDash and Lyft credits, not to mention the ability to earn and redeem valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

With the annual fee increasing to $795, the math has changed. The card now offers over $2,700 in annual cardmember value, and the statement credits do add up quite quickly. But chances are, most users won’t be able to take advantage of every last dollar of those statement credits, and it’s hard to deny that the revamped benefits favor big spenders.

Cardmembers who applied before June 23, 2025, will get access to Sapphire Reserve’s new features starting Oct. 26, 2025. Their annual fee will be adjusted to $795 on their next anniversary date following Oct. 26, 2025. I’ve had the card since it debuted in 2016, and since my anniversary date is about to hit, I have another year before I’ll have to decide whether keeping the card at the higher annual fee is worth it.

The New Bonus Categories Are a Mixed Bag

The Sapphire Reserve now rewards spending on Chase Travel the most handsomely, at a rate of 8x points on all purchases. If you frequently book through Chase Travel, this is a win, but many travelers prefer to book directly with the hotel or airline to enjoy elite status benefits.

To that end, the card now offers 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly rather than 3x on all travel. If you value Chase points above all loyalty currencies, this is likely a good thing. I’ll continue to put airfare purchases on my Amex Platinum to enjoy 5x points on flights, (up to $500,000 in spending per calendar year, then 1x) but even I admit 4x points on direct hotel bookings is pretty great.

But losing 3x on general travel purchases hurts. This was a catch-all category that included vacation rentals, Uber, Lyft, tolls, parking fees, trains, buses and more. The beauty of the $300 annual travel credit has long been that it applies to virtually every travel purchase, and fortunately, that isn’t going away, but losing that flexibility on the earning side is unfortunate.

New Statement Credits May Not Be Worth It for Everyone

The card now offers a long list of statement credits, with the new additions alone representing $970 in value. However, you won’t automatically get $970 in value as a cardholder, especially when you consider that some of them are divided into bi-annual chunks. Beyond first checking that you actually can get use out of the credits for StubHub, Viagogo, Peloton and more, you’ll have to do some work to make sure you redeem them at the appropriate times of the year to get full value. Activation may be required.

Who Is the Sapphire Reserve Best For?

With its latest update, the Sapphire Reserve is now a luxury travel credit card with a capital L. It’s always leaned that way, but the higher annual fee pushes it over the edge, as does the newly fleshed-out selection of travel, dining and lifestyle perks.

Many of the new card benefits specifically target high spenders, like the suite of perks for crossing the $75,000 threshold. And to take full advantage of the card’s updated benefits and earning rates, you’ll need to spend significant money through Chase Travel and The Edit hotel collection, which features posh properties with the price tags to match. If your budget and travel plans align with the platform’s options, you have the opportunity to maximize your spending and stack benefits by taking advantage of statement credits for The Edit and Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables.

But if you prefer to redeem points for hotel stays or book more budget-conscious options, the Sapphire Reserve’s increased focus on The Edit and Chase Travel may leave you wondering if it’s still the right card for you. It’s worth noting that you can redeem Chase points for hotel stays beyond The Edit collection, so not all hotel options will be in the premium category.

If you’re a frequent traveler who isn’t dissuaded by the new price tag and increased focus on luxury Chase travel benefits, you’ll probably find a lot to like in the revamped Sapphire Reserve. The updated selection of statement credits is undeniably generous, spanning everything from dining to Apple streaming services to StubHub, and the card remains not only one of the best Chase credit cards but one of the best travel credit cards overall for protecting your trip with top-notch travel insurance.

Is It The Right Card For You?

The Sapphire Reserve may be the right fit for you if any of the following apply:

• You want premium perks like airport lounge access and annual travel credits to enhance your travel experience
• You frequently book flights and hotels through Chase Travel
• You value earning and redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points
• You want the most comprehensive travel coverage when booking your trip

Alternatives to the Chase Sapphire Reserve

If you’re looking for a premium travel card, here are two Sapphire Reserve rivals with similarly valuable rewards and benefits:

• Amex Platinum: This card has a $695 annual fee and earns an impressive 5x points on flights booked directly through the airline or American Express Travel, on up to $500,000 per calendar year (then 1x). It also offers Amex airport lounge access through Priority Pass (enrollment required) as well as its own network of Centurion lounges, plus a long list of statement credits and benefits worth over $1,500 annually. The Sapphire Reserve has the card beat when it comes to points-earning rates, but the Amex Platinum remains the top pick for airport lounge access and shopping perks.
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: With a relatively affordable $395 annual fee, this card offers similar benefits to Sapphire Reserve, including a $300 annual travel credit (though it only applies to bookings through Capital One Travel), a statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, and airport lounge access through Priority Pass and the Capital One Lounge network.