How the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Can Pay for Its Annual Fee Five Times Over

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a premium travel credit card with a slew of deluxe rewards. Annual travel credits, complimentary Instacart and DoorDash memberships, and a welcome bonus worth $900 top this card’s most lavish perks.

But premium isn’t free. It’s not even cheap. The Chase Sapphire Reserve® comes with a $550 annual fee, making it one of the most expensive credit cards. Feel free to navigate to the best no annual fee cards if paying roughly half a year of car insurance premiums for a credit line doesn’t sound like a good deal to you.

However, before you do, you might want to hear this: The Chase Sapphire Reserve® comes with a steep price, but it’s one that could pay for itself more than five times over in its first year. Tallying the figures, that means this card has potential to save you just under $3,000 in year one — or just over $2,400 after subtracting the annual fee. How does that work out? Let’s take a look.

New cardmember welcome offer (valued at $900)

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® has one of the biggest welcome offers of all travel credit cards.

When you spend $4,000 in the first 3 months, Chase will reward you with 60,000 bonus points. That’s equal to $900 when you redeem your points for travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Normally, Chase points are worth about $0.01 per point, but when you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards, you get 50% added to their value, making them worth more like $0.015 a piece. Earning 60,000 points, then, with a $0.015 valuation makes the welcome bonus worth $900 (other redemptions, like cash back, may devalue the offer).

Annual travel credit ($300)

Every year, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® will automatically reimburse you for up to $300 in travel purchases. And no — unlike other travel cards, this credit isn’t just for luxurious add-ons, like hotel upgrades or in-flight meals. You can get reimbursed for almost all travel purchases, including flights, hotels, car rentals, cruise lines, bus tickets, campgrounds, even parking lots and garages.

Partnership benefit perks ($1,283)

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is also loaded with partnership benefits. Here’s what this card has to offer:

• Lyft Pink ($199 per year): Two years of complimentary Lyft Pink All Access when activated by Dec. 24, 2024.
• DoorDash DashPass ($120): Get 12 months of DashPass when activated by Dec. 31, 2024.
• Monthly DoorDash credit ($55): Get $5 in DoorDash credits each month through Dec. 31, 2024. Since January is over, that leaves you with up to $55 in DoorDash Credits for the rest of 2024.
• Instacart Membership ($100): One year of complimentary Instacart+ when activated by July 31, 2024.
• Monthly Instacart credit ($90): Get up to $15 in statement credits as an Instacart+ member through July 2024. Since January is over, that leaves you with six months of monthly credits, or $90.
• Priority Pass ($469): Get access to thousands of airport lounges, restaurants, cafes and markets in the Priority Pass Select network.
• Luxury Hotel privileges + special benefit up to $100: Get daily breakfast for two, complimentary wifi, and a special hotel-specific benefit up to $100.
• Peloton ($150): Earn 10x points on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through March 31, 2025. That can turn a new Peloton bike purchase into $150 in rewards.

But unless you’re already spending money on one or several of the subscriptions above, adding them to your card’s total value may not be useful (who wants to pay $550 for services they don’t use?). Still, getting free premium services is a boon for some, especially since many help you save money in other ways (like waived or reduced delivery fees).

Global Entry or TSA Precheck ($100)

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® will give you a $100 credit to use toward a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership. Not bad, especially if you’re sick of waiting in airport security lines.

Rewards on Chase travel purchases ($225)

This card will earn 10x points per $1 on hotels and car rentals booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards (after using the $300 annual travel credit) and 5 points per $1 on flights booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards. You can use your own annual travel expenses to figure out your rewards. But assuming you spend $1,500 on airfare and $1,000 on hotels within a year, you’d earn about $225 (with a value of $0.015 per point).

Rewards on dining purchases ($164)

The card also earns 3x points per $1 spent on dining purchases. Assuming you spend $3,640 per year on dining, which is the average that Americans spent in 2022, you’d earn about $164 in rewards (again, with a value of $0.015).

Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve® worth it for you?

If you travel frequently, then, yes, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® could definitely be worth it. The $300 travel credit alone would drop the annual fee to $250. Add the rewards you earn from booking travel through Chase — plus its lucrative welcome offer — and it’s not hard to see how this card could put you on top.

Many of the perks mentioned above expire within your card’s first two years. If we subtract the welcome offer, partnership perks, and Global Entry reimbursement, then this card’s value to you really comes down to how many points it can generate.

So do the math for yourself. All in all, if you can net more than the card costs you, then paying $550 might be worth it. Otherwise, you might be better off with a no fee travel credit card, or one that has a lower annual fee.

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