Top 3 Reasons Why It Might Be Time to Upgrade to the Chase Sapphire Reserve
When I signed up for my first travel rewards credit card, I chose the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, because it only had a $95 annual fee. But now that I’ve seen how much real-life value the Chase Sapphire cards can deliver, I feel like I might have made a mistake — I should’ve gotten the Chase Sapphire Reserve® instead!
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® credit card charges a $550 annual fee, but it offers even more value to serious travelers. Based on how much you travel and which elite travel perks are most important to you, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® could be a better choice — and worth upgrading from the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
Let’s look at a few reasons why you might want to upgrade to the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
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The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card gives you 25% more value for your points when you use them to book travel with Chase. But the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card rewards you even more extensively — your points are worth 50% more for booking travel in the Chase Travel portal.
Here’s how much travel you can book with the two Chase Sapphire credit cards, based on this one big difference in points-redemption value:
| Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (points worth 25% more for travel) | Chase Sapphire Reserve® (points worth 50% more for travel) | How much more travel you get with Chase Sapphire Reserve® | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 points | $125 | $150 | $25 |
| 25,000 points | $312.50 | $375 | $62.50 |
| 50,000 points | $625 | $750 | $125 |
| 75,000 points | $937.50 | $1,125 | $187.50 |
| 100,000 points | $1,250 | $1,500 | $250 |
Data source: Author’s calculations.
The takeaway: For every 10,000 points you have with Chase Ultimate Rewards, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card gives you an extra $25 of travel-buying power than you’d get with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. This can quickly help you recoup the $550 annual fee. And speaking of that annual fee…
2. Chase Sapphire Reserve® benefits and perks are easy to use
I’m not worried about that $550 Chase Sapphire Reserve® annual fee anymore, because it’s easy to quickly get back more than enough value to make that $550 worth paying. Here’s how.
Chase Sapphire $300 annual travel credit
Yes, you have to pay a $550 annual fee for this card. But Chase Sapphire Reserve® gives you an annual $300 travel credit for booking travel through Chase — which is easy to get, since you likely wouldn’t have signed up for this card in the first place unless you wanted to, you know, book travel.
So the first $300 you spend on travel each year is already included in this fee — it’s not all “new money.” And after that $300 travel statement credit, you really “only” have $250 of annual fee to recoup. Here’s how.
DoorDash DashPass subscription ($120 per year)
Do you love ordering delivery from restaurants? Want to save on fees? Chase Sapphire Reserve® gives you a free DoorDash DashPass subscription that’s worth about $10 per month or $120 per year.
Lyft Pink membership ($199 per year)
Would you like to have a better experience as a ride-hailing customer, but have not wanted to pay for it yourself? The Chase Sapphire Reserve® gives you another perk: two years of Lyft Pink membership that gives you some discounts, upgrades, and other benefits — and it’s worth $199 per year.
There are other partnership benefits and perks, too — like a free Instacart+ membership, and a statement credit of $100 every four years to cover the costs of a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck or NEXUS program application fee. But even if you don’t use any other perks of this card, just the Lyft Pink membership and DashPass subscription are worth more than enough to cover the rest of your $550 annual fee:
| Chase Sapphire Reserve® card benefits | How much value you get |
|---|---|
| Annual travel credit | $300 |
| DashPass subscription | $120 |
| Lyft Pink membership | $199 |
| TOTAL value: | $619 |
Data source: Author’s calculations.
3. Chase Sapphire Reserve® gives you airport lounge access
This card lets you enter the elite realm of travelers who get complimentary airport lounge access. Just for being a Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholder, you get access to more than 1,300 lounges with a Priority Pass Select membership. Enjoy a quieter, more comfortable, more relaxing place to hang out during your next layover. And you can bring up to two guests!
Bottom line
If you already have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (like me), you might want to think about upgrading to a higher level of travel credit card perks and benefits. And if you’re not yet a Chase Sapphire credit card customer, you can get a new Chase Sapphire Reserve® with a limited-time welcome offer of 75,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 within the first 3 months.
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