When people learn that I’m an expert on credit cards and travel rewards, they often ask, “What’s the best credit card?” They call me that. My standard response is that the best card depends on who you are and how you are. use it. But this is a boring answer. So now I’m going to tell them that I think the best card is the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
The annual fee for Sapphire Reserve is $550, which is higher, but I’m always willing to pay for the valuable rewards and benefits. If you’re an avid traveler, you can too.
Chase Sapphire Reserve Offer
The card’s most valuable features are the welcome gift, numerous cardholder benefits, and access to the Chase Ultimate Rewards program.
New applicants can earn 75,000 bonus points when they spend $4,000 within three months of account opening. Chase advertises that points purchased for travel through Chase Travel℠ are worth $1,125, but those points could be worth more if transferred to airline and hotel partners.
The card offers 10x points per year on hotels and car rentals booked with Chase Travel and 5x points on flights booked with Chase Travel. Earn 3x points on travel and dining (including transfers).
These points can be redeemed for 1.5 cents each when booking travel through Chase Travel, as there is a 50% point redemption bonus when purchasing travel through Chase. But you can convert those points into miles on 11 airlines or 3 hotel chains.
Points are often worth more than 2 cents when you can redeem these awards for business- or first-class flights or luxury hotel stays.
For example, airline partners such as United, Air France/KLM and British Airways offer transatlantic business class award tickets worth more than $4,000 and 150,000 miles round-trip. I transferred 12,000 Chase points to a Hyatt hotel for a $300 award night. 2.5 cents per point.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve has some valuable benefits
In terms of benefits, this card is far superior to the competition. Like the Platinum Card®️ and Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card* from American Express, it also offers Priority Pass membership. But unlike the other two, Chase Priority Pass perks include gratuities at participating airport restaurants. According to The Points Guy, more than 30 airport restaurants around the world offer up to two $28 points per visit, for a total of $54.
Luckily, my home Denver International Airport has two of these restaurants, and I received hundreds of dollars for this benefit alone. Sapphire Reserve cardholders have access to three new Sapphire lounges at Boston Logan Airport, New York LaGuardia Airport and New York JFK Airport.
This card is unique when it comes to purchasing travel insurance and guaranteeing benefits. When you shop, you get Purchase Protection, which protects your new purchases against damage and theft for up to 90 days, and returns protection that pays you if you can’t return the item to the retailer.
When you travel, you can get trip cancellation and trip interruption coverage, trip delay compensation, lost baggage and delay coverage, roadside assistance, and rental car coverage. If you are injured while traveling and require special transportation home for care, we offer emergency medical and dental coverage as well as evacuation and transportation coverage.
The card offers up to $300 in automatic annual travel credits and up to $100 in TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee credits.
But what about the Chase Sapphire Preferred?
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a less expensive version of the Sapphire Reserve Card. However, in addition to being cheaper, it also offers lower rewards rates and fewer card benefits. The annual fee is $95 and the reserve is $550.
The backup fee is of course scarier, but if you can get more value out of it, it’s probably better for your wallet.
For example, when choosing to redeem travel rewards through Chase Travel, a reserve will double the redemption bonus. There are also restaurant credits (saved me hundreds of dollars) and airport lounge access – a must for the avid traveler.
Also consider stocking up on annual travel points. This card’s $300 travel credit essentially reduces the $550 annual fee to a very reasonable $250, especially considering the value you get from the rewards and benefits.
While that’s still more than the Preferred’s $155, you can save the difference each year and then some if you’re intentional about rewards.
Use Sapphire Reserve as part of a Chase Combo or Trifecta
The best way to understand Chase Ultimate Rewards is not as a card, but as a true rewards ecosystem that includes:
- Chasing Freedom®
- Chase Freedom Flex℠
- Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
- Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
- Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
In fact, as chess says, you can transfer the points on all these cards to each other (or combine them).
For example, I earn 1.5x points per $1 spent on Chase Freedom Unlimited on purchases that don’t qualify for the Sapphire Reserve bonus.
Next, I combine those points with my Sapphire Reserve (1.5 cents each) and transfer them to Chase Travel bookings through the Chase Travel Portal or transfer them to airline and hotel partners. Add Chase Ink Cash or Ink Unlimited, and you have the Chase Trifecta that true reward travel fans know well.
bottom line
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a very popular travel rewards card, and for good reason. While the $550 annual fee is a bit steep, you can easily get more value out of this card every year.
You and I already know what my next favorite credit card will be.
*All information about the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is collected by CNET and has not been reviewed by the card issuer.
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