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The Chase Sapphire Reserve's Comprehensive Benefits

The Chase Sapphire Reserve has stayed in our wallet since it was first launched in August 2016. While we redeemed our welcome bonus years ago, the comprehensive benefits compel us to keep this card in our wallet, year after year, and even after the announcement of the annual fee increase from $450 to $550 in 2020. Don't let that annual fee discourage you just yet; we'll get to the details of the value proposition a little later.  First, let's take a look at the main benefits this card has to offer.

$300 Travel Credit, Ultimate Reward Earning Bonuses, & Travel Benefits

$300 Annual Travel Statement Credit - What we love about this benefit is that Chase kept it simple from the beginning. You don't have to worry about selecting a specific airline if you want to use this for flights (like American Express cards). You can simply use your Chase Sapphire Reserve for any travel expense, and the first $300 you spend on any travel after your card's anniversary will be credited back to your account as a statement credit. Chase has a broad range of charges that will fall into the "travel" category. They're all covered from airplane tickets, hotel rooms, train tickets, cruises, Ubers, and Lyft rides. One thing to note is that parking garage charges and other smaller items are included, which we find to be bittersweet. We prefer to use the $300 credit for a more substantial expense, such as an Airbnb in Lake Tahoe, but if you don't have anything planned, you could end up chipping away at the $300 credit by having it reimbursed for short Uber rides and parking fees. If you find yourself in that situation, you could always consider buying an airline, hotel, or Airbnb gift card to essentially "pull out" the $300 annual travel credit and redeem that gift card when you're ready to travel.

10x Ultimate Reward Points on hotels and car rentals when you book through Chase Travel℠.

3X Ultimate Rewards Points on Travel Worldwide - With Chase's broad categorization of what counts as travel, you'll be earning 3X Ultimate Rewards points all over the place. The first $300 you spend on travel won't earn any Ultimate Rewards points since you'll receive a statement credit for those charges. After that, you'll earn 3X on everything from airplane tickets to cruises, coincidentally making this one of the strongest cards to put cruise bookings on. Just wait until you read about the travel insurance coverage. 

3X Ultimate Rewards Points on Dining Worldwide - One of the most exciting aspects of traveling and life, in general, is the ability to try new foods and enjoy wonderful dining experiences. Dessert will taste even sweeter with 3X Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on dining at restaurants, no matter where you are. Every bite gets you closer to your next first-class flight or epic adventure! While some cards, such as the American Express® Gold Card, might appear to earn a slightly higher bonus for the dining category at 4X, the Chase Sapphire Reserve certainly holds its own here. Since you get 50% more value in the Ultimate Rewards portal, this is a minimum value of 3X x 50% = 4.5X on dining! That makes the Chase Sapphire Reserve the highest-earning card for dining, even compared to the top American Express cards.

1X Ultimate Rewards Points on all other purchases - From DIY supplies at Home Depot to DMV registration fees, you'll earn 1x Ultimate Rewards points from the money you're already spending on everyday living expenses. Earning 1X is standard for most cards, but with the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you'll always get a minimum of an additional 50% in value when redeemed for travel in the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, effectively turning the Chase Sapphire Reserve's earning power into 1.5X per dollar on every single non-bonus expense you put on it.

50% More Value on Ultimate Rewards Points Redemptions - This is one of the Chase Sapphire Reserve's superpowers: it can bring more value to ANY Ultimate Reward point, regardless of how it was earned. These Ultimate Reward points can be earned on your Chase Sapphire Reserve card or transferred from your other Chase cards, such as the Chase Freedom Flex℠ or Chase Freedom Unlimited®. Another superpower of the Chase Ultimate Rewards ecosystem is that you can pool together Ultimate Rewards another Chase Ultimate Rewards account within your household, which can seriously increase your Ultimate Rewards bank! Once transferred into the Chase Sapphire Reserve's Ultimate Reward account, those points will be worth an additional 50%, regardless of which card they came from when redeemed for travel in the Ultimate Reward portal. 

Complimentary Airport Lounge Access - The Chase Sapphire Reserve includes a full Priority Pass Select membership. Escape from the chaos of the main terminal to one of the 1,300+ lounges globally. From the Plaza Lounge at London's Heathrow Airport to the Sala VIP Miro Lounge in Barcelona Airport or the Club at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, you'll be set up to kick off your trip with some fresh espresso and champagne! This membership is currently the best Priority Pass access with a credit card. It also gives you food credits at select airport restaurants, such as the Corona Beach House at Miami International Airport. Simply activate your Priority Pass membership and check the Priority Pass app before heading to the airport!  

Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® Fee Credit - This card offers a $100 credit statement every four years to reimburse the application fee.

The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection - Access to the Luxury Hotel & Resort collection lets you receive benefits such as complimentary room upgrades, early check-ins, and late check-outs at some of the top hotels and resorts around the world.

Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance - We don't travel without travel insurance, nor do we buy travel insurance thanks to this benefit. Whether your trip is canceled or unfortunately cut short by severe weather, illness, or other covered situations, this benefit covers you for reimbursements up to $10,000 per person and up to $20,000 per trip. This covers prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses that include airline tickets, tours, and hotels. The only other card that now has insurance in this same class is The Platinum Card® from American Express. For that reason, we almost always book our travels with the Chase Sapphire Reserve. 

Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver - This is a VERY significant benefit, so pay close attention, and you'll save hundreds of dollars annually. This benefit makes the Chase Sapphire Reserve the best card to pay for any rental car. Most credit cards market themselves as having "auto insurance," but what is hidden in the fine print is that those cards have what's commonly called a "secondary" policy. With this rare perk, you can confidently decline the rental company’s insurance since the Chase Sapphire Reserve offers a full primary insurance policy. 

If you use a different card with a secondary policy, your personal vehicle auto insurance would have to cover any damage or expenses. Most rental companies strongly encourage you to buy expensive rental insurance. If the worst happens in this scenario, your personal vehicle insurance rates would likely be affected and result in an increased rate.

With the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you’ll have a primary rental insurance policy, which will cover you for reimbursement of up to $75,000, including theft and collision damage in the U.S and abroad. Your personal auto insurance rates won’t be affected if you need to cover damage on a rental vehicle, for an accident, or even theft. Our travels this has allowed us to decline the rental insurance with confidence in the Cayman Islands, France, Switzerland, and more! This has saved us hundreds of dollars on our rentals with Europcar, Hertz, National, SilverCar by Audi, Sixt, and several other rental companies. You can always call Chase to confirm that this policy is effective in the country you're traveling to before you go. 

Lost Luggage Reimbursement - Having an airline or common carrier loses your luggage is always stressful and frustrating. You can take the edge off of having to worry about that experience with this benefit, as you're covered up to $3,000 for checked or carry-on luggage that's damaged or lost by a common carrier (i.e., airline, cruise line, etc.). This applies to both you and an immediate family member. 

Trip Delay Reimbursement - All it takes is a 6-hour delay, and this benefit will kick in. If your travel is delayed by a common carrier or requires an overnight stay, you and your family can have your expenses reimbursed, up to $500 per ticket. If you get stuck in another city during a layover (think winter storm at JFK airport in New York), you can book a hotel, grab dinner, and have the Chase Sapphire Reserve cover the expenses. 

Emergency Evacuation & Transportation - We hope you never need this benefit, but if you end up in an unfortunate situation, you'll be glad you have it. If you or an immediate family member become injured or sick during a trip far from home and you need an emergency medical evaluation, your medical services and transportation will be covered up to $100,000. This perk is especially beneficial if you're traveling with a higher-risk condition that could result in needing to be air evacuated to a more advanced hospital for care.

Shopping Bonuses and Purchase Protections

Purchase Protection - New purchases on this card will be covered for 120 days against damage or theft, up to $10,000 per claim with an annual deductible limit of $50,000.  

Return Protection - If you buy something and the store won't take it back, you'll be reimbursed for eligible items within 90 days of the purchase. This benefit is limited to up to $500 per item, with an annual limit of $1,000. 

Extended Warranty Protection - The extended warranty benefit adds an additional year to the manufacturer's warranty for items with an eligible warranty of three years or less. This is a great way to get additional protection on appliances, such as washing machines, or more specifically, Samsung refrigerators that have difficulty making ice right after the manufacturer warranty ends. 

Chase Offers - This isn't listed as an official benefit, but it should be. From 10% off at BarkBox for dog toys to 5% off at Airbnb, Chase is competitively adding offers all the time. Be sure to log into your Ultimate Rewards account and check for and activate new offers because it pays to take advantage of the savings!

Ultimate Reward Shopping Portal - The Chase Ultimate Rewards shopping portal is a great way to earn bonus Ultimate Rewards points on all purchases. From 7X additional points per dollar at Lululemon to 2X points per dollar at Apple, it can pay to take a minute to log into your Chase account before buying anything online. So, how does this work? Simply log into your Ultimate Rewards account, scroll down to "stores," and search for your favorite store. From there, you just click the link and go shopping as usual. The bonuses for each store will vary and can change depending on the current promotion. Let's say the portal offers 7X on Lululemon, and you buy two pairs of Wunder Under Leggings at $98 and The Reversible Mat 5mm (Yoga mat) at $78 (we'll ignore taxes to keep it simple). The total is $274 x 7X + 1X (from your card) = $274 x 8X. That totals 2,192 Ultimate Reward points, worth $32.88 in the Ultimate Rewards portal ($43.84 based on our valuation of 2.0 CPP). At $32.88, that is 12% "back" on your purchase. Where else can you find a way to essentially save 12% at Lululemon?

The Build: An Elegant Metal Card

The card itself is crafted out of a substantial metal featuring tap-to-pay. However, it isn't quite as thick and heavy as The Platinum Card from American Express, the American Express Gold Card, or the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. The Chase Sapphire Reserve weighs in at a respectable 13 grams. Now that you know what the card's main benefits are and what you physically get let's dive into the numbers to make sure the math behind this card's benefits vs. annual fee works for you.

Value Proposition & Data Analysis

At the Point Passport, we like to make the value proposition of the cards we review easy to understand. To do that, we break down the value into two parts: the initial sign-up and the sustaining costs that occur yearly.

Phase 1 - The Bonus Offer

With a current welcome bonus of 80,000 Membership Rewards, and based on an Ultimate Rewards Points value of $0.02/point, the value is as follows:

60,000 Ultimate Rewards Points Welcome Bonus x $0.02 = $1,200

First-Year Benefits:

$300 annual travel credit

$100 Global Entry or TSA Pre✓® credit

$400 Total First-year Benefits

Sign Up Bonus + Annual Benefits - Annual Fee = Net Cost

60,000 Ultimate Rewards Points Welcome Bonus: $1,500 welcome bonus + $400 first-year benefits - $550 annual fee = $1,050 Net Value

Phase 2 - After the Bonus Offer (Year 2+)

2nd Year Benefits:

$300 annual travel credit

$300 total annual benefits

Annual Benefits - Annual Fee = Net Value/Cost

$300 second year (and beyond) benefits - $550 annual fee = -$250 Net Annual Fee

Now let's assume you plan to use this card for some food and groceries each year. If you spend $1,200/year ($100/month) on dining out or takeaway from restaurants, you'll earn:

$1,200 x 3x Ultimate Rewards Points = 3,600 Ultimate Rewards Points

Those 3,600 Membership Reward Points are worth approximately $72. So updating our formula, we find:

Annual Benefits + Earned Membership Rewards Points - Annual Fee = Net Value/Cost

$1300 second year (and beyond) benefits + $72 in Membership Rewards Points - $550 annual fee = -$178 Net Annual Fee

Depending on your spending patterns, this may or may not make sense for you, but it's quite easy to come out ahead every year, even if you don't necessarily use all of the benefits. Let's visit that idea. What would it take to break even if you ONLY use the $300 travel credit?

$550 annual fee - $300 annual travel credit = $250 annual cost

In 2019, data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis found that the average Californian spent $3,295 per person dining out. You can check out this Business Insider article to see what the average spend was for your state. Let's assume you pick up the tab for you and your significant other, resulting in 2 people x the $3,295 CA average. That's $6,590 in annual dining-out expenses. Using the Chase Sapphire Reserve for those charges, you'll earn 3 x $6,590 = 19,770 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. That works out to be worth $0.015x x 19,770 = $296.55 inside the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal (this factors in your 50% bonus when used for travel inside the portal). If you're getting a $0.02/Ultimate Reward point (typically earned by transferring points to travel partners), that works out to $0.02x x 19,770 = $395.40 in travel value. Regardless of which way you choose to redeem these points, just by having an average dining spend for a California couple, you'd walk away with: $300 travel credit + $296.55 in points - $550 = $46.55 annual value. Remember, this assumes you don't use the card for anything else in life, but trust us, you will!

Editor's Note: Our valuation is based on our ability to use travel transfer partners to get a valuation of 2.0 CPP (Cents Per Point) or greater (>$0.02). We've consistently been able to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for at least this value and have been able to get well over 3.0 CPP. Inside the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, you'll find that Chase will let you redeem them for a value of 1.5 CPP, or $0.015/UR point. Don't worry; we're here to help you learn to maximize your points for far more value than that!

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