Chase Sapphire Reserve review 2024: A premium travel card that understands the assignment

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is the travel card you get when you’re ready for the big leagues. Maybe you’ve dabbled in a no-annual fee travel card or own a low-cost airline card for the free checked bag perk. But in our Chase Sapphire Reserve review, we’ll explain why this $550-annual-fee card is worth the price tag when you’re ready to experience the elite benefits of a premium travel card.

Editor’s note: This article contains updated information from a previously published story.

Chase Sapphire Reserve basics

• Annual fee: $550.
• Welcome bonus: 60,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
• Rewards: 5 points per $1 on flights and 10 points per $1 on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase Travel℠ after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3 points per $1 on other travel and dining and 1 point per $1 on other purchases.
• APR: 22.49% to 29.49% variable APR on purchases and balance transfers. A balance transfer fee of either $5 or 5% of each transfer, whichever is greater, applies.
• Recommended credit score: Excellent.
• Does the card offer preapproval? No.
• Other benefits: An up to $300 travel credit, flexible rewards, Global Entry/TSA Precheck application fee reimbursement, Priority Pass Select membership (enrollment required), primary auto rental insurance coverage and a slew of travel and purchase protections and insurances.

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Chase Sapphire Reserve®

BLUEPRINT RATING

Our ratings are based on specific use cases for each card. We compared this card to others in the same category and developed our rankings based on this criteria, along with our editorial input. Note that although we chose this card as the best in its category, the right card for you will depend on your own financial circumstances.

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BLUEPRINT RATING

Our ratings are based on specific use cases for each card. We compared this card to others in the same category and developed our rankings based on this criteria, along with our editorial input. Note that although we chose this card as the best in its category, the right card for you will depend on your own financial circumstances.

Welcome bonus

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

60,000 bonus points

Annual fee

$550

Regular APR

22.49%-29.49% Variable

Credit score

Credit Score ranges are based on FICO® credit scoring. This is just one scoring method and a credit card issuer may use another method when considering your application. These are provided as guidelines only and approval is not guaranteed.

(750 – 850) Excellent

Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining. Earn 1x points on all other purchases.

Editor’s Take

Pros

• Up to $300 annual travel credit and Priority Pass Select lounge access.
• Redeem points for 50% more value to book travel through Chase Travel℠.
• Transfer points 1:1 to partners such as United Airlines and World of Hyatt.

Cons

• High annual fee.
• Not ideal if you aren’t interested in transferring points.
• May not qualify if you’ve applied for 5 or more credit cards in the last 24 months.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of the most premium travel credit cards available. It charges a hefty annual fee, but in exchange comes with an up to $300 annual travel credit, a top-notch list of travel partners you can transfer points to, a Priority Pass Select airport lounge membership (enrollment required) and a long list of travel benefits and protections.

Card details

• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That’s $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
• $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
• Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $900 toward travel.
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
• Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select and up to $100 application fee credit every four years for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck®
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more
• Member FDIC

Chase Sapphire Reserve review

If this is your travel era, the Chase Sapphire Reserve should be along for the ride. The card offers just about everything you want in a premium travel card, without requiring you to be a points and miles wizard to get the most out of your rewards.

There are two key attributes any good travel card should have: An easy way to earn rewards and an easy way to “burn” them when you want to use them. The Chase Sapphire Reserve nails it on both. The card earns highly competitive rewards of 5 points per $1 on flights and 10 points per $1 on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase Travel℠ after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3 points per $1 on other travel and dining and 1 point per $1 on other purchases. That’s as good as any premium travel card on the market.

Plus, Chase Ultimate Rewards® points are easy to redeem. You can redeem them for cash at a penny per point, use them to book travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal at a 50% increase in value so each point is worth 1.5 cents or transfer them to one of Chase’s more than a dozen travel transfer partners. This makes the card ideal for both rewards-wrangling newbies who find it easiest to book travel through Chase and more experienced points-and-miles pros who are comfortable navigating the intricacies of travel loyalty partnerships. 

The card also comes with the coveted airport lounge access that’s a major perk of cards at this price point. The Sapphire Reserve comes with both Priority Pass Select access (upon enrollment) and access to the growing network of Sapphire lounges.

You’ll also get an annual $300 travel credit, which is easy to use given that Chase’s definition of travel includes everything from flights to hotels to tolls and parking garages and more, a slew of valuable travel protections and insurances like primary auto rental coverage and trip cancellation coverage. Ultimately, this card offers everything you’d want in a premium travel card, without the hassle of multiple rebates, credits or caveats to justify the annual fee. 

What makes the Chase Sapphire Reserve shine? It’s all about the benefits

Pros

• The $300 annual travel credit is easy to use. Whether you’re taking flight or driving on the highway, The Sapphire Reserve’s definition of travel is expansive and so are the ways to use up that $300, which is automatically applied as a statement credit.
• You can make your rewards even more valuable. There are two ways to do so: The Sapphire Reserve allows you to redeem your rewards at a 50% increase in value for travel booked through Chase. Or you can transfer your rewards to one of Chase’s travel transfer partners. More on that later.
• The travel insurances and protections are stellar. No one wants to plan a trip thinking something may go wrong, but it’s nice to know that if you paid for your travel with the card, you’re covered for a variety of situations.

Cons

• It’s pricey. Even though it comes with perks that can make the card well worth the $550 fee, that’s still a big number to wrap your head around.
• Excellent credit is required. This is a card that’s aimed at those who have strong credit profiles. 
• It’s expensive to carry a balance. Like most premium credit cards, the APR range on the Sapphire Reserve is higher than average. This card is not a great choice if your main goal is to finance a big travel purchase over time or if you tend to carry a balance. 

Chase Sapphire Reserve rewards

Using government data and other publicly available information, we estimate that a household in the U.S. that would be in the market for this card has around $25,087 in annual expenses that can be charged to a credit card. Here’s how our sample household’s rewards could break down:

Spending category	Spending amount	Points per dollar	Points earned
Travel	$5,882	3 points	17,646 points
Dining	$3,526	3 points	10,578 points
Other	$15,679	1 points	15,679 points
TOTAL	$25,087		43,903 points

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In this example, our sample cardholder earns a grand total of 43,903 in rewards annually, worth $439.03 as cash back or $658.55 when used to book travel through Chase. The value will vary when transferring points to travel partners depending on the specific redemption. Keep in mind that someone who books airfare or prepaid hotels through Chase, books Chase Dining or takes Lyfts regularly is likely to earn an even greater haul.

And here’s what you can do with those rewards: 

• Redeem for a cash-back statement credit or a deposit to an eligible bank account. A point is worth a penny each when redeemed this way.
• Redeem for a gift card. A point is also worth a penny each when redeemed for gift cards.
• Pay with points for products or merchandise. The value of your rewards will fluctuate greatly if you choose to do this. The pay with points option through Amazon, for example, only gives you a value of 0.8 cents per point. 
• Redeem for travel booked through Chase. A point is worth 1.5 cents when redeemed for travel, allowing you to stretch the value of your rewards.
• Combine your rewards from other Ultimate Rewards-earning cards. If you hold any other personal or business cards that earn Ultimate Rewards, or someone in your household does, you can pool them together for a bigger stash and take advantage of the perks on your Sapphire Reserve.
• Transfer points in 1,000 point increments to one of Chase’s travel loyalty transfer partners. This can often yield some of the best values for your points, which we’ll explain below. Chase has 11 airline partners, including JetBlue, Southwest and United domestically and its three hotel partners are Marriott Bonvoy, IHG Rewards Club and World of Hyatt. Nearly all of them transfer at a 1:1 ratio.

The perks of travel transfer partners and the Reserve’s 50% bonus

You may see reviews or credit card-related articles that give high praise to cards that allow you to transfer your rewards to an issuer’s travel transfer partners. So why is this a big deal? Transferring your rewards to a partner for a particular flight will often require spending far fewer miles than if you booked the flight directly through the card issuer. Here’s how it works.

Let’s say you want to book a one-way ticket the day before Thanksgiving from Los Angeles to Chicago and the cash price for an economy ticket on United Airlines is $344.10. 

Typically, when you book through the card issuer, you’ll need to redeem an equivalent number of points to cover the cash value of the ticket. So in most cases, you’d need 34,410 points to cover the ticket booking this way. But transferring points directly to a frequent flyer program will often cost less points, since the number of miles required to book a flight isn’t necessarily an exact match for the cash price.

You’d need 34,000 United miles plus $5.60 in taxes and fees to book that same flight, so you’d be saving 410 miles by transferring your rewards at a 1:1 ratio to United’s MileagePlus program. That may not seem like a lot, but the savings can be even greater depending on the number of tickets you’re trying to book, the exact flight and the seat class.

Here’s where the 50% increase in points value on the Chase Sapphire Reserve changes the math considerably. Unlike many travel cards where a point is worth a penny when used to book travel, booking through Chase Travel makes a point worth 1.5 cents. That means for that $344 cash flight you’ll need just 22,934 points (22,934 x 1.5 cents = $344.01), compared to the 34,410 points you’d need to book the flight with some of Chase’s other cards or the 34,000 points you’d need to transfer miles to United.

But wait, there’s a catch

Squeezing the most value out of your points is almost always a good thing, but there’s one potential downside to booking travel through the Chase Travel site. Although you’ll likely save a pile of points if you have the Sapphire Reserve card, bookings made this way are considered to be third-party bookings. 

This means if your flight is delayed or canceled, you’ll have to deal with Chase to find a resolution. Additionally, if you need to cancel or change your flight, many airlines will let you waive the change fees or just redeposit the miles back into your account when you book directly with them. Booking through Chase means you may not get the points refunded to you and your tickets may also have an expiration date to be rebooked or you’ll forfeit them. 

How the Chase Sapphire Reserve compares to other travel cards 

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of the best travel rewards cards available. But it helps to see how it compares to other popular travel credit cards so you can make the best choice for your particular needs.

Chase Sapphire Reserve vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

It’s natural to compare the Sapphire Reserve to its $95-annual-fee sibling, the Sapphire Preferred card. Both cards earn elevated rewards on travel and dining, including extra rewards on travel booked through Chase. The Sapphire Preferred earns 5 points per $1 on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3 points per $1 on dining, select streaming services, and online grocery purchases (excluding Walmart, Target and wholesale clubs), 2 points per $1 on all other travel purchases and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases. That difference in “all other travel” may not mean much to you if you prefer to book your travel through Chase for the extra rewards.

But what the Sapphire Preferred doesn’t have is the Priority Pass or Sapphire lounge access, the $300 annual travel credit, the Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit and more substantial travel and purchase protections. Is that worth an extra $455 in annual fees a year to you?

Chase Sapphire Reserve vs. The Platinum Card® from American Express

The Amex Platinum and “luxury travel card” are practically synonymous. For a $695 annual fee (terms apply, rates & fees), the card offers some of the most widespread and exclusive airport lounge access you’ll find. In addition to the Priority Pass Lounges (enrollment required), you’ll get entry to The Centurion® Lounge and Escape Lounges, Delta Sky Club and the Lufthansa Lounge when flying their respective airlines that day.

It also offers a robust list of potential annual statement credits that could be worth more than the annual fee, including an up to $200 airline incidental fee statement credit, an up to $240 digital entertainment statement credit, a $155 Walmart+ statement credit (covers the $12.95 monthly Walmart+ membership cost), up to $200 in Uber Cash (disbursed in monthly increments; card must be added to Uber account to receive this benefit), an up to $189 CLEAR® Plus statement credit and more. Enrollment is required for select benefits. Not to be overlooked is the fact that American Express offers a lengthy list of travel transfer partners.

However, compared to the Chase Sapphire Reserve, it falls short in several areas. Unlike the simple and automatic $300 annual travel credit with the Sapphire Reserve, the Amex Platinum’s potential statement credits require more effort to utilize. The Amex Platinum’s earn rate is 5 Membership Rewards® points per $1 for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel on up to $500,000 per calendar year, 5 points per $1 on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel and 1 point per $1 on other purchases — making it less rewarding than the Sapphire Reserve. The travel protections and insurances aren’t as comprehensive, either. Plus, taking your rewards as a cash-back statement credit is worth just 0.6 cents per point.

For most people, the decision between the two comes down to how and where you travel. If you value the extra lounge access, the longer list of airline transfer partners and/or the potential statement credits, the Amex Platinum may be a better fit.

Chase Sapphire Reserve vs. Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card * The information for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has been collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

The Venture X Rewards card has a lot in common with the Sapphire Reserve, but the difference is in the details. The Venture X has a lower annual fee of $395 and has an even simpler rewards structure of 2 miles per $1 on purchases, 5 miles per $1 on flights booked through Capital One Travel and on purchases through Capital One Entertainment and 10 miles per $1 on hotels and rental cars booked via Capital One Travel. Like the Sapphire Reserve, you’ll earn the most miles booking through the issuer, but you’ll run the same risk of booking through any third-party booking platform.

The Venture X also comes with a $300 travel credit, but you’ll have to book through Capital One Travel to use it. Similar to the Sapphire Reserve, the card grants access to the Capital One lounge network and Priority Pass (enrollment required) and Plaza Premium airport lounges. A big advantage this card has over the Sapphire Reserve for those who travel in parties of four or more is that authorized user cards are free and authorized users are each entitled to their own Priority Pass Select membership. Authorized users on the Sapphire Reserve cost $75 each annually.

Other important perks include an anniversary bonus of 10,000 miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, a $100 Global Entry or TSA Precheck application fee credit and cellphone protection.¹ The Venture X also allows you to transfer your rewards to 16 airline and two hotel partners, most at a 1:1 ratio. Or, you can redeem rewards towards travel purchases made within the previous 90 days at a value of a penny per point. Be aware that if you’re redeeming rewards for anything other than travel, your rewards will only be worth 0.6 cents per point.

Ultimately, the Venture X is better than the Sapphire Reserve for those who like to book travel through the issuer or prefer Capital One’s travel transfer partners over Chase’s.

Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve worth it?

Whether or not the Chase Sapphire Reserve is worth it for you will come down to how much you’ll use the perks. If you can easily use up the annual $300 travel credit, fly a few times a year and can take advantage of the Priority Pass (enrollment required) or Sapphire lounge access (or the airport restaurant credits) — then you’re likely to get your money’s worth out of the card.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is right for you if:

• You want a premium travel card with lounge access and other perks to make travel more comfortable.
• You want your rewards to go the extra mile either by booking through the issuer or transferring points to travel partners.
• You have other Chase Ultimate Rewards-earning cards and you can pool all the points together for one big stash.

Wondering how to get the most out of the Ultimate Rewards travel site? Here’s everything you need to know

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

^{For rates and fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express please visit this page.}

^{¹For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.}