Chase Sapphire Reserve vs. Sapphire Preferred
Update: The 75,000 point sign up bonus is ending soon. It has been announced that it is ending in branches on 6/22. While there’s no word yet for online applications, I’m assuming it will end on the same day.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is Chase’s premium card in their portfolio. Designed for the traveler, there are a lot of great perks and benefits to offset the high $550 annual fee. But is it the right card for you or should you get the Chase Sapphire Preferred with only a $95 fee? With an effective $155 annual fee difference (taking into account the Reserve’s $300 annual travel credit), it really depends on your spending habits. Both now have a 75,000 point sign up bonus after spending $4,000 in the first three months. Let’s dive into what you should do.
Chase Sapphire Reserve Quick Facts
Signup Bonus: 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points after spending $4,000 in 3 months.
Points Earned: Chase Ultimate Rewards which you can use for 1.5 cents each toward travel or you can transfer them on a 1:1 basis to their 13 airline and hotel partners. I value Chase points at 1.7 cents per point.
Earnings Structure:
10x points on hotels and car rentals booked through the Chase Travel Portal.
10x points on Lyft rides.
5x points on flights booked through the Chase Travel Portal.
3x points on dining.
3x points on travel. This includes everything from airfare to hotels to taxis, parking and cruises.
Foreign Transaction Fees: None
Annual Fee: $550
Annual Travel Credit: $300
Chase Sapphire Preferred Quick Facts
Signup Bonus: 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points after spending $4,000 in 3 months.
Points Earned: Chase Ultimate Rewards which you can use for 1.25 cents each toward travel or you can transfer them on a 1:1 basis to their 13 airline and hotel partners. I value Chase points at 1.7 cents per point.
Earnings Structure:
5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal.
5x points on Lyft rides.
3x points on dining.
3x points on online grocery stores
3x points on select streaming platforms
2x points on travel
10% Anniversary Bonus: This effectively increases your earning rate by 10%.
Foreign Transaction Fees: None
Annual Fee: $95
Transfer Chase Points to Hyatt for a Stay at the Park Hyatt St. Kitts
What is the Same
Both cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points which can be transferred to 13 airline and hotel partners and is my preferred way to use them as I get a really good value this way.
Signup Bonus: both cards are offering 75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in three months.
Dining: Both cards earn 3x points on dining
What is Different
There are a number of differences between the two cards but only three that I think are significant. With an effective annual fee difference of $155 you would need to earn enough points to make up for this in order for the Reserve to make sense. Factor in each category difference for your own situation to decide which card is best. To come up with my breakeven points I multiply the difference in points by 1.7 cents per point then divide that by $155.
Sapphire Reserve
3x points on travel
With the Reserve you will earn 3x points on all travel purchases vs. 2.2x on the Preferred (2x plus 10% for the anniversary bonus). If you spend a significant amount of money on travel getting the Reserve could make sense. To justify the increased annual fee, you would need to spend $11,388 to earn an extra 9,110 points worth $155.
10x points on Lyft
You’ll earn 10x points on Lyft rides with the Reserve vs. 5.5x (5x plus 10% for the anniversary bonus) with the Preferred. The breakeven point for this is $2,026.14. So if you spend more than that each year on Lyft rides, the Reserve is the better card for you.
Priority Pass Membership
This is another great perk of the Reserve that the Preferred does not offer. If you don’t already have a Priority Pass membership through another card like the American Express Platinum, Capital One Venture X, or the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, this could be a reason to get or keep the Sapphire Reserve. You get to bring two guests with you and also have access to airport restaurants that participate in Priority Pass as well which is unique to the Sapphire Reserve. Additionally, you have unlimited access to Chase’s new, yet small footprint, of Sapphire Lounges.
The Club at CLT a Priority Pass Lounge
Global Entry/TSA PreCheck Credit
The Sapphire Reserve also comes with a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit every 5 years. If you’re a frequent flyer, this is a must have. But this is a benefit offered by tons of premium travel cards.
TSA PreCheck
Sapphire Preferred
3x points on Online Grocery Stores
The Sapphire Preferred offers 3x points spent on online grocery stores
3x points on Select Streaming Services
The Sapphire Preferred earns 3x points on select streaming services, including
Apple Music
Apple TV
Disney+
ESPN+
Fubo TV
HBO Max
Hulu
Netflix
Pandora
Paramount+
Peacock
Showtime
SiriusXM
Sling
Spotify
YouTube Premium
YouTube TV
Vudu
Redeem Chase Points for 1.5 or 1.25 Cents per Point
While not my favorite use of Chase points, a huge benefit to the Sapphire Reserve is the ability to redeem your points for travel at a value of 1.5 cents per point. If you have the Sapphire Preferred or the Ink Preferred, you only get 1.25 cents per point towards travel purchases. Anything bookable on Chase’s travel portal is eligible to be paid for with points. While I prefer to transfer my points to partners to get outsized value, this isn’t a terrible way to use your points. It is nice that there are no blackout dates and it is pretty simple to just search for travel and book it. I would caution you to always check other options to maximize your points before blindly booking with your Chase points. Booking domestic flights this way can make a lot of sense as you don’t typically get outsized value by transferring points for domestic tickets.
For example, I would rather transfer 40,000 Chase points to Hyatt for a free night at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome that normally costs over $2,000. Booking with points through Chase would cost 133,333 points.
Door Dash Dash Pass and Credits
Both the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Preferred offer a complimentary Door Dash Dash Pass. With the Reserve, each month you will also receive a $5 Door Dash credit. This can be carried over for 2 months. Essentially, you are able to use $15 every 3 months. If you order a lot of delivery from restaurants or grocery stores, this could be extremely rewarding.
This is worth $60 a year but if you don’t spend a lot on delivery normally, you could end up spending more than you normally would. While this is a nice benefit, at only $5 a month, it doesn’t move the needle much for me.
Sapphire Preferred vs. Sapphire Reserve
If we just look at the points earning difference, you would need to spend $11,388 a year on travel, $2,026 on Lyft, or a combination of the two to justify the increased annual fee. Keep in mind that this is travel that you wouldn’t otherwise put on a card like the American Express Platinum to get 5x points on airfare, or the Citi Premier where you’d get 3x on hotels. That is also assuming that you already have a Priority Pass membership or Global Entry. The Door Dash credit could also help.
Downgrade Your Sapphire Reserve
If you fall into the camp of it making more sense to have the Sapphire Preferred but you currently have the Sapphire Reserve I would recommend downgrading your Reserve to the Preferred.
Wrapping Up
Unless you spend a lot of money on travel and/or on Lyft rides, the Sapphire Preferred is the best Chase card. There are a lot of cards out there that offer the same if not better perks for a lower annual fee compared to the Sapphire Reserve. If this is your only travel card, it may make sense for the benefits, but if you have other cards that give you access to things like Priority Pass, your best bet will likely be the Sapphire Preferred. The one reason it would make sense to get this card is to unlock the ability to redeem Chase points for 1.5 cents per point for travel. But at the end of the day, that’s not how I like to use my points as I can get far better value out of them by transferring them to airline and hotel partners.
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