The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is one of the best premium travel cards in the market. It earns Ultimate Rewards Points at an excellent rate across several categories and offers exceptional travel benefits such as an annual $300 travel credit, 50% point value boost, lounge access, and some of the best travel insurance coverage a credit card could offer.
Overall the Chase Sapphire Reserve is a solid option if you frequently travel, can make use of the card benefits, and maximize the value that Ultimate Rewards Points offer.
Card Details At-A-Glance
| Issued By | |
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| Annual Fee | |
| Foreign Transaction Fee |
Chase Sapphire Reserve bonus categories
- 10X Chase Dining
- 10X Hotels & Car Rentals via Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5X Airline via Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 3X Travel
- 3X Dining
- 1X Everything Else
As part of the Chase-Lyft Partnership, the Chase Sapphire Reserve also earns 10X on Lyft purchases until March 2025.
10X Chase Dining
The Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 10 Ultimate Rewards Points per $1 spent with Chase Dining. These are purchases made through Chase Dining which allows you to book dining experiences at restaurants, wineries, bars, and other venues across the country.
10X Hotels & Car Rentals via Chase Ultimate Rewards
The Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 10 Ultimate Rewards Points per $1 spent on hotels and car rentals booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
5X Airline via Chase Ultimate Rewards
The Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 5 Ultimate Rewards Points per $1 spent on airline purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
3X Travel
The Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3 Ultimate Rewards Points per $1 spent on general travel purchases. Chase considers travel to be:
- Airlines
- Hotels, Motels, Timeshares
- Car Rental Agencies, Taxis, Buses, Trains, Limousines
- Cruise Lines
- Travel Agencies, Travel Sites
- Ferries, Toll Bridges, Highways
- Parking Lots, Garages
- Anything else that codes as travel
You will not earn points on travel until the annual $300 travel credit is exhausted. The 3X rate does not apply to hotel, car rental, or airfare purchases made through Chase Ultimate Rewards as you'll earn the higher rate.
3X Dining
The Chase Sapphire Reserve earns 3 Ultimate Rewards Points per $1 spent on general dining purchases. Chase considers this to be:
- Restaurants
- Fast Food
- Fine Dining
- Diners
- Coffee Shops (i.e. Starbucks)
- Vending Machines
- Bars
- Cafés
- Food Delivery Services
The 3X rate will not apply to purchases made through Chase Dining as you'll earn points at the higher 10X rate.
1X Everything Else
All other purchases made to the Chase Sapphire Reserve will earn 1 Ultimate Rewards Point per $1 spent.
Chase Sapphire Reserve benefits
- $300 Annual Travel Credit
- Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ Fee Credit
- Priority Pass Select Membership
- The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
- 50% More in Travel Redemption
- Complimentary Lyft Membership
- DashPass Subscription
- Travel & Purchase Protections
$300 Annual Travel Credit
Receive up to $300 in statement credits as reimbursements for travel purchases charged to your Chase Sapphire Reserve card each account anniversary year.
You will not earn points on travel purchases until you have used the full $300 credit.
Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ Fee Credit
Receive a statement credit of up to $100 every 4 years as reimbursement for the Global Entry or TSA Pre✓ application fee charged to your Chase Sapphire Reserve.
TSA PreCheck is for expedited screening through TSA checkpoints. Global Entry is for speeding through customs when re-entering the states and it also grants TSA PreCheck as well.
Priority Pass Select Membership
As a Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholder, you'll receive complimentary Priority Pass Select membership. This membership grants access to over 1,000 VIP lounges worldwide so you can rest before your flight.
This benefit requires a one-time enrollment.
The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
Enjoy special benefits such as complimentary room upgrades, early check-in, late check-out, and more when you book your stays at top hotels and resorts worldwide through The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection.
50% More in Travel Redemption
As a Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholder, you'll receive a 50% boost to point value when you redeem your points through Chase Ultimate Rewards. This bumps up the value of your points to 1.5 cents each.
You can earn a 25% point value boost with the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
Complimentary Lyft Membership
Receive complimentary Lyft Pink Membership when you or your authorized user activates with a Chase Sapphire Reserve card by March 31, 2022. The cardmember that activates the benefits will receive the membership.
Benefits of Lyft Pink includes:
- Up to 15% off every car rides
- Priority airport pickups
- 3 cancel fees waived per month if re-booked within 15 minutes
- Waived lost and found fees
- 3 free 30-min. bike or scooter rides per month
- Seasonal discounts and exclusive savings/offers
Lyft Pink normally costs $19.99 per month which equals $240 in annual value if you can make use of the membership.
DashPass Subscription
Receive complimentary DashPass subscription through DoorDash when you activate by March 31, 2022. Benefits of DashPass includes unlimited deliveries with a $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on orders over $12.
DashPass normally costs $9.99 per month which equals $120 in annual value if you can make use of the subscription.
Travel & Purchase Protections
- Trip Cancellation Insurance
- Trip Interruption Insurance
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement
- Trip Delay Reimbursement
- Emergency Evacuation & Transportation
- Purchase Protection
- Return Protection
- Extended Warranty Protection
Chase Sapphire Reserve Points Value
| Redemption Option | Average Value (in cents) |
|---|---|
| Point transfers to airline and hotel partners | 0.6 - 2.1 |
| Booking travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards | 1.5 |
| Pay Yourself Back | 1.5 |
| Redeeming points for cash back | 1 |
| Redeeming points for gift cards | 1 |
| Using points for Amazon.com purchases | 0.8 |
Ultimate Rewards Points earned with the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card have an average value of 1.5 cents each. This is the value you'll get when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
If you're looking for a shot at earning slightly higher value, you can transfer your points to Chase's travel partners. You can then redeem them for high value by booking first/business class tickets with airlines such as Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways or hotel stays with programs such as World of Hyatt.
Chase Sapphire Reserve Points Transfer
Ultimate Rewards Points earned with the Chase Sapphire Reserve can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to 13 travel partners.
Transferring points to partners is the best use of Ultimate Rewards Points when it comes to maximizing value.
Is The Chase Sapphire Reserve Worth The Annual Fee?
Whether or not the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is worth the fee will depend on your spend habits and how you plan on redeeming your points.
If you plan on using Chase Dining and/or booking your travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, the card is going to easily work in your favor and bestow riches upon you in the form of Ultimate Rewards Points. Even if you're redeeming your points for 1 cent each, you're looking at a 10% return on Chase Dining, 10% on hotels/car rentals through the portal, and 5% on airfare through the portal.
If you're aiming more at the 3X travel and dining categories (which most cardholders users do), then it's going to come down to your spending, how you plan on redeeming points, and how much you value the card benefits.
We can easily shave the $300 Annual Travel Credit off the annual fee meaning that the overall cost of having the card is $250 per year. You have to then ask yourself how much are the card benefits worth? You have Priority Pass, a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit, access to Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection, and exception travel insurance (which can be worth more than the annual fee itself if a trip doesn't go as planned).
Lastly, you have to figure out how you plan on redeeming your points. If you plan on always redeeming your points for 1.5 cents or higher then you should have no problem obtaining great value out of the card. Redeeming your points for 1 cent each toward cash back on the other hand may not be worth it depending on how much you spend across the card.
I highly recommend using the Chase Sapphire Reserve Point Calculator to calculate the cash value of the card based on spend, benefits, and fees. You can then compare it side by side similar cards to see if it's worth picking up.
Chase 5/24 Rule
If you've opened up more than 5 new accounts in the last 24 months, it may be hard to get approved for the Chase Sapphire Reserve and other Chase credit cards. This includes any kind of new account and not just new credit card accounts.
If you're unsure of how many accounts you've opened up in the last 24 months, you can use Credit Karma to check for free without hurting you credit score.
Chase Sapphire Reserve point calculator
Use the Chase Sapphire Reserve Points Calculator to determine how many points you can earn based on the monthly or yearly spending amounts you enter.
You can calculate the cash value of the Chase Sapphire Reserve alongside up to two other credit cards from any issuer.
Any spend entered into the primary card column (the first column) will carry over to all credit card calculators on the site. This means there's no need to re-enter spend when jumping to other credit card pages on the site.
Chase Sapphire Reserve vs Preferred
If you don't need all the bells and whistles of the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the next best option. It's an excellent, well-rounded travel rewards credit card that can earn you a solid amount of points on travel and dining purchases.
Points earned with the Chase Sapphire Preferred can be redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards for 25% more in value which will make your points worth 1.25 cents each. It may not be as good as the 50% boost offered on the Reserve, but it's still a solid value if you're looking to burn some points on travel.
As with the Reserve, points earned with the Chase Sapphire Preferred can be transferred to all 13 of Chase's travel partners at a 1:1 ratio. This means that you can get just as much value out of points earned with the Preferred than you can with the Reserve via point transfers to airline and hotel partners.
Chase Sapphire Reserve vs American Express Platinum Card
The Platinum Card® from American Express is one of the best premium credit cards for lounge access. It offers Priority Pass just like the Chase Sapphire Reserve does, but it also offers access to:
- Centurion Lounges
- Delta Sky Club Lounge (when flying Delta)
- Airspace Lounges
- Escape Lounges
The Platinum Card also offers over $1,400 in annual credits including $200 Uber Cash, $200 hotel credit, $200 airline fee credit, and more. There's also complimentary elite status with Marriott and Hilton, car rental status, discounts on international upper class tickets, a 35% point rebate and much more.
While the Platinum Card does offer 5X on airfare and hotels booked through amextravel.com, the card revolves more around status and entry. You're going to be using the card to enter lounges, pay for recurring payments and one-time purchases to use the annual credits, and signing up for complimentary memberships.
The overall cash value of the Platinum Card is going to be based off of the perks and benefits it offers and not-so-much the actual points the card earns via spending. This is the big difference between The Platinum Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers exceptional value based on your spending and how you redeem your points, but it is no where near as packed with benefits as The Platinum Card. The Platinum Card doesn't earn you much in terms of points, but it's stacked with benefits that add up to over $2,000 in value (regardless of how much you may value any of the given benefits).
Chase Sapphire Reserve vs Capital One Venture
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is a flat-rate rewards credit card that earns 2 Venture Miles per $1 spent on all purchases ran through the card. Each mile can be redeemed for 1 cent in value towards travel or can be transferred to Capital One's airline and hotel partners for a shot at increased value.
If you don't spend enough to justify the Reserve or the benefits of the Reserve doesn't interest you, the Venture Card is a solid option that can be just as good as the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
It's a simple card with a simple rewards program which is why it's loved by many. The ability to transfer points to most partners at a 1:1 ratio just adds to extra value to an already easy-to-use rewards program.
Chase Sapphire Reserve vs Capital One Venture X
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is comparable to the Chase Sapphire Reserve when it comes to the ability to maximize earnings using the program's own travel portal.
When booking through the Capital One Travel portal with the Venture X, you'll earn 10 miles per $1 spent on hotels and car rentals and 5X on flights. The Chase Sapphire Reserve has the same exact earning rates when booking through it's own Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
So which is better?
Well, Ultimate Rewards Points are easier to redeem for high value when compared to Venture Miles. As a Reserve cardholder, you have an easy 1.5 cent redemption value for travel purchases made through the portal. With Venture Miles, you're looking at 1 cent each. So when it comes to overall value when booking travel, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is going to be the winner by a landslide.
But you also have to take into account the Venture X's lower annual fee and bonus 10,000 anniversary miles for every year you keep the account open. These two benefits alone come out to $400 in value which is more than the annual fee.
At this point, the annual fee of the card is covered and this doesn't count the value of Priority Pass Lounge & Capital One Lounge access as well as the Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit.
Overall, the Venture X can easily give the Sapphire Reserve a run for it's money. You'll want to use the Chase Sapphire Reserve Point Calculator and compare the Venture X side by side to see which offers you the most value.
FAQ
How much are Chase Sapphire Reserve Points worth?
Points redeemed through the Chase Travel Portal are worth 1.5 cents each. You can transfer points to Chase's airline and hotel partners for a chance at higher value.
How many Chase Sapphire points equal a dollar?
For travel redemptions, a $1 will be equal to about 67 points. For cash back redemptions, 100 points will equal $1.
How much is 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points worth?
With the Chase Sapphire Reserve, 50,000 Chase Points can be redeemed for $750 in travel. This is also worth $500 in cash back at the standard rate of 1 cent per point.
Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve worth $550?
This will depend on your spend habits. In my opinion, the amount of value you can get out of the Chase Sapphire Reserve far exceeds the cost of $550 per year especially if you travel at least a few times per year.
