With it now fully confirmed that the annual fee on the Chase Sapphire Reserve will rise to $550 on Sunday, it becomes time to re-analyze both the value proposition of the card for you and how it compares against your other options, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
I’ll be working on those posts for next week, once the annual fee increase has taken hold.
For now, let’s just acknowledge that you have until Saturday to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve at today’s $450 fee and get exactly the same benefits as everyone that will pay $550 come Sunday.
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So should you get the Chase Sapphire Reserve now?
Assuming that you haven’t gotten a bonus on the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Chase Sapphire Preferred in the last 48 months and haven’t opened 5 or more personal credit cards in the last 24 months (i.e. the Chase 5/24 rule), there’s a good chance that the answer is yes (although you might still be perfectly happy to get the $95 annual fee Chase Sapphire Preferred with 60,000 bonus points when you spend $4,00o within 3 months).
On top of everything the card already offers for $450 now (3X Ultimate Rewards on travel and dining, a $300 annual travel credit, Priority Pass Lounge access (including their Priority Pass restaurant collection), primary car rental damage/collision protection, and enhanced trip delay/trip cancelation insurance, alongside a 1.5 cent per point value in the Chase travel portal and airline/hotel point transfer partners, you’ll now also get:
Chase Sapphire Reserve / Lyft Benefits (Effective January 12, 2020)
- Earn 10X Ultimate Rewards points on Lyft rides
- Get a one-time complimentary Lyft Pink subscription (15% Lyft discounts, free bike/scooter rentals each month, and better cancellation rules). This is $19.99 a month value.
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Chase Sapphire Reserve / DoorDash Benefits (Effective January 12, 2020)
- Get $60 in DoorDash credits each year in 2020 and 2021.
- Get free DashPass to get free DoorDash deliveries at select restaurants with $12 or more in your order and decreased service charges.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve signup bonus is currently:
50,000 Ultimate Rewards points when you spend $4,000 in 3 months
And herein lies the only variable – what if the signup bonus increases on Sunday when the fee rises?
I don’t think it will. We all know the Reserve has been a money loser for Chase and this is a clear attempt to right that ship. My prediction is that the bonus stays the same. Still, if it does go up, Chase has long been known to match a signup bonus better than the one you got, so long as it’s within 90 days. It’s also possible that with the annual fee going higher, they could choose to deny a match on that basis.
Bottom Line
Look, I get that for many, especially outside the big cities with a lot of Lyft rides and an easy path to using the DoorDash credits, this is a blow. But for those that might stand to earn 10X Ultimate Rewards on a few hundred dollars a month in Lyft rides and can use the $60 Door Dash credit, the value of this card could be higher than before even with the higher fee. And if that matches you, you may as well save $100.
If you want to beat the fee increase, here’s how to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve
Thoughts?
Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
