Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve worth the annual fee?

I would love to re-evaluate my credit cards every year to see if they’re still worth it in my wallet and if it’s worth paying that annual fee again. That’s true whether the annual fee is $50 or $550 like Chase Sapphire Reserve.

As a premium card, Sapphire Reserve has many benefits and perks. It also provides best welcome bonus we’ve seen in five years. With all that in mind, are the benefits worth the price tag once you’ve used the points from the sign-up bonus?

Let’s see if the Chase Sapphire Reserve is worth the annual fee in addition to the first year’s welcome offer.

As stated, the Sapphire Reserve is currently offering the best rewards we’ve seen in half a decade. New applicants can earn 80,000 bonus Final bonus points after spending $4,000 on the card within three months of opening the account.

TPG . Value Final bonus at 2 cents per person. That means this bonus is worth $1,600.

You’ll find that Chase says this bonus is worth $1,200 for travel, which is correct if you redeem your points in Chase the tourist portal. For those bookings, Sapphire Reserve cardholders can redeem their points for a fixed value of 1.5 cents each.

However, you can get more value in redeeming your points if you use them with Chase hotel and airline delivery partners. You can often earn more than 2 cents per point when redeeming for business class flights or hotel rooms during expensive holidays.

Related: How to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for the greatest value

After registration Priority card Choose a member, you can visit more than 1,300 airport lounges. Here, you can enjoy things like more comfortable seating, a quieter waiting area than at the gate, and free food and drink. Many lounges also offer free showers and dedicated Wi-Fi, which can be faster than using the same connection that thousands of people in airport terminals are already using.

Related: How good is a Priority Pass lounge membership?

Additionally, those with a Priority Card membership from Chase can access Restaurants associated with the Priority Card at certain airports. Priority Pass membership holders from an American Express card issued in the US cannot visit these restaurants without having to pay out of pocket for meals. When dining at these restaurants, you can enjoy a complimentary amount of food and drink – usually in the $25-$28 per person range. And your free guests aren’t limited to lounges; you can also take guests to these restaurants, which means a free airport lunch for two or three while waiting to board.

Related: Amex Platinum vs Chase Sapphire Reserve: Which Card Is Right For You?

Take advantage up to $300 in annual travel credits which means you can offset more than half of the Sapphire Reserve’s annual fee with this privilege alone.

What counts as travel for this $300 credit each year is quite extensive: bus tickets, flights, hotels and more. The best part of this benefit is that it automatically applies to the first $300 you spend to travel each month of the month – which means it’s tied to the date you opened the card, not the calendar year.

Any qualifying purchases will automatically activate the credit and you will see your statement credit, usually within a day, compensate for your purchase. This will happen until you’ve used up your $300 of credit and will continue for the next five months.

This can be a great way to offset travel expenses that you can’t redeem for points and miles, such as a boutique hotel that isn’t part of a loyalty program or paying for expensive seaplane transfers to your resort in the Maldives.

Free food

Sapphire Reserve cardholders can take advantage of $30 a month for free food and free shipping, thanks to a number of partnerships.

This comes from $15 per month credit to purchase Instacartone DoorDash Collaboration offers a free DashPass membership through the end of 2024 and $5 credits per month (which you can switch over until you have up to $15 credit in your account) and up to $10 per month in statement credits for Gopuff purchases. Note that some orders will have a minimum spend requirement to qualify for free shipping.

If you max out these $30 credits per month, that’s $360 over the course of a year.

The insurance benefits offered on the Sapphire Reserve are some of the best available. Since Sapphire Reserve is a Visa Infinite card, you get the perks that come with the program. Unlimited Visa Privileges consists of primary rental car insurancetrip cancellation and delay network coverage, Lost baggage reimbursement, Concierge service and Collection of Luxury Hotels & Resorts access.

You’ll also get protections that offer immeasurable value should an emergency happen during your stay, such as emergency medical and dental benefits and Emergency evacuation and transportation insurance.

Related: Why Chase Sapphire Reserve is the Top Card for Renting Cars

The best part of these travel benefits is that many of them apply if you’re only paying for a small portion of your trip with a card, such as using Ultimate Rewards to redeem hotels or pay taxes and fees when placing rewards.

However, there are also insurance benefits that can help protect the items you buy when paying with Sapphire Reserve. This includes purchase protection up to $10,000 per claim and up to $50,000 per account for damaged or stolen items you purchased within the last 120 days. It also includes Warranty extension protection (adds one year to the manufacturer’s warranty of three years or less) and back protection (when a seller doesn’t accept returns of an item you bought in the last 90 days, up to $500 per item and up to $1,000 per year).

Cardholders get free elite status with Nationwide Car Rental and Avis and discounts from Silvercar from Audi. The benefits of car rental elite status include things like skipping lines when you pick up your car, upgrading to a nicer car, and/or adding a free second driver to your booking. Plus, you can match your status level with other programsGain elite status for free in many car rental loyalty programs to expand your options.

While the Sapphire Reserve doesn’t offer any level of hotel or airline elite status, that doesn’t mean the card doesn’t have status-like perks on these stays. Cardholders have access to Chase’s Luxury Hotels & Resorts Collectionoffers benefits like room upgrades, free breakfast every day, and up to $100 worth of onsite credit for these bookings.

Cardholders also have access to exclusive benefits, such as lounges at stadiums like Madison Square Gardenexclusive dinner, VIP events and experiences or privileges at the US Open tennis tournamentto name a few.

Thanks to another perk, cardholders can also go through security checks at airports and the US-Canada border. Sapphire Reserve offers refund of your registration fee with Global Entry, Pre-check TSA or Nexus. This benefit is available every four years.

Another strength of the Sapphire Reserve is its income structure. Cardholders earn 10 points for every dollar on hotel purchases and car rentals through Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal10 points per dollar on food purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards, 5 points per dollar on flights purchased through Chase Travel, 3 points per dollar on all other travel ($300 travel credit not included) and Eating purchases worldwide and 1 point per dollar on everything else.

In addition, cardholders earn 10 points for every dollar on Lyft goes to March 2025.

Although you may be hesitant to book through travel portals for fear don’t get your elite status privileges at hotels, there are times when it can make sense. These include hotels that do not participate in a loyalty program or if you do not have elite status with that hotel program. In these cases, it might make sense to book through the portal to get more points or use your points at a higher redemption rate.

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Related: Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card Review

When Sapphire Reserve annual fee increase from $450 to $550, there was a lot of talk about whether to keep the card or cancel or downgrade to something with a lower fee. There are many perks available on the Sapphire Reserve that can make the annual fee well worth it, but they’re only worth it if you’re using them.

Free coffee, beer or food in the airport lounge before each flight can save hundreds of dollars compared to the cost of buying these items at the airport. On the contrary, maybe you think you only consume these because they are there and free. Look at the value the Sapphire Reserve brings to your life and how much you would spend without these benefits, then you’ll know if the annual fee is worth it in the given situation. your.

Official app link: Chase Sapphire Reserve with a welcome offer of 80,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases on a new card within the first three months of account opening.