Chase Sapphire Reserve® Review: Premium Perks for Frequent Travelers

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The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a travel card that gets a lot of hype — and honestly, it’s deserved! The card comes with a ton of perks, like travel and dining credits, lounge access, and travel insurance.  

But it has a high annual fee, so it's worth knowing exactly what you're getting before you commit.

Overview of the Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is designed for frequent travelers, but it also comes with credits for dining, entertainment, streaming, rideshare, and more. The annual fee is steep, but it offers over $3,000 in annual value, so the math could work out in your favor.

Pros	Cons
$3,000 in annual value through credits and benefits	HIgh annual fee
Points Boost program offers exceptional redemption value	Base Chase Travel℠ redemption rate is only 1:1
Extensive lifestyle credits beyond travel	High spending requirements for premium tier benefits
Comprehensive travel protections	May be overwhelming for casual travelers

Sapphire Reserve Rewards

Earning rewards

The Sapphire Reserve earns Chase Ultimate Rewards®, and your earning rate depends on where and how you book. You'll earn the most on purchases through Chase Travel℠ — that includes The Edit℠, a curated collection of over 1,100 hotels and resorts. Booking flights or hotels directly also earns at a solid rate, and dining worldwide earns above the base rate, too.

One thing to know upfront: your first $300 in travel spending each year goes toward the travel credit, not toward points. So you won't start earning points on travel purchases until you've cleared that threshold.

To make the most of your earnings, book through Chase Travel℠ and consider The Edit℠ for your accommodations whenever you can — it's the highest earn rate and often comes with extra perks at the property.

Redeeming rewards

You've got a few options here: book through Chase Travel℠, transfer to a loyalty partner, or cash out. Cash redemptions are the worst deal — always avoid them if you can.

The card’s Points Boost program gets you up to 2x redemption value on rotating offers through Chase Travel℠. When a boost lines up with where you're already headed, it's a genuinely great deal. The catch: it's not always available for your specific trip, and without a boost, the base Chase Travel℠ redemption rate is 1:1.

But the real value is in transfer partners. Chase works with 10 airlines and 3 hotel programs:

• Aer Lingus
• Air Canada
• Air France KLM
• British Airways
• Hyatt
• Iberia
• IHG Hotels & Resorts
• JetBlue
• Marriott Bonvoy
• Singapore Airlines
• Southwest
• United Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic

Partners such as Hyatt, Southwest, and Virgin Atlantic offer great redemption options and can easily net you $0.03 or $0.04 per point when booking rewards travel. 

Make sure to compare prices and confirm you can make your intended booking before transferring points. Once the points have been transferred, you cannot transfer them back to Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

Sapphire Reserve Benefits

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® comes with a ton of credits covering travel, dining, entertainment, and fitness. Here’s what you get access to:

• $300 annual travel credit: This applies automatically to the first $300 in travel purchases each year. It's the easiest credit on the card to use, and it immediately takes a chunk out of that annual fee.
• $500 annual The Edit℠ Credit: Good toward stays at The Edit℠ hotels bookable through Chase Travel℠. You can also access complimentary perks like breakfast for two and room upgrades (if available).
• $250 credit for select Chase Travel℠ hotel bookings: Includes IHG Hotels & Resorts, Montage Hotels & Resorts, Omni Hotels & Resorts, Virgin Hotels, and others, when prepaid through Chase Travel℠.
• $300 annual dining credit: Covers dining purchases, plus it unlocks primetime reservations at Sapphire Reserve® Exclusive Tables, available for booking on OpenTable.
• $300 annual StubHub credit: For live events — concerts, sports, theater — booked through StubHub. Great if you're a regular event-goer (useless if you're not).
• $288 annual Apple subscription credit: Covers Apple TV+ and Apple Music. If you're already paying for these, this is free money!
• $120 DashPass membership: Pay no delivery fees and get reduced service fees on eligible DoorDash orders.
• Up to $120 in Lyft credits: Comes as $10/month in Lyft credits, plus 5x points on Lyft rides. If you use Lyft regularly, this adds up.
• Up to $120 in Peloton credits: Comes as $10/month for eligible Peloton memberships, plus 10x points on Peloton equipment and accessories.
• Airport lounge access: Access to the Chase Sapphire Lounge® by The Club network — currently at airports in Boston, Las Vegas, NYC, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and San Diego, with Dallas and LA coming soon. You're also covered at 1,300+ Priority Pass™ Select lounges worldwide.
• IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite status: Gets you perks like room upgrades and bonus points on IHG stays.
• Global Entry/TSA PreCheck® credit: Up to $120 back every four years for enrollment fees.

If you’re a big spender on the card, you can access even more perks. Once you hit $75,000 in spending in a year, you’re eligible for World of Hyatt Explorist status, IHG Diamond Elite status, Southwest Airlines A-List status, a $500 Southwest credit, and a $250 credit to The Shops at Chase.

Lastly, the card comes with a full suite of travel protections. You get:

• Primary rental car coverage
• Trip delay and cancellation/interruption insurance
• Emergency evacuation and transportation coverage
• Baggage delay and lost luggage reimbursement
• Travel accident insurance
• Emergency medical and dental coverage

What We Like About the Sapphire Reserve

The Sapphire Reserve is easily one of the best travel cards on the market, with a ton of benefits that make it a massive step up from its (also great!) sister card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.

Beyond the perks, the standout new feature is Points Boost, which allows cardmembers to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards® points at up to 2x value on rotating offers through Chase Travel℠. If you time it right, you can get business class flights or luxury hotel stays for a fraction of the cash price

The primary rental car insurance is special, too. Most cards offer secondary coverage, which means if something happens to your rental, you have to file with your own insurer first — and deal with the potential rate increase. The Reserve covers you as the primary insurer, so you skip that whole headache.

What We Dislike About the Sapphire Reserve

The annual fee is very high, and if you don’t take advantage of all the credits, you’re out that money.

There's also some fine print worth flagging. Because your first $300 in travel spending triggers the travel credit — not points — you're effectively earning nothing on those initial purchases.

On redemptions, the Points Boost program is great when it's available, but it's rotating and unpredictable. You can't count on a boost being there for a trip you've already planned. And without it, the redemption rate is 1:1 — down from the 1.5x that used to be a reliable reason to book through Chase Travel℠.

Finally, the lifestyle credits are only worth what you can actually use. The DoorDash, Lyft, StubHub, Apple, and Peloton credits are real money — but only if those platforms are already part of your life. If they're not, you're paying for benefits you'll never touch.

Who Should Get the Sapphire Reserve?

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is is a good fit if you:

• Travel regularly and naturally spend on flights, hotels, and dining
• Already use (or would genuinely adopt) DoorDash, Lyft, StubHub, and similar services
• Are comfortable with transfer partner redemptions, especially Hyatt or United, and want to maximize your points value
• Want lounge access without being tied to a specific airline program
• Spend enough annually to consider hitting the $75,000 premium tier

But the card is probably not right for you if you only fly a couple of times a year, prefer simple cashback over travel rewards, or rarely book through Chase Travel℠.

And of course, you should avoid this card if the annual fee is too steep for your budget. In that case, you may be better off sticking with the Sapphire Preferred for now.

Alternatives to the Sapphire Reserve

Both the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card let you earn insanely valuable Ultimate Rewards® points. However, the annual fee varies quite a bit between the two cards, as do the benefits.

The American Express Platinum Card® is the flagship Amex card that offers the most perks. However, it also comes with an eye-watering annual fee. Whether or not the fee is worth it depends on how many of the card’s perks you’ll actually use.

Like the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offers quite a few perks in addition to the sign-up bonus. Plus, it has similar benefits and a significantly lower annual fee. Opt for the Venture X if you're seeking travel perks without the Reserve's high fee.

FAQs

TL;DR: Should You Get the Sapphire Reserve?

While the Chase Sapphire Reserve® has a substantial annual fee, the over $3,000 in annual value through credits and benefits can more than justify the cost — assuming you’re a frequent traveler who likes luxury lifestyle perks!

But if you can't maximize the extensive benefits package, consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or other alternatives with lower fees.

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Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.