$550 annual membership fee for Chase Chase Sapphire Reserve® Credit Card - worth it?

[braumeister]

I would get the lower-end sapphire @ $95/year if I rented vehicles often because both it and the $550/year card offer primary auto coverage.

Are you sure? I was under the impression that only the Reserve card offered that.

 

[ncbill]

Are you sure? I was under the impression that only the Reserve card offered that.

I should have said primary coverage for damage to the vehicle you're driving:

From their Guide to Benefits - Sapphire Preferred (with emphasis added):

"The Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver acts as primary coverage and covers theft, damage, valid loss-of-use charges imposed and substantiated by the auto rental company, administrative fees, and reasonable and customary towing charges (due to a covered theft or damage) to the nearest qualified repair facility."

A big advantage of the above is coverage for loss-of-use, which other credit cards often claim to cover but in reality never do.

However:

"The Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver covers no other type of loss.

For example, in the event of a collision involving Your Rental Vehicle, damage to any other driver’s car, the injury of anyone, or damage to anything is not covered.

Rental periods up to thirty-one (31) consecutive days are covered."

 

[Amethyst]

Wow, I didn't know I could do that! Thanks for the tip.

I have the Reserve card. The $300 travel credit isn't just for hotels or flights or rental cars--it's also for tolls and taxi/rideshare and parking. I put $150 into my EZPass account with it, knowing that that will last me a bit.

My Chase Freedom Unlimited is my "every day" card (except for categories where I can get more points/cash back on other cards), and I always transfer points from that to my Reserve, so they are worth more. (Ditto the Freedom card I have with the 5x points categories.)

Again - I didn't know I could transfer those points from the lesser cards and get the higher value. That's why this forum is so good...

.[/QUOTE]

 

[foxcreek9]

Wow, I didn't know I could do that! Thanks for the tip.





Again - I didn't know I could transfer those points from the lesser cards and get the higher value. That's why this forum is so good...

.

[/QUOTE]

Plus you can transfer your spouses points to your account. My wife has 2 freedom cards plus the unlimited. I transfer all her points to my reserve card for the 50% bump. We have 4 freedom cards, combined with the 5% quarterly categories, this card makes money for us each year plus the travel benefits

 

[Chuckanut]

Wow, I didn't know I could do that! Thanks for the tip.
Again - I didn't know I could transfer those points from the lesser cards and get the higher value. That's why this forum is so good...

Yes. I have a Chase Freedom Flex card which I use heavily with some of the 5% categories. Then I transfer the points to the Sapphire card for another 25% bonus.

Instead of paying $75 for another family member card, maybe get them a Freedom Flex card and have them move the points to the Sapphire card?

 

[OldConch]

Title sums up my question.

We have a current Chase United Mileage card and we've been getting lots of promotions from Chase for this Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card. I see it has a $550 membership fee plus an additional $75 fee for each authorized user which would be a total of $700 for our family -- currently 3 users, husband, daughter and myself.

Is this card worth this steep fee? What is so great that they're charging so much for it? Are there any similar cards you would recommend that have less (or preferably NO) annual fees?

Thanks for your feedback

I've had the Sapphire Reserve for a couple of years and at $550 I'm not sure I'll renew.

The Capital One Venture X has similar benefits with a much easier to justify $395 annual fee. There's a $300 annual travel credit and 10,000 mile bonus each card anniversary - worth $100. If you travel, and we do, the card pays for itself. $100 TSA credit, 2x on most purchases, cell phone protection, Hertz President's Circle, no foreign transaction fees, the "good" Priority Pass card, and no fee for authorized users make this a pretty good alternative.

 

[OldConch]

We're about to drop her Reserve card - Have $300 travel bonus we tried to spend some of at a room on our way down south last Thursday, but it didn't work out. Room flooded from the bathroom above us so after waiting an hour for anyone to show up we just got a (way tooo) early start. Hotel comped us the room and wouldn't just give us a voucher for a future stay, so our $300 bonus for the year may get wasted.

I wouldn't let that $300 go to waste. Buy a plane ticket, wait a week, cancel the flight. You'll get an e-credit that can be applied to a future flight.

 

[braumeister]

Yes, and they're very liberal about what they will classify as a travel expense to give you the credit.

I also find the card more than pays for itself.

 

[W2R]

I'd run like the wind! But then, credit card fees scare me silly. I only have one credit card (the Amazon/Chase card) which has no annual membership fees. Actually I pay it off every month, so it has no fees at all.

As some others have pointed out, it all depends on your lifestyle and spending habits. I never travel but I buy nearly everything on Amazon, so the card I have is enough for me.

 

[Sunset]

I wouldn't let that $300 go to waste. Buy a plane ticket, wait a week, cancel the flight. You'll get an e-credit that can be applied to a future flight.

isn't that somewhat risky, as some flight credits expire ? or it becomes awkward to use as may have a flight credit on AA, but United flight is much cheaper when one goes to book ?

We typically don't fly a lot, but if one flies many times per year, it would work out.

 

[OldConch]

isn't that somewhat risky, as some flight credits expire ? or it becomes awkward to use as may have a flight credit on AA, but United flight is much cheaper when one goes to book ?

We typically don't fly a lot, but if one flies many times per year, it would work out.

If the choice is between letting the credit go to waste or getting an e-credit that's good for a year it's a pretty easy decision IMO. Southwest e-credits don't expire.

 

[Chuckanut]

I'd run like the wind! But then, credit card fees scare me silly. I only have one credit card (the Amazon/Chase card) which has no annual membership fees. Actually I pay it off every month, so it has no fees at all.

As some others have pointed out, it all depends on your lifestyle and spending habits. I never travel but I buy nearly everything on Amazon, so the card I have is enough for me.

If you are a Prime member then you also get that 5% cash-back on every purchase. 5% here, 5% there, pretty soon it adds up to real money.

 

[explanade]

I have the Reserve card for the travel benefits. It costs $250/year, since you get $300 in travel credits. I’d never pay for an extra card. Get another card for spouse/kids, such as the Fidelity 2% cash back.

I travel a lot and the card is a good value for me. You earn points at 3% (for travel, restaurants), discounts on redemptions for hotels/flights, no foreign transaction fee, primary car rental insurance (which is easy to use), lounge access, and some other small perks.

As others mentioned, you need to figure out if it’s worth the cost. I do this every year and so far I easily break even.

An easy check is if you spend 25k on travel/restaurants each year, then that extra 1% compared to 2% cash back (Fidelity) is the break-even point. And that excludes the other benefits.

I’ve had no issues using the points. Sometimes I transfer them, but usually I use them for hotels in pricier cities. I’ve also used it for domestic (easy) plane tickets. Never had any issues.

As for the Preferred card, the benefits aren’t as a good. I thought about downgrading, but it wasn’t worth it. I’m better off with the Reserve card.

I had CSR when it offered 100k points. Had it a couple of years.

Then switch to CSP and got another bonus and restaurants are 3x.

I think I’d have to cancel my CSP for a year at least before plying for CSR with big bonus.

 

[brett]

From my perspective it is purely a math and a cost/benefit question.

How much will the card give you, save you each year? What is the annual cost.

Fairly simple equation. The answer should drop out the bottom line.

 

[Eastfolk]

You can be sure of this: Chase has calculated that, on average, the benefits that card holders receive will cost Chase less than $550. So to win, you have to beat the odds.

Not sure I fully agree with this as it seems to imply that on average, cardholders will not receive more than $550 of value and so its generally not advisable to get the card. I think that is normally the case in the "for every 1 winner, there's a loser" philosophy, but this scenario is a bit unique in that there's a third party involved: the merchants. Specifically, Chase gets a percentage of any purchase paid for with the card so that theoretically, you could have 2 winners (Chase and cardholder) and one "loser" (Merchant). What you're implying could very well be true - I just don't think it's that simple.

As others have said, whether it's worth getting this card is really dependent on how much value you think you can derive from the many different benefits it offers. And you also have to take into account opportunity cost i.e. do the benefits overlap with other no-annual fee cards you may already have.

I personally have had this card when it first came out and offered 100k bonus points with a $450 annual fee. We traveled internationally and got access to many different lounges around the globe - some really good and other just bleh. We got our TSA precheck and global entry membership fees waived. Where we really got our value was when our flight from Japan to S. Korea was cancelled and this card reimbursed our stay in the expensive airport hotel and also dining for my wife and I.

These days, we don't travel as much, so we're probably just about breakeven on the $550 fee.

 

[TripleLindy]

From my perspective it is purely a math and a cost/benefit question.

How much will the card give you, save you each year? What is the annual cost.

Fairly simple equation. The answer should drop out the bottom line.

Kind of. If you really want to understand the best deal, you have to look at other cards. For example, the card in question may provide $2500 in travel benefits, but the same amount charged on another card may provide $3000 in cash back. There are so many rewards cards out there, you can easily tie yourself in knots trying to figure it out. That’s why we go with a cash rewards card that doesn’t have an annual fee. We can use that cash for anything instead of tying up rewards in travel points. It’s been awhile since I’ve used travel points, but when I did, I often couldn’t get the flights I wanted when I wanted them. That’s not an issue with cash.

 

[Chuckanut]

If you are a Prime member then you also get that 5% cash-back on every purchase. 5% here, 5% there, pretty soon it adds up to real money.

I should have added that to get the 5% cash-back you need to use the Amazon Prime CC issued by Chase bank. Fortunately, there is no fee for the card. I just used about $28 buy putting it towards my current CC bill. Oh, no taxes on cash-back.

 

[2017ish]

It is worth it for us, even given our free 2.625% card at BoA that would otherwise get these charges.. But, we have a large travel budget and are gone about 6 months of the year--mostly international. Internationally, the priority pass is quite useful when you are traveling in coach. We probably probably wouldn't purchase lounge access very often, but we enjoy having it "for free" because of this card.

 

[brett]

Kind of. If you really want to understand the best deal, you have to look at other cards. For example, the card in question may provide $2500 in travel benefits, but the same amount charged on another card may provide $3000 in cash back. There are so many rewards cards out there, you can easily tie yourself in knots trying to figure it out. That’s why we go with a cash rewards card that doesn’t have an annual fee. We can use that cash for anything instead of tying up rewards in travel points. It’s been awhile since I’ve used travel points, but when I did, I often couldn’t get the flights I wanted when I wanted them. That’s not an issue with cash.

Those are two separate questions. The first is the cost benefit of the card. The second is the comparison to other cards in the marketplace.