Hype on new credit card may be warranted

[Lsbcal]

I first learned about the new Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card from this Bloomberg article: Chase Sapphire Reserve: Deal-Seeking Obsessives Have a New Favorite Credit Card - Bloomberg

Then I went to the Chase site and found the info on it: https://creditcards.chase.com/credit-cards/chase-sapphire-reserve1?CELL=6304&IS2F=Y71UH0

Basically if you can charge $4k in 3 months you get $1000 back. This becomes $1500 if used in the Chase Ultimate Rewards program. I've used the Ultimate Rewards for reserving a car (Dollar rental in Hawaii) and the only catch was you have to pay for it up front but get very good rates. There is a $450 yearly fee for the card but you can offset that by the 3x points and the $300 back annually. Not for everyone but for us it's worth trying for a year or two.

I applied for this and should be getting it very soon. The only way you can apply is apparently through their web site. Even though we are Chase customers I still had to go through some hoops to get a rep to lift the security freeze we have with Experian so the card could be expedited.

 

[Oleanmike]

I have applied for and received Reserve cards for both me and my wife. Not only are the rewards great, the trip cancellation/interruption and the medical evacuation benefits are good enough that I don't feel that I need extra travel insurance.

 

[Lsbcal]

One can count on the $1000 bonus but expanding it to $1500 through use of Chase Ultimate Rewards is not completely clear to me. For instance, I was looking at lodging in Carmel, Ca. and got a rate that was quite a bit lower then I could have obtained on Ultimate Rewards.

I guess to make this work the rate should be near or maybe 25% above the do-it-yourself rate. Also I don't know about the cancellation policy using Ultimate Rewards site. Could be variable depending on what you are selecting.

 

[foxcreek9]

You can transfer the points to other airlines. For example 100k transferred to Southwest would be worth 1,500 to 1,700 dollars.



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[jonat]

I got the Chase Reserve card last week, had a Preferred card before. While the points on purchases aren't any better than the new Costco Anywhere Visa, the signup bonus and the better rate on Ultimate Rewards purchases helps, as does the Priority Pass Select airport lounge access, $300 travel credit annually and payment of the Global Entry or PreCheck fee every four years.

One can boost points by shopping online through Ultimate Rewards - it has quite a few stores I use a lot including LL Bean, Lowe's, Home Depot and Newegg. My experience with hotel pricing through UR is limited, but it beat the best rate I could find elsewhere and the airfare rates are comparable.

 

[Lsbcal]

You can transfer the points to other airlines. For example 100k transferred to Southwest would be worth 1,500 to 1,700 dollars.

How does one transfer points? Do you have to have a card for the airline you want to transfer points to?

 

[Lsbcal]

...My experience with hotel pricing through UR is limited, but it beat the best rate I could find elsewhere and the airfare rates are comparable.

We are planning on a trip to Canada. I looked up a flight on Air Canada (non-stop) and got $270 versus $332 on UR. But since this is about 23% higher it still might work out to be a reduction of around 27%. However, not sure about possible other gotcha's and I'd have to do more to check the full rates and experiences on each choice.

 

[jonat]

How does one transfer points? Do you have to have a card for the airline you want to transfer points to?

No - you just have to be a member of that airline's frequent flier program.

 

[jonat]

When comparing air prices, be aware that some airline sites don't include taxes and fees, whereas the UR site does when they quote you.

I just did a test with Air Canada from Boston to Vancouver. For the same itinerary, the UR price was $276.91 and the aircanada.com price was $276.83. Of course, when you book on UR you don't get to choose the class of fare you want. I usually prefer to book at airline sites directly, but I'll do it through UR if I can get exactly what I was looking for.

 

[Lsbcal]

Jonat, thanks I was wondering about things like taxes and fees.

At any rate, it looks like the Ultimate Rewards could work out nicely.

 

[fosterscik]

It's disappointing that it only has 1% cash back on regular purchases. I may get it for the enrollment rewards, but it may not be used much after that (cancelled after 11 months...). I like the 2% back the Barclaycard offers.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

It's disappointing that it only has 1% cash back on regular purchases. I may get it for the enrollment rewards, but it may not be used much after that (cancelled after 11 months...). I like the 2% back the Barclaycard offers.

This. I would max out the 4K then back to my Amex Cash Preferred.

Need to figure out best time to get it as it could prove difficult to put that much on a card in 3 months.

Also, anyone know which credit bureau they pull from? I think I would need to thaw it (or maybe not since I am already a Chase card holder?)

Sent via mobile device. Please excuse any grammatical errors.

 

[Lsbcal]

It's disappointing that it only has 1% cash back on regular purchases. I may get it for the enrollment rewards, but it may not be used much after that (cancelled after 11 months...). I like the 2% back the Barclaycard offers.

Right, that 1% sucks. So I would use my 2% BOA card for other purchases. DW uses another BOA card for 2% on groceries. It would be great if I could use just one card but a little redundancy never hurts.

I try to keep this stuff simple, but I cannot resist some bargains.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

From what I gather you do not actually get $1000 back in cash, only in points. This makes the cards good for spenders and frequent travelers, but for the frugal crowd, I am not so sure.

 

[Lsbcal]

From what I gather you do not actually get $1000 back in cash, only in points. This makes the cards good for spenders and frequent travelers, but for the frugal crowd, I am not so sure.

I've had Chase Sapphire in the past. One could just take those points as credits against on going monthly charges. Those would be charges for anything, not just travel and dining. I've never looked into taking them as cash to a savings account but maybe that is possible.

EDIT: The way I did things in the past was to just take the points as cash into our checking account at Chase. I assume the Sapphire Reserve works the same.

 

[foxcreek9]

Get a Freedom unlimited card that pays 1.5% when combined with Sappires ultimate rewards comes to 2.25% for every day spending (you transfer your points from the freedom card to your Sappires card). If you have a regular Freedom card the rotating categories pay 5% or 7.5% when transfered


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[Gotadimple]

From what I gather you do not actually get $1000 back in cash, only in points. This makes the cards good for spenders and frequent travelers, but for the frugal crowd, I am not so sure.

And you can't apply the points as a statement credit? On a Chase card? I often use points as a statement credit on my Chase Freedom card.

 

[jonat]

You can redeem points for cash. But they're worth more through UR.

I will be downgrading my Preferred card to Freedom Ultimate that pays 1.5% on regular purchases. I use my Costco Visa for gas (4%).

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Something else I learned about this card. You get a $300 credit for travel (all the normal stuff but also things like Uber and Lyft) and since it goes by the calendar year you could get $600 worth of credits before the annual fee renews next year. Example...you get the card now and you have until the December statement to get the $300 credit. Then, in January, it "resets" and you get another $300 credit. So in essence, if you use this card right then you would get $600 in travel credits, $1500 worth of reward points (that are actually easy to use) for travel for $450. I can see why the hype is warranted.

 

[Chuckanut]

This seems to good to be true.

What are the 'Gotchas"??

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

This seems to good to be true.

What are the 'Gotchas"??

It's $450 a year and you have to spend $4,000 in 3 months. Other than that; I know of none. The /churning Reddit forum has a LOT on there about it and this BY FAR has been the most celebrated reward card in the history of churning.

The question is how long Chase will offer it since SOOO many people are jumping in.

 

[nwsteve]

It's $450 a year and you have to spend $4,000 in 3 months. Other than that; I know of none. The /churning Reddit forum has a LOT on there about it and this BY FAR has been the most celebrated reward card in the history of churning.

The question is how long Chase will offer it since SOOO many people are jumping in.

I don't know if it a gotcha but hard to get details on the med evac benefit.
Apparently if you do not have a S-Reserve, the benefit dept can not provide you any details on what the exact details are on this benefit or any other benefit. The rep indicates they have to have a card number to actually access the details of the benefit.
When we shopped med evac options, we found a lot of them reserved the right to decide where and when to evac. Some of them only will evac you to the nearest accredited hospital who can handle your injury. The one we purchase guarantees a trip home from where-ever you are hospitalized.
Other than the 100k limit, I can not access any of the details. Has any Forum member got this card,& have access to the fine print of the med evac benefit? It would be great to know what exactly you get for this item. If it is comparable the 450 annual fee is effectively cut in at least half from this benefit.
Nwsteve

 

[Lsbcal]

This seems to good to be true.

What are the 'Gotchas"??

Not necessarily a gotcha but I do not see the exact rules for the $300 per year credit for travel. This year is winding down and we likely won't spend a lot on travel in Sept through Dec. Let's say we spend only $500 on travel to the end of this year. How much of that $300 would I get?

 

[nwsteve]

Not necessarily a gotcha but I do not see the exact rules for the $300 per year credit for travel. This year is winding down and we likely won't spend a lot on travel in Sept through Dec. Let's say we spend only $500 on travel to the end of this year. How much of that $300 would I get?

Have not found my answer for details for Med Evac but I did find the following regarding the 300 credit from the Chase site.
"$300 Annual Travel Credit
A statement credit will automatically be applied to your account when your card is used for purchases in the travel category, up to $300 in statement credits annually ("annually" means the year beginning with your account open date through the first December statement date of that same year, and each 12 billing cycles starting after your December statement date through the following December statement date)."
So, if I understand the above correctly,unless you have a big travel spend by Dec, you may want to wait until Dec to sign up
Nwsteve

 

[Lsbcal]

Steve, I saw that but don't understand the formula they use. So in my example, suppose I spend $500 in 2016 how much of the statement credits (max=$300) do I get?