I don't know if "move the needle" is the right phrase; I think it's more about keeping the existing cardholders in the target demographic happy while Chase jacks up the annual fee. If you use either of the benefits as much as a typical Valley millennial does the fee bump pays for itself even in back-of-the-envelope math, so the initial reaction to the fee hike is "cool, but I get even more benefits". Meanwhile Chase is quietly getting a bulk discount, but more importantly is only promising these benefits through December 2021, whereas the fee hike is obviously permanent.

And I disagree in part on ROI of rewards -- I think the CSR is absolutely targeted at the consumer who is more conscious of the actual cost of card benefits. Chase all along had the angle of trying to bring more of these affluent types into their brand portfolio, and I don't think the CSR was ever going to steal people who don't have the sense to understand that putting non-categorizing spend on an Amex Plat or Centurion card is a terrible financial decision. The whole marketing effort behind the card was focused on the actual cash value of the rewards, not their "bling factor".

The CSR's original sell versus the Plat was that it had actually useful, easy-to-understand benefits.