Mar 13, 2017, 3:34 pm
Last edit by: beltway
The official Chase description:
What counts as Travel?
Also, see THIS thread for additional locations.
Merchants in this category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages.
Some merchants that provide transportation and travel-related services are not included in this category; for example, real estate agents, educational merchants arranging travel, in-flight goods and services, on-board cruise line goods and services, sightseeing activities, excursions, tourist attractions, RV and boat rentals, merchants within hotels and airports, public campgrounds and merchants that rent vehicles for the purpose of hauling. Purchases from gift card merchants or merchants that sell points or miles will not qualify in the travel category.
Some merchants that provide transportation and travel-related services are not included in this category; for example, real estate agents, educational merchants arranging travel, in-flight goods and services, on-board cruise line goods and services, sightseeing activities, excursions, tourist attractions, RV and boat rentals, merchants within hotels and airports, public campgrounds and merchants that rent vehicles for the purpose of hauling. Purchases from gift card merchants or merchants that sell points or miles will not qualify in the travel category.
- Airline purchases, fees & gift cards
- AA e-gift certificate
- Delta eGift Cards
- UA in-flight bev
Hotels: - Marriott GC and hotel charges
- Airbnb & their GC
- hotels.com (NOT hotels.com e-gift cert!)
- Hotel restaurants not charged to room (verified at Renaissance LV)
- Priceline "opaque" hotel purchases
- Kruger National Park lodging reservation (booked on sanparks.org official site)
Transit, including parking, trains, ferries, toll roads, etc: - Taxi fares: Uber, Lyft, Gett, Way2Ride, London taxi, Fasten (Austin)
- Transit fees: BART, MTA, FastTrak, Clipper Card (Bay Area), MetroCard, DC Metro (WMATA) SmarTrip farecard and commemorative cards, NJ Transit, Oyster card, Ventra (Chicago), Las Vegas Monorail, Brussels (STIB/MIVB), Incheon Airport Bus tickets, Orca King county(Seattle area), Suica/PASMO (Tokyo IC transit card - Apple pay top up)
- Parking meters: Atlanta; Chicago; Portland, OR; San Francisco; Atlantic City; Seattle, (Los Angeles but NOT Santa Monica)
- Public parking garages: San Francisco; Montgomery Co. MD
- Toll passes: E-Z Pass (MA, MD, NH, NJ, NY, PA), Sunpass prepaid tolls, Washington State GoodToGo tolls, RiverLink tolls, TxTag, IPass (Illinois)
- Train tickets: trainline (UK train tickets), Eurostar.com, Bahn.com (when using Paypal), Amtrak, italirail.com, Train and bus travel in Scotland at ticket counter.
- Amtrak dining car purchases (YMMV, recent reports are below):
- Pacific Surfliner, November 2016 (tmiw): yes, counted as travel with CSR.
Pacific Surfliner, December 2018 (tmiw): did NOT count as travel (no travel credit), but did count as dining for 3x. - San Joaquin, December 2015 (serpens): counted as 3x on CSR, unknown if counted as travel.
- unknown train/date (StanJazz): counted as dining on Freedom and CSP.
- Pacific Surfliner, November 2016 (tmiw): yes, counted as travel with CSR.
- Ferries: Cape May, NJ to Lewes, DE and NYWaterway (Belford-Pier 11)
- Shuttles: Jackson Hole WY Airport official shuttle to town
- Unlimted JR Pass for Japan purchased from japan-rail-pass.com
Misc: - MileagePlusX Uber GC [NB MPX eBay did NOT count, so it appears to be only actual travel related items on MPX]
- Royal Caribbean drink package
- Cruise bookings
- Cruise Excursions Booked Prior to Cruise (and fully refundable)
- MIR Travel Agency
- undercovertourist.com
- Rental cars (verified Avis on page 7 of this thread, Hertz)
- Car Share (Car2Go) (ReachNow)
- Lahaina Cruise Co. (Hawaii Ocean Project whale watch cruise)
- Interval International Exchange Fee + Upgrade Fee
- Aircraft title transfer registration fees with ICAO's International Registry of Mobile Assets (Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol)
- Viator/TripAdvisor
- Recreation.gov fees for reserving federal park campsites do not count as "travel"
- Point.me award search site starter pass
Also, see THIS thread for additional locations.
What counts as travel? [Sapphire, INK, Consolidated]
Aug 7, 2023, 10:39 am
#406
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: AUS
Programs: BAEC Gold, AA PPro, Hyatt Globalist, Amex Plat
Posts: 7,043
There are several cards that provide 3x dining for a lower annual fee than the CSR. As I already mentioned, the Freedom Flex offers 3X dining for a $0 annual fee.
IMHO, the CSR has become a weak card given it's annual fee. I churn it for the SUB, but it's not a keeper.
Regards
IMHO, the CSR has become a weak card given it's annual fee. I churn it for the SUB, but it's not a keeper.
Regards
Aug 7, 2023, 10:50 am
#407
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: flyover country
Posts: 2,435
Aug 7, 2023, 11:47 am
#408
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: ATL, BHM, DUB, County Wexford
Programs: DL DM, AA ExPlt, Diamond HH, HY, BW, & Titanium Elite Marriott
Posts: 4,864
Reserve is 3x on hotels
I would never consider either for dining as all of these have a better return:
AX Bus Gold
AX Personal Gold
MC Citibank Prestige
What makes it 3.1 versus 3 after one year?
Last edited by mia; Aug 7, 2023 at 11:51 am Reason: Combine consecutive replies
Aug 7, 2023, 11:50 am
#409
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
Aug 7, 2023, 1:04 pm
#410
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: ATL, BHM, DUB, County Wexford
Programs: DL DM, AA ExPlt, Diamond HH, HY, BW, & Titanium Elite Marriott
Posts: 4,864
Aug 7, 2023, 1:20 pm
#411
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: ATL, BHM, DUB, County Wexford
Programs: DL DM, AA ExPlt, Diamond HH, HY, BW, & Titanium Elite Marriott
Posts: 4,864
MIA would that be all of these categories? The website is not clear or at least I have not found it yet.
Portal Airline Brand Airline Hotel Brand Hotel Buses Camping Car Rental Cruise Ferry Parking Rideshare Subway Taxi Cabs Timeshare Tolls Tour Train Transit
Portal Airline Brand Airline Hotel Brand Hotel Buses Camping Car Rental Cruise Ferry Parking Rideshare Subway Taxi Cabs Timeshare Tolls Tour Train Transit
Aug 7, 2023, 1:22 pm
#412
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: flyover country
Posts: 2,435
I have always received 2x for hotels charged to Sapphire Preferred. (And I use the word "always" rarely and reluctantly.)
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35475184-post180.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35475184-post180.html
Aug 7, 2023, 1:29 pm
#413
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: ATL, BHM, DUB, County Wexford
Programs: DL DM, AA ExPlt, Diamond HH, HY, BW, & Titanium Elite Marriott
Posts: 4,864
I have always received 2x for hotels charged to Sapphire Preferred. (And I use the word "always" rarely and reluctantly.)
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35475184-post180.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/35475184-post180.html
Aug 7, 2023, 1:32 pm
#414
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: ATL, BHM, DUB, County Wexford
Programs: DL DM, AA ExPlt, Diamond HH, HY, BW, & Titanium Elite Marriott
Posts: 4,864
I have confirmed all of the categories except Campground, Buses, Car Rental, Cruises, Ferries, Parking, Rideshare, Subways, Taxicab, Timeshare, Tolls, and Tours for the 2x on travel. Does anyone know where a link is to confirm these categories or are they at the 1x bonus?
Aug 7, 2023, 1:46 pm
#415
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
The Travel category is the same for both cards. The difference is the one extra point,Sapphire Reserve (3X) vs Sapphire Preferred (2X), not which transactions are covered.
Source: https://www.chase.com/personal/credi...s-category-faq
Merchants in this category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages. Some merchants that provide transportation and travel-related services are not included in this category; for example, real estate agents, educational merchants arranging travel, in-flight goods and services, on-board cruise line goods and services, sightseeing activities, excursions, tourist attractions, RV and boat rentals, merchants within hotels and airports, public campgrounds and merchants that rent vehicles for the purpose of hauling. Purchases from gift card merchants or merchants that sell points or miles will not qualify in the travel category.
Aug 7, 2023, 2:34 pm
#416
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: ATL, BHM, DUB, County Wexford
Programs: DL DM, AA ExPlt, Diamond HH, HY, BW, & Titanium Elite Marriott
Posts: 4,864
The Travel category is the same for both cards. The difference is the one extra point,Sapphire Reserve (3X) vs Sapphire Preferred (2X), not which transactions are covered.
Source: https://www.chase.com/personal/credi...s-category-faq
Source: https://www.chase.com/personal/credi...s-category-faq
Aug 7, 2023, 5:16 pm
#417
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,349
Aug 7, 2023, 5:18 pm
#418
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: ATL, BHM, DUB, County Wexford
Programs: DL DM, AA ExPlt, Diamond HH, HY, BW, & Titanium Elite Marriott
Posts: 4,864
Aug 7, 2023, 5:25 pm
#419
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
Rideshares may be coded the same as taxis.
Ample discussion here: What counts as travel? [Sapphire, INK, Consolidated]
Aug 7, 2023, 5:29 pm
#420
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,349
I have been getting 3x on uber since I have the CSR. Then they started giving free Lyft Pink and 10x points on Lyft ride through March 2025 so I try to use that when it makes sense. You can get 5x on CSP with Lyft and other Chase cards also have increased earnings on Lyft.
https://www.lyft.com/chase
https://www.lyft.com/chase