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, 6:06 pm
#421
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 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
Aug 8, 2023, 10:26 pm
#422
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: SW Michigan, ex SF Bay Area
Posts: 832
“Travel” for the purposes of the CSR’s 3X and CSP’s 2X points includes what Chase calls “Local transit and commuting”. Rideshares are explicitly named as part of this category, and subways also qualify. I can personally attest to receiving 3X points for recent travel on Chicago’s ‘L’ and NYC’s subway.
Aug 9, 2023, 11:52 am
#424
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: SJC/SFO
Posts: 373
The travel categories are exactly the same between Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Preferred, the only difference is that Reserve earns 3x while Preferred earns 2x on the travel category.
Aug 9, 2023, 11:55 am
#425
Join Date: May 2019
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1K, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium Elite, Hyatt Lifetime Globalist
Posts: 454
“Travel” for the purposes of the CSR’s 3X and CSP’s 2X points includes what Chase calls “Local transit and commuting”. Rideshares are explicitly named as part of this category, and subways also qualify. I can personally attest to receiving 3X points for recent travel on Chicago’s ‘L’ and NYC’s subway.
Aug 9, 2023, 3:08 pm
#427
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
Looks like I was right, but it is online only now, not in store.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 3x points on online grocery stores (the Chase Sapphire Reservedoesn’t offer any additional bonus points on these purchases):
The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 3x points on online grocery stores (the Chase Sapphire Reservedoesn’t offer any additional bonus points on these purchases):
- The online grocery (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs) category includes purchases for grocery pickup and delivery that are placed online with grocery stores, specialty food stores or delivery service merchants that classify as grocery store merchants (excluding membership and subscription fees)
- Meal kit delivery services are included
- Some merchants that sell grocery items are not included in this category; for example, larger stores that sell a wide variety of goods and groceries like Walmart and Target, wholesale clubs such as Costco and BJs, liquor stores and merchants that specialize in only a few grocery items
Aug 10, 2023, 12:14 pm
#428
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Pacific Northwest
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, AS 75k, AA Plat, Bonvoyed Gold, Honors Dia, Hyatt Explorer, IHG Plat, ...
Posts: 16,854
"Earn 3x total points on up to $1,000 in grocery store purchases per month from Nov. 1, 2020 to Apr. 30, 2021, including
pickup and eligible grocery store delivery services.* It's automatic—no activation required."
If memory serves right, that nicely aligned with PYB at the time
Aug 10, 2023, 12:19 pm
#429
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,349
Aug 10, 2023, 1:15 pm
#430
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: SW Michigan, ex SF Bay Area
Posts: 832
During the pandemic Chase temporarily offered 3X on groceries for the CSR. I received an email with that offer on 11/2/2020:
"Earn 3x total points on up to $1,000 in grocery store purchases per month from Nov. 1, 2020 to Apr. 30, 2021, including
pickup and eligible grocery store delivery services.* It's automatic—no activation required."
If memory serves right, that nicely aligned with PYB at the time
"Earn 3x total points on up to $1,000 in grocery store purchases per month from Nov. 1, 2020 to Apr. 30, 2021, including
pickup and eligible grocery store delivery services.* It's automatic—no activation required."
If memory serves right, that nicely aligned with PYB at the time
I am trying to justify getting the Reserve. The only value proposition for me would be the SUB at this point, but based on my excel, the reserve does not provide a better ROI than other cards that I have, so it will only be a SUB that drives me to get the card, if I can.
When it first came out, I based my calculation on the $55 net additional annual fee. I could more than make up for that with the extra point for travel expenses. But when the net fee increased to $155, I started looking for alternatives.
However, some of the extra perks bring that down a bit. There's $5/month DoorDash credit, so I go and pick up some free Chipotle every other month or so. That's $60/year. (And DoorDash frequently runs promotions for as much as 30-50% off.) If you have Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS, that's another $10-20/year. (Though it sounds like you already have that covered by another card.) That brings the net down to $85 or less. With other benefits like occasional Priority Pass use, travel insurance claims, and Pay Yourself Back, I've gotten a lot of value out of this card. I'm still keeping my eyes open for something better, but for now I'm keeping the CSR.
I'm curious, why? I had both for a short time; I had a CSP before the CSR existed. After getting the CSR, I PC'd the CSP to a CFU because I couldn't think of a reason to have both. What advantages do you see?
Aug 10, 2023, 3:37 pm
#431
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Pacific Northwest
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, AS 75k, AA Plat, Bonvoyed Gold, Honors Dia, Hyatt Explorer, IHG Plat, ...
Posts: 16,854
It sounds like you've done the math and come to that conclusion. I won't try to change your mind, but I will say that for me the CSR (paired with the CF and CFU) still seems to be the best card.
When it first came out, I based my calculation on the $55 net additional annual fee. I could more than make up for that with the extra point for travel expenses. But when the net fee increased to $155, I started looking for alternatives.
However, some of the extra perks bring that down a bit.
…
I'm curious, why? I had both for a short time; I had a CSP before the CSR existed. After getting the CSR, I PC'd the CSP to a CFU because I couldn't think of a reason to have both. What advantages do you see?
When it first came out, I based my calculation on the $55 net additional annual fee. I could more than make up for that with the extra point for travel expenses. But when the net fee increased to $155, I started looking for alternatives.
However, some of the extra perks bring that down a bit.
…
I'm curious, why? I had both for a short time; I had a CSP before the CSR existed. After getting the CSR, I PC'd the CSP to a CFU because I couldn't think of a reason to have both. What advantages do you see?
Many people seem to find that the CSP is the better choice for them. I easily recoup the difference in effective annual fee with the priority dining credits. This year alone I have received $380 worth of dining credits for myself and my wife. I could discount that somewhat to account for alternative dining choices I might have made without the credit, but I am pretty sure it still makes up for the difference in AF. And then there are obviously other advantages that lead me to keep the CSR. My wife has the CSP, but we put most of our travel spend on my cards.
Aug 11, 2023, 9:54 am
#433
Join Date: Nov 2007
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Honors Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 4,349
I had the same question awhile back if Uber cash reloads work. I took the risk and loaded $25. It worked so I did the rest of my $300 travel as Uber cash reload since for me it was the easiest way to get exactly to $300 and we use Uber/Uber Eats (which shares the funds from the Uber cash balance) all the time so no issue using the funds in no time.
Aug 12, 2023, 7:56 pm
#435
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
now that you mention it… yes, I recall.
I started out with the CSP, too, and after I got the CSR, I, too, downgraded the CSP to a CFU.
Many people seem to find that the CSP is the better choice for them. I easily recoup the difference in effective annual fee with the priority dining credits. This year alone I have received $380 worth of dining credits for myself and my wife. I could discount that somewhat to account for alternative dining choices I might have made without the credit, but I am pretty sure it still makes up for the difference in AF. And then there are obviously other advantages that lead me to keep the CSR. My wife has the CSP, but we put most of our travel spend on my cards.
I started out with the CSP, too, and after I got the CSR, I, too, downgraded the CSP to a CFU.
Many people seem to find that the CSP is the better choice for them. I easily recoup the difference in effective annual fee with the priority dining credits. This year alone I have received $380 worth of dining credits for myself and my wife. I could discount that somewhat to account for alternative dining choices I might have made without the credit, but I am pretty sure it still makes up for the difference in AF. And then there are obviously other advantages that lead me to keep the CSR. My wife has the CSP, but we put most of our travel spend on my cards.