Sep 2, 2016, 8:22 am
Last edit by: serpens
Sapphire Reserve Annual Travel Credit
How are the dates calculated?
For cards issued prior to May 21, 2017 it was Reimbursed per Calendar year, not membership year. Purchases must be posted (not pending) by your December statement (dated any time Dec 1 through Dec 31) to be credited against current year's $300 credit. Any travel spend that posts after the December statement will credit against the next year's $300 credit.
For cards issued after May 21, 2017, it will be reimbursed by membership year.
But my 2nd annual fee is after May 21, 2017, why didn't my travel credit reset?
Because if you got your card before that date, your travel credit will continue to reset after your December statement.
Does the travel credit count as minimum spend?
Spend is spend, the credit is the credit. The $300 reimbursement is a separate item from spending requirements( the $300 reimbursement on travel, $100 Goes all count towards the $4,000 only the $450 yearly fee doesn't). You must spend $4000 for your signup bonus UR points. If part of that spend is categorized as travel, a credit will post to your account accordingly. They are separate items.
Even if you return a purchase after you've met your $4000 initial spend it will not count against your spend.
Can I get two travel credit fees if I apply in the middle of the year?
Not for applications after May 21, 2017.
What counts as Travel?
Gas Station and Grocery Store purchases will also count through 12/31/21. (See post 1521.)
The following items have been reimbursed.
Airline purchases, fees & gift cards:
What doesn't count as travel?
Here's a thread dedicated to the topic: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chas...rrect-mcc.html
The following items have NOT posted as travel/been reimbursed:
How are the dates calculated?
For cards issued prior to May 21, 2017 it was Reimbursed per Calendar year, not membership year. Purchases must be posted (not pending) by your December statement (dated any time Dec 1 through Dec 31) to be credited against current year's $300 credit. Any travel spend that posts after the December statement will credit against the next year's $300 credit.
For cards issued after May 21, 2017, it will be reimbursed by membership year.
But my 2nd annual fee is after May 21, 2017, why didn't my travel credit reset?
Because if you got your card before that date, your travel credit will continue to reset after your December statement.
Does the travel credit count as minimum spend?
Spend is spend, the credit is the credit. The $300 reimbursement is a separate item from spending requirements( the $300 reimbursement on travel, $100 Goes all count towards the $4,000 only the $450 yearly fee doesn't). You must spend $4000 for your signup bonus UR points. If part of that spend is categorized as travel, a credit will post to your account accordingly. They are separate items.
Even if you return a purchase after you've met your $4000 initial spend it will not count against your spend.
Can I get two travel credit fees if I apply in the middle of the year?
Not for applications after May 21, 2017.
What counts as Travel?
Gas Station and Grocery Store purchases will also count through 12/31/21. (See post 1521.)
The following items have been reimbursed.
Airline purchases, fees & gift cards:
- AA e-gift certificate
- Delta eGift Cards, in-flight food/drink purchases
- UA in-flight bev
- Moved from EC to EC+ on AA and credit posted 8/2017.
Southwest gift cards do work! Just purchased a $40 emailed gift card and received the travel credit 3/2018
- Airbnb & their GC
- Bellagio Las Vegas -- including restaurant charges signed to room (posted as BELLAGIO - FRONT DESK)
- hotels.com (NOT hotels.com e-gift cert!)
- Hotel restaurants not charged to room (verified at Renaissance LV)
- Marriott GC and hotel charges
- Priceline "opaque" hotel purchases
- Kruger National Park lodging reservation (booked on sanparks.org official site)
- Hilton Home2 Suites
- taxi fares: Uber, Lyft, Gett, Way2Ride, London taxi, RideAustin
- Transit fees: BART, MTA, FastTrac, MetroCard, DC Metro (WMATA) SmarTrip farecard and commemorative cards, NJ Transit, Oyster card, Ventra (Chicago), Las Vegas Monorail,Short term parking at LAS, London, STIB/MIVB (Brussels), UTA (Salt Lake City), TriMet (Portland, OR)
- Parking meters: Chicago; Portland, OR; San Francisco; Atlantic City; Seattle; Minneapolis; Raleigh; San Diego
- Public parking garages: San Francisco; Montgomery Co. MD; Saint Paul; UC San Diego
- Toll passes: E-Z Pass (MA, MD, NH, NJ, NY, PA), Sunpass prepaid tolls, Washington State GoodToGo tolls, RiverLink tolls, TxTag, IPass (Illinois), Houston EZ-Tag
- Train tickets: trainline (UK train tickets), Eurostar.com, Bahn.com (when using Paypal), Amtrak (cafe car purchases as well as tickets purchased from kiosks or the website), italirail.com, Train and bus travel in Scotland at ticket counter, SNCB/NMBS (Belgium--app or counter; chip-and-sign cards don't work in ticket machines), Euroshuttle (car train under the English Channel)
- Ferries: Cape May, NJ to Lewes, DE
- Shuttles: Jackson Hole WY Airport official shuttle to town
- Unlimted JR Pass for Japan purchased from japan-rail-pass.com
- Bikeshare membership/usage fees in Washington, DC
- Parking apps: ParkWhiz, SpotHero, ParkMobile
- Presidential Limousine service in Las Vegas
- Costco Travel
Disney theme park tickets physically purchased at Disney gateSee post #1203- Disney Vacation account funding
- Royal Caribbean drink package
- Cruise bookings
- Cruise Excursions Booked Prior to Cruise (and fully refundable)
- MIR Travel Agency
- ChargePoint for Electric Vehicle Charging
- MileagePlusX Uber GC
- undercovertourist.com
- Rental cars (verified Avis on page 7 of this thread)
- 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)
- Cooking class/experience booked through Viator
What doesn't count as travel?
Here's a thread dedicated to the topic: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chas...rrect-mcc.html
The following items have NOT posted as travel/been reimbursed:
e-gift card from Airline, except DeltaPlease list specifics.- AA in-flight food
- AAA membership
- Alaska Airlines: e-gift cards; in-flight food; Board Room membership (post 1152)
- Blink Charging (EV charging network): shows up as Bills & Utilities
- CLEAR -- annual membership fee and pro-rated $50 fee for adding a family member
- Points.com (Southwest)
- Not all parking meters - Michigan State University (MSU Police Dept. 1x), Phoenix
- Parking citation payment (SF MTA)
- Hotel parking fees (e.g. Fairmont SF)
- Walt Disney tickets directly from Disney.com
- Vacation Rental by Owner/HomeAway
- Airport landing, parking and ground handling fees for private jets
EZ-Tag (Houston, TX)now DOES count per post 1109- Georgia Peach Pass
- Hotels.com e-gift card
- Hyatt e-gift card
- Hyatt physical G.C. from Hyatt.com (coded as Online, Mail, or Telephone transaction or Card, Gift Novelty and Souvenir Stores) No manual adjustment.
- IHG Ambassador recognition program
- Southwest Airlines in-flight purchases
- Southwest Airlines Wi-Fi purchase ("Bills & utilities" in Chase online banking)
- Prince Resorts Hawaii Gift Card (Prince Hotel Waikiki, Mauna Kea Hotel, Hapuna Beach Hotel)
- Meal at Fairmont Hotel not charged to room
- Choice hotel Points + Cash reservation
- Delta in-flight Wi-Fi purchased through app
- MPX Amazon.Com
- Not all public transit: Lisbon metro
- Travel Insurance (Allianz)
Chase Sapphire Reserve $300 Annual Travel Credit (2016 - 2021)
Sep 12, 2016, 12:20 pm
#121
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 539
Quick data point on how broad the definition of "travel" is for the $300 travel credit. I was just credited for two small charges related to payments at the regular (street) parking meter machines in Portland, OR.
Sep 12, 2016, 12:23 pm
#122
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Westchester Co, NY or Rio Grande Valley, TX or ???
Programs: BAEC G, WN A-, Hyatt G, HH G, MAR T, Hz PC, was [UA2P, FL A+Elite, BD G]
Posts: 2,271
I have received my $300 travel credit, but the application was not how I expected it to be.
My 1st three charges on my new CSR were as follows:
Day 1: Singapore Air award taxes; over $100
Day 2: AA award taxes; two separate charges each over $100
Even though all three charges earned at 3x, the $300 credit was applied to the AA charges on Day 2.
Any idea why this would be the case?
Edit: It looks like all three of those charges were removed from pending on the same day, in which case it is plausible that the AA charges cleared first. Probably no mystery here.
My 1st three charges on my new CSR were as follows:
Day 1: Singapore Air award taxes; over $100
Day 2: AA award taxes; two separate charges each over $100
Even though all three charges earned at 3x, the $300 credit was applied to the AA charges on Day 2.
Any idea why this would be the case?
Edit: It looks like all three of those charges were removed from pending on the same day, in which case it is plausible that the AA charges cleared first. Probably no mystery here.
Last edited by HPN-HRL; Sep 12, 2016 at 12:31 pm Reason: Further research
Sep 12, 2016, 1:09 pm
#123
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,369
I have received my $300 travel credit, but the application was not how I expected it to be.
My 1st three charges on my new CSR were as follows:
Day 1: Singapore Air award taxes; over $100
Day 2: AA award taxes; two separate charges each over $100
Even though all three charges earned at 3x, the $300 credit was applied to the AA charges on Day 2.
Any idea why this would be the case?
Edit: It looks like all three of those charges were removed from pending on the same day, in which case it is plausible that the AA charges cleared first. Probably no mystery here.
My 1st three charges on my new CSR were as follows:
Day 1: Singapore Air award taxes; over $100
Day 2: AA award taxes; two separate charges each over $100
Even though all three charges earned at 3x, the $300 credit was applied to the AA charges on Day 2.
Any idea why this would be the case?
Edit: It looks like all three of those charges were removed from pending on the same day, in which case it is plausible that the AA charges cleared first. Probably no mystery here.
1) original charge reversed
2) ??? $300 credit gets reversed
3) ??? $300 credit applies to next eligible item in history ??? (probably not if statement is already cut)
or next eligible item that gets charged on card?
Last edited by paperwastage; Sep 12, 2016 at 1:14 pm
Sep 13, 2016, 6:40 am
#124
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,132
Didn't see a mention of rental cars (who would use those for travel when you have gift cards to buy 
), but my recent prepaid Avis rental qualified for the credit:
View Screen Capture
), but my recent prepaid Avis rental qualified for the credit:View Screen Capture
Sep 13, 2016, 7:44 am
#125
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: KSTP KSPG
Programs: AOPA
Posts: 974
next mystery would be what would happen if the original charge gets reversed (due to cancellation/refund)
1) original charge reversed
2) ??? $300 credit gets reversed
3) ??? $300 credit applies to next eligible item in history ??? (probably not if statement is already cut)
or next eligible item that gets charged on card?
1) original charge reversed
2) ??? $300 credit gets reversed
3) ??? $300 credit applies to next eligible item in history ??? (probably not if statement is already cut)
or next eligible item that gets charged on card?
Sep 13, 2016, 11:45 am
#126
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 63
Would like to know the same. Does hotels.com qualify for the travel credit?
Sep 13, 2016, 12:12 pm
#127
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Dallas, TX
Programs: WN A-List Pref, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat
Posts: 460
Sep 13, 2016, 6:59 pm
#129
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: LAX, LGB, SNA
Programs: AA EXP OWE, DL DM ST+, AS MVPG, UA, BA, WN CP, Hyatt E, Ritz Plat, HH GM
Posts: 3,185
Marriott food and bev without stay worked. Budget rental car too.
Sep 14, 2016, 9:37 pm
#131
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 309
Used CSR for hotel booking on Expedia. Credit posted as soon as transaction posted.
Please feel free to add to wiki.
Please feel free to add to wiki.
Sep 15, 2016, 2:46 am
#132
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 91
Seems like a given but in case not, the taxes on a BA Avios ticket just posted and received travel credit.
As an FYI, be careful if you are near the December billing date. BA does not post quickly. The pending transaction came through on 9/9/16 and fell off on 9/13/16. The charges posted on 9/15/16.
As an FYI, be careful if you are near the December billing date. BA does not post quickly. The pending transaction came through on 9/9/16 and fell off on 9/13/16. The charges posted on 9/15/16.
Sep 15, 2016, 8:02 am
#133
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 309
I know this has been said before, just another data point - NYC Subway reimbursed right away after transaction posted.
Sep 15, 2016, 12:13 pm
#134
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 11
CSR Travel Credit / IHG points+cash
FYI:
IHG points+cash shows up as a regular purchase on the Sapphire Reserve, so, no travel credit.
(I seem to recall IHG points+cash showing up in the past as a hotel booking...perhaps I'm mistaken).
IHG points+cash shows up as a regular purchase on the Sapphire Reserve, so, no travel credit.
(I seem to recall IHG points+cash showing up in the past as a hotel booking...perhaps I'm mistaken).
Sep 16, 2016, 9:46 am
#135
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Sunny AZ
Programs: HH Diamond, Sixt Platinum, IHG Spire Ambassador, Marriott/SPG Gold .....
Posts: 3,207