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)
Nov 26, 2017, 8:57 pm
#1066
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,755
I'm sorry I'm having such difficulty making myself clear. I'm asking to have simple, real-time access to the code the merchant is using at the time I check. Of course the code could change. We seem to have different opinions about how often it changes, and I already said you almost certainly know more about that than i do.
I'm mystified by your assertion that Visa would not have the code, unless you mean that Visa applies the code in effect at the time the charge posts rather than at the time the purchase is made. But even if Visa doesn't have the code, someone does. Someone provides it to Chase.
I'm mystified by your assertion that Visa would not have the code, unless you mean that Visa applies the code in effect at the time the charge posts rather than at the time the purchase is made. But even if Visa doesn't have the code, someone does. Someone provides it to Chase.
At what cost, even if this is possible? Let alone that it is NOT possible from all practical purposes. Not even Visa would have the correct code as explained in this well-written post quoted below that I bolded the most pertinent part to your expectation.
My interpretation of what's been said recently, is that Chase cannot 100% predict how the next transaction from a particular merchant will be coded. They do know how the most recent transaction was coded, however.
So, it seems they could certainly build a system that lets you look up this info. There's still a problem in that we, the consumers, don't necessarily how a transaction will post -- you might be buying from XYZ company but they actually process the transactions through some other business unit that, if you wanted to look it up, you would actually look up ABC.
So if you're Chase, you have to:
- pay programmers to write this lookup tool instead of some other feature
- hire/train staff to handle service calls when a customer wants to know why they looked up XYZ but it posted as ABC
balanced against, what incremental revenue will implementing this feature bring in vs. what customers will be lost if you don't.
From my point of view, I don't see a compelling business case for this. And people sweating to hit the $300 annual travel bonus are probably not high value customers they'll be sorry to see go.
So, it seems they could certainly build a system that lets you look up this info. There's still a problem in that we, the consumers, don't necessarily how a transaction will post -- you might be buying from XYZ company but they actually process the transactions through some other business unit that, if you wanted to look it up, you would actually look up ABC.
So if you're Chase, you have to:
- pay programmers to write this lookup tool instead of some other feature
- hire/train staff to handle service calls when a customer wants to know why they looked up XYZ but it posted as ABC
balanced against, what incremental revenue will implementing this feature bring in vs. what customers will be lost if you don't.
From my point of view, I don't see a compelling business case for this. And people sweating to hit the $300 annual travel bonus are probably not high value customers they'll be sorry to see go.
Nov 26, 2017, 9:19 pm
#1067
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,755
Sometimes tone can not be detected in an e-mail. For one, I posted this as a point of information, not a compliant. Lesson learned - read the fine print, i.e. transaction date vs. post date. You seem to imply that I shouldn't have challenged it. Why not? It was worth a try.
For two, I was just pointing out that most credit card companies will do something to retain a customer with a good credit rating. Adding on to the WSJ July article regarding CSR retention, I would have expected more of an effort on the representative's part. I attempted to cancel a card with a different bank two weeks ago, and that bank made me an offer that enticed me to retain the card for at least another year (and the offer increased as I continued to resist).
I am currently evaluating whether or not to retain the CSR card, by looking at my business and personal travel plans for 2018.
If I finally decide to cancel, I'll let folks know what was offered, if anything.
For two, I was just pointing out that most credit card companies will do something to retain a customer with a good credit rating. Adding on to the WSJ July article regarding CSR retention, I would have expected more of an effort on the representative's part. I attempted to cancel a card with a different bank two weeks ago, and that bank made me an offer that enticed me to retain the card for at least another year (and the offer increased as I continued to resist).
I am currently evaluating whether or not to retain the CSR card, by looking at my business and personal travel plans for 2018.
If I finally decide to cancel, I'll let folks know what was offered, if anything.
Everyone who is able to get the CSR card has a good to excellent credit rating. Good credit rating is never a criteria for keeping one as a customer - profitability is. That is why customers who carry revolving balances are far better customers than those who pay off in full each billing cycle (and naturally a good credit rating customer.)
Chase does not need any retention effort to have a high rate of renewal of the CSR card. Have you read about any retention offer on the CSR card here and elsewhere? There is virtually none.
Here is what Chase said in its conference call after reporting earning in Oct.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...e-reserve-card
<<JPMorgan Chase & Co. said more customers are sticking with its Sapphire Reserve card than the bank initially expected, a year after it debuted with a sign-up bonus worth a whopping $1,500 in travel perks.
Attrition rates on the card, which carries a $450 annual fee, are lower than the bank anticipated and the results are “encouraging,” Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake said Thursday on a conference call, after the New York-based lender reported third-quarter results. Spending on all Chase credit cards jumped 13 percent from a year earlier, and card revenue rose 3 percent to $1.24 billion, the company said, without breaking out numbers for the Sapphire line.>>
In light of the above, why would Chase offer retention on the CSR? In fact, Chase hasn't offered much of retention on most of its own fee cards lately. The cobrands may be, but very few retention offers reported on CSP and Ink Plus, with virtually none on CSR.
Here, not only your expectation of the representative's response is off, you may not understand how the system works - if an account has any retention offers, the offers would show up in the system. The job of the representative is to read thru the list of the offers to the customer as options. If there is no offer attached to the account, NO representative, including manager, could offer the customer anything. This is not unique to Chase just so you know. It is the same mechanism used by all banks.
Retention offers do not come from thin air. They are generated by whatever criteria used by the institution's analysis algorithm on each account. It is different from Courtesy / Customer Service Recovery offers which a manager has some discretionary power to give, limited to a capped amount. AMEX is famous on that. Both Chase and Citi to certain degree also would do that. However, whether a customer decides to renew a card or not, does NOT fall into the Courtesy/Customer Service Recovery category.
The other bank may need to keep you as a customer hence the retention offer. But this does NOT translate tto that Chase would need you as a customer. Chase is Chase, the other bank is the other bank - totally different financial situation of different companies. Why would one generalize A bank to all other banks,when each bank has its own focus on strategies, and has different goals in how to maximize its profit / strengthens its financial position?
Last edited by Happy; Nov 26, 2017 at 9:27 pm
Nov 29, 2017, 8:18 am
#1068
Moderator: Travel Buzz
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Sunny San Diego
Posts: 3,098
Moderator Note: This thread is veering off topic. The topic is the $300 travel credit, including what codes as travel or why.
All things about retention offers are discussed here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chas...16-onward.html
This narrow focus on threads helps visitors to the forum, especially those not following a thread that has veered into off topic territory, find what they are looking for. Your cooperation is appreciated.
All things about retention offers are discussed here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chas...16-onward.html
This narrow focus on threads helps visitors to the forum, especially those not following a thread that has veered into off topic territory, find what they are looking for. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Dec 1, 2017, 8:41 pm
#1069
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 85
What date in December do the original CSR travel credits reset? Looking to collect my annual $300!
Dec 1, 2017, 10:11 pm
#1070
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt Ist-iest, Stariott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,788
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 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.
Last edited by mia; Dec 2, 2017 at 4:15 am Reason: Remove inflammatory language.
Dec 2, 2017, 4:58 pm
#1071
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 1
Sapphire Credit - Not from Alaska Air for In Flight Food
I made a small food purchase on Alaska Airlines recently and I did not receive a credit. This seems like exactly what this credit is for.
So I reached out to Chase Cardmember Services and got a letter that said:
I would like to inform you that as per the terms of your Rewards program, 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).
I have researched the account and determined that the charge from ALASKA AIR IN FLIGHT bills
as fast food restaurant. Therefore, this charge do not qualify for travel credit. Further, as per the
terms and conditions of the program, I am unable to give the travel credit.
Please note, merchants who accept Visa/MasterCard are assigned a code depending on the kinds
of products and services they sell. We group similar merchant codes for purposes of creating
categories for reward earnings. Every effort is made to include all relevant merchant codes in our
reward categories.
I wanted to share this as it makes me wonder how I can effectively take benefit of this credit.
Thanks to others for sharing their experiences and successes.
So I reached out to Chase Cardmember Services and got a letter that said:
I would like to inform you that as per the terms of your Rewards program, 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).
I have researched the account and determined that the charge from ALASKA AIR IN FLIGHT bills
as fast food restaurant. Therefore, this charge do not qualify for travel credit. Further, as per the
terms and conditions of the program, I am unable to give the travel credit.
Please note, merchants who accept Visa/MasterCard are assigned a code depending on the kinds
of products and services they sell. We group similar merchant codes for purposes of creating
categories for reward earnings. Every effort is made to include all relevant merchant codes in our
reward categories.
I wanted to share this as it makes me wonder how I can effectively take benefit of this credit.
Thanks to others for sharing their experiences and successes.
Dec 2, 2017, 7:13 pm
#1072
Moderator: Hyatt; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: WAS
Programs: :rolleyes:, DL DM, Mlife Plat, Caesars Diam, Marriott Tit, UA Gold, Hyatt Glob, invol FT beta tester
Posts: 18,916
I've added your negative data point to the wiki.
Dec 4, 2017, 10:57 am
#1073
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Iowa
Posts: 725
I can't seem to find my notes regarding when I applied for the CSR but I did note that I received the card on Dec. 7, 2016 and the opening/ closing date for the first statement that I received was 12/5/16 -01/01/17.
I have an email from Chase that says my December 2016 account closed on Dec. 4, 2016. I didn't receive a statement for that closing date nor had I even received the card by that date.
I think something may be wrong with Chase's dates for this account.
My first travel spend was on Dec. 11, 2016.
I'm not sure if I'll be able to get another $300 travel credit before my annual fee is due.
I have an email from Chase that says my December 2016 account closed on Dec. 4, 2016. I didn't receive a statement for that closing date nor had I even received the card by that date.
I think something may be wrong with Chase's dates for this account.
My first travel spend was on Dec. 11, 2016.
I'm not sure if I'll be able to get another $300 travel credit before my annual fee is due.
IF I'm able to get the $300 travel credit, I think I need to do it in the next couple of weeks.
Since I'm not sure if I qualify for the $300 credit before my annual fee is due, what can I purchase for $300 that is refundable (in case Chase doesn't give me the $300 travel credit)? I'll return the purchase if I don't get the $300 travel credit. Thanks.
Dec 4, 2017, 12:32 pm
#1074
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Truth or Consequences, NM
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, UA Silver, Mobile Passport Unobtanium
Posts: 6,192
IF I'm able to get the $300 travel credit, I think I need to do it in the next couple of weeks.
Since I'm not sure if I qualify for the $300 credit before my annual fee is due, what can I purchase for $300 that is refundable (in case Chase doesn't give me the $300 travel credit)? I'll return the purchase if I don't get the $300 travel credit. Thanks.
Since I'm not sure if I qualify for the $300 credit before my annual fee is due, what can I purchase for $300 that is refundable (in case Chase doesn't give me the $300 travel credit)? I'll return the purchase if I don't get the $300 travel credit. Thanks.
Dec 4, 2017, 2:11 pm
#1076
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Traveling some where hopefully
Programs: AS, AA Gold, and Hilton
Posts: 1,954
Normally it would be to the CC that was used. If yours is closed you normally would get a check. I believe SWA doesn't have any fee for cancelling. The other option is an airline voucher on you favorite airlines good for 1 year minus the fee.
Last edited by jjmiller69; Dec 5, 2017 at 8:04 am Reason: 2nd option.
Dec 4, 2017, 7:35 pm
#1077
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,755
IF I'm able to get the $300 travel credit, I think I need to do it in the next couple of weeks.
Since I'm not sure if I qualify for the $300 credit before my annual fee is due, what can I purchase for $300 that is refundable (in case Chase doesn't give me the $300 travel credit)? I'll return the purchase if I don't get the $300 travel credit. Thanks.
Since I'm not sure if I qualify for the $300 credit before my annual fee is due, what can I purchase for $300 that is refundable (in case Chase doesn't give me the $300 travel credit)? I'll return the purchase if I don't get the $300 travel credit. Thanks.
On the UR account screen, it would show you whether the $300 is available or not. There is NO NEED to guess. The information is right there for you to see. If it shows available, you would get the credit on eligible charges. If it shows $300 is fully used, then you know right there you would not need to go thru the trouble.
Dec 4, 2017, 7:38 pm
#1079
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,755
In most cases, you cannot get a voucher on a fully refundable ticket. It is refunded to the original form of payment. Tickets that carry restriction when you cancel, the residual value (minus the fee) would be in the form of a voucher or go to your travel bank (AS).