Jan 14, 2020, 9:39 am
Last edit by: philemer
Use this thread to discuss the Sapphire Reserve card offer.
Application page with bonus offer (60,000 UR after spending $4,000 in 90 days):
https://creditcards.chase.com/rewards-credit-cards/sapphire/reserve?CELL=6TKX
There are separate threads to discuss:
$300 Travel Credit
Priority Pass
Concierge Service
Travel Insurance
Global Entry/TSA PreCheck reimbursement.
This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 policy. For information on (and discussion of) the policy, see Applying for Chase Credit Cards, 2017 onward. You can override 5/24 by having an in-branch pre-approval (only! online prequalification does NOT override 5/24), or by already being Chase Private Client (as in you see the "Chase Private Client" text on the login screen of the Chase mobile app.)
As of August 2018, all Chase Sapphire cards are (with limited exceptions) subject to an additional restriction:
See Sapphire (CSR & CSP) 48 months between bonuses, August 2018 for details and ongoing discussion.
50,000 UR points is worth $500 as statement credit, $750 when used for travel through the Chase portal, or potentially more if transferred to a partner.
Card features are here: https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/...reserve/travel. The card's Priority Pass includes unlimited guests. (verified in Post #2635 ; also verified by Chase)
Chase Sapphire Reserve Ultimate Rewards Program Agreement
https://chaseonline.chase.com/resources/RPA0511_Web.pdf
Chase Sapphire Reserve Guide to Benefits
https://www.chasebenefits.com/sapphirereserve
The card is made of the same material as the CSP, and is being shipped UPS Next Day Air.
How to determine your account number, expiration date, and shipping date before receiving the card
(** Note that this no longer seems to work checking on 5/18 - the account number in the secure message header is XXXXXX'd out except for last 4 digits)
(** Also I do not see any recent comments 5/18 on timely shipping or shipping method)
1. Send a secure message (SM) from the account. A common SM would be to ask about the sign-up bonus and last day to complete the spend requirement (which appears to be approximately 3.5 months from the date of approval).
2. Check the Sent Messages folder, and the full account number will be listed in the header of the message that you just sent. The number starts with 414720.
3. The expiration date is five years from the month of approval. So, if you were approved on August 31, 2016, your expiration date will be August 2021.
4. CVV2 number is not available, so if a merchant requires it for payment, you must wait for the physical card.
5. According to many reports, the card is not activated until it is shipped, which happens to be via UPS Next Day Air Saver (if shipped on Friday, you will not receive the card until Monday or the next business day). To find out when it is shipped, go to My UPS and sign up for a free account. You'll be notified when a shipment is destined for your address.
6. Contrary to what the customer service rep may tell you about the delivery of the card—such as the card will take 1-2 weeks or that expedited shipping is not available—the card is actually expedited and shipped via express shipping, as mentioned in #5. There is no need to ask for expedited shipping.
Priority Pass Select
Click HERE to read the separate thread discussing this benefit.
As soon as the account shows up online:
1. Click on Go To Ultimate Rewards.
2. Scroll down to the very bottom left and click on "Card Benefits"
3. Activate Membership to request card.
4. Card will take 1-2 weeks and can't be expedited, but members have reported success in charging the lounge access to the card and requesting a refund from Customer Service.
5. PP cards will be issued for the account holder and any AU(s)
6. According to Chase, CSR's PP membership includes guest access.
Duplicate Card
1. If you receive the plastic card, wait for the metal card to arrive automatically.
2. If you receive the metal card, send SM or call to request plastic card (for use with overseas merchants that require a card imprint, because you hate metal cards, whatever).
3. DO NOT request a replacement card (especially under any pretense that the card was lost or misplaced).
4. Both cards will have the same number, expiration and CVV. Both cards will work.
5. It appears that all CSR cards are sent overnight once produced, including the plastic 'replacement' cards. No need to request expedited shipping.
Authorized User Card:
1. $75 each authorized card each year.
2. Same Priority Pass membership as the main card.
3. Same earning rate on spending. Same fringe benefits as the main card like purchase, car rental and travel insurance etc.
4. No additional Global Entry/TSA credit. Only one credit for the entire account.
5. No additional annual travel credit.
How to get bonus points on the first statement
Act very quickly; you may have less than a week. It depends on the timing of your first statement and when you receive the card. 4K in spending has to clear (not pending) about a week before the statement cuts in order to get the bonus points on that statement. Under "account details" you can see your first payment due date. Your closing date is usually three calendar days after your due date. For instance, if your very first bill is due October 20 that statement would close on September 23, and spending would have to clear by approximately September 16 in order to get the bonus points.
The prior, archived version of this thread can be found here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase-ultimate-rewards/1814294-chase-sapphire-reserve-csr-50k-ur-benefit-reductions-august-2018-a.html
Application page with bonus offer (60,000 UR after spending $4,000 in 90 days):
https://creditcards.chase.com/rewards-credit-cards/sapphire/reserve?CELL=6TKX
There are separate threads to discuss:
$300 Travel Credit
Priority Pass
Concierge Service
Travel Insurance
Global Entry/TSA PreCheck reimbursement.
This card is subject to Chase's 5/24 policy. For information on (and discussion of) the policy, see Applying for Chase Credit Cards, 2017 onward. You can override 5/24 by having an in-branch pre-approval (only! online prequalification does NOT override 5/24), or by already being Chase Private Client (as in you see the "Chase Private Client" text on the login screen of the Chase mobile app.)
As of August 2018, all Chase Sapphire cards are (with limited exceptions) subject to an additional restriction:
The product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 48 months.
50,000 UR points is worth $500 as statement credit, $750 when used for travel through the Chase portal, or potentially more if transferred to a partner.
Card features are here: https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/...reserve/travel. The card's Priority Pass includes unlimited guests. (verified in Post #2635 ; also verified by Chase)
Chase Sapphire Reserve Ultimate Rewards Program Agreement
https://chaseonline.chase.com/resources/RPA0511_Web.pdf
Chase Sapphire Reserve Guide to Benefits
https://www.chasebenefits.com/sapphirereserve
The card is made of the same material as the CSP, and is being shipped UPS Next Day Air.
How to determine your account number, expiration date, and shipping date before receiving the card
(** Note that this no longer seems to work checking on 5/18 - the account number in the secure message header is XXXXXX'd out except for last 4 digits)
(** Also I do not see any recent comments 5/18 on timely shipping or shipping method)
1. Send a secure message (SM) from the account. A common SM would be to ask about the sign-up bonus and last day to complete the spend requirement (which appears to be approximately 3.5 months from the date of approval).
2. Check the Sent Messages folder, and the full account number will be listed in the header of the message that you just sent. The number starts with 414720.
3. The expiration date is five years from the month of approval. So, if you were approved on August 31, 2016, your expiration date will be August 2021.
4. CVV2 number is not available, so if a merchant requires it for payment, you must wait for the physical card.
5. According to many reports, the card is not activated until it is shipped, which happens to be via UPS Next Day Air Saver (if shipped on Friday, you will not receive the card until Monday or the next business day). To find out when it is shipped, go to My UPS and sign up for a free account. You'll be notified when a shipment is destined for your address.
6. Contrary to what the customer service rep may tell you about the delivery of the card—such as the card will take 1-2 weeks or that expedited shipping is not available—the card is actually expedited and shipped via express shipping, as mentioned in #5. There is no need to ask for expedited shipping.
Priority Pass Select
Click HERE to read the separate thread discussing this benefit.
As soon as the account shows up online:
1. Click on Go To Ultimate Rewards.
2. Scroll down to the very bottom left and click on "Card Benefits"
3. Activate Membership to request card.
4. Card will take 1-2 weeks and can't be expedited, but members have reported success in charging the lounge access to the card and requesting a refund from Customer Service.
5. PP cards will be issued for the account holder and any AU(s)
6. According to Chase, CSR's PP membership includes guest access.
Duplicate Card
1. If you receive the plastic card, wait for the metal card to arrive automatically.
2. If you receive the metal card, send SM or call to request plastic card (for use with overseas merchants that require a card imprint, because you hate metal cards, whatever).
3. DO NOT request a replacement card (especially under any pretense that the card was lost or misplaced).
4. Both cards will have the same number, expiration and CVV. Both cards will work.
5. It appears that all CSR cards are sent overnight once produced, including the plastic 'replacement' cards. No need to request expedited shipping.
Authorized User Card:
1. $75 each authorized card each year.
2. Same Priority Pass membership as the main card.
3. Same earning rate on spending. Same fringe benefits as the main card like purchase, car rental and travel insurance etc.
4. No additional Global Entry/TSA credit. Only one credit for the entire account.
5. No additional annual travel credit.
How to get bonus points on the first statement
Act very quickly; you may have less than a week. It depends on the timing of your first statement and when you receive the card. 4K in spending has to clear (not pending) about a week before the statement cuts in order to get the bonus points on that statement. Under "account details" you can see your first payment due date. Your closing date is usually three calendar days after your due date. For instance, if your very first bill is due October 20 that statement would close on September 23, and spending would have to clear by approximately September 16 in order to get the bonus points.
The prior, archived version of this thread can be found here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase-ultimate-rewards/1814294-chase-sapphire-reserve-csr-50k-ur-benefit-reductions-august-2018-a.html
Sapphire Reserve 60k, $4,000 spend in 3 months, $550 fee.
Dec 19, 2019, 11:09 am
#92
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: BOS
Programs: AA PP, DL PM
Posts: 2,086
Correct but Chase has a deal to pay Visa a flat-fee instead of per-swipe, averaged out over all of their swipes. Although some of the interchange fee also has to be allocated to insurances, fraud, etc.
The lower the cost (to Chase) that folks redeem points at, the lower the proportion of 1X:3X spend has to be to make a customer profitable, so it's much easier to make money on customers redeeming at 1 cpp. There has to be a confluence of events to make a customer unprofitable (heavy spend on 3X categories, 1.5 cpp redemptions, and Priority Pass use or a ton of spending to make up for the AF), but it seems that the average CSR customer is able to put those pieces together as to why it's worth it to have a high annual fee card.
As for whether the card is uncompetitive... the redemption partners mostly duplicate Citi and Amex besides United, Southwest, and Hyatt, of which I find Hyatt the most consistently valuable. And there are no transfer bonuses (except for one to BA recently). Amex has regular transfer bonuses and has NH, AV, and AC for *A, which in my opinion provide more value than UA for *A awards, if only do to arbitrage opportunities. And I find MR easier to earn than UR; almost every purchase on my Amex Gold is a restaurant or supermarket which earns at 4X. But this is going to be really subjective to some people (and controversial in this thread).
Even if most people redeem at $0.01 per point, earning 3 points per dollar represents a loss for Chase. They only make money if we use the card for unbonused spend or carry a balance, but I daresay a large number of Reserve cardholders do use it for general spending (because they do not want to "miss" a 3X opportunity) -and- a fair number of people do carry a balance on their cards even when they have lower cost borrowing options. Most people do not spend much time thinking about payment cards.
As for whether the card is uncompetitive... the redemption partners mostly duplicate Citi and Amex besides United, Southwest, and Hyatt, of which I find Hyatt the most consistently valuable. And there are no transfer bonuses (except for one to BA recently). Amex has regular transfer bonuses and has NH, AV, and AC for *A, which in my opinion provide more value than UA for *A awards, if only do to arbitrage opportunities. And I find MR easier to earn than UR; almost every purchase on my Amex Gold is a restaurant or supermarket which earns at 4X. But this is going to be really subjective to some people (and controversial in this thread).
Dec 19, 2019, 11:31 am
#93
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 209
. I just looked at the APR (I have no clue what my cards' APRs are because it never matters), and wow, I'd imagine that it only takes a fairly small % of people who regularly carry a balance to make Chase some nice profit.
Dec 20, 2019, 8:56 am
#94
Join Date: Jun 2013
Programs: DL Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat, Hertz Prez Circle, National Exec
Posts: 1,357
I'd hazard a guess that the median spend is a lot lower than the average spend.
Dec 20, 2019, 9:18 am
#95
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: JZRO
Posts: 9,169
It's getting harder, but I still find great value from transferring to partners -- a feature which, arguably, is the feather in UR's cap.
Dec 21, 2019, 6:02 am
#96
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: CLT
Programs: AA EP, AA AC
Posts: 4,268
Chase is a strong card with the travel credit fee in its ecosystem and for 1.5x toward purchases and if you stay at Hyatt resorts. It is not as strong for foreign carriers if you know how to leverage them such as using EY for AA flights or AV for LH flights in first or CX, etc, and perhaps importantly does not have the bonus transfers that CIti (or AMEX do) where Virgin or Flying Blue awards can come very very cheap out of pocket.
Safe Travels
Dec 21, 2019, 9:07 am
#97
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire Ambassador, Global Entry
Posts: 2,825
In some sense, I don't disagree with you from a straight up business perspective. That said, if Chase does up the annual fee and adds annoying, monthly rationed "credits" in order to justify, I must say that I'll seriously consider whether the CSR stays in my wallet.
I realize their is a very large group of Chase UR groupies that are rarely willing to ever concede any advantage to Citi or Amex, but I really am somewhat unbiased because I carry CSR, Citi Prestige, and Amex Platinum. Yes, both Citi and Amex have raised annual fees, but honestly, I don't know how anyone can objectively say that the CSR really competes with Amex Platinum at this point. If CSR raised their annual fee to $550, they would need to bring some serious revamps to the table; "primary" rental car insurance ain't going to cut it at that annual fee level.
Also, I realize that many whine about the Citi Prestige 4th night free, because they no longer earn elite night credits when they stay at the Hilton Garden Inn near the airport and thus they miss out on "free" breakfast, but we use the 4th night at hotels like Four Seasons, where our most recent stay saved ~$900, so again, getting tremendous value for the $495 annual fee (~$245 effective, after travel credit). Additionally, Citi Prestige gets most of our dining spend now at 5X/$.
I've carried the CSR since the beginning, I want to find reasons to love/keep it, but I'm I'm increasingly asking myself why (other than I still have a good bit of UR points). Dining spend goes on Citi Prestige or Amex Gold, flights on Citi Prestige (5X) or Amex Plat (5X). Basically, at this point, CSR gets my rental car spend...
Honestly, IMHO, CSR is beginning to seriously lag; adding some annoying dining credits and jacking up the annual fee isn't going to change that.
Regards
I realize their is a very large group of Chase UR groupies that are rarely willing to ever concede any advantage to Citi or Amex, but I really am somewhat unbiased because I carry CSR, Citi Prestige, and Amex Platinum. Yes, both Citi and Amex have raised annual fees, but honestly, I don't know how anyone can objectively say that the CSR really competes with Amex Platinum at this point. If CSR raised their annual fee to $550, they would need to bring some serious revamps to the table; "primary" rental car insurance ain't going to cut it at that annual fee level.
Also, I realize that many whine about the Citi Prestige 4th night free, because they no longer earn elite night credits when they stay at the Hilton Garden Inn near the airport and thus they miss out on "free" breakfast, but we use the 4th night at hotels like Four Seasons, where our most recent stay saved ~$900, so again, getting tremendous value for the $495 annual fee (~$245 effective, after travel credit). Additionally, Citi Prestige gets most of our dining spend now at 5X/$.
I've carried the CSR since the beginning, I want to find reasons to love/keep it, but I'm I'm increasingly asking myself why (other than I still have a good bit of UR points). Dining spend goes on Citi Prestige or Amex Gold, flights on Citi Prestige (5X) or Amex Plat (5X). Basically, at this point, CSR gets my rental car spend...
Honestly, IMHO, CSR is beginning to seriously lag; adding some annoying dining credits and jacking up the annual fee isn't going to change that.
Regards
However, I'm not sold on the Citi just yet. People love to get hung up on the word "free". The word free causes logic to be thrown out the window because nothing is better that "free". The 4th night free is a weak offer. For one, booking hotels through them isn't your best rate. Even after that, you are looking at a 25% discount at best if you are doing a 4 night stay. 4 night stays aren't the normal length for most people and you lose flexibility. Through the CSR portal, I get a 33% discount on every length. 2 days, 4 days, 7 days, all 33% off. Still, I stick to my Aspire for most of my hotel stays as that card is significantly better for hotels (as long as it's Hilton). The higher dining and airfare bonus on Citi are certainly nice depending on your level of spend. There is a higher effect AF to offset that though. However, that could be negated if Chase raises their AF for no reason.
I think at this point, the only thing I would accept for Chase for a $550 AF is 5x points on travel and dining. That would make the fee okay, and keep them on top.
Dec 21, 2019, 11:07 am
#98
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: BOS
Programs: AA PP, DL PM
Posts: 2,086
The Citi Prestige fourth night free benefit applies on paid bookings, which Chase does not give you any help on.
Dec 21, 2019, 11:15 am
#99
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 191
Chase 50% bonus value pretty much makes most transfer partners worthless for me. You get so much more flexibility to travel using travel portal which is important to me. I hate being restricted to certain departure time, airport, and airlines. Okay you might be able to save 10k points flying to HNL but you must fly out of XYZ during rush hour. Forget about it my sanity is more important. With the portal I have stayed at awesome B&Bs and "apartments" where Hyatt, Hilton and Marrriot can only dream of taking me. Having the ability to utilize Hyatt and the flexibility of portal is a win for me. I stay exclusively at Hilton for work, and used CCs to gather Honors points. Been burned too many times through the years by devaluation. UR is way better than Aspire..or any hotel/airline branded cards. Simply put, I can put together a better itinerary with UR than transfer partners and end up using less points.
Citi is interesting, I get about $500/month cash back with DC, but I still cash out into portfolio simply for the fact their website is awful.
AMEX wants to treat me like a child so no thanks. I put wife on MR but so far not impressed yet. Nice offers though. Way better than Chase offers.
Citi is interesting, I get about $500/month cash back with DC, but I still cash out into portfolio simply for the fact their website is awful.
AMEX wants to treat me like a child so no thanks. I put wife on MR but so far not impressed yet. Nice offers though. Way better than Chase offers.
Dec 21, 2019, 1:43 pm
#100
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,740
The UR program really needs to improve if Chase going to raise the AF.
It needs to expand the list of partners that UR can transfer to. The international members of Star Alliance tend to have better award charts or at least sweet spots that UA lacks very much.
There has not been any transfer bonus until very recently while both AMEX and Citi have frequent transfer bonus offers, with some rather interesting international programs that many find quite useful.
The UR travel portal bookings need to offer Real, Uninflated prices which as of now, tend to negate a good chunk of the "discount" especially when it comes to booking properties / cruises. For flights not so much but still a lot of better priced flights are not available on UR portal.
More importantly the UR travel redemption now is purely mechanical - the Connexions days when a supervisor could go in the reservation system to manually book certain fares, is no more. Now what we see online is exactly what the phone reps see / can do. This is a devaluation although not obvious to many.
It needs to expand the list of partners that UR can transfer to. The international members of Star Alliance tend to have better award charts or at least sweet spots that UA lacks very much.
There has not been any transfer bonus until very recently while both AMEX and Citi have frequent transfer bonus offers, with some rather interesting international programs that many find quite useful.
The UR travel portal bookings need to offer Real, Uninflated prices which as of now, tend to negate a good chunk of the "discount" especially when it comes to booking properties / cruises. For flights not so much but still a lot of better priced flights are not available on UR portal.
More importantly the UR travel redemption now is purely mechanical - the Connexions days when a supervisor could go in the reservation system to manually book certain fares, is no more. Now what we see online is exactly what the phone reps see / can do. This is a devaluation although not obvious to many.
Dec 21, 2019, 3:14 pm
#101
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 191
People keep saying Chase portal has inflated price.
Not my experience at all and I always triple check Google flight and Expedia. I wonder if we have a missing link. Wallers wallet did some investigation and the prices seem okay to me.
Not my experience at all and I always triple check Google flight and Expedia. I wonder if we have a missing link. Wallers wallet did some investigation and the prices seem okay to me.
Dec 21, 2019, 5:14 pm
#102
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 3,523
IIRC, I think it was international airfare, not domestic, that was giving people these discrepancies.
Dec 21, 2019, 6:51 pm
#103
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,952
Dec 22, 2019, 1:19 am
#105
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: SFO/YYZ
Programs: AC 25K, AS MVP Gold, BA Bronze, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,459
Chase 50% bonus value pretty much makes most transfer partners worthless for me. You get so much more flexibility to travel using travel portal which is important to me. I hate being restricted to certain departure time, airport, and airlines. Okay you might be able to save 10k points flying to HNL but you must fly out of XYZ during rush hour. Forget about it my sanity is more important. With the portal I have stayed at awesome B&Bs and "apartments" where Hyatt, Hilton and Marrriot can only dream of taking me. Having the ability to utilize Hyatt and the flexibility of portal is a win for me. I stay exclusively at Hilton for work, and used CCs to gather Honors points. Been burned too many times through the years by devaluation. UR is way better than Aspire..or any hotel/airline branded cards. Simply put, I can put together a better itinerary with UR than transfer partners and end up using less points.
Citi is interesting, I get about $500/month cash back with DC, but I still cash out into portfolio simply for the fact their website is awful.
AMEX wants to treat me like a child so no thanks. I put wife on MR but so far not impressed yet. Nice offers though. Way better than Chase offers.
Citi is interesting, I get about $500/month cash back with DC, but I still cash out into portfolio simply for the fact their website is awful.
AMEX wants to treat me like a child so no thanks. I put wife on MR but so far not impressed yet. Nice offers though. Way better than Chase offers.