scubadu

And to be clear, that is only through the end of the year, so if your renewal is in say January, then no luck (unless they modify)

Regards

exarkun

Is a PC a new app or a renewal?

madbrain

Good news. But for those of us who are still sheltering in place, does anyone know of a way to utilize the $300 travel credit without leaving home ?

Most of our groceries come from places that don't code as groceries, such as Costco and Wal-Mart. My husband still goes to Costco in person. Our Wal-Mart store has always been a zoo even pre-COVID, so I only order online.

Is there any site coding as supermarket that sells gift cards online ? Safeway.com codes as supermarket, but does not sell gift cards.

mia

Do you expect to shelter in place through the end of the year? I daresay one could easily spend $300 in a single trip to a supermarket, anytime in the next seven months.

rove312

At least for the extra points promo, Chase is coding Walmart as groceries if the store has a deli counter.

madbrain

Yes. Currently, there is no end in sight to SF bay area shelter in place orders. My employer, which is a major tech company, has also said most employees would work from home through the calendar end of the year due to COVID-19.

The key is what is considered "supermarket".

We spent $8,979.92 on groceries in 2019 according to my meticulously categorized Quicken data from over 40 active credit cards ... We have many, many >$300 transactions from Costco.

I exported to an Excel file. I deleted all Costco, Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon (rotten, not Fresh), and CVS transactions. I'm left with $1301.37 .

Most of it is from some stores in France and Vietnam, that I'm not sure would code as groceries. I see some convenience stores, too. I decided to exclude them too because they are for specialty items we brought back home that we wouldn't otherwise purchase without traveling.

If I delete all but our local stores that I know for sure would code as supermarkets, I'm left with $574.24 in 26 transactions between Food Maxx, Lion, Lucky, Safeway, a local Vietnamese supermarket, and Trader Joe's.
The median transaction is $18.79 from Safeway. The highest is $53.23 from Trader Joe's. The $574.24 is for an entire calendar year. Chase is only extending the $300 travel credit from May 1 to September 30. So, I would normally have less than $300 of "supermarket" purchases within that period. Gas purchases were $204.18 for all of 2019 (pre-COVID) but are likely going to $0. for this May - September period.

So yes, I can confidently say that with our spending patterns, it still doesn't look like we can utilize the $300 CSR credit without changing where we shop for groceries, or buying gift cards of some sort.

Or just "cheating", such as buying a flight and then getting a refund. But I bought a refundable flight last year (not with the intention of claiming the credit, but because I wasn't certain about travel plans), and then the airline went bankrupt, and I lost $700. So I'm loathe to even do that.

Not the case for our local store, but it would involve going there in person to be able to order from it.

oliver2002

Maybe venture to a local grocery store and see if they have Costco gift cards. Then do a test purchase to see if it codes as grocery on your Chase card. If it does, go nuts on COstco gift cards which can then be used at the store you shop at? Alternatively if you buy other stuff online, buy a giftcard for that online store from the local grocery store. I've been stocking up on Amazon gift cards at my local grocery store...

Adelphos

Kind of off topic, but the Bay Area shelter in place orders seem likely to be relaxed on June 15. This is obviously different from going back to the office - my firm stated that most employees probably will work from home through the fall. Nevertheless my firm is encouraging employees to take summer vacations, and business travel is scheduled to start coming back in the fall - so oddly enough I will likely be traveling for business and for vacation before returning tot he office full time

Also check to see if Amazon Prime Now codes as grocery for Chase - you get all sorts of household goods via that service (not just grocery)

mia

Does the fact that you did not buy groceries at conventional supermarkets in 2019 preclude doing so in 2020? Sapphire Reserve is a travel card, but for card issuers "travel" is a proxy for a demographic which they have targeted. Chase has temporarily broadened the scope of the card features to accommodate the reality that travel is interrupted. Chase has made it very easy to use the annual credit, but if even one trip to Safeway or Whole Foods is still a poor fit for your preferences I would close the card and not give it another thought.

pallhedge

Perhaps I'm missing something, but is it really that much of a hardship for you to go to a grocery store, just one time, to take advantage of this opportunity? What purpose does looking at last year's spending patterns serve? This benefit didn't exist, and wasn't necessary, last year.

ithinkurdumb

There is a data point on DoC that says they PC'd from Freedom to CSR and received $100 credit, and another saying Chase rep says the credit applies to renewal, PC, and new app (which contradicts other comments saying new app gets no credit).

Update: sent a secure message and was told that either new application or PC will have the $550 fee, while "the annual fee increase from $450 to $550 for existing Sapphire Reserve and J.P. Morgan Reserve customers has been postponed until 2021."

scubadu

Agreed, its almost like the poster doesn't want this to work...

Regards

libralibra

I've been to all the places mentioned, Walmart, Target, Safeway, Wholefoods, Costco, in the last month and everywhere is very empty. It's probably safer to go now than when they lift the quarantine. I also go out to pick up take out everyday. Everyone is wearing masks and distancing (and side-eyeing each other), but other than that no one seems super paranoid.

If you watch too much news though, you might get a different impression. Headline today "pack of monkeys steals coronavirus vials" The uprising has started!

darthbimmer

My household's grocery spend at Costco vs. regular grocery stores has gone way up due to the lockdown. Even though there are just two of us it now makes sense to buy Costco's larger packages as we are cooking at home all but 1-2 meals per month. Still, we shop at stores like Safeway, Lucky, and TJs, too, and easily spend $150-200/month at them. Even if these stores were foreign to us I know we could gin up a few trips worth $300 on food we enjoy between now and EOY.

Thanks, Chase, for making this easy.

serpens

The wiki includes this information.

I read that as saying that grocery store and gas station purchases, unlike the normal travel credit, will earn points (presumably 1 point per dollar after June 30). In other words, after my annual travel credit becomes available (I've used it for the current year), if I charge $300 in travel, then I get a $300 statement credit. But if I charge $300 at the grocery store, I get $300 statement credit plus 300 UR points. Did I read that correctly?