I Won't Be Getting the New Chase Sapphire Reserve. Here's Why

CNET

24-06-2025

Chase/CNET
The Chase Sapphire Reserve®* is well-known among travel enthusiasts and average credit card users as a great travel credit card. However, its accessibility to the former crowd is likely to change.
The Sapphire Reserve was an expensive card before Chase's recent update at $550 annually, but it now costs $795, which is even more than its top competitor, The Platinum Card® from American Express.
Aside from the higher fee, the biggest changes to the card are a greater emphasis on annual credits and a larger welcome offer. Chase is also changing how much your points are worth, but more on that later.
The card issuer is adding several new annual credits, elite memberships and subscriptions to its list of benefits. This sounds great on paper, but personally, it makes the card even less attractive. I don't want my credit cards to require a ton of legwork to get the greatest value from them.
In my mind, a credit card should make it easier to spend and earn rewards, not have several hoops to jump through to get the maximum value. You shouldn't need to redeem dozens of credits, sign up for several complimentary subscriptions, only book flights and hotels when your points are boosted and feel like you have to buy a Peloton to make sure you're getting enough value to justify a card's annual fee.
I have no doubt that some travel experts and credit card aficionados will disagree and could happily squeeze oodles of value from this card, but for credit cardholders like myself who would rather have a more automated, streamlined experience, it just doesn't seem worth the effort.
Anyway, here's what's changing.
What does the new Chase Sapphire Reserve look like?
Chase has changed the card's rewards and how much they're worth when it's time to redeem.
New and old rewards compared New rewards Old rewards 8x points for all travel booked through Chase Travel 10x points for booking hotels and rental cars through Chase Travel 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly 5x points on flights booked through Chase 3x points on dining 3x points for all other travel 1x point for everything else 1x point for everything else
These changes are good. Dining rewards seem like a no-brainer on a travel card, and it's something I was surprised to not see on the card originally. Also, not needing to always book through Chase Travel opens more travel and earning opportunities.
The card also includes a higher welcome offer:
100,000 bonus points and a $500 Chase Travel℠ credit for spending $5,000 in the first three months from account opening.
However, Chase is also changing the value of the rewards you earn with its new Points Boost program.
You used to be able to redeem your points for travel through Chase at a bonus value of 1.5 cents per point. Now, you'll earn 2 cents per point, but only with rotating boosted redemption flights and hotels. And if you redeem your points for any non-boosted flight or hotel, they'll only be worth 1 cent each. You can still transfer your points at a 1:1 ratio to Chase's travel partners.
This is clearly less flexible than the card's previous reward program, and will likely cause cardholders to miss out on value they would've otherwise secured. What if there are no boosted flights or hotels for when and where you're looking to travel?
You'll either need to wait or have less of your trip covered. Or, you could transfer your points where they could be worth more -- but again, that takes more work than simply redeeming through your card issuer's portal for a small bonus, as it was before. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card* now uses the Points Boost program as well.
New annual credits
The card is also gaining a handful of new annual credits:
$500 The Edit℠ credit. The Edit is Chase's new collection of over 1,100 hotels. You get $250 from January to June, and the other $250 from July to December.
The Edit is Chase's new collection of over 1,100 hotels. You get $250 from January to June, and the other $250 from July to December. $300 dining credit. Again, split in half -- $150 for January through June, and the other $150 for July to December.
Again, split in half -- $150 for January through June, and the other $150 for July to December. $300 StubHub credit. $150 for January through June, $150 for July to December. Ends 12/31/27.
$150 for January through June, $150 for July to December. Ends 12/31/27. Apple+ and Apple Music membership , worth $250 annually. Ends 6/22/27.
, worth $250 annually. Ends 6/22/27. $120 Peloton credit. You get $10 monthly statement credits for a Peloton membership through 12/31/27 for a maximum of $120 annually. Plus, you'll earn 10x rewards on Peloton equipment purchases.
Those are the new credits; there are a number of others, too. You can see them all on Chase's page. The issuer says the card offers more than $2,700 in value, but you'll really need to work to achieve that.
For those who spend $75,000 in travel on the card in a calendar year, you'll unlock a $500 Southwest travel credit plus A-list status, IHG Diamond Elite Status and $250 in statement credits for The Shop at Chase. That's a high spending threshold that only the most well-off traveller will likely be able to reach, and it doesn't seem like a great return on investment.
And a higher fee
Lastly, the card now costs $245 more than it did a month ago. The annual fee for the Chase Sapphire Reserve now sits at $795, one of the highest on the market. While the credits offered can surpass the price of the card, you'll need to do the work to use everything it has to offer.
That means buying and using a Peloton, checking the Points Boost program, ordering DoorDash, using Lyft and taking advantage of the new dining credit and two travel credits, and on and on. It's a lot of homework. If you don't use enough of the extra perks, you'll likely be on the hook for at least part of its annual fee.
Should you get this card?
In short, I think there are people who will find this card worth it, particularly those with higher-than-average travel budgets (and perhaps some sort of assistant to help them keep track of everything), but for the average traveler or credit cardholder, they are more likely to leave value on the table and be stuck with a high annual fee.
There's just so much offered here, which is great, but the change in how points are valued, how much additional work you, as the cardholder, have to do annually to make the card's $795 fee actually worth the cost, doesn't add up to me. But again, I probably view credit cards a bit differently than most card experts. I like the easy route, the one that guarantees value without any financial corrosion or work beyond my usual routine.
So I'll happily stick with my Sapphire Preferred, which offers way less, but only costs $95 each year.
I use it for my dining and travel expenses, redeem my points for trips home through Chase Travel and take advantage of its annual $50 hotel statement credit.
There may not be countless annual credits, memberships and subscriptions, but I barely need to do any additional work -- and definitely don't need to overspend -- to realize its value versus how much it costs me annually.
*All information about the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred has been collected independently by CNET and has not been reviewed by the issuer.