Chase Sapphire Reserve card review: One of the best premium travel cards, with unbeatable bonus rewards

Review: Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve the best card for you?

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is an extremely valuable card for travel, thanks to the flexible Chase Ultimate Rewards points it earns and benefits like Priority Pass airport lounge access and up to a $300 annual travel credit. It does charge a $550 annual fee, but if you can put its benefits to use, it could be the best premium credit card for you.

If you don't want to pay such a high annual fee, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is a good alternative, at $95 a year. It earns bonus points on the same purchase categories as the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, but at a lower rate, and it offers most of the same travel protections.

Bottom line: If you're new to rewards credit cards you may want to start elsewhere, but if you know you want to earn Chase points and you spend a lot on travel and dining, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is one of the most rewarding options. 

Chase Sapphire Reserve vs other Chase credit cards

*earn 3x points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases in these categories each account anniversary year.

Chase Sapphire Reserve vs other premium cards

*up to $60 in credits in 2020 and up to $60 in credits in 2021

**(Note: New Platinum Card® cardmembers can earn 10x points on eligible purchases at U.S. Gas Stations and U.S. Supermarkets, on up to $15,000 in combined purchases, during the first 6 months of card membership)

How to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which you can redeem for cash back, gift cards, or statement credits, with each point worth 1 cent.

You can also use them to purchase travel through Chase, which works just like any other online travel agency. When you use points that way, you get a 50% bonus — in other words, each point will be worth 1.5 cents instead.

Chase recently introduced a new, pandemic-friendly option for redeeming points on the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. It's called Pay Yourself Back, and it lets you cash in Ultimate Rewards to cover dining, grocery, home improvement, and charity purchases made with your card. You get a 50% bonus in value with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®— so, 1.5 cents per point — and a 25% bonus if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. This can be a great way to save money during periods where you're not doing much traveling.

Finally, you can also transfer points to Chase's airline and hotel partners to book award travel — transferring points is generally the most valuable way to use them. Currently, Chase partners with these loyalty programs:

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards
• Iberia Plus
• JetBlue TrueBlue
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• IHG Rewards Club
• Marriott Bonvoy
• World of Hyatt

In addition, Chase will add Air Canada Aeroplan as a partner in 2021, which opens up more award travel possibilities with the carrier and its Star Alliance partners.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® 50,000-point sign-up bonus is worth $500 as cash back, $750 for travel purchased through Chase, or potentially more if you transfer the points to an airline or hotel program.

It's also worth noting if you have other Chase Ultimate Rewards cards, you can transfer points from those cards into your Chase Sapphire Reserve® account — then all of your points will be worth 1.5 cents toward travel booked through Chase and Pay Yourself Back. This includes the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, Ink Business Cash® Credit Card, Chase Freedom Unlimited®, and Chase Freedom Flex℠.

Plus, you'll unlock the ability to transfer those points to Chase's airline and hotel partners — an option that's not available if you only have a no-annual-fee Ultimate Rewards card.

Chase Sapphire Reserve benefits and features

Up to $300 travel credit

Each cardmember year (meaning every 12 months starting the month you open the card), the Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers up to $300 in credit toward travel purchases. The credit will be applied to the first $300 worth of purchases you make that year in the travel category, including things like subways, taxis, ridesharing, and parking, as well as hotels, airfare, and cruises.

When you subtract the travel credit, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® annual fee is effectively $250.

Up to $120 in statement credits for DoorDash food delivery

Chase was clearly feeling the pressure from updates to American Express cards like The Platinum Card® from American Express, American Express® Gold Card, and American Express® Green Card — which have all added benefits including statement credits over the last few years.

To kick off 2020, Chase announced the addition of DoorDash benefits for Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholders. In addition to a complimentary year of DashPass membership (for waived delivery fees on qualifying orders), the card comes with up to $120 in statement credits with food delivery service DoorDash. This breaks down into up to $60 in credits in 2020, and up to $60 in credits in 2021.

If you already use food delivery services and DoorDash is available in your town, this credit can be taken at face value: up to $120 in credit. This would bring the card's effective annual fee down to $190 per year ($550 minus the $300 travel credit minus $60 in DoorDash credit). However, if you're not interested in this perk, it could be harder to justify the annual fee.

A year of complimentary Lyft Pink membership

This is another new benefit that took effect in 2020. Lyft Pink membership gets you perks such as:

• 15% off Lyft rides
• Priority airport pickups
• Relaxed cancellation policies
• Up to three 30-minute bike or scooter rides per month

The last benefit is only available in select metropolitan areas, so not everyone will be able to use it. If you're a frequent Lyft user, this perk could be great way to save money.

Airport lounge access

Having access to airport lounges is one of my favorite perks of the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Lounges are comfortable, relaxing, and exclusive areas where you can enjoy comfortable seats, an internet connection, food and drinks — often complimentary — and sometimes other amenities.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® comes with a Priority Pass Select membership. Priority Pass is a network of more than 1,300 airport lounges around the world, any of which you and two travel companions can access for free when you have your membership card.

With the Priority Pass membership provided by the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can bring in two guests. So whether you're traveling alone or with your family, you can enjoy free snacks, drinks, newspapers and magazines, showers, and more, all separate from the hustle and bustle of the main terminal.

Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit

TSA PreCheck and Global Entry (which comes with PreCheck) are absolute musts for just about any traveler. Once you enroll, you can use special lanes to breeze through airport security — you won't have to remove shoes and light coats, and you can leave your laptop in your bag.

With Global Entry, you can use a fast lane when you return to the US from abroad, which makes clearing immigration and customs easy and quick. The programs cost $85 (TSA PreCheck) or $100 (Global Entry), and Chase will provide a credit for that fee every four years (memberships are valid for five years).

Primary car rental insurance and rental elite status

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers a primary auto rental collision damage waiver, or free loss and damage coverage when you use the card to pay for a rental car. Just decline the collision/damage/loss coverage offered by the rental agency and use the card to pay for the rental. Keep in mind you may still want to opt for the rental company's liability insurance.

When you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can also get complimentary elite status with Avis, National, and Silvercar rental agencies. The benefits vary a bit between the companies but generally include a car class upgrade, easy pick-up/drop-off, and more.

Travel insurance and purchase protection

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® comes with valuable travel and purchase protections that you hopefully won't have to use — but if you do, it can translate to significant savings and peace of mind.

One of the most useful is trip and baggage delay insurance. When you're traveling and you're delayed for at least six hours, or overnight, you're covered for up to $500 of incidentals per person traveling with you whose ticket was purchased with the card. That covers things like hotel accommodations, meals, toiletries, and a change of clothing — really, anything that can be considered a "reasonable" expense.

Similarly, if your baggage is delayed, things like clothing and toiletries are covered up to a certain amount until your bag is delivered.

Other protections include travel accident insurance, trip cancellation/interruption insurance, extended warranty, and return protection.

Chase Sapphire Reserve fees and costs

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is a premium credit card, and the $550 annual fee reflects that. It's worth it if you can take advantage of the $300 annual travel credit, Priority Pass lounge access, and other benefits. 

You'll want to make sure you can pay your balance in full each month to avoid interest charges. The card has an APR of  16.99%-23.99% Variable — those fees can add up quickly if you don't pay your balance in full. Even though the Chase Ultimate Rewards this card earns are very valuable, it's not worth spending more than you can afford to earn them.

Like virtually every other premium travel card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve®doesn't charge foreign transaction fees. Similarly, there are fees for balance transfers, cash advances, and late or returned payments.

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SEE ALSO: Here are all the amazing ways you can use the points from your Chase credit card

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