Chase just announced a massive annual fee hike for their popular Sapphire Reserve card that I use—from $550 to $795. A second card on the account jumps from $75 to $195. That’s $990 for cards for my wife and myself, an increase of $365 or 58%! With this increase, the card now carries the highest fee among consumer travel cards, even surpassing Amex Platinum’s $695. So, does Chase provide enough new benefits to justify the higher cost? I decided to find out.
I analyzed the benefits, one by one, to determine whether this higher price can be justified. As my analysis shows following the table, the new card costs more and provides less, based on the perks I would use.
Table compares Old and New Sapphire Reserve benefits:
| Feature | Old Sapphire Reserve | New Sapphire Reserve (June 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Fee | $550 | $795 |
| Authorized User Fee | $75 per user | $195 per user |
| Travel Credit | $300/year | $300/year (unchanged) |
| Points on Chase Travel | 5× flights, 10× hotels & cars via Chase | 8× all travel via Chase |
| Points on Direct Travel | 3× on airline/hotel direct | 4× on airline/hotel direct |
| Dining Rewards | 3× | 3× (unchanged) |
| Hotel Credit | None | $500/year (Chase Travel “Edit” hotels only) |
| Dining Credit | None | $300/year (Sapphire Reserve Tables) |
| StubHub Credit | None | $300/year ($150 every 6 months) |
| Streaming Credit | None | $250/year (Apple TV+, Apple Music) |
| DoorDash Benefits | DashPass + $5–15/month credits | $300/year ($25/month) + DashPass |
| Lyft Credit | 10× points on Lyft (promo) | $120/year ($10/month) + 5% cashback |
| Peloton Credit | 10× points on equipment | $120/year ($10/month) + 10× points |
| Airport Lounge Access | Priority Pass + select lounges | Same + Chase Sapphire Lounges |
| TSA PreCheck / Global Entry | $100 credit every 4 years | $120 credit every 4 years |
| High-Spend Perks ($75K+/year) | Not applicable | IHG & Southwest Elite Status + $750 value |
I’ve carried a premium card for more than 40 years, initially a Diners Club, then an AMEX Business Platinum for twenty years and now the Chase Sapphire Reserve for the past seven years. With each card. I’ve always been able to justify the high annual fee because of the special benefits. But that’s no longer quite the case with the new Sapphire Reserve card.
The Sapphire Reserve card has been a great choice for our non-business purchases, as it’s accepted nearly everywhere and the points earned could be used on nearly more airlines and hotels than Amex card did when I first joined. We’ve used the card to charge most everything except business expenses: food, meals, auto expenses, groceries, vacation travel, etc. (I use a $95 Chase Ink card for my business charges.) One of the card’s best benefits is getting a minimum of 1.5 times the number of points on all purchases.
But paying $990 means the card needs to provide an additional $365 in benefits. I looked at all of the new perks to determine their value to me.
- Points Boost
- Earn 8× points on Chase Travel bookings (hotels, flights, car rentals).
- Earn 4× points on direct airline/hotel purchases.
- Continue earning 3× on dining and 1× on other purchases
- The highly-regarded 50% point bonus on all charges is being replaced by Points Boost. Points Boost is applied to certain flights and hotels purchased through Chase Travel. Considering I often book my own flights, hotels, and cars, I don’t want to be limited to what Chase Travel selects. Also, I ‘m often able to find lower costs elsewhere.
- New or Enhanced Credits
- $500/year “Edit” Hotel credit (via Chase Travel) .
Most of the Edit hotels are premium properties that I would probably not use. For example, a room at Edit hotels in Paris ranges from $708 to over $3674 per night for a stay in July. A New York stay starts at a more reasonable $305 per night and goes up to over $1700 per night. I try to stay at Marriott hotels to maintain my Platinum status, so I would likely not stay at most of Chase’s choices. - $300 Dining credit through Sapphire Reserve Tables ($150 semi‑annually) .
I checked the local restaurants in San Diego and none were very special or ones that we frequent, but I did find a few I could use, so I could save $300. - $300 StubHub credit ($150 semi‑annual) .
Unlikely to use. - DoorDash credits: $300/year ($25/month) + DashPass membership (~$120/yr)
Reading the fine print, I would not use all of the $300, since some of the perks are for using DoorDash for grocery delivery. I would use the $5 per month discount for meal delivery just as I now do. - Streaming credits: $250 annually for Apple TV+ & Apple Music
I don’t use Apple Music and now share an Apple TV account, so I could save up to $90. I could also have gotten a similar perk from Verizon. - $120 Lyft credit (5% cash back on rides, up to $10/month)
I rarely use, but might save $30 over the year. This is a pretty measly perk compared to Amex Platinum’ s Uber perks of $15/mo and $35 in December. I’d need to spend $200/month on Lyft rides to get the full benefit. - $120 Peloton credit ($10/month and 10× points on equipment purchases)
I don’t use
- $500/year “Edit” Hotel credit (via Chase Travel) .
- Enhanced Travel Benefits
- Maintain $300 travel credit, Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit ($120), and airport lounge access.
The $300 travel credit remains the same and would be used. Global Entry does not expire this year for either of us, so there is no benefit. The airport lounge, a current benefit, is a nice perk, especially with the new Sapphire lounges opening in San Diego and elsewhere. - Added perks for ultra-high spenders (≥ $75,000/year):
- Southwest Airlines & IHG elite status + statement credits (~$750 total) .
Will likely fall short and not reach $75,000
- Southwest Airlines & IHG elite status + statement credits (~$750 total) .
- Maintain $300 travel credit, Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit ($120), and airport lounge access.
Compared to the current benefits, I would gain an additional $90 for Apple TV, $300 for the dining credits, but would lose the 50% points bonus or about $300 based on last year’s charges of $60,000.
My $625 credit card fee is now offset by the $300 travel credit, the $60 DoorDash fees, $300 from the 50% point bonus, and the occasional lounge access.
But the results are quite different with the new card’s fee of $990. I lose the $300 from the 50% points bonus and what am I left with? The same $300 travel credit and $60 DoorDash discount, $30 for Lyft, the $90 for Apple TV, the $300 dining credit, and not much else. My benefits would be a bit less than $800, about $200 less than the card fee. If I used the Edit hotel once or twice. I might come out even or a hundred dollars ahead.
A premium credit card should simplify our lives, not require more effort to use it
One of the issues with costly cards providing a potpourri of benefits is being sure we use them, and many of these new perks seen to require more effort to remember the rules and how to access and keep track of them. Chase adds to the complexity by requiring their yearly benefits be used monthly or semi-annually. Is this a task we should take on after paying almost $1000?
We’d need to proactively look for their limited number of restaurants and book them through Chase’s website. I would need to remember to use Lyft and not Uber. I would need to close and resubscribe to my Apple TV account, and book my flights through Chase Travel – choosing their flights to get the Points Boost.
The 1.5X points multiplier that they are eliminating is different, as it is automatically applied to every charge and requires no effort. It appears in my Chase points talley, providing 1.5 cents per point in cash or a 50% premium in Chase travel.
I might be more receptive if Chase monitored my account and sent reminders to use the specific benefits, but I’m sure their financial model is based on members forgetting. This is probably intentional. See this great article (gifted) in The Atlantic about how companies create Sludge to discourage us from accessing their services and customer support.)
Not worth the cost and effort
For me, these changes don’t justify the added cost. For others, the results may differ. And those moving to a new Sapphire account for the first time, might find added promotional benefits for making the switch. And then there’s the benefit I would get by moving to a new card with all of the promotions I never factored in to this decision.
