A 100,000 bonus is rare. However, all good things must come to an end. Even though the Chase Sapphire Reserve® 100,000 bonus offer is over, you can still earn 50,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months. Which is still a great bonus for the Sapphire Reserve.
Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders may receive a $100 annual fee credit if their account renewal date is coming up. Here's who qualifies to have the $550 annual fee lowered to $450. That would effectively reduce the Chase Sapphire Reserve's fee from $550 to $450.
Best Chase Credit Cards
- Chase Freedom Unlimited. Best Overall, Best for Cash-Back Rewards, Best With No Annual Fee, Best for Financing Large Purchases.
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. Best for Cost-Conscious Travelers, Best Sign-Up Bonus.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve. Best for Luxury Travelers.
- Ink Business Unlimited. Best for Businesses.
You can only downgrade from Chase Sapphire Reserve to a card in the same “product family.” This means you cannot switch to an Ink Business card or a co-branded airline or hotel card. Downgrades are allowed to Chase cards such as Sapphire Preferred, Freedom or Freedom Unlimited.
If you fit my profile, then you may feel the same and contemplate canceling your Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Experts generally don't recommend canceling your credit card since it can have a negative affect on your credit score. But paying a high annual fee that's not worthwhile can be an exception.
Travel rewards
- A generous sign-up bonus.
- Bonus earnings on travel and dining.
- A 25% boost when redeeming for travel via chase.
- Combine points from multiple cards.
- Transfer points to airline and hotel partners.
- Worldwide acceptance.
- Coverage if your trip is canceled or delayed.
- Baggage delay insurance.
If you do decide to downgrade, there are eligibility requirements to keep in mind. When you request a product change, Chase requires that it stay within the same card family. For example, you can request a switch from the Chase Sapphire Reserve to the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card or Chase Freedom Unlimited.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® are both made out of metal. Though the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a bit lighter than its heavy metal counterpart, it is a more affordable metal card option and ranked as CNBC Select's best travel credit card with an annual fee under $100.
If you're eligible, it would make a lot of sense to sign up for the Preferred and then upgrade to the Chase Sapphire Reserve after a year of card membership. Apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred with its 80,000-point sign-up bonus or check out TPG's Chase Sapphire Preferred review for more details.
Yes, you can get a Chase Sapphire bonus twice, but only after a long waiting period. If you get the bonus of 50,000 points from the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you cannot get another initial bonus from any Sapphire card for the next 48 months.
No, gas station purchases do not count as travel on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the Ink Business Preferred card. In fact, none of the Ultimate Rewards-earning credit cards count gas as a travel expense.
Chase doesn't have a hard limit on the number of cards you can have at once. Instead, there's a maximum amount of total credit they'll extend you. Some of us on the MMS team have six or more Chase credit cards.
Chase advertises the 100,000-point bonus as being worth $1,250 when you book travel through the Chase Travel Portal. However, this value isn't taking into account Chase's vast list of airline and hotel transfer partners.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of the best travel cards for both casual vacationers and hardcore road warriors alike. It is positively packed with value-added perks, and earns bonus points on a variety of purchases, which you can then transfer to more than a dozen airline and hotel partners.
Chase Sapphire Reserve®All in the all, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is likely the most difficult to obtain of the Chase credit cards, partly due to the fact that it is a Visa Infinite® product, which tends to have higher credit limits.
To break even on Chase Sapphire Reserve without taking into account the card's initial bonus or other big benefits, you would need to spend approximately $12,222 per year on travel and dining or $36,667 on non-travel/dining purchases.
How to Make the Most of Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Earn the sign-up bonus.
- Rack up rewards points.
- Use the travel credit.
- Redeem points for travel through Chase.
- Transfer points for more value.
- Max out the food delivery perks.
- Avoid other redemption options.
- Capitalize on other travel perks.
What does your credit score need to be for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card? While there is no set score needed, we recommend you have a credit score of at least 700, a clean 2 years of credit history, and an income of at least $30,000 per year.
For either card, you must spend $4,000 in the first 3 months to earn the bonus points. However, you earn 60,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and 50,000 bonus points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve bonus.
