Travel on Point(s)

Travel on Point(s) is an independent, advertising-supported website. This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites like Cardratings.com. This compensation does not impact how or where products appear on this site. Travel on Point(s) has not reviewed all available credit card offers on this site. Reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any partner entities.

Travel on Point(s) is an independent, advertising-supported website. This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites like Cardratings.com. This compensation does not impact how or where products appear on this site. Travel on Point(s) has not reviewed all available credit card offers on this site. Reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any partner entities.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Review

The Quidget_Sapphire_Reserve was crowned the king of the Chase rewards travel cards immediately at launch, but has it lost its crown since? Is the Sapphire Reserve still the card that stole the spotlight and cost Chase between 200 and 300 million dollars in initial welcome offers? The short answer is: no. Other banks and cards have caught up to the Reserve over the last 5 years. The crazy thing is the card hasn't really devalued along the way either.  In this Chase Sapphire Reserve® review, we will look at the welcome offer, earning structure, card perks and share our overall thoughts.

Current Sapphire Reserve Welcome Offer

The current welcome offer for the Quidget_Sapphire_Reserve is as follows:

  • Quidget_bonus_full
  • The annual_fees annual fee is not waived

Chase Application Rules

Like other Chase cards, you will not qualify for this card if you have opened more than 5 credit cards with any bank in the last 24 months. You also can not receive the welcome offer on this card if you have earned one on ANY Sapphire product in the past 48 months. You also can not be carrying another Sapphire product at the time of your application. This includes the Chase Sapphire® Preferred and the no fee Sapphire product that is only available via downgrade.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Review: Earning Rate

The earning rate for the Quidget_Sapphire_Reserve is as follows:

  • 10x on car rentals booked through the Chase Travel Portal
  • 10x on Lyft rides (through March 31, 2025)
  • 5x on flights booked through the Chase Travel Portal
  • 3x on
    • Dining
    • Travel
  • 1x on all other eligible purchases

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Benefits

The Quidget_Sapphire_Reserve comes with a ton of benefits, travel and otherwise. Here are some of the notable ones:

  • $300 travel credit each cardmember year (which is a liberal definition of travel and not an airline incidental credit)
    • You will not earn points on your first $300 in travel purchases each year because of this
  • Primary car rental insurance
  • Trip delay insurance
    • You can be reimbursed for up to $500 in expenses when travel on a common carrier is delayed by 6 hours or more.
      • Reimbursable expenses include meals, lodging, toiletries and medication.
  • Priority Pass Select membership for primary cardholder (includes restaurant access)
    • Authorized users get a membership too but there is a $75 fee per user
  • $100 credit every 4 years for Global Entry or TSA Precheck
  • Access to the The Luxury Hotel Collection
    • Perks include free breakfast for two and a $100 credit that varies by property.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Review

ToP Analysis

There's lots to like and dislike about the Quidget_Sapphire_Reserve, let's dig into the details a bit.

Travel Insurance

In ToP's opinion, the CSR has the best travel insurance among credit cards. Trip insurance activates by paying only the taxes on a one-way (or roundtrip) flight and kicks in at only 6 hours of delay. The card's CDW insurance is primary insurance and is second-to-none. It is why we recommend this or the Quidget_Sapphire_Preferred for all your travel insurance booking needs.

Priority Pass Access Is Second To None

Priority Pass restaurants are arguably the best perk of the Priority Pass system. Lounges sometimes can be closed, full, or not offer food or alcoholic beverages. You can usually avoid these issues by visiting a Priority Pass restaurant and ordering what you want. If you're traveling in two-player mode and you both have a Priority Pass Select membership, you can usually double-dip the benefits. This means you can each use your membership to receive $56-60 per person.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Review

The Ease Of Use For The Travel Credit Is Nice

The CSR's annual_fees annual fee is high, even for a premium card. But the annual travel credit is one of the easiest credit card perks to use. If a charge codes as travel for Chase, you'll be reimbursed. No tips, tricks or gimmicks required (we're looking at you Amex).

Chase Travel Portal Bonuses Are Fool's Gold

But it is not all good, that's for sure. Earning 5x on flights and 10x on hotels, rental cars and dining experiences booked through the Chase travel portal sounds great. But remember: travel portals have been nothing but trouble since before COVID-19 was a word in our vocabulary. As we cautioned many times, we do not recommend booking through travel portals when paying cash, even with these elevated earnings. When something goes wrong, it's much easier to deal directly with the airline or hotel itself, rather than an online travel agency.

Earning Structure Has Been Left Behind

The 3x UR earning on travel and dining was top-of-the-class when the CSR launched in 2016. Since then, many other cards introduced better or comparable earning rates.  Other cards have stepped up their game and offer 5x on flights and many offer 4x or 5x on restaurants or dining. The 3x rate just isn't as great as it was 5+ years ago. Heck, even the Sapphire Reserve's sibling card, the Quidget_Sapphire_Preferred, offers 3x on dining now and a slew of other categories. We would love to see Chase refresh the multipliers and add a 4x category at some point.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® Review: Final Thoughts

Normally, unless you are desperate for Priority Pass Select membership, or you are eligible for annual fee waivers due to employment or military service, we think a 60,000-UR welcome offer for the Quidget_Sapphire_Preferred (annual_fees annual fee) makes more sense for most folks. While 3x earnings on dining and travel is no longer industry-leading, the Quidget_Sapphire_Reserve is still very good for a card with a net annual fee of $250. Throw in the best credit card insurance and you still have a top-tier rewards card that doesn't require tricks or gimmicks to use the credits and benefits.

What are your thoughts on the Quidget_Sapphire_Reserve? Come over to our  Facebook group and let us know!

Travel on Point(s) has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Travel on Point(s) and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

SIGN UP TO RECEIVE
ToP TIPS STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX

We promise to keep things short, sweet, and packed with awesome insights!