The Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) card has long been a favorite amongst the points and miles community as a top all-around travel rewards card. It has quite a list of perks, excellent travel protections and good bonus categories, all while earning valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Over the last couple of years, however, Chase has removed restaurant access from the included Priority Pass, axed several useful credits and taken away primary rental car insurance on domestic rentals for New York residents that also have a personal policy. Given all that, do the benefits of the card justify the $550/year annual cost?
Chase Sapphire Reserve Current Welcome Offer
| Card Offer |
|---|
 ⓘ $555 1st Yr Value Estimate$300 travel credit valued at $285 Click to learn about first year value estimates 60K Points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 60K after $5K spend in 3 months$550 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: 70K after $4K spend showing on some accounts when logged-in to Chase Recent better offer: Expired 12/1/22: 80K after $4K spend |
Chase Sapphire Reserve Review
The Chase Sapphire Reserve has a lot going for it. The travel and purchase protections are top-notch (except for New York residents), and lounge access includes Priority Pass, Sapphire Lounges and select Air Canada Maple Leaf lounges. Ultimate Rewards is a very valuable transfer currency, unique in that it transfers 1-1 to Hyatt and can be redeemed by CSR cardholders for 1.5 cents each towards travel. The $550 annual fee is balanced by an easy-to-use $300 travel credit that brings the yearly total closer to $250. It doesn’t stand out from the competition like it used to and I wouldn’t consider it a “must-have” card. However, for frequent travelers who don’t want/can’t get the Ritz Carlton card or who often use points for direct travel redemptions, it can be a worthwhile option.
- Annual Fee: $550
- Authorized User Annual Fee: $75
- Foreign Transaction Fee: None
- What points are worth: The Chase Sapphire Reserve earns Ultimate Rewards (UR). Our current Reasonable Redemption Values pegs them at 1.5 cents each.
- Best Use for Points: Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to travel partners at a 1:1 ratio and this will almost certainly yield the most value. Our favorite transfer partner is Hyatt, but good value can had through airline partners as well; including Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM Flying Blue and British Airways Avios. CSR cardholders can also be redeem UR for travel through the Chase Portal at 1.5 cents each or use “Pay Yourself Back (PYB)” on certain spending categories at 1.25 cents each (although the PYB program has lost much of its luster in the last year).
- Earning Categories:
- 10X hotels & car rentals booked through Chase, Chase Dining
- 5X flights booked through Chase
- 5x Lyft rides
- 3X travel and Dining
- 1x everywhere else
- Credits:
- $300 annual travel (cardmember year)
- $120 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck (once every 4 years)
- $10 Lyft each month
- Additional Perks:
- Priority Pass Select Lounge Membership: Cardholder and two guests. Like many other card-linked Priority Pass memberships, does not include Priority Pass restaurants.
- National Car Rental Executive Status
- Free DoorDash Dashpass (through 2027)
- Two promos of $10 off each month on non-restaurant orders from DoorDash
- $5 off restaurant order each month from DoorDash
- Travel Protections:
- Auto Rental Coverage: Primary auto rental CDW (collision damage waiver). Provides reimbursement up to $75,000 for theft and collision damage for rental cars in the U.S. and abroad (Note that this insurance is now secondary on domestic car rentals for New York State residents with a personal primary insurance policy).
- Roadside Assistance: Up to $50 per incident/4 times a year.
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance: Up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip or the total amount paid with your card, whichever is lower.
- Trip Delay Reimbursement: Covers delays of more than 6 hours or that require an overnight stay. Cardholder and family are covered for up to $500 per ticket.
- Lost Luggage Reimbursement: Up to $3,000 per passenger.
- Baggage Delay Insurance: Covers baggage delays of over 6 hours, up to $100 a day for 5 days.
- Travel Accident Insurance: Accidental death or dismemberment coverage of up to $1,000,000.
- Emergency Evacuation & Transportation: Medical services and transportation up to $100,000.
- Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit: More than 100 miles or more from home, up to $2,500 for medical expenses for cardholder and immediate family members.
- Purchase Protections:
- Extended Warranty: One additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less (US warranties only)
- Damage and Theft Protection: 120 days against damage or theft; up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per year
- Return Protection: Within 90 days of purchase, up to $500 per item, $1,000 per year.”
- Who’s this card for? Frequent travelers, especially those that can take advantage of bonus spending categories and who utilize the 1.5 cent redemption through the Ultimate Rewards portal. The travel and purchase protections are top-notch (as long as you don’t live in New York) and it has good lounge access options. Pairing it with a 5x earner like the no-fee Chase Freedom Flex, no-fee Freedom Unlimited & no-fee Chase Ink Cash can make it much more powerful.
- Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve a keeper? I used to be a staunch defender of the “keepability” of the CSR (and wrote a post about it). I’m much less convinced now. This is partially because of the competition, the degradation of the Pay Yourself Back program and the loss of lounge benefits and domestic car insurance for New Yorkers. The Amex Gold card has better category bonuses and includes grocery. The Ritz Carlton card offers the same lounge access and arguably better travel protections, but it also adds $300 in incidental airline credits AND an annual 85K Marriott free night certificate…for $100 less in annual fees. Even the $95 Sapphire Preferred card offers the same car rental insurance for everyone while hanging onto the ability to transfer Ultimate Rewards to partners. Even if you account for the $300 travel credit at face value, I’m seeing less and less reasons to keep this card around for $250/year.
Chase Sapphire Reserve Pros and Cons
Pros
- Good travel protections, including primary rental car insurance for most folks (that I’ve had the unfortunate chance to use several times)
- $300 travel credit applies to a broad range of categories and is easy-to-use
- Priority Pass select membership with Sapphire and Maple Leaf lounge access
- Good bonus categories
- Only major transferable currency (outside of Bilt) that has Hyatt as a partner
- Points can be redeemed at 1.5 cents each for travel through the Chase Travel Portal
Cons
- High annual fee ($550)
- New York state cardholders with a primary insurance policy no longer get primary rental car insurance on domestic rentals.
- While 3x on travel and dining is good, it doesn’t stand out like it used to
- Doesn’t offer restaurant access on the included Priority Pass membership
- Often has a subpar welcome offer when compared to the Sapphire Preferred
- The Pay Yourself Back program is much less valuable that it used to be
- While everyone in these parts loves Hyatt, Ultimate Reward‘s airline transfer partners are less exciting
Chase Transfer Partners
| Rewards Program | Chase Transfer Ratio | Best Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus Avios | 1 to 1 | Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Aer Lingus rather than British Airways, Qatar, or Iberia. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | 1 to 1 | Redeem for Star Alliance flights and/or flights with Air Canada partners (such as Etihad). No fuel surcharges; $39 CAD award booking fee; 5,000 points to add stopover on one-way award. See: Air Canada Aeroplan: Everything you need to know. |
| Air France KLM Flying Blue | 1 to 1 | Monthly Air France Promo Awards often represent very good value. Air France miles can be used to book Sky Team awards, including Delta awards. Air France often offers very good business class award pricing between the US and Europe & Israel. |
| British Airways Avios | 1 to 1 | While flights on British Airways itself often incur outrageously high fuel surcharges, many BA partners charge low or no fuel surcharges. Excellent value can often be had in redeeming BA points for short distance flights outside the US. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| Emirates Skywards | 1 to 1 | The best use of Emirates miles has been to fly Emirates itself. Unfortunately fuel surcharges can be extremely steep. One workaround is to book select routes such as JFK to Milan or Newark to Athens. See: How to find and book Emirates first class awards. |
| Finnair Plus+ | 1 to 1 via BA | Finnair points are now "Avios" and points can be moved to/from other Avios programs. Finnair uses zone based award charts rather than distance based. As a result, Finnair sometimes has better (and sometimes worse) pricing than other Avios programs. |
| Hyatt | 1 to 1 | Use for Hyatt free nights, free suite nights, lounge upgrades, or suite upgrades. Hyatt points are often worth more than 2 cents each. Bonus: award nights are not subject to resort fees. |
| Iberia Avios | 1 to 1 | On their own flights, Iberia offers low award prices and a very reasonable 25 Euro cancellation fee. Partner awards can offer good value under some circumstances as well, but these are usually nonrefundable. Fuel surcharges are sometimes lower when booking with Iberia rather than British Airways, Aer Lingus, or Qatar. It's possible to move points (Avios) between Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Qatar. See also: Avios Sweet Spots for Award Tickets. |
| IHG | 1 to 1 | IHG dynamically prices their awards and sometimes offer very good value. IHG Premier and IHG Premier Business cards offer the fourth night free on award stays. |
| JetBlue | 1 to 1 | JetBlue points offer the most value when cheap ticket prices are available and when award taxes are high relative to the overall cost of the ticket (more details can be found here). The JetBlue Plus Card and the JetBlue Business Card offer a 10% rebate on awards, so you can get more value by holding one of these cards. |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1 to 1 | 5th Night Free awards. Opportunities to get outsized value exist but can be hard to find. |
| Qatar Privilege Club Avios | 1 to 1 via BA | Qatar has reasonable award prices for flying Qatar itself. Points are now transferable 1 to 1 to British Airways (and from there to Aer Lingus or Iberia). It is now also possible to book JetBlue flights with Qatar Avios. |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | 1 to 1 | Use to book Singapore Airlines First Class awards (generally reserved for their own members), Alaska Airlines economy awards, or for Star Alliance awards (including United Airlines). |
| Southwest Rapid Rewards | 1 to 1 | Award flights are fully refundable. Point values vary. Lower demand flights and those with higher taxes tend to offer better value. |
| United MileagePlus | 1 to 1 | United offers free award changes and free cancelations. Like Avianca and Aeroplan, United never charges fuel surcharges for awards. Unfortunately, United charges many more miles for international first class awards. Good uses of miles include United's Excursionist Perk awards and (sometimes) dynamically priced United economy awards. |
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 1 to 1 | Virgin Atlantic offers a few excellent sweet spot awards. See: Best uses for Virgin Atlantic points (Sweet Spot Spotlight). |
Related Cards
Ultimate Rewards Consumer Cards
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $292 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates $200 cash back* ⓘFriend-ReferralThis is a friend-referral offer. A member of the Frequent Miler community may earn a referral bonus if you are approved for this offer Earn $200 (*awarded as 20,000 points) after spending $500 in the first 3 monthsNo Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: Great for 5X and 3x categories and World Mastercard benefits. Excellent companion card to Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred. Earning rate: 5x travel booked through Chase Travel℠ ✦ 5X Lyft through September 2027 ✦ 3x dining ✦ 3x drugstores ✦ 5X in rotating categories on up to $1,500 spend per quarter (Q2 2025: Amazon, Streaming Services) Card Info: Mastercard World issued by Chase. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. Noteworthy perks: Free DoorDash DashPass for 6 months upon activation ✦ Cell phone protection ✦ Lyft credits ✦ $10 quarterly credit for non-restaurant DoorDash orders See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
 ⓘ $296 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates $200 cash back* ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer Earn $200 (*awarded as 20,000 points) after spending $500 in the first 3 monthsNo Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Earn even more points by applying through Rakuten. More details here. This card is likely subject to Chase's 5/24 rule (click here for details). Recent better offer: Unlimited Double Cash Back for 12 month (expired 1/11/24) FM Mini Review: Great for 3x categories and 1.5X everywhere else. Excellent companion card to Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 5x travel booked through Chase Travel℠ ✦ 3x dining ✦ 3x drugstores ✦ 2% cash back total on qualifying Lyft products and services purchased through the Lyft mobile application through 09/30/2027 ✦ 1.5X everywhere else Card Info: Visa Signature or Platinum issued by Chase. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. Noteworthy perks: Free DoorDash DashPass for 6 months upon activation ✦ $10 quarterly credit for non-restaurant DoorDash orders See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
 ⓘ $0 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates None This card is no longer availableNo Annual Fee Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. FM Mini Review: Great for 5X categories. Good companion card to Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred. Earning rate: 5X Lyft through September 2027; 5X in rotating categories on up to $1,500 spend per quarter (Q2 2025: Amazon, Streaming Services) Card Info: Visa Signature or Platinum issued by Chase. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. Noteworthy perks: Free DoorDash DashPass for 6 months upon activation ✦ $10 quarterly Instacart credit ✦ 3 months free Instacart+ See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
 ⓘ $1360 1st Yr Value Estimate$50 prepaid hotel credit valued at $35 Click to learn about first year value estimates 100K Points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 100K after $5K spend in 3 months$95 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Earn even more points by applying through Rakuten. More details here. FM Mini Review: Great welcome offer. Unlocks ability to transfer points to hotel & airline partners. Solid option to pair with no annual fee Ultimate Rewards cards such as the Freedom cards, Ink Business Cash, and Ink Business Unlimited. Earning rate: 5X Travel booked through Chase Travel℠ (2X all other travel) ✦ 5X Lyft through 9/30/27 ✦3X Dining ✦ 3X Select streaming services ✦ 3X Online grocery ✦ 10% annual point bonus Card Info: Visa Signature issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: Primary auto rental collision damage waiver ✦ Free DoorDash DashPass through 2027 ✦ $10 off each month on one non-restaurant orders from DoorDash ✦ Transfer points to airline & hotel partners ✦ $50 back for hotel stays booked through Chase per cardmember year in the form of a statement credit |
ⓘ $555 1st Yr Value Estimate$300 travel credit valued at $285 Click to learn about first year value estimates 60K Points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 60K after $5K spend in 3 months$550 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: 70K after $4K spend showing on some accounts when logged-in to Chase Recent better offer: Expired 12/1/22: 80K after $4K spend FM Mini Review: Excellent all-around card for frequent traveler. Best when paired with no annual fee Chase Freedom Flex, Freedom Unlimited & Chase Ink Cash cards Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 10X hotels & car rentals booked through Chase Travel℠ ✦ 10X Chase Dining ✦ 5X flights booked through Chase ✦ 3X Travel and Dining ✦ 5X Lyft (through September 2027) Card Info: Visa Infinite issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: $300 Annual Travel Credit ✦ Points worth 1.5 cents each towards travel when booked through the Chase Travel(SM) Portal✦ Transfer points to airline & hotel partners ✦ Primary auto rental coverage ✦ Priority Pass Select lounge access ✦ Access Sapphire Lounges for yourself and 2 guests for free ✦ Access select Air Canada Maple Leaf lounges when flying Star Alliance ✦ Up to $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS Application Fee Statement Credit ✦ Free DoorDash DashPass through 2027 ✦ Two promos of $10 off each month on non-restaurant orders from DoorDash ✦ $5 off restaurant order each month from DoorDash ✦ $10 monthly Lyft credit See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
Ultimate Rewards Business Cards
| Card Offer and Details |
|---|
 ⓘ $0 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates None This card is no longer available$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95 Information about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Earning rate: ✦ 5X office supplies, 5X cellular/landline/cable ✦ 2X gas and hotels ✦ 5X Lyft through September 2027 Card Info: Visa Signature Business issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: ✦ Points worth 25% more when redeemed for travel ✦ Transfer points to airline & hotel partners See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
 ⓘ $1029 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates Up to $750 cash back* ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer $350 (*awarded as 35,000 points) after $3K spend in 3 months and an additional $400 (*awarded as 40,000 points) after $6K spend in 6 months. No Annual Fee Recent better offer: 90K after $6K spend in 6 monthd (expired 1/17/24 FM Mini Review: This one should be in everyone's wallet. Incredible welcome bonus for a no-annual-fee card. Great card for 5X categories. Excellent companion card to Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 5X office supplies and cellular/landline/cable (on up to $25,000 in total purchases in 5x categories annually) ✦ 2X on the first $25K in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each cardmember year ✦ 5x Lyft through September 2027 Card Info: Visa Signature Business issued by Chase. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
 ⓘ $1127 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates 90K points ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer 90K after $8K spend in 3 months$95 Annual Fee Recent better offer: 120K after $8K spend (expired 9/4/24) FM Mini Review: Great card for welcome bonus and 3X categories. Also consider the Ink Business Cash for its 5X categories, and the Ink Business Unlimited to earn 1.5X everywhere. Earning rate: 3X travel, shipping, internet, cable, phone, and advertising with social media sites (up to $150K spend per year) ✦ 5X Lyft through September 2027 Card Info: Visa Signature Business issued by Chase. This card has no foreign currency conversion fees. Noteworthy perks: ✦ Points worth 25% more when redeemed for travel ✦ Transfer points to airline & hotel partners ✦ Cell phone protection against theft or damage See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
 ⓘ $1074 1st Yr Value EstimateClick to learn about first year value estimates $750 cash back* ⓘAffiliateThis is an affiliate offer. Frequent Miler may earn a commission if you are approved for this offer $750 (*awarded as 75,000 points) after $6k spend in 3 monthsNo Annual Fee Alternate Offer: Earn even more points by applying through Rakuten. More details here. FM Mini Review: Great welcome bonus for a no annual fee card. Good option for earning 1.5X everywhere. Good companion card to Ink Business Preferred, Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred. Click here for our complete card review Earning rate: 1.5X on all purchases ✦ 5X Lyft through September 2027 Card Info: Visa Signature Business issued by Chase. This card imposes foreign transaction fees. See also: Chase Ultimate Rewards Complete Guide |
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I’ve had my CSP for about a decade. I’m debating whether to cancel and apply for the CSR for the better trip protection insurance and better travel earnings. Two questions:
I have over a dozen Chase cards in good standing (7 biz/6 personal). If I close my CSP for a month or two before applying is there much danger from Chase laying eyes on my accounts?
Do CSR authorized users have full access to Chase lounges?
In your description of Priority Pass, you wrote “Unlike many other” but more and more cards have restricted restaurant access. The few that still have it are the exception.
Absolutely. That’s a typo. It used to say “unlike many other cards it DOES have restaurant access,” before Chase removed it.
I currently have the CSR. I used to have the Chase Sapphire Preferred but canceled it a while ago. Will Chase let me go back to the Preferred and get rid of the Reserved? I’m also not sure I see the point of paying $250 for the CSR.
I do currently have over 500K points with them.
Just downgrade it back to the preferred. Should get pro-rated fee back.
I think that Chase has quietly reduced the value of the Chase Sapphire Reserve trip interruption/cancellation benefits. It used to be that they covered up to $10,000 person/ $20,000 per trip if you charged any portion of the trip to the card. So, you could use any FF miles (not only UR) and charge the tax to the Chase card, and be covered. Now, you are only covered up to the amount that you charge to the Chase card or awards program associated with the card. So, you are still covered if you use Ultimate Rewards to pay for a trip, but not if you use other miles currencies. See page 40 of the Guide to Benefits.
Did the language in that section change specifically? It still mentions charging a portion to the card, but I could see being able to read it both ways.
Yes, I think that language did change specifically in the recent round of updates. The Guide now states that “The Trip Cancellation and Interruption benefit provides reimbursement for Eligible Travel Expenses charged to the Cardholder’s Account up to $10,000 dollars per Covered person and up to $20,000 per trip . . {emphasis supplied – I think this is the new language}. So, if you split payment between the Chase Sapphire reserve and another card, the insurance would be triggered but you would only be reimbursed up to the amount that you put on the CSR. i(page 40) Or, if you put your flight on the CSR and a pre paid hotel on an Amex, you couldn’t get coverage for the hotel in the event of cancellation, even though this was part of the same trip.
Page 41 of the Guide specifically addresses what happens if you use Ultimate Rewards points to pay for the trip, and says that the reimbursement will be the amount equivalent to their monetary value. So seems as if paying for an expense with UR points is covered as well, similar to charging the expense to your CSR.
One can’t help but wonder when a refresh (Project Emerald) is going to hit. The landscape has changed significantly and continues to change.
I’ve thought the same thing. The CSR is still worthwhile card for many folks, but it doesn’t stand out the way it used to. I think we’ll see Chase refresh both Sapphire cards within the next 12-18 months.
As “The Edit” is a CSR resource, it’s worth mentioning certain properties that had been on both the UR (10X) platform and the LHRC (3X) platform are now only on The Edit. For non-network properties, this has lessened the value of the card to some.
One of my favorite benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve is The Edit program. Similar to the American Express Fine Hotels & Resort program, one can get 2 free breakfasts per day, $100 property credit, room upgrade at check in, early check in/late check out based on availability, a welcome gift, elite nights, and hotel points. All this while, paying for the room with Chase Ultimate Reward points at 1.5 cents per point!
How does 3X on Travel not stand out? Only one other personal card (Amex Green) has 3X on travel. (this obviously ignores any “book through my portal” multiplier)
Not that it doesn’t stand out, it’s that “3x travel and dining…don’t stand out like they used to.” (to use the exact quote). There’s better dining category bonuses out there, but I still think that it’s probably the best all-around travel category bonus…but not by a huge margin. Check out our full list here. You already mentioned the Green gets 3x, so does the Citi Premier (with a less-expansive definition). The Custom Cash gets 5x on up to $500/month (and is a great companion for the Citi Premier at a net $95/year annual fee combined on both cards). The US Bank Altitude Reserve gets 3x on travel and on mobile wallet payments. The Business Gold can get 4x on both dining and airfare. It’s not that I don’t think that the CSR’s 3x isn’t better than those (primarily because of the breadth of what it applies to and that I like Hyatt), it’s that I don’t think it’s a clear head and shoulders above the rest any longer.
I actually did look at that list again before my post. Citi Premier only gets 3x on airline and hotel whereas Sapphire Reserve has language similar to this:
“Merchants in the travel category include airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, campgrounds and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges and highways, and parking lots and garages.” 10-27-2022 TPG
Citi Custom Cash limit is pretty small at $500.
I am particular interested in cruise spend but car rentals and other transportation are a factor too.
Amex has similar language on their website:
“airfare, hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, campgrounds, vacation rentals, travel purchases on third party travel websites, and travel purchases on amextravel.com. You will not earn additional points for purchases of timeshare properties. Transit: You will earn 2 additional points (for a total of 3 points) for each dollar charged on eligible transit purchases including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways.”
Altitude Reserve Points are not transferrable to Airline or Hotel partners.
Therefore I think Chase Sapphire Reserve (and Amex Green) are pretty much the standouts on travel category spend bonuses. (especially being they are transferrable currencies)
No?
RE cruise spend, what I have been doing is to use Citi Custom Cash each billing cycle to put $500 on whatever cruise next needs to be paid off. (Sometimes I use this card to pay my final bill when on a cruise and then put the rest of $500 toward my next cruise.). This makes it easy to maximize the 5x on this card without having to keep track of which spending category you are using.
Citi Premier is 3x flights, hotels, *and travel agencies*. Unless you’re booking directly with cruise lines, you’re probably booking through a travel agency (generally speaking, you’ll get much better deals on cruises that way, so I assume you’re booking through a travel agency of some sort?). And since something like Expedia or Priceline should count as a travel agency, you have a lot of latitude as to what could code as travel. Correct that a Custom Cash is limited to $500/mo, but you could end up with multiple Custom Cash cards (that may not be convenient if each of your average charges is significantly more than $500 though and you’d be sacrificing travel protections). While I agree that I’d generally rather have 3 transferable points than 3 cash-like points, if I would use Chase points at a value of 1.5c per point through the Chase Portal, I’d rather have 3x Altitude Reserve points than 3x Chase points since the Altitude Reserve points can get 1.5c per point while booking direct and enjoying those benefits (though of course there are limitations like you may not get that value when booking a foreign airline, etc).
Again, Tim didn’t say that those options are clearly superior to the CSR, just that the CSR isn’t the standout it once was. And when you further consider that you could have a card like the Venture card for only $95 that gets 2x everywhere, if 3x on travel is your primary reason to like the CSR, you have to do the math to see if you actually spend enough on travel to justify the CSR’s annual fee for that 1 extra point per dollar spent. If you spend a lot on travel annually, the CSR may still be the answer — it’s just not the clear slam-dunk winner it once was.
As always your analysis is spot on and I concede to your points. My original reply was over a year ago but something I left out about my thoughts on cruise spend.
I’m booking 99% of my cruises through the cruise line casino departments so no TAs. I’ve also done a good bit of cruise ship casino MS over the last year. So having my Amex Green on my shipboard account earning 3x on my onboard MS results in a decent amount of MR per cruise. So my use case is a bit different.
Honestly I don’t even have a Reserve (just a Preferred) and until I can get multiple Inks I favor MR over UR. Your points are well taken and I have to agree that it is more of edge case at this point vs a standout.
Thanks for the reply sir
As a note, the WF Autograph Journey has 4X on airfare, 5X on hotels, and 3X on rental cards and dining. It has a transferable point currency. While its current list of transfer partners is limited, it is reasonable to expect the list to grow.
I think what Tim is saying is that 3X on travel and dining has become the expected among hobbyists. It had been something special but it isn’t now. To me, Tim’s comment is fair and reasonable.
People have different needs . . . that are best served by different cards. While I have the CSR, it has one major shortcoming with respect to my needs: the lack of Etihad as a transfer partner. Because of this, combined with my pattern of spending, I’m more inclined to use the WF Autograph Journey or Citi Strata Premier. (Transit doesn’t move my needle. Rental cars don’t move my needle. And, I don’t need yet another Priority Pass membership.)
And, while it was not within the scope of the article, one can’t help but consider companion cards. I’ll take the Citi Double Cash over the Chase Freedom Unlimited for my “all other” spending.
Best of luck.
The WF Autograph journey card was not out when this post was made a year ago. It also gets 3x on cruise spend so you can add that to the list.
The value comes down to how much you spend on travel at 3x. You can get dining 3x on freedom unlimited. Or 4x on Amex gold or Capital one savor.
And can you use the door dash credit and instacart credits. Those two combine to 20 dollars a month, but I would only value that maybe 15 dollars.
Primary car insurance is helpful for rentals.
It’s become a bit of a coupon book like the Amex platinum.
If you spend 10k a year on travel on this card, that’s an extra 10k chase UR per year.
If you don’t do most of those things you are probably better with the chase preferred.
thanks for the review, I am debating keeping it and the Ritz Cartlon card is looking better and better.
Only unique-and-valuable transfer partner (other than Bilt) is Hyatt. And, with Bilt, at some point . . . (ask Greg to finish the sentence).
United still has some minor uses… Before the recent devalue, 35k in polaris to peru was a steal. You can still get to South Africa for 88k in business class which isn’t great, but definitely not horrible. Plus you get free cancellations with United if you cancel 30 days before departure which isn’t horrible but does provide some flexibility compared to say Aeroplan.
If you’re a 2 player household really hitting the Southwest Companion Pass hard then that can still be a valuable and unique transfer partner for UR. Being able to book all your tickets as BOGO brings the value of transferred points to Southwest up to around 2.6 cpp.
You have to be taking a lot of Southwest flights to justify that though since you’d want to use up your existing SW point balance first. You can bounce back and forth between P1 & P2 opening up 2 cards a year to indefinitely earn about 200K SW points and continuous companion pass coverage. If you’re not burning all 200K of those SW points first then you’re not getting that elevated value from using the points while holding a companion pass.
Greg set me straight on this years ago: having a Southwest Companion Pass doesn’t bring the value of points transferred to Southwest up to around 2.6cpp any more than it brings the pennies in your bank account up to a value of 2c per penny.
If one Southwest point is worth 1.3c toward airfare, a point transferred to Southwest buys you 1.3c in airfare whether you have the Companion Pass or not.
To clarify that, let’s say that you want to buy a ticket that costs $130 or 10,000 points (to stick with your 1.3c valuation). If you don’t have the Companion Pass, and you need two tickets, your options are to pay $260 or 20,000 points. Points are worth 1.3c per point. If you do have the Companion Pass, the same two tickets will cost you either $130 or 10,000 points — you get the same 1.3c per point. Those 10K points aren’t saving you $260 since you wouldn’t have to pay $260 for the tickets — you’d only have to pay $130 since you have the Companion Pass. The cash savings is $130 as that is the price you would pay as a Companion Pass holder, so you’re still getting 1.3cpp. Essentially, the Companion Pass is a repeatable discount code that makes the tickets cheaper, it doesn’t make your cash or points more valuable.
Again, to imagine that 10,000 points are worth $260 is to imagine that $130 in your bank account is worth $260 since you have the Companion Pass. It isn’t — you couldn’t go to the grocery store and buy $260 worth of stuff with your $130. The Companion Pass halves the price you pay, but it doesn’t increase the value of the dollars in your pocket nor the points in your Ultimate Rewards account.
And so that brings me back to your main point: that Southwest is a valuable and unique transfer partner. You are of course correct that they are unique. To call them a valuable transfer partner is, at least in my mind, inaccurate. The value is fixed at that ~1.3cpp. I’ll grant you that Southwest certainly can be useful in the right circumstances — like if you need to top off to book an award (since you can’t book partially with points, so you’ll need the full amount of points to book an award) or perhaps in a scenario where you don’t have Southwest points but really want a flexible ticket with points that won’t expire if you need to cancel, or Southwest is your best flight option from a timing or routing perspective, etc. I still wouldn’t consider Southwest to be a particularly valuable transfer partner since you can’t really get better than 1.3cpp in value (or whatever it is right now, I can’t recall for sure so I’m using what I assume is your number). You are essentially trading your points for a cash savings of 1.3c per point. In that spot, I might rather use the cash and save the points for more outsized redemptions assuming that’s an option for me.
Again, I’m not saying that you should never transfer to Southwest, but rather that you are accepting a fixed value that I think is lower than the value of many other uses of Chase points and thus not what I’d generally describe as “valuable”. Whereas many other airline and hotel awards could potentially get far outsized value, the value when transferred to Southwest is completely fixed.
Thanks for that explanation Nick! I see where my mistake in valuation lies from that – booking with points isn’t required to use the Companion Pass, so that 50% off discount is independent of the points used. If Southwest had a restriction that the Companion Pass could only be used with award bookings then you could argue that it would boost the point values (going with your example, in that scenario tickets for two passengers would have a cash cost of $260 since you couldn’t use the Companion Pass but a points booking for the same tickets would only be 10,000 points).
An interesting thought I had reading your post – I’ve read before that it is possible to book Southwest flights through the Chase travel portal but you have to call in to do it, it’s not available online. I’ve never tried it so not sure if it is still possible. If a flight’s pricing is the same as direct then from a UR value perspective you would be better off booking the flight through Chase if you have the Sapphire Reserve to redeem at 1.5 cpp rather than transferring if the Southwest points cost is going to be at a lower value like 1.3 cpp. Would you still be able to add the companion ticket to this booking afterwards since it would look like a revenue booking to Southwest? If so that makes the value of transferring UR to Southwest even worse than I thought when holding the CSR, since there are times you could do better just booking the ticket through Chase at 1.5 cpp (and earning some points for the flight on top of that).