With the Sapphire Reserve card currently offering a bigger than usual welcome bonus (click here for current details), I realized that it was past time to revive this post. If you want the ability to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to hotel and airline partners then you’ll need the $550 Sapphire Reserve card, the $95 Sapphire Preferred, or the $95 Ink Business Preferred. In this post you’ll find a side by side comparison of benefits, travel & purchase protections, and more.
When the Sapphire Reserve card first debuted, it was clearly a better choice than the Sapphire Preferred for most of us. The Chase Sapphire Reserve offered 3X travel & dining vs. the Preferred card’s 2X. The Sapphire Reserve offered (and continues to offer) 1.5 cents per point value towards travel vs. the Preferred card’s 1.25. And the Reserve offers a slew of benefits not available to Preferred cardholders.
Initially, the Sapphire Reserve cost $450 per year, but offered an automatic $300 travel rebate. This made it seem like a $150 card to those of us who easily earned the travel rebate without even trying. In this light, the $95 Sapphire Preferred card didn’t fare well in comparison. After all, with only net $55 per year extra, you could get better point earnings, better point value, and better perks.
Things changed when Chase increased the Sapphire Reserve annual fee to $550. Now the Sapphire Reserve is like a $250 per year card after the $300 rebate*. That makes it substantially more expensive than the Sapphire Preferred. Plus, Chase increased the Sapphire Preferred card’s dining earning to 3x. Given these changes, is the Sapphire Reserve still worth the premium? Or, are we better off with the Sapphire Preferred? How about going with the Ink Business Preferred instead?
* Travel expenses that are rebated do not earn rewards. This means that the true effective rebate is a bit less than $300 and it might be better described as a $265 per year card after rebate… but that gets unnecessarily complicated.
Welcome Bonuses
Here are the current welcome bonuses for each card in this round-up:
Card Offer |
---|
100K points ⓘ Affiliate 100K after $8K spend in 3 months$95 Annual Fee Recent better offer: 80K after $5K spend. Many preferred the 80K offer due to the much lower spend requirement |
60K points ⓘ Affiliate 60K after $4K spend in 3 months$95 Annual Fee Alternate Offer: There may be elevated offers available by applying in-branch A similar offer with the first year annual fee waived may be found in-branch. YMMV. |
65K Points ⓘ Affiliate 65K after $4K 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 |
Annual Fee & Statement Credit Comparison
Sapphire Reserve | Sapphire Preferred | Ink Business Preferred | |
---|---|---|---|
Annual Fee | $550 | $95 | $95 |
Authorized User Fee | $75 | $0 | $0 |
Annual Travel Rebate | $300 | $50 towards hotels booked through Chase.* | N/A |
* While I think it is safe to assume that Sapphire Reserve cardholders will easily earn the $300 travel rebate each year, I don’t expect most Sapphire Preferred cardholders to spend $50 or more on hotels through the Chase portal in order to get the Sapphire Preferred’s $50 rebate.
Perk Comparison
I’ve listed below only the perks I consider most valuable. For full details about card perks and more, see our guides to Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and Ink Business Preferred.
Sapphire Reserve | Sapphire Preferred | Ink Business Preferred | |
---|---|---|---|
No foreign transaction fees |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
Transfer points to partners: Transfer points 1 to 1 to a variety of airline and hotel programs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Point value towards travel: When booking travel through Ultimate Rewards, points are worth more than 1 cent each. | 1.5 cents per point | 1.25 cents per point | 1.25 cents per point |
Point earnings for travel spend |
3X | 2X | 3X |
Point earnings for dining spend | 3X | 3X | 1X |
Point earnings for shipping, internet, cable, phone, and advertising with social media sites | 1X | 1X | 3X |
Priority Pass Airport Lounge Access: Free entry for cardholder and up to two guests. Unlike Priority Pass memberships issued by American Express, this version includes Priority Pass restaurants. | Yes | N/A | N/A |
Global Entry or TSA Pre✔® Fee Credit: Receive a statement credit of up to $100 every 4 years as reimbursement for the Global Entry or TSA Pre Check application fee charged to your card. | Yes | N/A | N/A |
Travel Protection Comparison
Both cards offer travel protections for travel paid in full or in part with your Sapphire card. Here is a high level comparison…
Sapphire Reserve | Sapphire Preferred | Ink Business Preferred | |
---|---|---|---|
Primary Car Rental Coverage | Yes | Yes | Yes (within the U.S. it is primary only when renting for business) |
Roadside Assistance | Free 4 times per year | Requires paying fee for each service | Requires paying fee for each service |
Trip Cancellation and Interruption Coverage | Up to $20K per trip | Up to $20K per trip | Up to $5K per trip |
Trip Delay Insurance | 6 hour delay | 12 hour delay | 12 hour delay |
Lost Luggage |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
Baggage Delay |
Yes | Yes |
Yes |
Travel Accident Insurance | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Emergency Evac & Transport | Up to $100K | N/A | N/A |
Emergency Medical & Dental |
Up to $2,500 | N/A | N/A |
Clearly the Sapphire Reserve has the best travel protections. That might not matter to you at all if you tend to buy trip insurance anyway. In my case it’s meaningful because I tend not to buy trip insurance and so I’m happy to have the additional automatic coverage.
Purchase Protection Comparison
All three cards offer purchase protections for purchases made with the card. Here’s a high level comparison…
Sapphire Reserve | Sapphire Preferred | Ink Business Preferred | |
---|---|---|---|
Extended Warranty: Extends the time period of U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Damage, Theft, Loss Protection: Covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage, theft or accidental loss. | Max $10K per claim | Max $500 per claim | Max $10K per claim |
Return Protection: You can be reimbursed for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase. | Max $500 per item, $1,000 per year | N/A | N/A |
Cell Phone Protection: Reimburses accidental cell phone damage, theft, or loss | N/A | N/A | $100 deductible; Up to $600 per claim. |
The Sapphire Reserve offers better purchase protections across the board than the Sapphire Preferred. The Ink Business Preferred, though, holds its own with the Sapphire Reserve. While the Ink card doesn’t offer return protection, it does offer cell phone protection, which is something the Sapphire Reserve doesn’t offer.
Comparison Summary
Here now is a high level comparison of the three cards based on the above more detailed comparisons…
Sapphire Reserve | Sapphire Preferred | Ink Business Preferred | |
---|---|---|---|
Annual Fee |
$550 | $95 | $95 |
Authorized User Fee |
$75 | $0 | $0 |
Travel Rebate |
$300 | $50 Hotel | N/A |
Point value towards travel |
1.5 | 1.25 | 1.25 |
Point earning for travel |
3X | 2X | 3X |
Point earning for dining | 3x | 3x | 1x |
Misc other perks | Better (Priority Pass for example) | Limited | Limited |
Travel protection |
Best | Good | Good |
Purchase protection | Better (return protection) |
Good | Better (cell phone protection) |
Deciding between these and other cards
This post was specifically designed to compare Chase Ultimate Rewards cards that allow transferring points to airline and hotel partners. If you’re interested in looking more broadly at which cards are worth their annual fees, please see: Which Premium Cards are Keepers?
My Take
I highly value the ability to earn 3x for travel spend. That eliminates the Sapphire Preferred from contention. So, then, the question for me is whether to keep the Sapphire Reserve or get the Ink Business Preferred? Between the two, the Sapphire Reserve offers better travel protections and so I’ve decided to stick with the Sapphire Reserve. For my full thoughts about this, see: Chase Sapphire Reserve: Should I keep it?