Ideal for frequent flyers with premium travel perks
If you're the jetsetter type, this Chase card is a fantastic travel companion. It gets you and up to two guests into over 1,300 airport lounges around the world with a Priority Pass Select membership.
You'll also get free access to Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club locations. There aren't many Chase Sapphire Lounges yet, but the ones that have opened are getting good reviews.
Airport lounge access makes spending time at the airport much more enjoyable. This card can also speed up the process of getting through airport security. It includes a Global Entry, TSA PreCheck®, or NEXUS membership fee credit.
I recommend signing up for Global Entry, since it includes TSA PreCheck® benefits. These programs speed up the security process at airports where they're available.
Big savings opportunities headlined by a $300 annual travel credit
While this card has a $550 annual fee, you probably won't have any trouble getting some of that back. It offers $300 in statement credits per year for travel purchases. This covers anything Chase classifies as travel, which is a long list.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® also offers several partner offers that could save you some money, if you can use them. These include:
- Lyft Pink membership: Get two complimentary years of Lyft Pink All Access (a value of $199 per year) when you activate by Dec. 31, 2024.
- DoorDash DashPass subscription: Get complimentary access to DashPass (a value of $120 for 12 months) for a minimum of 12 months when you activate by Dec. 31, 2027.
- Monthly DoorDash credit: As a DashPass member, get an automatic $5 monthly credit to your DoorDash account and up to $20 per month to use on non-restaurant DoorDash orders, via two $10 promos.
- The Edit℠: Book through The Edit℠ for complimentary daily breakfast for two, complimentary wifi, room upgrades if available, early check-in and late checkout if available, and a $100 property credit
Flexible travel rewards with plenty of high-value redemption options
In The Ascent's 2024 Credit Card Awards, we chose Chase Ultimate Rewards as the best credit card rewards program. While there are other excellent programs out there, this one is special for a few reasons.
Chase has an outstanding selection of over a dozen airline and hotel partners. By transferring your Chase points, you can get incredible value on what would be expensive travel bookings. Here are a few examples:
- Want to book a luxury hotel stay? Hyatt is perfect for this, and Chase is the only card issuer that has it as a transfer partner. I've transferred Chase points to Hyatt and paid entirely in points for a hotel stay that would've cost over $5,000.
- Hoping to fly business class next time you travel abroad? Chase has several international airline partners, including Air Canada, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Iberia, and Virgin Atlantic.
- Trying to save on domestic flights to visit family? Chase is also partnered with United and Southwest, so you could transfer your points to either of those airlines. Or, just use your points through Chase Travel, an online travel booking portal.
Transfers aren't the only good way to use your points. You get 50% more value ($0.015 per point) on Chase Travel bookings. For example, 100,000 points are worth $1,500. This is a convenient way to redeem your points, as you can book many different types of travel with Chase Travel, including flights, hotels, car rentals, and activities.
A solid welcome offer and bonus points on travel and dining
This Chase credit card has a welcome offer of 60,000 bonus points for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months. I'd consider this good, but not great. While it's valuable, there have been times when Chase has offered more points.
Here's how much you'll earn on purchases with this card:
- 10x points per $1 hotels and car rentals through Chase Travel after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually
- 5x points per $1 air travel through Chase Travel after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually
- 10x points on Lyft rides through March 2025
- 10x points on Chase Dining purchases made through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 3x points per $1 on other travel and other dining
- 1x points per $1 other purchases
A full suite of complimentary travel protections and purchase coverages
Complimentary travel and purchase insurance are a strong suit for the Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Lots of credit cards have rental car insurance for damage and theft, to give you one example.
But if you actually need to use it, you'll normally find that it's secondary insurance on U.S. rentals. That means you need to file a claim with your primary auto insurance first.
This Chase card has primary rental car insurance as one of its travel insurance benefits. You can file with it right away after a covered incident, so you won't need to use your regular car insurance and risk a rate hike.
That's just one of many protections this card has on eligible purchases. It also offers:
- Trip cancellation/interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement, and travel accident insurance
- Lost luggage reimbursement and baggage delay insurance
- Purchase protection, return protection, and extended warranty protection