Chase Sapphire Reserve^® Review

In this Chase Sapphire Reserve^® review, we’ll look at who the card is for, the card’s credit score requirements, its benefits, its key characteristics, and more. 

This Article Contains: 

(Click on a link to jump to the specific section)

• Who is the Chase Sapphire Reserve for?
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Score Requirements
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Fees
• Chase Sapphire Reserve APR
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Benefits 
• Chase Sapphire Reserve Rewards Rate
• Key Characteristics of the Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Alternatives to the Chase Sapphire Reserve

Let’s begin with this credit card review.

Who is the Chase Sapphire Reserve for?

The Chase Sapphire Reserve^® Card is one of the best premium travel credit cards today. Few cards rival its lucrative rewards and even fewer that offer the same flexibility to redeem your points. 

Access to Chase Ultimate Rewards^® makes this credit card a great choice to earn maximum points for luxury resort vacations, premium hotel stays, and more.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is also the perfect credit card for cardholders looking for a primary credit card for purchases with travel benefits.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Score Requirements

As a top-tier travel rewards card, the Sapphire Reserve Card has a hefty credit score requirement. For the best chances of approval, you’ll need to have a credit score of at least 740.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Fees

Owning the Chase Sapphire Reserve will cost you $550 annually. This may seem like a lot but an annual fee this high isn’t out of the ordinary for premium travel rewards cards.

With proper utilization, the high annual fee is easily offset by the rewards points, signup bonus, and the range of perks that come with owning this credit card.

For instance, new cardmembers can earn rewards worth $750 during the first three months and easily make up for the first year's annual fee.

As expected from a rewards card of its caliber, the Sapphire Reserve comes with zero foreign transaction fees making it a great fit for avid travelers.

Chase charges a balance transfer fee of $5 or 5% of the amount transferred, whichever is greater.

A cash advance will cost you $10 or 5% of the amount of the transaction, whichever is greater.

Chase Sapphire Reserve APR

The Sapphire Reserve's variable APR for purchases and balance transfers ranges from 17.24%-24.24%.

Cash advances come with a variable APR of 25.24%. 

As a Sapphire Reserve cardholder, you're going to want to keep tabs on your card's bills as it has a penalty APR of up to 29.99%.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Benefits

• Great Welcome Offer - The Sapphire Reserve Credit Card currently has an excellent welcome offer, new card members will receive 50,000 bonus points for spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. That's $750 in value depending on how you redeem it through Chase Ultimate Rewards^®. 

• $300 Annual Travel Credit - The Chase Sapphire Reserve Card gives you a $300 annual traveling credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each year.
  
  Additionally, this large statement credit refreshes every year on your credit card’s opening anniversary.
  
  Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders can directly access this annual travel credit every time they use their card for a travel purchase, so there’s no need to configure anything manually. 

• Access to airport lounges worldwide - Chase Sapphire Reserve Cardholders get access to 1,300+ VIP airport lounges, including Chase Sapphire Lounge access, in over 500 cities worldwide. For comparison, the Amex Platinum Card gives you access to 1,300+ airport lounges in 130+ countries.
  
  You can access any of these VIP lounges after an easy, one-time enrollment to Priority Pass^™ Select.
  
  These Chase Sapphire Lounge travel benefits can be a deciding factor for those who frequently travel for work. Free, secure, and fast Wi-Fi is a staple at all Priority Pass Select VIP lounges and can help you get the job done in transit. 

• Global Entry, NEXUS and TSA PreCheck^® benefits - Chase Sapphire Reserve goes one step further to ensure you have a pleasant travel experience. It offers up to $100 credit every four years towards an application to Global Entry , NEXUS, or TSA Pre✔.
  
  Both of these services can change your airport experience by ensuring you have a “5 minutes or less” security wait time.
  
  Note that the more affordable Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card doesn’t offer travel perks such as the Priority Pass Select membership or the Global Entry/TSA PreCheck benefits. 
  
  

Chase Sapphire Reserve Rewards Rate

This credit card offers a robust rewards program. Sapphire Reserve Cardholders can use the Chase Ultimate Reward portal to redeem their reward points in a variety of ways. This includes eligible travel purchases, a statement credit, gift cards, and merchandise.

Here’s a breakdown of the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card’s rewards rate:

• Purchases through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal award 5x points per dollar on air travel and 10x points per dollar on hotels and car rentals immediately after the first $300 are spent on travel annually. 
  
  
• Cardholders earn 3x points per dollar on other travel and dining purchases. You also get 1x Chase point per dollar on other eligible purchases.
  
  
• You can use the Chase Ultimate Reward portal to earn 50% more value for your Chase Ultimate Rewards points while redeeming them for hotels, airfare, and car rentals.
  
  
• If you don’t want to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points directly, you can transfer your points to 10 different airline frequent flyer programs and three hotel loyalty accounts.
  
  Chase Sapphire Reserve lets you transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points with the following partners:
  
  Airline Partners:
  
  *Aer Lingus, AerClub
  *British Airways Executive Club*Emirates Skywards^®
  *Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM
  *Iberia Plus
  *JetBlue TrueBlue
  *Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
  *Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards^®
  *United MileagePlus^®
  *Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
  
  Hotel Partners:
  
  *IHG^® Rewards Club
  *Marriott Bonvoy^™
  *World of Hyatt^®

• Reserve cardmembers can also complement their airline or hotel card with Chase Sapphire Reserve’s 1-to-1 points transferring ability.
  

Next, let’s take a look at some of the key characteristics of this credit card. 

Key Characteristics of the Chase Sapphire Reserve

• Premium Metal Credit Card - The Sapphire Reserve is one of the few metal credit cards in the market. The card also features metal embossing and a sleek holographic finish.

• Universal acceptance - The Chase Sapphire Reserve Card runs on a Visa network and has near-universal acceptance. 

• Comprehensive travel insurance - The Sapphire Reserve comes with great travel insurance for both airfare and car rentals. If your flight is canceled or cut short, you may receive insurance coverage of up to $20,000 per trip.
  
  Chase Sapphire Reserve’s insurance provides you a reimbursement of up to $75,000 for theft and collision damage for rental cars. 

• Excellent credit score requirement - Chase Sapphire Reserve is an unsecured card with a $300 annual travel credit, additional luxury travel perks, and Chase dining benefits.
  
  You’ll need an excellent credit score of 740 or above to qualify for the card. If you have a low or average credit score, you likely won’t be eligible for this Chase Card. 

• 50% more redemption value - Reward points redeemed for travel purchases through the Chase Ultimate Reward portal are worth 50% more. For example, redeeming your signup bonus of 50,000 points will give you rewards worth $750 toward travel.
  
  Chase’s Pay Yourself Back^℠ program allows users to get 50% more value for their reward points when redeeming them for statement credits against existing purchases in select, rotating categories.  

• Relatively high annual fee - The Chase Sapphire Reserve Card comes with a high annual fee of $550. However, this may not be a deal-breaker when you consider the $750 value of the welcome offer. Additionally, this is a premium offer from Chase so a high fee is expected.
  
  

Alternatives to the Chase Sapphire Reserve

• Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card
• The Platinum Card^® from American Express
• American Express^® Gold Card
  
  

Final Words

Many people apply for credit cards for different reasons. Some for the welcome bonus, some for low annual fees, and some for the luxurious rewards and benefits. The Chase Sapphire Reserve card falls into the last category.

It’s a sleek offering targeted at the premium cardholder space long dominated by The Platinum Card from American Express. This Chase Card is as much a symbol of elite status as it is an essential credit card for a savvy cardholder.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve Card is a solid option for those with excellent credit who are in search of a great travel rewards card. It’s perfect for frequent travelers and high spenders.  

Although the card comes with a high annual fee, its extensive list of rewards makes it a worthy possession. 

You can apply for this card here.