Chase Sapphire Reserve Review
A premium travel card with a $300 annual travel credit and Priority Pass — the Sapphire Preferred with lounges.
Welcome bonus
150,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Rewards structure
- 10xhotels and car rentals booked through Chase Travel℠
- 10xChase Dining, Ultimate Rewards Chase Travel℠ purchases
- 5xflights booked through Chase Travel℠
- 3xother travel and dining worldwide
- 1xeverything else
Perks & benefits
- $300 annual travel credit — applies automatically to any travel purchase
- Priority Pass Select membership (1,300+ lounges worldwide)
- $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application credit every 4 years
- 1:1 point transfer to 14 airline and hotel partners
- 50% more value when redeeming through Chase Travel℠
- Primary rental car collision damage waiver
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance up to $10,000 per person
- No foreign transaction fees
Who this card is for
- Frequent flyers who value airport lounge access
- Anyone who spends $300+ annually on travel (the credit is automatic)
- Travelers who want max redemption value on transfer partners
- Households consolidating spend on one premium card
Pros & cons
Pros
- $300 travel credit is dead simple — applies to almost any travel purchase, not a specific portal
- Priority Pass access covers most major international airports
- 3x on all travel and dining (not just travel-portal bookings)
- Same Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners as the Preferred
Cons
- $795 annual fee is real money — a significant 2026 increase that made the value case tighter
- Priority Pass has been squeezed — some lounges (like at LAX) restrict access to Amex Platinum-only
- 5/24 rule applies — Chase will decline you if you opened 5+ cards from any issuer in the past 24 months
- The Preferred often gives better value for travelers who do not use lounges
Our take
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is the Sapphire Preferred with lounges — same transfer partners, same points economy, plus Priority Pass access and a $300 travel credit that applies to almost anything. The math on whether it beats the Preferred got harder with the 2026 fee bump to $795: subtract the $300 credit and the $95 you would pay for the Preferred, and the effective delta is $400/year. That is a real premium for Priority Pass access and the elevated 3x categories, and it only makes sense for genuinely frequent travelers.
What makes the Reserve worth carrying as a full-time premium card is the 3x on all travel and dining. The Preferred gets you 5x on Chase Travel℠ bookings but only 2x on other travel — the Reserve's flat 3x on everything travel-and-dining adds up faster if you book direct with hotels and airlines, which sophisticated points users usually do to earn elite status. The 150K welcome bonus, currently worth $2,250+ in travel, covers years of the annual fee up front.
The main competition is not the Preferred; it is the Amex Platinum and Venture X. The Platinum has better lounge coverage (Centurion) but at $895 it is now the most expensive premium card on the market. The Venture X undercuts on fee ($395), matches on travel credit, and offers Capital One Lounges. For committed Chase Ultimate Rewards users who value Hyatt transfers at 1:1, the Sapphire Reserve is still the smart pick — but at $795, the value case is tighter than it was.