According to Doctor of Credit (H/T), Chase is going to make changes to the Sapphire Reserve on January 12. Rumors of the Chase Sapphire Reserve undergoing some changes have been around since 2019. But now, they are coming true.
Unfortunately, these rumored changes look like something that Amex has done with their Platinum Card in the past. Chase is offering little in substantive benefits for a sizable annual fee increase.
Update: Chase has confirmed the rumors to be true on January 8, 2020. This post has been changed to reflect the now-true rumors.
What’s Going On?
The biggest negative part is the annual fee increase. Chase will increase the Sapphire Reserve’s annual fee to $550 on January 12. This is huge because Chase is putting the Sapphire Reserve in line with its nearest competitor, the American Express Platinum Card. Furthermore, the card’s annual fee will remain at $450 until April 1 for existing customers. And product changing the Sapphire Reserve will not be possible until after January 12.
Chase will also add two perks to justify the increase in annual fee. One of them is a $60 annual DoorDash credit, which is going to be there in addition to the DoorDash benefits announced by Chase earlier today.
The other benefit is Lyft Pink membership. This benefit normally costs $20 per month and comes with a plethora of benefits for Lyft riders. However, Lyft Pink membership is not very useful for cardholders who do not use Lyft or any other ridesharing service.
Another major change is that Chase will offer 10x Ultimate Rewards (UR) points for all Lyft purchases made on the Chase Sapphire Reserve. This is huge for ridesharers and those who love Lyft, especially those who are disgruntled with Uber.
Plus, the Sapphire Reserve’s current sign-up bonus, earning structure, redemption methods, and existing perks are not changing.
Downgrade / Product Change Options
Fortunately, Chase cards are very easy to product change, upgrade, or downgrade. The Chase Sapphire Reserve is no exception. You can product change to any of the personal core Chase cards:
The best way to go for most disgruntled Sapphire Reserve cardholders is to downgrade to the Chase Freedom. It has no annual fee and some excellent earning opportunities, especially if you have a Chase Ink Business Preferred already.
Alternatively, you can downgrade to the Sapphire Preferred. This card is nice for those who want access to Chase’s transfer partners. It’s also great for reducing your annual fee, despite not being as great an earner as the Reserve. I might downgrade back to the Sapphire Preferred because I cannot justify paying $550 per year for a card.
Final Draw
Many people are not happy about these new Chase Sapphire Reserve changes. I hope they don’t because the Sapphire Reserve is a great card the way it is. But apparently, Chase doesn’t think so.
Furthermore, your mileage may vary with the new DoorDash and Lyft benefits. I personally would not use them because I don’t need food delivery or ridesharing services. But many busy Americans would love these benefits because they are so convenient. Busy lifestyles and lives beckon for convenient services like these. And Chase is betting that would be the case for most Americans.
Bummer. The Sapphire Reserve is hugely popular with travelers, like myself. I’m an American, but live abroad, so these new benefits aren’t even possible for me to use. The idea of paying $100 more for benefits I can’t even use is upsetting. I hope they listen to their customers and don’t go through with these ideas.
Question – what happens to my points if I move from Chase to AMEX? I assume gone forever. Can I downgrade and keep the points? or should I just cash out? seriously considering AMEX, will read the comparison. thanks
Hi Scott,
Thanks for reading PYCR! This is a great question. Your UR points don’t expire and you can downgrade your Reserve to one of the cards mentioned in the post. I would keep the points and use them towards travel or move them to a partner that’s common with Amex (like British Airways).
Best Regards,
Anthony
It’s really only worth the fee now because of the annual travel credit. Being that it’s non bonused spend makes it a bit less popular. I had no issues paying the higher fee with AmEx for the Platinum Card as AmEx’s service is top notch. With Chase this is just another typical run of the mill visa. Chase is nothing special at all with respect to customer service. Calls are handled by off shore agents and it’s just another visa card. With AmEx I call them from the app and they greet me by name. I can also chat with real time on AmEx and get things done with real people. With Chase it’s a canned response at best with zero intelligence. Is it worth paying more for? Not sure. If priority pass usage is high enough I suppose, but I don’t many extraordinary benefits to Chase. They are not AmEx and never will be.
Priority Pass is a mixed bag itself. I travel quite a bit and often make use of the Priority Pass. However, lounges vary from location to location. When I’m in the exquisite lounge at Oman’s MCT it’s worth every penny, but most other lounges available through the pass offer nothing more than bad food you don’t want to even touch and free beverages. The better lounges at most international airports simply aren’t available to pass holders. So, even if one is a regular flyer, the pass shouldn’t be too coveted. Personally, I’m more interested in the included travel insurance and reimbursements for delays, cancellations and lost belongings. For those seeking a travel card, these are the real perks one should weigh other cards against.
100% agree on priority pass there. What I actually meant was the restaurant benefit being as AmEx removed that benefit. I do use the restaurant benefit quite often as the few lounges that are available are either crowded or closed to priority pass members. I’ve seen that many times.
Recently did an analysis of the best card for my family, and the Chase cards weren’t even close to competitive. We ended up moving to the Amex Everyday Preferred. It’s a solid product with great earnings and more relevant transfer partners for our lives.
Hi Lance,
Thanks for reading PYCR! The Amex Everyday Preferred is not a bad card, especially if you can use it 30x per month every month. It’s a nice alternative to the Green Card and regular Everyday Card for those who want to earn MR points. What truly counts is that you’re happy with Amex’s transfer partners over Chase’s.
Best Regards,
Anthony
Disagree! It’s the services most members won’t use so it’s all profit, nothing more smh…
Hi Someone,
Thanks for reading PYCR! Whether Chase bets on people using the new perks or not, they will make money in some way. Chase makes money from its partnership if people use the new perks. And they make money from the increased annual fees if people don’t use the new perks.
Best Regards,
Anthony
So we all should consider switching to the Amex Platinum card. Have you done a side by side compare of these two cards ? If annual fees are equal – which is better card?
Hi Mike,
Thanks for reading PYCR! I wrote a post comparing both cards and the Citi Prestige back in January 2019. It’s called Card Wars: Premium Cards. It will be re-posted tomorrow with updated information for 2020.
Best Regards,
Anthony