A little over a month ago, internet sleuths caught onto the notion that major changes could be headed to both the Chase Sapphire Preferred, and Sapphire Reserve rewards credit cards. They were right.
Today, Chase is officially spilling the beans on changes coming to both of their top premium rewards cards, as well as news about airport lounges for cardmembers! It’s a big day, so here’s everything you need to catch up on.
Chase Confirms Sapphire Preferred And Reserve Changes
Chase got in touch today to highlight a bunch of big changes set to hit both Sapphire Cards, starting August 16th.
Fortunately, they’re actually highlights, and highlights only. According to the release from Chase, no annual fee changes are forthcoming for either the Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred. That’s huge, because a lot of new benefits are.
Here’s the full list of new benefits hitting each card.
NEW Chase Sapphire Preferred Benefits (Starting August 16)
- 5x total points on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 3x points on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out (previously 2x)
- 3x points on select streaming services
- 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased through Ultimate Rewards. New cardmembers will start earning towards the credit immediately and existing cardmembers will start earning after their next account anniversary.
- 10% Anniversary Point Bonus. Each account anniversary, cardmembers will earn bonus points equal to 10% of total purchases made the previous year. That means, $25,000 in spend will earn an additional 2,500 bonus points.
- The Sapphire Preferred card will also feature a sleek new card design, which will be available to new and existing cardmembers after August 16
Now is a arguably a great time to get the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, while the bonus stands at a record high 100,000 points, worth $1250 towards travel. There’s no specific end date, but with new benefits and Capital One pulling their 100,000 point offer, it’s only a matter of time.
NEW Chase Sapphire Reserve Benefits (Starting August 16)
- 10x total points on Chase Dining purchases through Ultimate Rewards
- 10x total points on hotel stays and car rentals purchased through Ultimate Rewards
- 5x total points on air travel purchased through Ultimate Rewards
- In addition to earning points, later this year Reserve cardmembers will have access to “Reserved by Sapphire,” featuring exclusive opportunities to book reservations at some of the most sought-after restaurants across the country including Canlis in Seattle, Redbird in Los Angeles, SingleThread Farms in Healdsburg, Calif., Reverence in New York, NY and One Off Hospitality in Chicago.
- New Sapphire Reserve cardmembers can currently earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening, worth $900 when redeemed for travel in Ultimate Rewards
Chase says all the things which the Sapphire Reserve currently provides, including earning 3x points on dining and broader travel, the $300 annual travel credit, $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔®, special benefits through the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection™ and points worth 50% more when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, will all remain.
Chase Introducing Airport Lounges By ‘The Club’
Chase, seriously raising the stakes on Amex and Capital One, is introducing its own suite of airport lounge spaces in airports across the USA and abroad.
Sapphire Reserve cardmembers as well as Priority Pass members will have access to the new “The Club” spaces in New York’s LaGuardia (LGA), Boston Logan (BOS) and Hong Kong International (HKG). It’s presumed Sapphire Preferred members may be able to pay their way in.
Huge Chase Sapphire Changes, Indeed
For months, all the market competition and big card news centered around the ultra- premium credit cards. Citi bowed out, Amex upped their annual fees and new benefits were introduced by the week. Chase Sapphire Reserve has now provided its answer to the luxury market, with up to 10X points earning and more.
It’s clear Chase wants to incentivize customers to book through their channels, rather than direct with airlines and hotels. For loyalty focused travelers with elite status, this may be a toss up, but for people looking for the greatest rebate, 10X back on hotels via Chase Ultimate Rewards is probably now the best in the business.
Most intriguing though, is the mid-tier luxury card market making a big splash.
Chase and Capital One have gone toe-to-toe in recent years with both Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Venture Card, but introducing these new Sapphire benefits without raising the annual fee takes things to a new level for Chase.
It’s only a matter of time until Capital One, or Citi shows their next raise of the stakes! For now, it’s great to be a cardholder, and if you’re not already one, perhaps a perfect time to become one. 100,000 points can’t last forever, right?
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