A Sapphire Return: Why I’m Back with this High-Maintenance Card

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card

I caved, perhaps unsurprisingly.  Several days ago, I returned to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card.  As my wife and I have done in every other one of our Reserve lives, our way back in was via upgrade from a Chase Freedom.  But we held out longer on returning than ever before.  I shared my supreme displeasure with the Reserve last summer.  Indeed, the card still frustrates me in many ways.  But in certain others, I’m back to winning big.  That’s why my decision to return was an easy one.

Why I’m Back with the Chase Sapphire Reserve

Pay Yourself Back

Back in September, I theorized that Chase was sweating the Sapphire Reserve refresh.  I still feel strongly there, as Chase has recently pushed out a huge 150k welcome offer to lure in more cardholders.  This quarter, Chase brought back a quite attractive Pay Yourself Back category – grocery stores – among others.  Sapphire Reserve cardholders can zero out all such charges at a 1.25 cents per point rate.

Quite fortuitously, I have multiple Chase Ink Business Cash 5x categories resetting in an overlapping timeframe.  I had been planning to cash out at 1 cpp, anyway.  But with this friendly category back, doing so at scale with a 1.25 cpp rate is a no-brainer for me.  This quarter-percent bump and the volume I’m cashing out towers over the Reserve’s $795 annual fee.  But it gets better.

Travel Credit

The Sapphire Reserve is loaded with tricky benefits, but some remain simpler than others.  And the card’s $300 Travel Credit is definitely the latter.  While virtually all of our airfare and lodging are booked with rewards, we inevitably spend $300 on other travel-related expenses.  Geez, I probably pay that much in parking alone every 12 months or so, not counting any other travel costs.  Consequently, I consider the Sapphire Reserve a $495 annual fee card.

The Strokes

I’m into live music, and I’ll happily travel to see my favorite acts.  So the Sapphire Reserve’s StubHub credit is a useful one.  But predictable uses of this biannual $150 credit aren’t assured.  I have one right off the bat, though.

I enjoyed seeing The Strokes live in their early years, at smaller venues and prices.  But it’s been a bit.  In the meantime, ticket prices have basically ballooned to 10 times what they were previously.  Plus, they’re now playing arenas and ampitheaters instead of the lovably-dingy clubs of my early adulthood.  I’m holding my nose on all of this for two reasons – the StubHub credit and the band’s remarkable staying power.  In my view, The New Abnormal is right up there or maybe even better than the first couple albums.

Getting Weird

Perhaps I’m a masochist, but I’m now up for experimenting with the Sapphire Reserve’s hotel credits, both the Edit credit and this year’s one-time hotel credit with select chains.  I much prefer the $300 biannual credit from the various versions of Amex Platinum cards, but I’m confident I’ll get solid value from Chase’s subpar benefit options.  Heck, anything I pick up here is gravy.

I’ll probably start with stacks involving IHG properties, card-linked offers, and my IHG One Rewards Diamond elite status.  As of this writing, I’m not planning to use points on any portion of these stays.

That Other Stuff

Chase touts $288 in savings thanks to Apple TV and Music credits.  We subscribe to both, but I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that number.  We’ve used Black Friday promos, Amex credits, and/or discounted gift cards to mostly cover these subscriptions.  But returning to the Reserve has allowed me to discontinue those other payments for such services.

Chase throws out other purportedly-high savings amounts with partners like Lyft and DoorDash.  But digging into the details, these are doled out in unhelpfully-small monthly amounts, often $5 and $10 at a time.  Trying to use such minutiae can lead to unnecessary out-of-pocket spending.  Consequently, much of this stuff will go unused.  I imagine I’ll use a bit here and there but not enough to consider the savings noteworthy.

Similarly, I don’t have plans to frequently visit Sapphire Lounges, but I’ll probably get to a few during my normal travel over the next 12 months or so.  While the list is gradually growing, let’s remember that the Sapphire Lounge footprint is still relatively limited.

Conclusion

I’m not covering all Chase Sapphire Reserve card perks here.  I’ll say it again – I don’t need to use all credit card benefits, just enough of them.  The Sapphire Reserve is a perfect example here.  Actually, I just need one benefit – this quarter’s grocery Pay Yourself Back category – to justify paying the annual fee.

Again, there’s still much I don’t like about the card.  So many travelers are better off ignoring it.  But I won’t let me emotions get in the way of an easy win.  I’m happy to rent the Chase Sapphire Reserve card yet again.

How are you feeling about the Chase Sapphire Reserve card these days?