Is Lyft Only Coding 7X On Your Sapphire Reserve Card?
Chase totally revamped that Chase Sapphire Reserve a month or so ago. If you remember I was not a fan of the changes. Around the same time Chase announced that Sapphire Reserve card holders would earn 10X on all Lyft rides. That is a pretty substantial Ultimate Rewards haul, even though I said you would be better off not paying with your CSR card. But some people are wondering why is Lyft only coding 7X earning on their statements instead of 10X.
Why Is Lyft Only Coding 7X Instead Of 10X
There are some people earning only 7X on their cards and that is because they still have some travel credit left. The Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with a yearly $300 travel credit that helps offset the now $550 annual fee. When the card was first launched it was per calendar year but they changed that to cardmember year shortly after.
Because of that not everyone has a travel credit right now. Some people may have some left over from last year or maybe their cardmember anniversary just came up. But the people that do have credit left will notice a diminished earning rate on Lyft because Chase is stingy with their travel credit.
Unlike American Express, who gives points on their credits, Chase does not give points when you are working off your travel credit. I don’t understand why since you are spending the money but it is what it is. It is still nice they are properly issuing the other 7X earning though. You will start earning the full 10X once you burn up your entire credit balance.
Why Travel Credits Should Be Discounted
One of the earliest series I wrote at Miles to Memories was the great debate series. In there I discussed why I always discount travel credits some. They are basically interest free loans unless you can use them on day one. Also if you are not earning points on the spend they should also be discounted 4.5%-6% based on the points you should have earned. You can get discounted gift cards for most of the things that travel credits work towards too. For that reason I usually discount them around 10% when calculating whether or not a card is worth keeping.
Final Thoughts
If you were stuck scratching your head wondering, why is Lyft only coding 7X instead of 10X on my Chase Sapphire Reserve card well now you know. Until your travel credit is completely depleted Chase will keep the first 3 points on every Lyft purchase.
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Another important thing I didn’t realize when I first started using the Lyft benefit is you only get Lyft Pink benefits (not sure about the 10x UR) if you specify the ride is Personal, not Business, even if you’re paying with the CSR.
Good point – thanks Mitsu