Sapphire Reserve Priority Pass
Our Chase interactions primarily focus on three activities: spending on Chase Ink Business Cash and Freedom accounts, cashout via Pay Yourself Back, and (not coincidentally) my wife and I alternating Sapphire Reserve accounts. That last one happens each year. One of us upgrades from Freedom to Reserve, the other downgrades from Reserve to Freedom. This has worked well for us, with one catch related to the Chase Sapphire Reserve Priority Pass Select benefit. And that flaw is more glaring now. Here’s a bit more context and how I fixed it.
Background
Ever since my wife and I started this alternating Reserve process, neither of us have received a Priority Pass Select membership, a main benefit of the card. Notably, Chase’s version offers the Priority Pass restaurant benefit. Despite Chase’s advertising, the membership didn’t automatically show up.
For the past few years, that didn’t matter. My wife and I each had memberships through our Schwab Platinum cards. We knew this version didn’t include restaurant benefit, but that didn’t matter much to us. We just didn’t end up at airports with eligible properties that often.
With Chase getting into the airport lounge arms race, I became more interested in the Reserve’s Priority Pass Select benefit. I have a previously-planned Boston trip, anyway, so the timing is fortuitous.
Requesting Membership
Out of deference to Chase’s online guidance and my own laziness, I waited several weeks after the last Reserve product change to receive the Priority Pass membership. No dice.
I bellyached to a buddy about this, and he asked me a remarkably simple question – “have you tried Chase Secure Message?” Of course, I hadn’t. I sent a short message that night, noting that I hadn’t received Priority Pass membership yet and requesting a new card.
Two Outcomes
I received two responses – one quick, the other substantially slower. Chase’s Secure Message reply arrived within a day or so, noting the following:
Benjamin, we contacted the Priority Pass team and arranged for a new membership card to be mailed to you. You should receive it at the address on file within three business days. (bold emphasis mine)
Long story short, I received my new Priority Pass Select card, but it arrived about three weeks, not days, later. All’s well that ends well, I guess.
Sapphire Reserve Priority Pass Benefit – Conclusion
Sometimes the obvious answers are right in front of us – we just need to step back, take a breath, and look closer. I had my head down in my usual Chase activity and didn’t consider a remarkably simple option, Secure Message. My recommendation to Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders, new and old, who haven’t received their Priority Pass Select membership is to proactively request it via Secure Message. It may take longer than Chase claims, but you should end up receiving it. Happy lounging!
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No wonder Chase doesn’t have time to deal with real customer issues.
Can someone point me to the fine print that make me want to consider alternating the Reserve between P1 and P2?
Same here. Outside of the Pay yourself back, how are you getting outsized benefit above the high AF?
Well there was no need to wait for the physical card. If you go into the Chase app, select your CSR card, then select rewards and benefits>travel>explore lounges – at the bottom of the page is a link that brings up your Priority Pass digital card and you can add to your iOS wallet if you wish.
BeantownFlyer,
That’s a great option, particularly for those who need it. I like my physical card, as I’m not searching for more reasons to look at a phone. 😉
I’m probably missing something obvious, but what’s the benefit of alternating Sapphire cards?
Rich,
Maximizing the benefits of the card – embrace the fine print!
Do you have a link to an article that thoroughly explains this?
I’m missing it too. I figured there must be some benefit that’s either only available once or for a limited time like for a calendar year like the 1 year Instacart membership but I didn’t spot anything and the Instacart just doesn’t seem worth the trouble. I’d love to know more.
I dont know, but based on the article would guess it has to do with points not being transferable between individual? They mention they use Chase pay yourself back and that has a higher cash-out rate for the reserve. I would guess one player is reedeming one year, earning the next, and alternating that way so neither one of them end up with too many points or cashing out at the lower rate.
Ah, that makes total sense. I don’t do ms in any noteworthy amounts so I just didn’t think about that. Thanks!
I’m wondering the same thing. Please enlighten me.
Dash is suggesting that Chase pay yourself back for 1.5 cents a point only works for the cardholder themselves so every year they swap, with one upgrading to become the cardholder with the other downgrading so they don’t sit on a giant amount of points. He didn’t say it but generally when you have that many points to cash in you’re getting pretty heavy into ms.