Chase Sapphire Reserve Major Changes Coming
Updated with expected timelines
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is an extremely popular travel credit card that has a ton of great perks. Its one that I see a lot of people use even though I think most people would be better off with the Sapphire Preferred. There have been rumors about major changes coming to the Sapphire Reserve for a few months now and it appears that Chase has all but confirmed them with a new ad campaign with Claudia Schiffer.
Changes Coming Summer 2025
It appears that these changes will be officially announced with further details on June 17th and things will switch over on June 21st. Chase has posted some interesting photos on Instagram with the caption “Rewards are about to get more rewarding. Summer 2025” along with a new card design. They also posted about a new Sapphire Business card which will likely be launching at the same time. I’ll be honest, I’m kind of into the new card design but that’s about it.
Apparently significant parts of the old program will be grandfathered in for a significant amount of time before you’ll be switched to the new program. That should give people enough time to decide what to do.
What Changes are Coming?
While nothing has been officially confirmed by Chase, we saw some information on Reddit that was since deleted. Additionally there is another post on Reddit from someone who spoke to a Chase phone agent who confirmed the annual fee was increasing to $795 a year but there would be a ton of new statement credits. The deleted post also showed some of the new benefits.
Annual Fees
Primary Cardholder: increasing from $550 to $795
Authorized User: increasing from $75 to $195
Earnings
8x points on Chase Travel bookings for airfare, hotels, and car rentals
4x on hotels and flights booked directly (not through Chase)
3x on dining
1x on everything else
New Benefits
$500 ($250 semi-annual) credit with Chase Edit which is their version of Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts
$300 ($150 semi-annual) credit with Sapphire Reserve Tables
$300 ($150 semi-annual) credit with Stubhub
$300 ($25 monthly) credit with DoorDash
$120 DoorDash membership
$120 ($10 monthly) Peleton credit
Points Boost Program where points will be worth up to 2 cents per point during promotions
Spending Threshold Benefits after $75,000
$500 Southwest credit
Southwest A-List status
IHG One Rewards Diamond status
$250 The Shops credit
Existing Benefits
$120 ($10 monthly) Lyft Credit plus 5x points on Lyft
$300 travel credit
TSA/Global Entry fee credit once every four years
My favorite comment on their Instagram post is “Has anyone seen the @netflix show called Nobody Wants This?”’
None of the benefits for spending more than $75,000 appeal to me.
My Take On These Changes
These are negative changes and I’m honestly fed up with the increase in annual fees we’re seeing from all card issuers while adding additional statement credits that try to mask these new fees. These premium and luxury cards are turning into glorified coupon books. The annual fee is going up by $295 but they are adding a ton of new benefits that you’ll have to remember to use. Clearly they are expecting people to forget about these benefits all while paying more every year for the card. They’re pushing cardholders to use their hotel, dining and shopping portals since they earn a commission on all those purchases in addition to the swipe fees.
I do this for a living and it even makes my head spin. I can’t imagine what the everyday consumer thinks when presented with these changes.
Sure, the increased points earned on airfare and hotels is great. This will give the card the undisputed best return on hotels while coming close to the American Express Platinum’s 5x points on airfare (which is also a glorified coupon book).
Previously the Sapphire Reserve earned 3x points on a very broad travel category which included everything from airfare to hotels to car rentals to public transportation. It appears that is broad definition is significantly changing.
It remains to be seen how the dining, hotel and shopping credits work and if there are any additional restrictions like having to book a 3 night minimum for the credit to be applied.
These changes will no doubt be better for some who value these perks and already spend money on things like Stubhub and Peleton frequently. But I imagine for the most part, a lot of consumers will be negatively impacted by this. I already have enough monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual credits to remember to use.
With the Sapphire Preferred just coming off a massive new 100,000 point signup bonus, I’d be surprised if Chase didn’t come out with a similarly huge signup bonus when this card officially gets refreshed.
Wrapping Up
It appears all but confirmed that the Chase Sapphire Reserve is getting a major update this summer with a huge new $795 annual fee with a ton of statement credits to try to make up for the increased fee. I am not a fan of these changes at all. While it will certainly be good for some cardholders, I think for the vast majority these changes will be a net negative.
