Big Chase Sapphire Cards Changes Coming August 16

A few weeks ago I wrote about rumored changes for both Chase Sapphire credit card. These are now confirmed by Chase and we have the full details for what Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cardholders can expect on August 16. That’s the date when both cards will get the new benefits, which will be available to existing and new cardmembers. To make things better, there are no changes to the current annual fees.

The new benefits will build on the value that both Sapphire Preferred and Reserve already offer and incorporate more ways to earn and redeem to meet cardmembers where they are spending today. So let’s see what these big Chase Sapphire cards changes are.

NEW Chase Sapphire Preferred Benefits

These are the new benefits for Chase Sapphire Preferred cards starting on 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)
  • select streaming services
  • 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.
• Sapphire Preferred cardmembers will continue enjoying all the card already offers, including 2x points on travel and 25% more value when points are redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, all for the same annual fee.

New Sapphire Preferred cardmembers can currently earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening, worth $1,250 in travel booked through Ultimate Rewards. The Sapphire Preferred card will also feature a sleek new card design, which will be available to new and existing cardmembers after August 16.

NEW Chase Sapphire Reserve Benefits

These are the new benefits for Chase Sapphire Reserve cards starting on 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, WA, Redbird in Los Angeles, CA, SingleThread Farms in Healdsburg, CA, Reverence in New York, NY and One Off Hospitality in Chicago.
• This is in addition to all of what Sapphire Reserve currently provides, including earning 3x points on dining and on a broad definition of travel, a $300 annual travel credit, $100 application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✔®, special benefits through the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection™, points that are worth 50% more when redeemed for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards, and more. Sapphire Reserve annual fee will remain $550, as previously announced.

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. Cardholders will soon have access to Chase Sapphire Lounges by The Club.

More Benefits

Both Preferred and Reserve cardmembers will also continue to have rewards flexibility with everything offered in the Ultimate Rewards portal, such as the popular Pay Yourself Back feature, 1:1 Ultimate Rewards point transfer to 14 leading airline and hotel loyalty programs, and more. Plus, access to complimentary benefits with partners including one year of DashPass, DoorDash’s subscription service (must activate by December 31, 2021); up to $60 or $120 back on an eligible Peloton Digital or All-Access Membership through December 2021; and 5x or 10x total points on Lyft rides through March 2022.

Guru’s Wrap-up

These added benefits sure are exciting, and the annual fees on both cards remain the same. One thing worth noting is that the $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays. This is applied immediately for new cardmembers after August 16. But existing cardmembers will start earning after their next account anniversary. So if you plan on getting the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, it’s better to wait until after August 16. The 100K offer should still be around.