Chase Sapphire Reserve, New Benefits and Confirmed Higher Annual Fee

January 7, 2020

Chase Sapphire Reserve, New Benefits and Higher Annual Fee

Chase Sapphire Reserve is a great premium travel card. It gets you a lot of perks. The card also had a current offer of 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points. Now the fee is going up to $550 and there’s new and improved benefits. Here’s a quick recap of the changes, as I updated the article a couple of times:

Fee increased to $550 for new customers on 1/12/2020
Fee increased to $550 for renewals on or after 4/1/2020
Free DoorDash DashPass for two years ($9.99/Month)
$60 DoorDash credit for 2020 and 2021
Free Lyft Pink ($19.99/Month)
10x Ultimate Rewards on Lyft Rides

$550 Annual Fee

Update: Cardmember agreement now shows the new increased $550 annual fee.

It has long been rumored that the annual fee for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card would go up to $550. The addition of these benefits makes it clear that it is happening. One of the benefits, Lyft Pink membership, is going live on January 12th, and that is supposed to the the date that the annual fee also goes to $550. Current cardholders will pay a $450 fee on renewals before April 1, 2020. After that, you will have to pay the new increased fee of $550. If you have been thinking of applying for the card, now it is a good time to take a look at the benefits and see if $450 makes sense for you. The $300 travel credit already offsets most of it and you get to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 1.5 cent each through the Chase Travel Portal. Read more about the card and learn how to apply here.

Upgrades to Chase Sapphire Reserve are currently not available. You will have to wait until 1/12 when the fee goes up.

DoorDash

If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve card you can now get free DashPass for up to 2 years, immediately upon activation. Normally the service costs $9.99/month. With the DashPass you get zero delivery fees and reduced service fees on orders over $12. You can see the offer here.

Chase Sapphire Preferred is also getting the same benefit. The Chase Freedom, Chase Freedom Unlimited, and Chase Slate cards are getting only 3 months.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Cardholders will also get $60 in DoorDash credit for 2020 and 2021. (HT: DoC) Cardmembers will automatically earn statement credits of up to $60 in 2020 and $60 in 2021 on DoorDash purchases, no activation required. This is not an installment, these credits will be available immediately. The credits will be awarded when the transaction is posted. This is similar to the Sapphire Reserve annual travel credit. (HT: TPG)

Lyft Pink

There is a new Lyft benefit being added to the card on 1/12/2020. Lyft Pink costs 19.99/month regularly. Some of the benefits are:

15% off unlimited car rides
Priority airport pickups
Relaxed cancellations. Three waived cancel fees per month if you rebook within 15 minutes.
Surprise offers. Get seasonal discounts and exclusive savings.
Waived lost and found fees.
Bikes and scooters. Enjoy 3 free 30-min. bike or scooter rides per month (in select markets).

10x Points on Lyft Rides

Besides the new Lyft Pink benefit, starting on 1/12/20, you’ll also earn 10 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on Lyft ride spending through 3/31/22. This was reported by Dans Deals. Gift cards are not included at this time, as per TPG.

Loading ...

Card Benefits

3X Points on travel and dining worldwide
1 point per dollar spent on all other purchases
1.5 cents per point in value when you redeem for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards
Transfer 1:1 to the regular Ultimate Reward transfer partners
$300 Annual Travel Credit (once per calendar year)
Complimentary lounge access at over 900+ lounges
Global entry or TSA pre check credit of up to $100
Free DoorDash DashPass for two years ($9.99/Month)
$60 DoorDash credit
Free Lyft Pink ($19.99/Month)
10x points on Lyft Rides
Visa Infinite perks
No Foreign Transaction Fees

Warranties, Insurance, & Protections

Free roadside assistance 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by calling 1-866-860-7978. Includes free battery boost, flat tire service, 2 gallons of fuel delivery, towing, or lockout assistance.
Primary car rental CDW coverage worldwide.
Extended manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.
Purchase protection for your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per year.
Return protection for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to $500 per item, $1,000 per year.
Lost luggage insurance of $3,000 per person per trip.
Baggage delay reimbursement of $100 per day per person (max of 5 days) for essential items needed (Clothing, toiletries, charger, etc) for delays more than 6 hours.
Trip delay reimbursement of $500 per person for reasonable expenses (Hotel, food, toiletries, medicine, etc) required for delays more than 6 hours.
Trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance of $10,000 per trip or $20,000 per trip with multiple travelers.
Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit when traveling more than 100 miles from home.
Emergency Evacuation and Transportation insurance when traveling more than 100 miles from home.
$1,000,000 in travel accident insurance.

Learn How to Apply

Annual fee is currently $450, until 1/12/2020. Then, it is going up to $550. Additional users cost $75. Looks like this fee is not changing.

Guru’s Wrap-up

Two great benefits that give you a lot of value if you would use these services regularly. But that is probably a minority of people. Hopefully we see more perks being added to make sense of the extra $100 annually. Personally I don’t use DoorDash or Lyft that often to sign up for these services. I could probably save some money over the year, but far off $100.

If you want to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the fee is still $450 for now. You can’t upgrade to the card until 1/12. You can read more about the card and its benefits here.

Let me know what you think of these changes.