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It’s been a while since Chase made major, permanent improvements to its Chase Sapphire Cards. But, it seems our long wait is almost over. On August 16, 2021, both the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card* and the Chase Sapphire Reserve®* will both receive substantial improvements.
These new changes mostly focus on improving earning rates on Sapphire cards—with a couple of non-points-related perks and changes. That’s in stark contrast to the benefit-heavy changes recently made to The Platinum Card® from American Express.
Do these changes put the Chase Sapphire cards back out front of its competitors? Let’s dig into the details to see.
Chase Sapphire Preferred Improvements
Until now, the $95 annual fee Chase Sapphire Preferred offered a rather simple earning structure of 2 points per dollar spent on all travel and dining purchases and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. While easy to remember, these earning rates lag some of Chase’s no annual fee cards—like the Chase Freedom Flex℠. So, the Chase Sapphire Preferred seemed due for some enhancements.
Improved Point Earning Rates on Chase Sapphire Preferred
Starting August 16, 2021, Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders will start earning a lot more points in certain spending categories:
- 5 points per dollar on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 3 points per dollar on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out
- 3 points per dollar on select streaming services
- 3 points per dollar on online grocery purchases—excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs
Cardholders will continue to earn 2 points per dollar spent on travel purchases not made through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.
New $50 Annual Hotel Credit
In addition, Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders will soon receive a $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased through the Ultimate Rewards travel portal. As with the new earning rates, this new benefit goes into effect on August 16, 2021 for new cardholders. Existing cardholders will start earning the credit after their next account anniversary year. Chase’s announcement doesn’t indicate if there’s a minimum spending requirement for this hotel credit.
This new hotel credit seems designed to directly compete with the $100 hotel credit on the $95 annual fee Citi Premier® Card. If there isn’t a spending requirement, the Chase credit is potentially more valuable than the Citi Premier’s hotel credit—as Citi requires you to spend at least $500 in a single hotel purchase to apply the $100 credit.
New 10% Anniversary Points Bonus
As if the improved earning rates weren’t enough, Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders will also start receiving an anniversary points bonus each time they renew their card. Starting August 16, 2021, cardmembers will earn bonus points equal to 10% of total purchases made the previous cardholder year.
It’s important to note that this isn’t a 10% bonus on all points earnings. Instead, it’s a 10% bonus on the purchases that you made in the last year. For example, if you spend $25,000 in a cardholder year, you’ll receive a 2,500-point bonus—even if you earned 50,000 points on that spending.
Unfortunately for existing cardholders, you won’t get this bonus the next time you pay your annual fee. Chase confirmed that “existing cardmembers will start earning toward their anniversary credit the next time their card renews.” That means you’ll have to wait until your next cardholder anniversary before you’ll start earning this 10% bonus.
New cardholders—presumably who apply after August 16—will start earning the 10% anniversary bonus immediately. However, the bonus won’t be paid out until your account anniversary.
New Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Art
Lastly, Chase is redesigning the look of the Chase Sapphire Preferred. New cards issued started August 16, 2021 will have the following design:
Ongoing Chase Sapphire Preferred Welcome Bonus
If you aren’t already a cardholder, now’s a great time to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. In its announcement, Chase confirmed that cardholders can still earn 100,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
That’s the best welcome bonus ever on this card. The welcome bonus is worth a minimum of $1,250 toward travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal or for qualifying purchases through Chase’s Pay Yourself Back redemption option. However, this welcome bonus is potentially worth much more by utilizing Chase’s airline and hotel point transfer partners—which now includes point transfers to Air Canada’s Aeroplan program.
Changes to the Chase Sapphire Reserve
Chase is also increasing the earning rates on the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Plus, Chase is teasing a new restaurant perk to come later in 2021.
Improved Point Earning Rates on Chase Sapphire Reserve
Starting August 16, 2021, Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders will earn additional points on certain purchases made through Ultimate Rewards portals:
- 10 points per dollar on Chase Dining purchases through Ultimate Rewards
- 10 points per dollar on hotel stays and car rentals purchased through Ultimate Rewards
- 5 points per dollar on air travel purchased through Ultimate Rewards
The Tock-powered Chase Dining platform lets cardholders reserve restaurants and delivery for select restaurants. So, if your favorite restaurants are bookable through this platform, this may be a great option for you to earn 10 points per dollar on dining.
Cardholders will also soon earn 10 points per dollar when booking hotels and car rentals through the Expedia-powered Chase Ultimate Reward travel portal. Just note that hotel reservations booked through an online travel agency typically don’t qualify for points earnings or elite perks. Also, note that you may be able to find less expensive hotel reservations and car rentals through other booking methods.
However, flight bookings are generally constant no matter how you book. Plus, airlines don’t limit flyers from earning miles or elite status credits when booking through a third party. So, the 5 points per dollar earnings on flights is a notable improvement. This improved earning rate matches The Platinum Card® from American Express which offers 5 Membership Rewards points per dollar for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel on up to $500,000 per calendar year, 5 Membership Rewards points per dollar on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel and 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases.
New “Reserved by Sapphire” Restaurant Access Perk
Later in 2021, Chase is going to roll out a new reservations system for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders to “book reservations at some of the most sought-after restaurants across the country.”
Examples of restaurants Reserve cardholders will have access to include:
- Canlis in Seattle
- Redbird in Los Angeles
- SingleThread Farms in Healdsburg, California
- Reverence in New York
- One Off Hospitality in Chicago
Details of New Chase Sapphire Airport Lounges
Pop-up Chase Sapphire Lounges have become commonplace at sporting events, music festivals and select cities. But soon, Chase plans to finally settle down by opening permanent Chase Sapphire Lounges in select airports. These airport lounges were originally announced in June. Now, Chase is sharing additional details.
The first three Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club airport lounges will be located in the following airports:
- New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
- Boston’s Logan International Airport (BOS)
- Hong Kong International Airport (HKG)
Opening dates and additional locations are still to be announced. However, Chase confirmed that Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders and Priority Pass members “will be able to access these lounges when they open.”
That will set Chase Sapphire Lounges apart from Amex Centurion Lounges — which are only open to qualifying Amex cardmembers. In fact, Amex cardmembers may even be able to visit the Chase Sapphire Lounges using a Priority Pass Select membership.
What’s Not Changing About the Chase Sapphire Cards
Recent “enhancements” to rewards credit cards have been a mixed blessing. For example, in early July 2021, American Express added a slew of new statement credits to the Amex Platinum but also increased the card’s membership fee by $145 to $695.
Thankfully, these Chase Sapphire changes don’t come with a “however.” All of the existing perks of the card will remain in place. No earning rates are decreasing. And Chase has confirmed that neither card’s annual fee will increase.
That means Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders will still earn 2 points per dollar spent on travel. Plus, cardholders can still redeem points for 25% more value for travel purchased through the Ultimate Rewards portal.
Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders will still earn at least 3 points per dollar on travel and dining. Plus, the $550 annual fee can be more than half offset by an easy-to-use $300 annual travel credit. Cardholders still get an application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, a Priority Pass Select membership, excellent travel protections and access to benefits through the Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection. And yes, Sapphire Reserve points will still be redeemable for travel at a rate of 1.5 cents per point.
Bottom Line
Chase is making some much-needed improvements to its Sapphire-branded credit cards. Of the two cards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is getting a more expansive overhaul with several increased earning rates, a new $50 annual hotel credit and a unique 10% point spending bonus.
Comparatively, the Chase Sapphire Reserve isn’t getting as comprehensive of improvements. In some ways the enhancements on the Chase Sapphire Preferred act as a devaluation of the Sapphire Reserve because the rates on dining are now aligned even though the annual fee is significantly more on the Reserve. However, an earning rate of 10 points per dollar spent on hotel stays and car rentals through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal and 10 points per dollar on dining through Chase Dining is quite impressive — for when it makes sense to utilize these booking platforms.
Chase Improves Earning Rates, Adds Benefits, Shares Locations For New Airport Lounges –