I regularly update our posts about the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred cards on Your Mileage May Vary. When updating posts, I’m doing it for the benefit of the website, but at the same time, I’m forced to think about our situation. That happened when I broke down the differences between the two cards. I previously found it was worth paying extra for the Sapphire Reserve. However, the card has a $550 annual fee, and with the positive changes to the Sapphire Preferred, I was no longer confident about that decision. Is it worth an extra $155 per year?
I asked myself, “Why do I keep the Sapphire Reserve?”
I compared the card to the Sapphire Preferred, which we already have. Here’s a list of the extra benefits you get with the Reserve and how much I value them:
- Priority Pass Membership
- Access to Chase Sapphire Lounges
- Global Entry, NEXUS or TSA Precheck reimbursement
- Extra value primary rental car coverage
- Trip Delay coverage starts at six hours
- $100,000 Emergency medical evacuation coverage
- $10,000 per item purchase protection coverage
- Return Protection
- Earn an extra point per dollar on travel and dining
- Points worth 1.5 cents on Chase Travel Portal
Eliminate the perks I already get with other cards
I already get Priority Pass membership and Global Entry/TSA Precheck reimbursement with several other cards so those benefits aren’t worth anything. I can earn 3 points per dollar on travel and dining expenses with several cards (with lower annual fees.)
Consider extra benefits that sound good (until you think about it)
Both cards provide primary rental coverage but the Preferred’s coverage maxes out at $75,000. I can’t think of any time I rented a car worth over 75K, so it’s extra coverage I don’t need.
The same is true for the Reserve’s $10,000 limit for purchase protection. This household does not make many $10,000 purchases.
And while it sounds nice to get trip delay coverage at 6 hours instead of 12 hours, both coverages are good if you’re stuck overnight. That’s when I’d likely have significant expenses, such as a hotel room, travel to the hotel and meal expenses.
Put a value on the remaining benefits
When using the Chase Travel Portal or Pay Yourself back with the Sapphire Reserve, your points are worth 1.5 cents each. They’re only worth 1.25 cents each using the Sapphire Preferred. You’d have to redeem more than 62,000 points using this method to get an additional $155 value.
The Chase Sapphire Lounges are nice, but until there are more than a handful of them, access to them isn’t a dealbreaker. Mostly because they’re located in airports with other lounges which I also can access with other cards.
I have no other card with emergency evacuation coverage, so this could be a reason to keep the Sapphire Reserve. However, whenever we travel outside the US, I always purchase travel/medical insurance and make sure the policy includes evacuation coverage.
Final Thoughts
When I looked at the Chase Sapphire cards closer, I didn’t plan on this. Since I was approved for the Sapphire Reserve, it’s been my go-to travel card. The combination of travel coverage and points earning meant the card hardly ever left my wallet.
But that’s why you need to reevaluate the cards in your wallet every once in a while. With changes to annual fees, benefits, other cards you’ve picked up and your spending patterns, what previously seemed like a slam dunk now becomes more of a toss-up.
While the decision should be strictly a financial one, I do have some attachment to the Sapphire Reserve. It’s been the card in the front of my wallet when we travel for so long that it’s hard to think of another card to take its place. This year, I ended up keeping it, but I’m not sure if it’s the correct decision.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
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