4 reasons why I love my Sapphire Reserve card

I’ve been collecting points and miles via credit cards for more than two decades, and it takes a lot to impress me. Sure, I spread the love with my 25+ open and active credit cards, but for one of them to earn a spot near the top of my wallet, I need a really strong value proposition.

For years, one of those letters has been the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees), which currently offers 150,000 bonus points earned after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. This is the best public offer on the card.

Even after last year’s review with a annual fee increasewhich unfortunately hit my account on November 1, 2025, this card has been a key part of my rewards strategy for years, a fact reinforced by a recent trip to Atlanta to attend a Bruno Mars concert with my family.

These are 4 of the main reasons why I love my Sapphire Reserve.

---

Best Public Offer Ever: Earn 150,000 Bonus Points With Chase Sapphire Reserve. Apply now!

---

Flexible travel credit

Let’s start with the simplest: the card. $300 annual travel credit.

Each year, you’ll enjoy up to $300 in statement credits for any travel purchase charged to the card. While other premium cards place restrictions on your credits, such as limiting them to certain rates or requiring purchases through a specific site, the Sapphire Reserve no underwire required. Collect travel purchases; Earn statement credits. It’s so simple.

Here’s how I used this benefit over the past five years:

• 2021: A Hertz rental car and part of a Disney cruise
• 2022: Multiples (smaller purchases) for parking, tolls, trains, plus a city tour and intra-Europe upgrade on Iberia
• 2023: Multiple ride-hailing and subway services in New York City, plus parking purchases in Europe
• 2024: Parking, a Lyft ride, two sightseeing tours in Vienna, and part of a hotel stay
• 2025: a flight booked through the Chase Travel℠ portal

All of this is automatically posted a day or two after purchase, making it one of the easiest credit card benefits out there. And the best thing is that it is not necessary to use it all at once.

Hotel and meal credits.

Beyond the travel credit, the Sapphire Reserve offers multiple additional statement credits every year, and two of my personal favorites involve hotel stays and restaurant shopping.

First, cardholders enjoy up to $500 in annual statement credits (split in two, credits up to $250) for prepaid stays of two nights or more at properties in The editionChase’s luxury hotel collection. These high-end hotels are owned by some of the world’s best brands, including Four Seasons, St. Regis, Shangri-La and Rosewood.

But most importantly, stays include a number of valuable add-ons, including:

• Daily breakfast for two
• A property benefit worth up to $100
• Free Wi-Fi
• A space-based room upgrade (when available)
• Early check-in and late check-out (when available)

My first credit of 2026 came in handy for the concert as we opted to stay at the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta. The two-night stay in a deluxe room cost $872.72 but dropped to $622.72 after the $250 credit was applied. Additionally, since many properties in The Edit now count as loyalty-eligible staysI earned over 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for the stay.

The hotel is located in downtown Atlanta and is easily accessible from the airport via public transportation. And although there were no upgrades available, we had a really comfortable stay.

We received a couple of lovely welcome touches (chocolates and a bottle of sparkling wine) along with notes from two different managers.

Breakfast was served at AG Steakhouse, where we received an $80 credit ($40 per person) each morning. This easily covered a couple of main courses plus drinks, although with my daughter’s kids’ breakfast, we only spent a few dollars each morning.

We also opted to burn the property credit for dinner our first night, also at AG Steakhouse. We were celebrating my wife’s big work accomplishment, so we splurged on the seafood tower, which wasn’t No disappoint. The cocktails are spectacular, as is the southern tartare. And at checkout, I had a $100 credit for the meal on my folio.

During our stay in Atlanta, we also used some of the card’s annual dining credit.

Each year, cardholders receive up to $300 in statement credits (up to $150 from January to June and up to $150 from July to December) at a select set of OpenTable restaurants through Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables. There are several eligible locations in Atlanta, but we chose The optimista self-proclaimed “seaside fishing camp experience” in the city. No prepayment, payment or reservation required through OpenTable.

Our afternoon reservation coincided with happy hour, where we ate three orders of a baker’s dozen oysters, plus fresh haddock soup and a spicy kale salad. And when our waitress mentioned grilled oysters, we couldn’t resist adding them to our order.

There was even a three-hole mini golf course on the grounds, but it was drizzling during the meal so we had to skip it.

Just two days after my visit, the $150 credit posted to my account.

Travel protections

Statement credits get a lot of coverage, but there’s another set of benefits on the card that I love, and they’ve saved me over $1,000 in unexpected costs over the years.

I mean the Sapphire Reserve travel protection setwhich includes:

These come into effect when you use the Sapphire Reserve for eligible purchases and offer valuable peace of mind when things go wrong, something I’ve experienced on three separate occasions.

In 2019, I was flying back from Chile when a power outage shut down the computer system at Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL). Our flight to Lima’s Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM) was delayed, which meant we missed our connecting flight to Miami International Airport (MIA). We were rebooked the next day, and since this delay resulted in an unexpected one-night stay (and since I charged the taxes and fees for the award ticket to my Sapphire Reservation), I knew we were eligible for a refund for the travel delay.

So, I booked the JW Marriott and after a couple of Uber rides and a delicious dinner in the Miraflores area of ​​the city, we spent an additional $383.26. Upon returning home, I filed a refund claim (with complete documentation). In six weeks I got my money back.

Then, in January 2022, we were booked on a long weekend trip to Cozumel, Mexico, but 48 hours before leaving, I suffered a nasty bout of COVID-19. Our hotel room was refundable, but our American flight was booked with British Airways Avios, which meant a $55 cancellation fee per person. Since I once again charged the taxes and fees for the award ticket to my Sapphire Reserve, I knew I could invoke the trip cancellation coverage on the card and sure enough, they refunded me $165 in just a few weeks.

Finally, we spent part of last year’s vacation in Canada, which included a rental car from Avis. I declined the additional coverage at the airport and charged the entire rental to my Sapphire Reserve so I could use the card’s primary car rental coverage. And sure enough, at some point during the trip, a small crack appeared in the windshield. It grew several inches long when I returned the car and the company filed a lawsuit for damages. Once again I knew I was covered.

I submitted the paperwork to the Chase benefits provider and my claim was approved within a month, covering the expense of $541.92.

Read more: Why a Chase Sapphire Reserve Card is the Best Premium Card for Rental Cars

In total, that’s $1,090.18 in extra expenses that I didn’t need to cover, just because I used my Sapphire Reserve for the corresponding purchases.

Combining rewards for valuable trade-ins

But perhaps my favorite feature of the Sapphire Reserve involves refund options through Pursue ultimate rewards and how easy it is to combine rewards from my other four cards:

Chase Freedom information has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Technically, these four cards are billed as cash back products, with more limited fixed value redemption options.

However, since I have the Sapphire Reserve, I can easily move the points earned on those cards in my Sapphire Reserve account. This effectively turns them into full Ultimate Rewards points.

I also follow the same strategy for my wife’s points, as she has her own Freedom Unlimited and Ink Business Cash cards. As an eligible household member, I can instantly transfer your cash back rewards to my Sapphire Reserve.

Doing so unlocks some of my favorite redemptions through Chaseincluding the transfer of points to partners such as Hyatt World and Air Canada airplane. It also means that I can access Point increasewhich can increase the value of each Chase point by up to 2 cents per point (or even higher on selected properties in The Edit).

Related: Points Battle: 2 Rides, 250,000 Points, and the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card – Who Will Win?

In a nutshell

He Chase Sapphire Reserve It’s been a mainstay in my wallet for years, as there’s a lot to love about the card, from the variety of valuable statement credits to the extensive travel protections and lucrative redemption options.

I didn’t even mention the fantastic Sapphire Roomswhich won the 2026 TPG Award for Best Credit Card Lounge Network. I can still access those locations with my wife and daughter (for free), a notable differentiator from other premium products.

Admittedly, the card has a high annual fee, but I easily cover it (and then some) with the benefits above.

With the highest public welcome offer in the card’s history, now might be a good time to consider adding it to your wallet.

For more information, read our full review of the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

---

Apply here: Earn 150,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

---