nextcard teamPublished Jun 20, 2025·Updated Mar 19, 2026
TLDR: The Chase Sapphire Reserve's annual fee is now $795. This article breaks down the math on the new credits to help you decide if keeping the card is still worth the cost.
NC
nextcard teamPublished Jun 20, 2025·Updated Mar 19, 2026
The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired.
Advertiser Disclosure: nextcard may receive compensation from card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain. For the most up-to-date terms & conditions, refer to the official credit card application on the issuer's website.
The information related to IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card was collected independently by nextcard and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.MoreLess Product details may vary. Please see the issuer website for current information. nextcard does not receive commission for this product.
[@portabletext/react] Unknown block type "tldrBlurb", specify a component for it in the `components.types` prop
Well, after weeks of rumors and seeing random ads of a woman holding a hilariously large Chase Sapphire Reserve® card, the news is here: the beloved Sapphire Reserve is finally increasing its annual fee from $550 to $795.
You wouldn’t believe the number of people who texted me asking the same flavor of question: what should we do with our Sapphire Reserve? As someone who got the card back in 2022, I spent a good amount of time digesting the changes.
As of now, I actually plan on keeping the card, even after its renewal: here’s why. Do note, there’s definitely no “one size fits all” answer to this question, and it’ll be important for you to assess if your personal spending habits will align with the benefits of the new Sapphire Reserve.
What Are The Changes To The Chase Sapphire Reserve®?
I don’t intend to cover all the changes in a single section, but here are the most important ones:
Related articles
The annual fee is increasing by 45% from $550 to $795
Authorized user annual fee is also increasing from $75 to $195
Points earned on direct flights & hotels are increasing from 3x to 4x
Losing the ability to redeem points through Chase Travel℠ for 1.5 cents per point in favor of Points Boost, where your points can be worth up to 2 cents each, but it’s not guaranteed
New credits, including:
Up to $500 in statement credits for The Edit℠ bookings
Up to $300 in statement credits for Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables
Up to $300 in statement credits for StubHub and viagogo purchases
Complimentary subscriptions to Apple TV+* and Apple Music
Up to $120 in Lyft in-app credits
Thankfully, the up to $300 annual travel credit is here to stay, alongside the up to $120 Global Entry, TSA Precheck®, or NEXUS statement credit.
So yeah. A whole lot of changes to work through.
Doing Some Math: The “Easy” Credits
As someone who likes to know how their money is being spent, I first started off with the “freebie” credits that immediately fit my spending portfolio:
The $300 travel credit should be a relative “gimme” since I choose to put most travel expenses on my Reserve as it has some of the strongest travel insurance out there. This puts my “effective” annual fee at $495
I then use Lyft monthly, so I should be able to extract the full value out of those credits. We can put my “effective” annual fee at $375 now
My girlfriend uses Apple TV+ (Severance?), so this would be an effective way for us to “save” on that subscription (since we already are deploying that money as it is). Apple TV+ is $100/year, so this puts the effective annual fee down to $275 now
These are the credits that already essentially match my “existing” spending patterns, so now I just need to think about how I can work with the remaining ones for the $275 leftover.
Valuing The Remaining Credits
So, this is where credit cards can most certainly get you because now you’re starting to spend in categories and areas that you don’t normally do. Definitely urge some caution here if you’re finding yourself stretched too thin to accommodate the higher annual fee!
Here’s how I’m analyzing these other credits. Let’s start with the ones that are almost completely moot for me:
Up to $120 Global Entry, TSA Precheck®, or NEXUS statement credit: worth $0 to me since everyone in my family already has it. This would be more of a “surprise” gift for a friend at this point.
Up to $120 Peloton credit: worth $0 to me. I don’t use Peloton
Up to $500 credit for stays with The Edit: worth $0 to me, given a lot of the Edit hotels are expensive. However, using the EditMaxxer, there's a chance that I could find some high value opportunities to use the credit (but I may need to go out of my way to find them).
Complimentary IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite status: worth $0 to me. I have the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, so not much else I can get from this status
Alright, with those out of the way, we can start evaluating the other ones:
Up to $300 annually in statement credits when you dine with Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables: So the main problem I have with this credit is that it’s awarded semiannually where you can get up to $150 in statement credits from January through June and again from July through December for a maximum of $300 annually. Furthermore, while I live in San Francisco and frequent NYC, Boston, and other major cities, a lot of the restaurants on the list are pretty expensive. I think this credit’s expected value is 50% of the max, so $150
Up to $300 annually in monthly DoorDash promos: The DoorDash credits are awarded pretty sporadically as well. The problem I’ve noticed with the two $10 non-restaurant promo credits each month is that the markup for items can sometimes be drastically high. Like, compared to Costco, it’s hard to find a reasonable deal here. So, I think I’d say I would probably just get about $100 out of this over the year
“Get up to $25 each month to spend on DoorDash, which includes a $5 monthly promo to spend on restaurant orders and two $10 promos each month to save on groceries, retail orders and more”
Get up to $300 in annual statement credits on concert & event tickets purchased on StubHub and viagogo: I don’t really purchase tickets via either platform, but I could probably ask my brother to use this. Furthermore, the credits are also split up semiannually. Realistically, it would be a pretty gamble to say I could get the full value of these credits, so I’d probably put this at $100
Anyways, putting these other credits together gets me an additional expected value of about $350. Combining with the “easy” credits, this puts me breakeven for the card (great!)
Notably, I would also gift the Apple Music subscription to my parents since they don’t pay for Spotify or anything right now.
Travel Insurance Benefits
My favorite benefit about the Chase Sapphire Reserve® has always been the travel insurance.
Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance
Emergency Evacuation and Transportation
Roadside Assistance
Auto Rental Coverage: This benefit saved me $11,000+ in a car accident
Trip delay reimbursement
Baggage delay insurance: This benefit has covered my delayed checked bags several times at this point
As always, check your Guide to Benefits for the most up-to-date information here.
Lounge Access
Now, we haven’t even gotten to the juicy part.
One of the key benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is lounge access. With the card, you can access the following lounges:
Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club with up to two guests
If you’ve never been to the Sapphire Lounge, they’re pretty cool. Chase has been significantly investing in its lounges, and there’s a lot to show for it. Sapphire Lounges are currently located at:
Philadelphia International Airport, Terminal D/E Connector
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Terminal 4
San Diego International Airport, Terminal 2
Hong Kong International Airport, Terminal 1
I’ve been to pretty much all the US ones (except Phoenix), and I can pretty confidently say that they are some fantastic experiences. Differentiators are the free facials, solid food, cool amenities, call rooms, and more.
For Cardmembers Prior To June 23, 2025
If you got the card prior to June 23, 2025 (like me), there are some things to think about. Most importantly, your annual fee will be $795 on your anniversary date, adjusted from $550. That means if you got the card prior to June 23, 2025, you won’t be charged anything else until your anniversary date.
Starting June 23, 2025: You’ll get access to Points Boost on Chase Travel to maximize the value of your rewards. Chase will automatically select the best value for your points (1.5 to 2 cents per point)
Starting October 26, 2025: Your card will essentially be converted to the “new” version of the card, where you’ll get access to all the new benefits of the card
Through October 26, 2027: For points earned prior to October 26, 2025, you will automatically get the best offer available, whether it’s Points Boost or 1.5x on Chase Travel, maximizing the value of your rewards for the next two years. After October 26, 2025, your points will only be subject to Points Boost
Why this is also crucial to my plans for keeping the card is the unique timeframe. Since I got the card before June 23, 2025, I will be able to keep the 1.5x on Chase Travel until October 26, 2027 (over 2 years away from the date of this post).
If you redeem via the travel portal at all, this “floor” will be incredibly useful to maintain. Combining it with Points Boost could make it a pretty strong limited-time “perk” to hold onto.
Future Plans
As of right now, based on my analysis of the new Chase Sapphire Reserve®, it fits well into my lifestyle. While some of the new credits are worth nothing to me, others do plug in well and help me recoup my annual fee outside of the other benefits like travel insurance, lounge access, and the ability to keep the 1.5x on Chase Travel for the time being.
As you can probably tell, deciding if this card is for you is a highly personal question, but there’s always a way to arrive at a strong analysis here.
FAQs
I currently have the Sapphire Reserve. Will I be charged the new annual fee?
No. You will be charged the new annual fee of $795 on your anniversary date. For example, if your anniversary date is January 01, 2025, then you’ll be charged the new annual fee on January 01, 2026.
I currently have the Sapphire Reserve. When do I get the new benefits?
You’ll get access to the new Sapphire Reserve benefits starting October 26, 2025. Prior to then, you will only have access to Points Boost. This means that someone who applies for the Sapphire Reserve starting June 23, 2025 will have immediate access to the new benefits, so you might run into a weird scenario where two Sapphire Reserve cardholders have different benefits!
I currently have the Sapphire Reserve. When do I lose the 50% boost through Chase Travel?
This looks to be phased out for points earned after October 26, 2027. For points earned prior, you will automatically get the best offer available.
Is the authorized user fee for the Sapphire Reserve changing?
Yes: it’s going up to $195.
Can you still bring guests with you to the Sapphire lounges with the updated Sapphire Reserve?
