So with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® changes being rolled out next week, current cardholders keep asking me the same question: should I keep my card or should I downgrade it?

While it’s hard to explicitly give everyone a concrete answer, I think there are some key factors and timelines that are worth considering. Long story short: most cardholders should withhold any downgrading considerations until their new annual fee hits.

If you already have the card, the annual fee is not immediate (that wouldn’t be fair to you as a cardholder). It will take some time for the new annual fee to hit and by then, you might have some time to think more thoroughly about the revamped benefits and test things out as well.

This article assumes you have some general context on the upcoming changes, but we’ll still summarize them below.

What’s Changing About The Chase Sapphire Reserve®?

In summary, there are a few key things changing about the card next week:

• The annual fee is increasing from $550 to $795 (a 45% increase)
• The authorized user fee is also increasing from $75 to $195
• Introduction of several new credits, such as the:
  • Up to $500 credit at The Edit℠ (minimum 2 night stay)
  • Up to $300 Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables credit
  • Smattering of other credits across Stubhub, Peloton, Apple, and more
• Loss of the 50% boost in value through Chase Travel℠ in favor of something called “Points Boost,” which gives you up to 2 cents per point, but it’s not guaranteed

While some benefits like the up to $300 travel credit are here to stay, a lot about the card is getting reworked.

I Have The Card. When Does My Annual Fee Change?

Notably, if you got the card prior to June 23, 2025, your benefits and annual fee will remain the same until October 25, 2025.

This means that if your card is set to renew in August 2025, you’ll actually keep the same $550 annual fee.

However, if you’re unlucky and your card anniversary date is after October 25, 2025, then your annual fee is adjusted to $795 moving forward.

So, the most important thing to understand is when your card anniversary is. There are a few “rough” buckets all current Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholders fall into right now:

• Bucket 01 – Anniversary date between June 23, 2025 and October 25, 2025 (inclusive): you’re in a lucky spot and will be able to keep the card’s $550 annual fee for more than 1 year. Those with anniversaries in early October get to delay the new annual fee for almost 1.5 years
• Bucket 02 – Anniversary date between October 25, 2025 and December 31, 2025 (inclusive): you’re in an unlucky spot where you’re only going to get a few months between the new card benefits and your annual fee renewal. You will have ~2 months to use the benefits of the new version of the card if you decide to downgrade
• Bucket 03 – Anniversary date between January 01, 2026 and June 22, 2026 (inclusive): you’re in the middle spot where you’re delaying the new annual fee about 6-12 months and you get several months to use the benefits of the new version of the card

I envy those in Bucket 01 as you’re going to be essentially getting the full value of the new card for the price of the old annual fee.

If you’re in Bucket 02, you definitely got the short end of the stick.

Downgrade, Don’t Cancel (In Most Cases)

I always get asked: why should I downgrade, not cancel my card outright?

A few major reasons come to mind:

• While cancelling a card doesn’t necessarily impact your average age of accounts immediately, it will eventually impact your score in ~10 years once it drops off your report
• If the cancelled card is your oldest card, then that will have a significant impact on your credit in ~10 years once it drops off
• By cancelling, you remove credit that contributes toward keeping your credit utilization low, which is a key factor in your credit score

Assuming you can downgrade to a no annual fee card (like a Chase Freedom Unlimited®), there’s very little reason to cancel the card outside of spending discipline issues. However, if you are subject to the temptation that credit card limits offer, I would recommend approaching credit cards cautiously in general!

I Plan On Downgrading The Card; What Should I Do In The Meantime?

If you plan on downgrading, don’t do it now—wait until your annual fee is charged on your cardmember anniversary.

The reason is because you’ll get access to the new Sapphire Reserve credits in the meantime, which essentially means you’d be paying $550 to get access to a $795 annual fee card (this is a good deal)!

So for example, if you’re in Bucket 01 with an Anniversary date between June 23 and October 25, 2025, you’d essentially be able to get the $795 annual fee card for the price of the old card. In using the card’s benefits, you might actually find it to be a worthwhile investment and may even end up keeping the card longer than you expected.

In short: if you’ve already paid for the annual fee and aren’t in Bucket 02 (anniversary date between October 25, 2025 and December 31, 2025), then there’s a pretty strong case for you to keep the card for the time being.

Final Thoughts

So in summary:

• If you currently have a Chase Sapphire Reserve®, wait until your new annual fee appears on your statement. If it is only $550, you’re essentially getting a discount to try out the revamped version whilst locking in the lucrative 50% boost via Chase Travel for another year (until October 26, 2027 at least)
• If your annual fee renews as $795, you’ll need to carefully consider whether or not it’s worth maintaining the card. Depending on your situation, you may find the card worthwhile; in other situations, you may find the new card structure to not be as useful—everyone is different and understanding your card’s benefits is still one of the more important items to think about

Card updates are always very interesting times and it’s always a good idea to try & get a rough sense of what’s going on out there, especially as annual fees near the $1,000 mark.