There’s been a lot of chatter recently regarding the rumored new Chase Sapphire Reserve. And with good reason! Chase Ultimate Rewards are the best points program around. It offers outstanding flexibility and value, especially if you’re willing to do your homework. So, the prospect of a new, high-earning Ultimate Rewards card is tantalizing. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is already an excellent card, so we can only imagine what the new Chase Sapphire Reserve will be like. Ok, so you don’t really have to imagine. There’s a ton of rumors circulating regarding this card. But, rumors are rumors and they should always be taken with a grain of salt. That being said, this is what we “know” about the Reserve so far:
- 100,000 Ultimate Rewards signup bonus
- $450 annual fee
- $300 annual airline credit
- Priority Pass Select
- 3x points on dining
- 3x points on travel
- Visa Infinite
Already new Chase Sapphire Reserve promises to be more lucrative than the American Express Platinum Card. That is, provided the rumors are true. What isn’t yet clear, however, is how the Sapphire Reserve will compare to the Citi Prestige. Yes, Ultimate Rewards are better than ThankYou Rewards, for now. But card’s other features are quite different:
- 40,000 ThankYou Rewards signup bonus
- $450 annual fee
- $250 annual airline credit
- Priority Pass Select with 2 free guests
- 3x points on air & hotel travel
- 2x points on dining & entertainment
- $100 Global Entry fee reimbursement once every 5 years
- Complimentary 4th night free (when using Citi for booking)
Of course we don’t know what the Sapphire Reserve’s other benefits will be. I’m guessing it’ll offer primary rental collision coverage as does the Sapphire Preferred does today. The specific benefits being offered by Chase’s version of Priority Pass Select aren’t known yet. Other ancillary benefits of the Sapphire Reserve, such as special memberships and benefits like upgrades, extended stays, etc. also remain a mystery.
Another thing I’ve been wondering is what will happen to the signup bonuses of both the Sapphire Reserve and Preferred. 100,000 points is a REALLY generous offer, and one which can’t last. The Sapphire Preferred, on the other hand, has a current signup offer of 50,000 points for $4,000 in spend in 90 days. The Citi Prestige offers 40,000 points for the same spend, while the Amex Platinum also offers 40,000 points for $3,000 in spend. So, it would seem to me that the Sapphire Preferred signup bonus will either decrease or go away completely. The Citi Premier, as a point of reference, doesn’t have any signup bonus.
As far as network branding goes, Visa Infinite is a first for a U.S. card. When you visit Visa’s website, the U.S. isn’t even an option on the Infinite page. From what I gather, the Visa Infinite is really similar to Visa Signature. Yeah, it sounds higher end, but guess what? There are cards a close as Canada which have Visa Infinite branding and charge an annual fee of just around $70/year. Chase probably wanted to differentiate the Sapphire Preferred, though, and sought a different brand. While the World Elite MasterCard brand would probably be a good match, Chase has an exclusive agreement with Visa whereby the lease Visa’s network. This agreement means Chase can use Visa’s network at a fixed cost, reducing their expense. Hence the Visa Infinite brand.
I don’t know about you, but the suspense is kind of killing me. Luckily, we won’t have to wait long to find out all the details on the new Chase Sapphire Reserve. The card is purportedly dropping on August 21, just 18 days away!