Chase Unveils Major Changes to Its Popular Sapphire Reserve Card

While we have known for a while that Chase was planning big changes to its popular Sapphire Reserve card, we now know exactly what is coming. While I have seen multiple takes across the blogosphere, I’m not as excited about these as much as others, though there is still value in the card.

Major Changes are Coming to the Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card has been on the market for almost ten years and the card has come a long way since it was first introduced. While I was hopeful about these changes, and the upcoming changes to the American Express Platinum Card, it seems like Chase is content to continue adding to the coupon book while raising the annual fee. Keep reading to see what all will change for Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders on October 26, 2025.

Chase is Raising the Annual Fee of the Sapphire Reserve to $795

While this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, the most glaring change to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card comes in the form of a higher annual fee. Currently the card has a $550 annual fee but that will jump to a whopping $795 per year.

Due to the popularity of these cards for lounge access and other travel perks, we’ve seen annual fees increase rapidly over the last few years (The Chase Sapphire Reserve was introduced with an annual fee of $450). The American Express Platinum was atop the annual fee mountain among premium travel cards with a $695 yearly fee prior to this announcement from Chase.

Authorized User Fees Increase From $75 to $195

The most major blow to the card from my perspective is the massive increase in the annual user fee. At $75 this was a good value proposition but now, with it moving to $195, people may have to think twice about who to add to their accounts.

Ultimately, this brings the Chase Sapphire Reserve in line with the American Express Platinum and doesn’t come as much of a surprise. The Capital One Venture X also added an authorized user fee earlier this month. This should hopefully help with crowding in the lounges, something card issuers have struggled with in recent years.

Changes to Points Earnings

Under the current version of the card, points earnings are as follows:

• 10x points on hotels and rental cars when booked through Chase Travel
• 5x points on Lyft rides
• 3x points on all other travel purchases (including flights booked through Chase Travel
• 3x points on dining
• 1x points on all other purchases.

These earning categories are changing under the new Sapphire Reserve and it’s really a mixed bag. Depending on how you travel you’ll either be happy or upset with these changes. Ultimately, the revamped Chase Sapphire Reserve will earn points as follows:

• 8x points on all bookings through Chase Travel (including airfare)
• 5x points on Lyft rides
• 4x points on flights and hotels when booking direct
• 3x points on dining
• 1x points on all other purchases

While less than the 5x offered on direct airfare from the American Express Platinum, the boost to 4x across flights and hotels is an improvement for sure. If you like booking through the Chase Travel portal, you’re losing a bit here. I personally prefer to book direct so I see this change as a win.

The Coupon Book Expands

My biggest complaint about the current landscape of premium travel cards is the fact that, in order to maximize value, you have to treat the cards like a coupon book. With upcoming changes from Chase and American Express, I was hopeful we would see some of these rolled back.

Chase has decided to move forward and offset the annual fee increase with a slew of new perks. Some of these will be more beneficial than others obviously but, the major changes are below:

• $500 Credit for stays with The Edit for Chase Sapphire Reserve ($250 semi-annually)
• $300 annual dining credit for bookings through Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables powered by OpenTable ($150 semi-annually)
• $300 annual DoorDash Credit ($25 per month) and a year of DashPass
• $300 in annual statement credits on concert and event tickets purchased on StubHub and viagogo ($150 semi-annually)
• $120 in annual statement credits towards Peloton memberships
• Complimentary Apple Music and Apple TV+ subscriptions

Overall, the items listed above are being added to the card in an effort to offset the increase in the annual fee. For me, these are a mixed bag (but I don’t speak for everyone) as I don’t use DoorDash and rarely, if ever, book through a service like OpenTable.

However, even though I’m primarily a Marriott guy, I always like exploring new properties and could get use out of The Edit credit, especially considering it provides benefits like a $100 property credit, daily breakfast for 2, a room upgrade (if available) and more.

The $300 annual travel credit and other existing perks will also continue with the new card.

Points Boost Replaces 1.5 cent Redemptions Through Chase Travel

With the changes to the Sapphire Reserve, Chase is also overhauling how points are redeemed for bookings through Chase Travel. Currently, Chase allows cardmembers to redeem points for 1.5 cents each. However, moving forward, Chase is introducing Points Boost when booking.

With Points Boost points are worth up to 2 cents per point on select hotel bookings (including all of The Edit properties) and airfare. According to Chase, to utilize Points Boost, follow these steps:

• Login to the Chase Travel portal and enter your travel dates to begin searching
• Locate “Points Boost” options in your search results
• Add the hotel or flight to your cart to see the maximizer being used.

Personally, I prefer to transfer points to airline partners in order to book flights directly with them, but this could be a helpful change if the boosted options meet your needs. However, I feel that the boosted options will only be available on lower demand dates, routes, and locations.

Additional Perks when Spending more than $75,000 Annually

For cardholders that spend more than $75,000 annually on their Chase Sapphire Reserve, there is a special list of additional perks. While I don’t find these to be lucrative in and of themselves, there could be value here if you’re approaching the spend threshold and looking to determine where to place card spend.

After spending $75,000 in a calendar year, cardmembers will recieve:

• IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite status
• A $500 Southwest Airlines Credit through Chase Travel
• Southwest A-List status
• $250 in statement credits on purchases through The Shops at Chase

While this wouldn’t be enough for me to go out of my way to spend $75,000 on the card, it is a decent perk for those spending $75,000 or more annually.

My Thoughts

While there are a few changes to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card that surprised me. First of all, the massive increases in the annual fee and authorized user cost can’t be understated. The increase alone could be enough to make people reconsider keeping this card.

However, once we dig into the changes, it appears to me that Chase has done enough to offset the cost. Personally I could see myself getting full value from the $300 travel credit and the $500 The Edit hotels credit which covers the cost of the card. Other items like the Lyft and DoorDash credits would require me to consciously move business from Uber and Uber Eats which isn’t a huge deal but I likely wouldn’t get the full value from many of the credits.

Ultimately, I believe that these changes will push cardmembers who were considering cancelling out the door. Otherwise, I believe that the changes aren’t drastic enough to push many folks away given the changes that we’ve seen, especially if you can maximize the credits.

Summary

Chase announced major changes to its popular Sapphire Reserve Card today which will go into effect later this year. While I’d say the changes are a mixed bag, the sharp increase in the annual fee will likely stick out the most to customers. However, the company hopes that the fee increase can be offset by additional cardmember perks.