Did Chase Fumble the New Sapphire Reserve Card?

The launch of the Chase Sapphire Reserve® nearly a decade ago practically broke the internet: a premium Chase travel card with an unprecedented six-digit welcome bonus that caused such a stampede of applications that the bank briefly ran out of the metal it used to make the card.

Its relaunch this summer – upping to a $795-a-year annual fee with an American Express-like series of money-saving travel credits – hasn't made quite the same splash … and not just in comparison to its 2016 debut, but to the almost-overwhelming praise travelers have heaped on Amex's recently revamped (and even more expensive) flagship card, The Platinum Card® from American Express.

Chase has repeatedly insisted that the summer relaunch of its top travel card has been a smash hit, saying it has seen an uptick in demand for the card. Yet there are several signs that the new-look Reserve Card isn't resonating nearly as well with travelers, including: 

• Just three months after launch, Chase tweaked one of the card's marquee new benefits for luxury hotel stays last week and even added another, one-time $250 sweetener for next year. That kind of quick turnaround is unprecedented for premium travel cards.
• Hoping to recapture the magic from 2016, the card hit the market in June with what Chase called its biggest limited-time bonus ever: 100,000 points, plus an additional $500 travel credit. But less than two months later, the bank changed that to a flat 125,000-point welcome bonus – an even better offer in the eyes of many diehard travelers. Again, that's unusual for a new product launch.
• Asked by investors about the initial response to the new card a few weeks into the rollout, J.P. Morgan Chase Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum responded with a somewhat tepid “Going fine. We're happy,” … while CEO Jamie Dimon interjected: “So far.”

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Chase executives say those recent tweaks are not evidence that their new flagship card is faltering but rather proof that the bank is willing to quickly pivot to make it even better for current and future cardholders. 

“We’re very, very happy with the way that the market has responded to the card. This is a never-ending process,” Sam Palmer, the general manager of Chase Sapphire, said in an interview last week while explaining the bank's change. “We want to make sure that the credits we bring to our clients are easy, and easy to redeem.”

Still, it's undeniable: There's an energy around the Platinum Card's recent updates that remains notably absent for the Reserve Card – at least among the points and miles-obsessed sickos who read (or write) sites like this one.

So what gives? 

Chase Forgot to Boil the Water First

There's an old allegory you've probably heard about the importance of introducing big changes gradually that seems instructive here. Hang with me, because it involves … a frog:

Throw a frog into a pot of scalding water, and it'll jump right out. But put the frog in the pot first, and it won't notice as the water eventually warms to a boil.

American Express has spent the last decade boiling the frog, steadily introducing more credits for travel, dining, and shopping over time to more and more of its travel cards … to the point that most longtime Platinum cardholders celebrated last week's unveiling of an $895-a-year card with more than a dozen different use-them-or-lose-them statement credits.

In its rush to copy pieces of that lucrative playbook with its own premier Sapphire card, Chase forgot to throw the frog in first. While pushing the card's annual fee from $550 a year to $795 this summer, Chase added a slew of benefits – some easier to use than others:

• There's now $500 in credits a year toward luxury hotels and resorts in Chase's “The Edit” portfolio, split into two $250 chunks … that require at least a two-night stay. Just last week, Chase made a significant update to that benefit: instead of being available once in each half of the year, cardholders can use them back-to-back starting in 2026.
• There's also a new $300 dining credit with a similar, twice-a-year structure … but it's currently only eligible at 300-plus restaurants in 25 or so major U.S. cities
• Ditto for a new $300 credit toward tickets on StubHub
• There's still the usual monthly credits of $10 for Lyft and two $10 credits for non-restaurant Doordash orders, plus another $5 off monthly restaurant orders

Read more about all the recent changes to the Sapphire Reserve Card!

At the time, Chase billed those benefits, new and old, as substantial and easy to use – not, as a Chase executive previewing the card changes said (in a not-so-subtle dig at its primary competitor), “12 credits of a small amount.” But even if Chase didn't fully embrace that piecemeal Amex model, it's an open question of whether Chase customers were willing to move that way at all. 

At its core, the average American Express and Chase customer may just be drastically different.

While they may still gripe about the “Extreme Couponing” mentality required to use their cards, American Express has conditioned its customers to expect it – especially the younger Millennials and Gen Zers the bank is increasingly courting. Odds are, they've never known a world without tracking which monthly or quarterly benefit to use next. 

The value proposition for Chase's top Reserve Card was always simpler. A lower annual fee with an incredibly easy-to-use $300 travel credit right off the bat. Second-to-none travel insurance built right into the card. A great card to swipe (almost) everywhere, earning a flat 3x points on all dining and travel purchases.

But now, Chase is clearly borrowing a page from Amex's playbook: forcing cardholders trying to use their benefits into its own ecosystems and branded partnerships with companies like Stubhub and Peloton. So while the bank can tout $2,700-plus in credits, are those hoops Sapphire Reserve cardholders really want to jump through?

A Pair of Painful Cuts

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Amex Platinum Card's recent update was what was lost: nothing. 

While loading up that card with even more credits and perks, American Express didn't remove or even adjust any of its existing benefits. In contrast, Chase made some changes that might have rubbed longtime Reserve cardholders the wrong way. 

• Rather than doling out 3x points per $1 spent on any travel purchase – be it a plane ticket, an Airbnb stay, or Uber ride – the card now earns 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
• It's also sunsetting the flat, 1.5-cent-per-point redemptions Reserve cardholders get when booking any and all travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal in favor of a new “Points Boost” feature to get up to 2 cents apiece, but only on select premium cabin redemptions and luxury hotels

Chase has said the initial response to the expansion of Points Boost has been enormous as the company leans into the ongoing premium travel boom. But for travelers who prized the flexibility to take any cheap flight, hotel, or rental car and make it free using fewer points, there's only downside. 

Bad Timing & Mixed Messaging for Application Rules

Timing is everything in travel credit cards. That's true whether you're trying to open a new one when there's a big bonus or, as it turns out, when you're a bank relaunching a credit card. 

Just months before unveiling the new Reserve Card, the bank rolled out a 100,000-point welcome bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card – matching a record-high bonus on its entry-level travel credit card for the first time in four years. Thousands of travelers rightfully jumped at the opportunity to earn 100,000 of the most valuable points in travel. 

But unknowingly, they also made themselves ineligible to earn a bonus on the pricier Reserve Card. That meant the pool of potential Reserve applicants shrank as a result. Travelers who might have been thrilled to get the Reserve Card were left frustrated instead.

Whether that was inadvertent or intentional, that frustration was compounded by some mixed signals about who might be able to get the card.

The bank initially inspired hope by confirming it would drop its longstanding “one Sapphire card” limit, allowing travelers to open and hold the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the new Chase Sapphire Reserve® simultaneously. Better yet, executives hinted that they'd soften bonus eligibility requirements – including a 48-month window between earning bonuses on both Sapphire Cards. But ahead of the big launch, they didn't share specifics. 

When the revamped card finally hit the market in late June, many travelers jumped at the chance to get the newest premium travel credit card with a 100,000-point bonus only to see the same result: No bonus for you. 

Despite the initial signals, Chase has actually made it harder. While some ironclad policies that blocked would-be applicants from getting the card have fallen away, the bank added additional terms that block even more from earning a bonus … and thus removed a key incentive to get the card at all.

Or maybe they didn't. It's hard to tell, as Chase has remained tight-lipped about their application rules. And that's part of the problem: No one really knows whether they've got a shot at opening the card or not.

Fortunately, Chase rolled out a new pop-up notification system – another Amex move – that warns applicants whether they're eligible for a bonus or not, allowing them to exit the application before proceeding. But alongside stricter bonus restrictions and the Chase Sapphire Preferred promotion just a few months earlier, that meant many prospective cardholders simply moved on. 

What Chase Has Going for It

The premium travel credit card war isn't lost. From the points to the perks, there's a lot to love about the Reserve Card and the broader Ultimate Rewards ecosystem. 

With standout transfer partner options like Hyatt, Chase points remain among the most valuable in the world of travel. While it came at a cost, the introduction of Points Boost redemptions for premium cabin flights and top-rated hotels adds an interesting new option to get even more value.

The Sapphire Reserve Card's $300 annual travel credit is one of the best, most valuable, and easiest-to-use benefits on any travel card, period. Charge any travel expense – a flight, hotel, rental car, excursion, or even parking fee – to your Reserve Card and it'll kick in to wipe up to $300 off your statement each year. Right off the bat, that alone automatically reduces the $795 annual fee to something like $495 a year. 

Chase also puts American Express to shame by giving cardholders a reason to keep reaching for their Reserve Card: Better spending category bonuses than you'll find on most other premium travel cards. While you'll earn just 1x point per $1 spent on the Amex Platinum Card on everything but airfare and some hotels, Chase is much more generous with doling out extra points – especially with 3x points on dining. 

But perhaps Chase's biggest win is in the ongoing airport lounge wars, where Chase has put every bank to shame by rapidly building out a network of eight Sapphire Lounges, with special access for Reserve cardholders. These are beautiful spaces with excellent food and drinks all available at virtually any seat – plus, some special amenities like wellness rooms and shower suites.

At the same time, Amex Centurion Lounges – long regarded as the best in the world – have taken a clear step back due to long lines out the door and declining standards inside.

Bottom Line

Back when Chase first unveiled the new Sapphire Reserve Card, it seemed like a sure winner. Three months later, it feels underwhelming.

While executives say everything's going according to plan, tweaking a marquee benefit and adjusting the welcome bonus within the span of just a few months is unusual. Maybe it's recency bias. Maybe Chase is simply making proactive moves to undercut a competitor. And heck, maybe Chase doesn't actually want the business of points-obsessed travelers who read sites like this one.

But it sure feels like the Platinum Card from American Express has taken the wind out of Chase's sails.