The Extra Mile, Aug. 31: Revisiting an $800 Annual Fee, United CEO’s Bluster & More

💳 I Was Ready to Close My Sapphire Reserve … Then I Did the Math

Back in May, I was all but certain I’d downgrade my Chase Sapphire Reserve® the moment my annual fee came due in November.

A few things had soured me on it. The card’s new hotel credit for The Edit by Chase Travel℠ was locked into two rigid six-month windows and required a minimum two-night stay to use. My existing Apple One subscription didn’t qualify for the card’s Apple Music/Apple TV+ credit, and Hyatt’s brutal May devaluation made me question whether transferring points from Chase to Hyatt was even worth caring about anymore.

Then Chase quietly started making small but meaningful fixes to the Reserve.

The Edit credit dropped its calendar split, so both $250 credits can now be used any time during the year. The Apple credit was extended to cover Apple One subscribers. And once Chase slashed the Sapphire Preferred’s Hyatt transfer ratio down to 4:3, the Reserve’s 1:1 rate mattered again, regardless of what Hyatt’s own devaluation had done.

So instead of relying on a gut feeling (or Chase’s own marketing, which touts more than $3,000 in “value” on the Reserve), I ran my actual usage through our Credit Card Benefit Tracker. Here’s what I found:

• The $300 annual travel credit on the Reserve remains one of the best card benefits on the market, period. It’s an automatic reimbursement of up to $300 on any travel spending you do every year. That alone drops my effective fee to $495.
• My Apple One subscription now qualifies for $192 a year in Apple Music/TV+ credits – and once I set it up, I don’t have to think about it each month.
• The Peloton credit knocks $10 a month off a membership I already had – that’s another $120 a year.
• The StubHub credit (up to $300, split into two semi-annual windows) lines up with concerts and games I’m already buying tickets for.
• Even the dining credit – which I’d call average at best with only three restaurants on the list where I live – got me $150 in real use, from a New York City trip where the eligible restaurant list is much deeper.

Add it up, and I’d already cleared my $795 annual fee before touching my second Edit credit, a Sapphire Lounge, or a single travel protection claim.

The bigger shift, though, is what this taught me about how I evaluate cards now: almost none of that value required me to change my spending habits to capture it.

The moment a benefit demands me to drastically change my behavior, my interest drops fast. As 2026 has played out, I’m finding that the Reserve increasingly doesn’t ask that of me.

Read my full story here!

– Nick Serati, Thrifty Traveler co-founder

🤝 Deal of the Day: Mexico from 11K Pts. Roundtrip (Book ASAP!)

Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥🔥🔥

Why we love it: Jump on this sale on Southwest flights to Cabo, Cancún, or Puerto Vallarta before this sale ends tonight at midnight!

Use your Southwest Rapid Rewards points (or Chase/Bilt points that transfer there) to book from dozens of U.S. cities down to Mexico this November and December.

Sign up now to get all the details on this deal & don’t miss the next flight deal alert.

Already a member? Log in to see all your deals. (Not seeing it? Remove your airport filters to see every deal.)

– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst

🥸 United’s CEO Wants to Own O’Hare … & US Airlines

We’re back with another installment of everybody’s (least) favorite game: “Translate That Airline CEO!” And for once, we’re not translating Delta CEO Ed Bastian’s jargon.

No, it’s United CEO Scott Kirby’s turn in the hot seat.

Kirby deserves some serious flowers for charting United’s post-pandemic turnaround, putting the Chicago-based airline back in the conversation with Delta. But he’s also got a track record of saying things that we’d call “bold” at best … and “outlandish” or even “reckless” at worst.

A mega-merger with American Airlines? Or maybe Delta instead? Done and done. Comparing United with Emirates? Yep. Calling his carrier “the best airline in the history of aviation” … with a straight face? Uh-huh, that too.

But the worst of the worst has to be his constant bullying of American Airlines – his former employer, no less. He did it again last week during an address at Crain’s Chicago Business’ Power Breakfast, repeating his claim that American is losing north of $1 billion a year at Chicago-O’Hare (ORD), that his competitor is running on borrowed time (and money), and – most troublingly – that consumers would be better off if American abandoned Chicago.

Here’s a snippet from Kirby:

“In the 12 months into Q1, American lost $1.1 billion in Chicago … That number is going to be bigger for the full year because that’s before their growth push started and before oil prices went up. You can’t do that in the long run, but you can do it in the short term.”

Translation: Kirby is being disingenuous in order to make his point. And he knows it.

Of course, Kirby is absolutely right that whatever American was losing in Chicago has worsened as jet fuel prices have soared. And he’s right that losing $1.1 billion a year would be unsustainable. But there’s no way that figure is correct.

One Mile at a Time did some back-of-the-napkin math and found that the $1.1 billion adds up … if you don’t factor in credit card revenue or ancillary fees. That’s like calling me a millionaire … in Vietnamese dong (1 million VND = $38 USD).

American doesn’t publish this kind of data – no airline does – so Kirby is twisting the numbers to make his case. And American has insisted it’s not shrinking away from the fight in Chicago.

But Kirby keeps saying it anyway, because that’s what he wants:

“(United’s presence in) Chicago should be bigger, but United needs to be at 1,000 flights a day to make that happen.”

Translation: And if I had wheels, I’d be a wagon.

Of course United wants to be bigger in Chicago. It’d probably say the same of San Francisco (SFO), Denver (DEN), Houston-Intercontinental (IAH), and everywhere else!

But 1,000 departures a day would be darn near close to double United’s current operations in Chicago. In order for that to happen, American Airlines would have to shrink to free up the gates.

Hence all the “American is hemorrhaging money, American will leave Chicago” talk. And Kirby offered this up:

“I have a list of 15 new long-haul international destinations.”

Translation: You can almost hear the inner mobster in Kirby’s sentiment here.

“Help me off my competitor and I’ll reward you.”

OK, maybe that’s a bit much. But Kirby went onto suggest that while sure, cheaper fares from Chicago are nice for travelers – essentially admitting that fares would rise with American out of the picture – what business leaders really want is more nonstop flights to more destinations.

And United would give that to them, Kirby said – again, only if American is gone.

So maybe it’s less of a mob boss than a Scooby Doo villain: “I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddling American Airlines…”

I don’t mind Kirby trolling his former employer after American bounced him. We’re all human.

And I don’t begrudge him for pushing for what’s best for United. That’s his job. Dominating Chicago – the third-largest city in the country – would be a massive windfall for United.

But painting his vision of turning Chicago into a one-airline hub as if it would be a win for consumers is too far. Much like his proposals to merge with either American or Delta, it would be a disaster for consumers, plain and simple.

Like I said, Kirby deserves enormous credit for turning United around and bringing it back to the top (or near) the airline industry.

That doesn’t mean we need to entertain his vision of monopolizing the skies.

– Kyle Potter, executive editor

🎙️ On the Pod: Travel Card Fantasy Draft

🏈 It’s fantasy football draft season, so the guys set out to build the perfect five-card roster of travel rewards credit cards. What cards were drafted as “everyday earners” and which ones crept into the coveted “premium card” category? Tune in to find out. And don’t forget to vote for a winner!

Watch it now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

📲 From the Thrifty Traveler Company Slack

Kyle was none too pleased with the scouting report I gave Nick ahead of last week’s credit card draft on the TT podcast. Somehow, that wasn’t even my last strike for the day …

Vote for the winner here!

– Jackson Newman, senior editor

🍻 Minneapolis: Join Us for a First Class Happy Hour!

Mark your calendars, and join the Thrifty Traveler team on Thursday, September 24, from 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. at Utepils Brewing in Minneapolis for our First Class Happy Hour!

Get your tickets for a casual evening where travelers can connect, swap stories, and have some fun!

We’ll have drinks, travel-themed games and giveaways, plenty of travel talk, and a live Q&A with members of our team! Bring your questions and get to know the people behind Thrifty Traveler!

And because no happy hour is complete without one, your first drink is included with your ticket. Cheers to that!

Whether you live nearby or are making the trip to Minneapolis, we hope you’ll join us for a fun evening with fellow travelers!

🥳 Premium members, check your inboxes for a special promo code! 

Get Your Tickets Here

– Kat Erdahl, community marketing manager

✈️ Other Travel Tidbits

• 🤑 Capital One Shopping’s big money-maker: Get $80 in rewards just for installing a browser extension!
• 🏈 Earn SkyMiles with every Seattle Seahawks passing yard – Delta’s 12Status for Washington residents is back for another year. (Delta)
• 🧹 American Airlines wants to up its onboard cleanliness. (OMAAT)
• 🇨🇴 U.S. Bank added Avianca LifeMiles as its latest transfer partner. (Frequent Miler)
• 🔑 SkyMiles have become key to booking Australia & New Zealand flights with points and miles.
• 🐳 Qantas is accelerating its plans to retire its fleet of Airbus A380s. (Qantas)