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Banks and credit card companies have pulled out all the stops to keep cardholders happy as travel makes its slow return to normal with new perks, temporary bonuses, and money-saving credits. Now, it's Chase's turn again.
Starting today, Feb. 16, cardholders with either the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve will earn a whopping 10x points per dollar on all takeout and prepaid reservations made through Chase Dining in the Ultimate Rewards portal, Chase confirmed Tuesday. And that will last all the way through June 30, 2021 – but only on up to $500 in spending for a total of 5,000 bonus points.
Still, that's a huge bonus on dining: much more than the 2x you typically earn swiping your Chase Sapphire Preferred card at restaurants – or 3x with the Reserve card. But the big hitch here is that you have to make your purchase directly through Chase Dining, Chase's relatively new dining portal run by Tock.
To get there, just log into your Chase account and navigate to Ultimate Rewards. You'll see the new option to shop through Chase Dining in the menu.
Tock is a fairly popular restaurant reservation platform that only recently launched to-go orders, so some (but certainly not all) of your favorite spots should show up. Depending on where you live, the choices may be quite limited. And if you don't live in a major city, there may be nothing available at all – at least for now.
You can easily tap in your location and see what's available in your area. You can also filter between making a reservation and ordering takeout. Just remember: You have to place your order – or make a prepaid reservation – through Chase. Just swiping your Chase card won't earn you this massive new 10x bonus.
What's great about this new bonus, though, is that it doesn't matter whether you've got the Preferred or top-dollar Reserve Card. Either way, you'll get 10x on these takeout orders or reservations.
Read more: 4 Reasons Why You Should Get the Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Reserve
This is just the latest addition Chase has made to its to keep travelers happy during this downtime. Last spring, Chase launched the brand new Pay Yourself Back feature, allowing travelers to use their points to cover everyday expenses like groceries, dining, and home improvement. It even works at some Target stores! That perk is set to lapse at the end of April 2021, but all signs suggest Chase will make it a permanent benefit.
There's a new credit to use at Peloton on Sapphire cards too, with up to $60 available on the Preferred Card and double that on the Reserve. You can even earn 2x or 3x when buying groceries through April 2021 on your Preferred or Reserve card, respectively.
Meanwhile, the bank has loosened the strings on the Reserve card's annual $300 travel credit, allowing it to be used for gasoline and grocery purchases. And finally, they've even extended a $100 discount on its annual fee for renewing cardholders through at least March 2021.
Bottom Line
Chase is clearly trying to drum up some attention to the new Chase Dining feature and give cardholders another reason to keep using their Sapphire cards.
While it's a bummer that this new Chase Sapphire dining bonus isn't easier to maximize every time you dine, it's absolutely worth checking out to see what you can find. A 10x bonus through June on your takeout orders is tough to beat.
They are foolish to limit this only to their platform.
Chase has grossly underperformed trying to pivot their premium cards relative to American Express since COVID started. Limited time grocery and gas perks, a Peloton credit (what?), all while boosting earn on their free cards, plus adding the insulting 5x points on Ultimate Reward travel bookings on them (something not even offered on Sapphire).
Conversely, my Amex Bonvoy Brilliant has given me 3.99% APR for several months, multiple $50-100 statement credits for shopping small, spending $1000, dining out, and most recently, $20 back on $20 minimum spent on dining/delivery once a month through 2021.
If Chase thinks the Sapphire is still competitive over the last year, especially at $550, they are grossly out of touch. I don’t know I can justify keeping this card open again- not at that annual fee.
You’re not wrong. We’ve been talking a lot as a team about how much Amex has outpaced Chase in doing more to keep cardmembers happy.
As an aside, be sure to check for a retention offer when your Reserve comes due. https://thriftytraveler.com/news/credit-card/chase-sapphire-reserve-retention-offer/