Some Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholders say Chase is offering statement credits of up to $400 to convince them not to cancel their cards – a striking move just months after the card’s annual fee jumped from $550 to annual_fees.

The reports, first flagged by Danny Deal Guru and backed up by multiple Reddit threads, suggest that cardholders who call Chase to cancel – or even ask what options are available – may be offered $100, $300, or even $400 statement credits, often with no spending requirement attached.

But before you pick up the phone expecting an easy win, there’s an important caveat: these offers are far from universal.

Here's what you need to know.

 

The Data Points are All Over the Map

Across multiple Reddit threads, Sapphire Reserve cardholders report wildly different outcomes. Some say Chase offered a $400 statement credit immediately, others were offered $300 or $100, and many – including longtime cardholders and heavy spenders – report being offered nothing at all.

What’s especially notable is who is getting these offers. Several successful datapoints came from cardholders who have held the Sapphire Reserve since its launch in 2016 and spend $50,000 to $75,000 or more per year on the card. But those profiles are far from the rule.

In one recent datapoint, a cardholder who opened their Sapphire Reserve in 2022 and spends under $10,000 a year was offered a $400 statement credit after calling to ask whether any retention offers were available. In this case, the higher annual fee had already been charged before they made the call.

At the same time, multiple cardholders spending well over $75,000 a year – including Chase Private Client customers and long-tenured Reserve cardholders – report being offered nothing, even after calling more than once.

The takeaway is clear: there’s no obvious formula determining who gets a retention offer … or how generous it might be.

Related Reading: Get More Out of Renewing Your Credit Cards with Retention Offers

 

What Seems to Matter (and What Doesn’t)

Based on dozens of datapoints, a few patterns stand out – and several popular assumptions don’t.

The most consistent theme is timing. Many of the successful calls occurred after the annual fee was posted, but while cardholders were still within the 30-day window in which Chase would refund the fee if they canceled or downgraded.

There’s also strong evidence that these offers are account-specific, rather than being negotiated on the fly. Multiple Chase representatives told cardholders that they could only see “what’s available on your account,” suggesting that Chase’s internal systems generate retention credits and that they're not unlocked by a specific script.

What doesn’t appear to guarantee anything is just as important. High annual spend, long tenure, hitting Chase’s new $75,000 spend threshold to unlock additional benefits, politely threatening to cancel, or mentioning the Amex Platinum all produced wildly different results.

In short, you can do everything “right” and still come up empty-handed in getting a retention offer. 

 

A Pattern Is Emerging

A $400 retention offer doesn’t automatically mean the Sapphire Reserve refresh is failing, but it does fit an increasingly familiar pattern.

Since relaunching the card in June – with a much higher annual_fees annual fee and a slate of new, use-them-or-lose-them credits – Chase has made a series of unusually fast adjustments.

It began with the bank revising its welcome bonus structure just months after its launch (and arguably making it better). The bank also made a tweak to how one of the card's flagship credits will work. And just last week, Chase quietly walked back one of the card’s biggest selling points: its promise of 2-cent-per-point redemptions at luxury “The Edit” hotels. This benefit was originally marketed as a fixed-value redemption, but it was later switched to a variable, “up to 2x” model without clear notification to cardholders.

Layer that on top of big retention offer credits quietly surfacing for some cardholders, and it’s hard not to see a bank that's still recalibrating how this new version of the Sapphire Reserve is landing.

 

Should You Call Chase?

If your annual fee has already posted – or is about to – there’s little downside to calling the number on the back of your Reserve card and asking what’s available.

Importantly, you don’t need to be dead-set on canceling. Several cardholders report receiving retention offers simply by calling and asking whether any offers are available on their account, given the higher annual fee.

A few practical takeaways from real-world datapoints:

  • Calling after the annual fee posts appears to improve your odds
  • If nothing is available, you can hang up, try again later, or keep the card as-is
  • Some cardholders report different results on repeat calls, while others do not

Just don’t assume you’ll get anything at all. Many cardholders won’t.

 

Bottom Line

Some (but certainly not all) Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholders are getting $400 retention offers for agreeing to keep their cards open for another year. Amid a rocky rollout, rapid benefit changes, and a recent Points Boost backtrack, these retention offers contribute to the sense that Chase’s major Sapphire Reserve refresh isn’t the slam dunk the bank had hoped it would be.

If your annual fee is coming due and you’re on the fence, it’s probably worth a call. Just don’t be surprised if Chase says no – or if the answer changes depending on when you ask.