A bunch of credit cards have been “upgraded” recently and there are more cards rumored to be getting a similar treatment soon. Most of these changes revolve around the annual fee and benefits included with each of the cards. For example, United’s premier “Club” card is going up to $695/year and the access to lounges is reduced without high amounts of spend on the card, as is the number of guests you are allowed with the card, down from two to one.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve, arguably the gold standard in higher end travel cards, announced their fee increase today and a bunch of changes to earning and redeeming points. The fee goes to $795! An authorized user is $195/year. And for that increased fee you essentially get a coupon book of redemptions; Things like a $120/year in Peloton credits, $300 dining credit if you book via OpenTable, $300 in StubHub credit and a complimentary Apple Music and Apple TV+ (but not Apple One) subscription. Those things all sound nice, but are probably only useful for a subset of the population. Earning on direct travel will stay at 3x but only for hotels, airlines, and rental cars. Things like tolls or taxis appears to go to 1x, that’s a big ding for people who traveled a lot via car. They’ve boosted earning when booking via their portal to 8x, but for any kind of complicated flight bookings their tools always choke for me.
Chase also announced that eventually their 1.5x multiplier on points when redeeming via their travel portal will go away and be replaced by “preferred redemptions”. This was a huge reason for me to use the card and earn points on it, I could find the flights I wanted and get a bonus on my points redemption when booking via the Chase portal.
Overall the card changes are targeting a market that I am not part of. They downgraded the Priority Pass features last year and I could see them making some other changes around lounge access in general making it even less compelling for that. The travel insurance stays the same, and honestly, that’s a big feature but I don’t know that it’s worth the price increase when other cards have similar insurance.
It feels like Chase has hit a ceiling with new signups and they are looking for ways to increase revenue, so a higher fee and fewer points outside of their booking channels while making redemptions a little less enticing makes sense. Some of it feels like a joke, a premium card with features like top tier Southwest status and IHG (Hilton Garden Inn) status.
What to do?
I am dumping the United Club card, and for now I’ll likely downgrade the Chase Sapphire Reserve to a Preferred card and if the rumor is true that all cards see the 1.5x bonus for redemption end, I will likely dump Chase altogether.
Where does that leave us? The Venture X is a solid card, but there are rumors it will get a similar treatment to the Chase Sapphire Reserve at some point. They’ve already downgraded lounge access for guests (effective in 2026) so I could see them making more program changes next year. Amex is also rumored to be making big changes to their premium Amex Platinum card next year.
So, what is my plan? I am tempted to just move back to a cashback card with travel insurance. Or one that earns decent points per dollar spent across all categories. What card that is, I don’t know. I love the idea of a card that gives me lounge access but have found myself using lounges a bit less during my travels. If it’s included with my ticket, I’ll use it but I don’t go out of my way to enter a lounge. I have a United Club at my home airport that I have been to once in the last two years. Just this last week I tried to go into the Capitol One lounge in Dulles and it was a thirty minute wait. Instead I got a cup of coffee and walked the terminal and was perfectly content.
What are your thoughts on the announced Sapphire Reserve changes? Are you going to keep it in your wallet? Is there a value proposition I am missing?