Chase Sapphire with Ultimate Rewards no longer takes new clients, but current cardholders can still use the card as before.
Chase currently offers a Ultimate Rewards card in two versions:
- Sapphire Preferred ($95 annual fee)
- Sapphire Reserve ($450 annual fee)
You can compare the three Chase Ultimate Rewards cards offer in the table below to see which one is best for you.
CHASE SAPPHIRE COMPARISON CHART
| FEATURES | REG | PREFERRED | RESERVE |
| Type | VISA | VISA | VISA |
| Grace period | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| Annual Fee | $0 | $95 | $450 |
| Balance Transfer Fee | n/a | 5% | 5% |
| Cash Advance Fee | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| Foreign Transaction Fee | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| APR Intro | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| APR Balance | 17.49%- 24.49% | 17.49%- 24.49% | 17.49%- 24.49% |
| APR Cash Advances | 26.49% | 26.49% | 26.49% |
| REWARDS | |||
| Base purchase rewards | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Dining (see notes) | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| Travel (see notes) | 1% | 2% | 3% |
| Annual bonus | no | no | 50% UR |
| Minimum amount to redeem | none | none | none |
| Redeem at UR portal | 100 => 100 | 100 => 125 | 100 => 150 |
| Redeem at ChasePay | 100 => 80 | 100 => 80 | 100 => 80 |
| Redeem at Amazon | 100 => 80 | 100 => 80 | 100 => 80 |
| PURCHASE SECURITY | |||
| Fraud Protection | yes | yes | yes |
| Purchase Protection | $500 per claim | $500 per claim | $10K per claim |
| Price Protection | discontinued | discontinued | discontinued |
| Return Protection | discontinued | discontinued | discontinued |
| Warranty extension | 1 yr max | 2 yr max | 3 yr max |
| Free FICO score | yes | yes | yes |
| Blueprint Financial Tool | yes | yes | yes |
| Apple Pay | yes | yes | yes |
| Mobile App | yes | yes | yes |
| Visa Signature Concierge | yes | yes | yes |
| Add authorized user fee | $0 | $0 | $75 |
| Shop through Chase | yes | yes | yes |
| Credits – travel | no | no | $300 |
| Credits – global entry | no | no | yes |
| Credits – travel | no | no | $300 |
| Points transfer | no | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 |
| Lounge access | n/a | n/a | Priority select |
| INTRO (ONE TIME ONLY) | |||
| Bonus points ($4000 spend/3 months) | n/a | $500 | $500 |
| Bonus points (authorized user) | n/a | $50 | |
| INSURANCE | |||
| Auto rental collision | yes | yes | yes |
| Trip cancellation | up to $5K | up to $10K | up to $10K |
| Trip Interruption | $500/12 hrs | $500/12 hrs | $500/6 hrs |
| Baggage delay | yes | $100 day/ 5 days | $100 day/ 5 days |
| Lost baggage | $3K per person | $3K per person | $3K per person |
| Roadside assistance | fee | fee | 4 times |
| Travel accident death | $500K | $500K | $1M |
NOTES
DINING REWARDS
The restaurant category for extra reward points is broader than is generally believed, since it includes fast-food places, coffee shops, bars, as well as fine dining ones.
However Chase writes, “Please note that merchants that sell food and drinks located within larger merchants such as sports stadiums, hotels and casinos, theme parks, grocery and department stores will not be included in this category unless the merchant has set up such purchases to be classified in a restaurant category.”
So buying a coffee from Starbucks in a grocery store may not get points, but a purchase in a free-standing shop will.
TRAVEL REWARDS
Although bonus rewards for travel aren’t applicable for the no-fee Chase Sapphire card, they could add up quickly in certain metropolitan areas such as New York City or Los Angeles.
Besides airline tickets and hotels, the travel category includes tolls and parking which can quickly add up in Manhattan, where the average monthly garage bill is about $400 or almost $5,000 per year, and the George Washington Bridge toll is $15 or up to $3800 per year.
Earning 2% on $7,800 nets $156, or more than the $95 annual fee on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
REWARD POINTS NEVER EXPIRE, BUT…
Under certain conditions Chase will take all your hard-earned points away.
Your points don’t expire as long as your account is open, however, you’ll immediately lose all your points if your account status changes, or your account is closed, for any of the following reasons:
- You don’t make the minimum payment on your account within 60 days of the due date
- You fail to comply with this or other agreements you have with Chase
- We believe you may be unwilling or unable to pay your debts on time
- You file for bankruptcy
- We believe that you’ve engaged in fraudulent activity related to your account or the program
- We believe that you’ve misused the program in any way, for example:by buying or selling points
- By moving or transferring points to an ineligible third party or account
- By repeatedly opening or otherwise maintaining credit card accounts for the purpose of generating rewards
In other words deadbeats and people who churn accounts at Chase will be unceremoniously booted out of the program.
Since the original Chase Sapphire cardholders can still use their cards Ultimate Rewards card, the choice on whether to upgrade to the premium versions depends on whether paying annual dues makes or breaks the deal.