If you are ready to up your game to get even more benefits from a premium reward travel card, you need to consider the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card!
We always say that the best kinds of points are the ones that are flexible and can be transferred to whatever hotel or airline is the best fit for your trip. Our absolute favorite points are Chase’s travel points called Ultimate Rewards® points, so it’s the perfect time to grab this card! The points can be transferred to travel partners like World of Hyatt, Southwest, United, Marriott, Air France, and more, allowing you to get great value out of your points AND have flexibility in your trip planning.
There are a variety of Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards® points, but one you really need to consider is the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card. This card can be valuable for so many reasons! It is a premium card with a higher annual fee, BUT that fee more than pays for itself! Keep on reading to see all this card has to offer.
The Signup Bonus:
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card bonus will earn you that substantial amount of Ultimate Reward points after meeting the minimum spend in the set time-frame. Basically, you apply for the card, meet the spend, then those points are deposited in your account and you can transfer them to a hotel or airline to get a steeply discounted vacation.
And GREAT NEWS – as of this past year, you can now hold BOTH the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card! So if you already hold the starter version of this card, opening the premium version is a great way to build your stockpile of these always-valuable points.
Transfer Partners
Once you have earned the points, there are a couple of ways to use them. We typically recommend transferring our points to travel partners. When you transfer flexible rewards points to a travel partner, you are essentially turning those points into brand-specific points. We have found that the deals are usually better when using your points with the actual airline or hotel brand verses redeeming your bank points in the travel portal.
To transfer to a travel partner, you will first want to have an account with the travel partner (Southwest Rapid Rewards account, World of Hyatt account, etc.) Make sure the name on the travel partner matches the exact name listed on your credit card bank account. Also, I would recommend checking the dates/hotel/airline etc. for availability before getting ready to transfer your points.
Transfer partners include: Aer Lingus Aer Club, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, British Airways Executive Club, Emirates Skyward, Iberia Plus, JetBlue, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards, United Airlines Mileage Plus, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, and World of Hyatt.
Benefits Beyond points:
We know that earning points to travel is one of the best benefits of holding the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card. But, what sets this card a part is the value of all the “extras” that come with it. The credits and benefits are just so good and can give you up to $2,700 in value that very much offsets the steep annual fee!
Credits and Benefits
- 8x points on all Chase Travel℠ portal purchases
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
- 3x points on dining worldwide
- $300 annual travel credit
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® credit (Up to $120 every 4 years)
- Access to Chase Sapphire Lounges, Priority Pass Select, and some Air Canada lounges (+2 guests)
- Travel and Rental Car Insurance
- $300 annual dining credit ($150 bi-annually) at Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables, available for booking on OpenTable
- $500 annual hotel credit at The Edit by Chase Travel (a new collection of hotels and resorts)
- $250 bi-annually
- Points Boost: Redeem points for up to 2X value on premium travel in the Chase Travel portal.
- IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite Status
- $300 in DoorDash promos+Dash Pass membership
- $120 in annual Lyft credits ($10 monthly)
- $300 annual Stubhub and Viagogo credit ($150 bi-annualy)
- $120 in annual statement credits toward Peloton memberships
- $250 annual value through complimentary subscriptions to Apple TV+ and Apple Music
Extras for This Year Only in 2026!
- One-time ADDITIONAL $250 hotel credit on select hotels.
- Useable for 2+ night stays booked via Chase Travel℠ (IHG Hotels & Resorts, Minor Hotels, Montage Hotels and Resorts, Omni Hotels & Resorts, Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts, Pendry Hotels & Resorts, and Virgin Hotels)
- Through May 12, 2026, cardholders can receive a one-time $359 statement credit on Whoop Life annual membership
- Activate via Chase Offers before purchasing directly from Whoop.
You can definitely see why this premium card can be more than worth that higher annual fee. Don’t let those high annual fees scare you. The value you can receive from all of the added credits and benefits is worth sooooo much more than the annual fee. This doesn’t even account for all the money saved by all the points you can earn from the sign-up bonus on the card and the points you can get from using this card!
If you’re thinking about trying out a premium travel card or you are looking for a way to rack up more Ultimate Rewards points from Chase, this would be the PERFECT time to grab the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card!
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