For the Travel Hackers: ABD Charge on Sapphire Reserve

[BluesTraveler]

I just called. We already have the Chase Sapphire card, so if we switched to Chase Sapphire Reserve, we are not eligible for the 100,000 points. That's only for new cardholders. Bummer.

 

[tgeorge]

Well, I just got Instantly approved for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card! 100,000 points, come to me! (Wish I'd had them when I booked my flight to China, but, oh, well, I'm SURE I'll get use out of them!!! )

Thanks all!

Sayhello

Oh, you'll put them to good use, I'm sure of it

 

[tgeorge]

I just called. We already have the Chase Sapphire card, so if we switched to Chase Sapphire Reserve, we are not eligible for the 100,000 points. That's only for new cardholders. Bummer.

Yeah, I have one too. I had to apply for the Reserve Card. I ended up having to call since I already have three cards with Chase. They let me cancel the Sapphire card and used that credit limit for the Reserve Card. Maybe an option for you, if you would choose to go that route.

 

[acndis]

Well, I just got Instantly approved for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card! 100,000 points, come to me! (Wish I'd had them when I booked my flight to China, but, oh, well, I'm SURE I'll get use out of them!!! )

Thanks all!

Sayhello

Another Travel Hacker is born! Welcome, SayHello! Now, you will just have to think of another trip to use those 100,000 points!

 

[acndis]

I just called. We already have the Chase Sapphire card, so if we switched to Chase Sapphire Reserve, we are not eligible for the 100,000 points. That's only for new cardholders. Bummer.

Grifdog,

We had to call, too. Just make a separate application to the Chase Reserve. If you are not instantly approved, call them. We also moved our credit limit on another card to this one. We will cancel our other non-Reserve Sapphire once I am sure we can retain the points we have on that one, etc.

My husband has 5 Chase cards (Disney, Regular Sapphire, British Airways, Marriott, United Club) and I have 3 (Freedom, Hyatt, Fairmont) so they had originally denied him but once he called and moved the credit line, all was well!

 

[tgeorge]

Grifdog,

We had to call, too. Just make a separate application to the Chase Reserve. If you are not instantly approved, call them. We also moved our credit limit on another card to this one. We will cancel our other non-Reserve Sapphire once I am sure we can retain the points we have on that one, etc.

My husband has 5 Chase cards (Disney, Regular Sapphire, British Airways, Marriott, United Club) and I have 3 (Freedom, Hyatt, Fairmont) so they had originally denied him but once he called and moved the credit line, all was well!

I

Grifdog,

We had to call, too. Just make a separate application to the Chase Reserve. If you are not instantly approved, call them. We also moved our credit limit on another card to this one. We will cancel our other non-Reserve Sapphire once I am sure we can retain the points we have on that one, etc.

My husband has 5 Chase cards (Disney, Regular Sapphire, British Airways, Marriott, United Club) and I have 3 (Freedom, Hyatt, Fairmont) so they had originally denied him but once he called and moved the credit line, all was well!

I think you posted on another thread about having to call and move some things around,so thanks for the heads up! I probably wouldn't have thought of it otherwise,but it definitely helped.

I went ahead and transferred my points to my United Mileage Plus account before, just to make sure

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I have been trying to resist the lure of the CSR. I'm not a fan of the $450.00 annual fee -- I only have the Hyatt Visa and the annual fee is $75.00 but I get a free night a cat. 4 hotel every year so that covers the fee. Still not sure I'm going to bite on this offer. I just talked dh into the AA credit card (they have a good promo for 50,000 points when you apply and he flies Bus. Class with them every.single.week. -- so he has been accumulating points rapidly). He already has the AmEx Platinum and he doesn't want 2 cards with a hefty annual fee.

 

[Calfan]

It took me FOREVER to get my approval on the Chase Sapphire Reserve (since I have a walletful other Chase credit cards), but it finally came through yesterday (and I applied on Aug. 22 when applications first became available online and called several times in between). Now I'm just waiting very impatiently for the card to arrive. I thought I was going to have to negotiate for a higher credit limit on the CSR but Chase surprised me in a very positive way by issuing the card with a pretty generous credit limit right off the bat. I still plan to cancel my Sapphire Preferred once I receive my Reserve card.

 

[tgeorge]

I have been trying to resist the lure of the CSR. I'm not a fan of the $450.00 annual fee -- I only have the Hyatt Visa and the annual fee is $75.00 but I get a free night a cat. 4 hotel every year so that covers the fee. Still not sure I'm going to bite on this offer. I just talked dh into the AA credit card (they have a good promo for 50,000 points when you apply and he flies Bus. Class with them every.single.week. -- so he has been accumulating points rapidly). He already has the AmEx Platinum and he doesn't want 2 cards with a hefty annual fee.

Yeah, I went back and forth especially since I do have the AmEx Platinum card as well. But, the travel credits do help offset the cost as long as you use them. I'm definitely going through my cards and will only keep the ones I find most beneficial. However, I will say, with my current Sapphire card the customer service is impeccable. And, I get a REAL person, right away when I call. No automated listing and waiting,which I love. So, I really do like the Chase Sapphire product and it will probably be a card that I keep for a long time.

 

[TXTransplant]

I have been trying to resist the lure of the CSR. I'm not a fan of the $450.00 annual fee -- I only have the Hyatt Visa and the annual fee is $75.00 but I get a free night a cat. 4 hotel every year so that covers the fee. Still not sure I'm going to bite on this offer. I just talked dh into the AA credit card (they have a good promo for 50,000 points when you apply and he flies Bus. Class with them every.single.week. -- so he has been accumulating points rapidly). He already has the AmEx Platinum and he doesn't want 2 cards with a hefty annual fee.

I'm holding back for the exact same reason. I have the Capital One Venture card (and hate paying that $59 fee!), and have received a $1000 travel credit (in the form of purchase eraser) both of the years I've had it. The first year, my credit included the point bonus at sign-up, but last year, I earned it just on my purchases (2 points for every $ spent, including $ spent on travel that I then "erased" using the credit).

I just don't think I can stomach a $450 annual fee. I also don't like the fact that you still do have to transfer/use points to book flights, hotels, etc., through the Chase website to get the full value. I like CapOne because I basically just trade in my points for credits on my bill. I know you can get more benefit from points by using them to book travel, but I'm just not sure I have the patience for that.

However, I've seen a couple of threads/articles on the Chase card, and it has people so excited that I wonder if I'm missing something?

 

[Calfan]

I'm holding back for the exact same reason. I have the Capital One Venture card (and hate paying that $59 fee!), and have received a $1000 travel credit (in the form of purchase eraser) both of the years I've had it. The first year, my credit included the point bonus at sign-up, but last year, I earned it just on my purchases (2 points for every $ spent, including $ spent on travel that I then "erased" using the credit).

I just don't think I can stomach a $450 annual fee. I also don't like the fact that you still do have to transfer/use points to book flights, hotels, etc., through the Chase website to get the full value. I like CapOne because I basically just trade in my points for credits on my bill. I know you can get more benefit from points by using them to book travel, but I'm just not sure I have the patience for that.

However, I've seen a couple of threads/articles on the Chase card, and it has people so excited that I wonder if I'm missing something?

Just want to point out that transferring Ultimate Rewards points to United miles (which is a 1:1 transfer) is almost instantaneous on the Chase website, so really not burden or issue. I called United to see if we could upgrade our flights from SFO to Beijing to BusinessFirst using miles, and when saver upgrades were available, I transferred the Chase points to United while on the phone with the United rep, and they showed up within seconds and I was able to complete the upgrade.

 

[tgeorge]

I'm holding back for the exact same reason. I have the Capital One Venture card (and hate paying that $59 fee!), and have received a $1000 travel credit (in the form of purchase eraser) both of the years I've had it. The first year, my credit included the point bonus at sign-up, but last year, I earned it just on my purchases (2 points for every $ spent, including $ spent on travel that I then "erased" using the credit).

I just don't think I can stomach a $450 annual fee. I also don't like the fact that you still do have to transfer/use points to book flights, hotels, etc., through the Chase website to get the full value. I like CapOne because I basically just trade in my points for credits on my bill. I know you can get more benefit from points by using them to book travel, but I'm just not sure I have the patience for that.

However, I've seen a couple of threads/articles on the Chase card, and it has people so excited that I wonder if I'm missing something?

My brother has the Capital One Card also and he loves it. My husband won't get any card with an annual fee,so I certainly understand why you wouldn't want to pay an annual fee. He thinks I'm a bit crazy (which is quite possible) It sounds like it is very easy to use your points the way you want to with that card.

 

[sayhello]

I figure I'll get the 100,000 points bonus, and the two $300 travel credits, and then re-evaluate if I want to keep it or not. It has a lot of nice benefits and perks besides the points, and if they end up working out, I'd be happy to just break even with the $450 annual fee. We shall see. It's certainly worth keeping for at least a year or so. It's the only card I have with an annual fee.

Sayhello

 

[TXTransplant]

I figure I'll get the 100,000 points bonus, and the two $300 travel credits, and then re-evaluate if I want to keep it or not. It has a lot of nice benefits and perks besides the points, and if they end up working out, I'd be happy to just break even with the $450 annual fee. We shall see. It's certainly worth keeping for at least a year or so. It's the only card I have with an annual fee.

Sayhello

Realistically, what does 100k points usually get you in airline travel? Other than Southwest, I really have no knowledge of traveling on points because I've never been loyal enough to one airline to accumulate enough to go anywhere!

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I figure I'll get the 100,000 points bonus, and the two $300 travel credits, and then re-evaluate if I want to keep it or not. It has a lot of nice benefits and perks besides the points, and if they end up working out, I'd be happy to just break even with the $450 annual fee. We shall see. It's certainly worth keeping for at least a year or so. It's the only card I have with an annual fee.

Sayhello

That's what I would do. Get the card, use the travel credit before the end of December of this year (already have a NYC trip planned for December 18th so that will more than use the credit), then use it to pay off the balance for our ABD Rhine River cruise in February 2017. Then cancel the card. That would net us $600.00 in travel credit and we would only pay the fee once.

However does anyone know what happens to the 100,000 points if we do that? I have to check if we can transfer them to Air Canada. Or do they have to be used to book award travel from the UR portal? And if we do that do we have to pay a portion of the booking in cash?

I need to book our Antarctica flights in January, 2017. We leave from Toronto in December and fly back to Miami in January, 2018. So I could use the points with American Airlines for the latter flights.

 

[sayhello]

Realistically, what does 100k points usually get you in airline travel? Other than Southwest, I really have no knowledge of traveling on points because I've never been loyal enough to one airline to accumulate enough to go anywhere!

That's what I would do. Get the card, use the travel credit before the end of December of this year (already have a NYC trip planned for December 18th so that will more than use the credit), then use it to pay off the balance for our ABD Rhine River cruise in February 2017. Then cancel the card. That would net us $600.00 in travel credit and we would only pay the fee once.

However does anyone know what happens to the 100,000 points if we do that? I have to check if we can transfer them to Air Canada. Or do they have to be used to book award travel from the UR portal? And if we do that do we have to pay a portion of the booking in cash?

I need to book our Antarctica flights in January, 2017. We leave from Toronto in December and fly back to Miami in January, 2018. So I could use the points with American Airlines for the latter flights.

If you use the points to book travel through their portal, then each 100 points is worth $1.50. So the 100,000 points would be worth $1500. If you just use them as a statement credit, then they are worth $1.00 per 100 points, so the 100,000 points are worth $1000. Couple that with the $300 travel credit, and it more than pays for the $450 annual fee (plus you get all the benefits).

You can use the points as a statement credit or get gift cards. If you can't transfer them, you could apply one of those options before canceling the card.

Sayhello

 

[carpenta]

......Now you've done it.......you made me take my socks off and try to count on my toes like Jethro Bodine.....Excuse me while I do some "dissiverin". Still can't figure it out.

 

[sayhello]

......Now you've done it.......you made me take my socks off and try to count on my toes like Jethro Bodine.....Excuse me while I do some "dissiverin". Still can't figure it out.

Sayhello

 

[tgeorge]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/09/1...wards-chase-sapphire-reserve-annual-fees.html

Good article, for those of you interested.

 

[tgeorge]

That's what I would do. Get the card, use the travel credit before the end of December of this year (already have a NYC trip planned for December 18th so that will more than use the credit), then use it to pay off the balance for our ABD Rhine River cruise in February 2017. Then cancel the card. That would net us $600.00 in travel credit and we would only pay the fee once.

However does anyone know what happens to the 100,000 points if we do that? I have to check if we can transfer them to Air Canada. Or do they have to be used to book award travel from the UR portal? And if we do that do we have to pay a portion of the booking in cash?

I need to book our Antarctica flights in January, 2017. We leave from Toronto in December and fly back to Miami in January, 2018. So I could use the points with American Airlines for the latter flights.

Air Canada is not an airline that you can transfer to. You can transfer to United (Star Alliance), but that may not be the *best* option for you. Don't forget, you'll get triple reward points for paying for the Rhine cruise, which will probably be a good amount of miles. You can hold onto it until your annual fee is due, you wouldn't have to cancel right away.

I had my annual fee show up on my United Explorer card when I called and canceled it and Chase removed it from my statement. Just something to consider