Chase Sapphire Reserve Fee Hike: Still Worth It? Probably Not for Most

Quick Update + Credit Card Shake-Up

Work's been a little hectic lately, so I'm going to kick the can on my budgeting series until next month. My job revolves around court deadlines, and I’ve got four coming up in quick succession—6/24, 7/1, 7/16, and 7/18. Woo.

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In the meantime, here’s what’s caught my eye this week: Chase just raised the annual fee on the Sapphire Reserve to $795 - putting it squarely in Amex Plat territory.

Gone are the days when this was a $450 card with Priority Pass restaurant access and a genuinely compelling value prop. It might still make sense if you live in NYC or Boston and regularly use their Sapphire lounges. But for most people, these premium cards are starting to feel more like expensive coupon books.

The Sapphire lounges are very nice, but I personally don’t travel through LGA, JFK, or BOS often enough to justify the card.

A good rule of thumb: these cards are only worth it if the credits align with things you were going to spend on anyway. I usually bucket credits into two categories:

• Easy-to-use: travel credits, rideshare credits, etc.

• Hard-to-use: Amex Saks Fifth Avenue, CSR StubHub, etc.

If you’re forcing yourself to use a benefit just to justify the fee, that’s a form of manufactured spending - and usually not worth it.

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Looking to ditch the CSR? Two great alternatives:

1. Capital One Venture X
   Best for: Travelers who take 2–3 trips a year and want high value without much hassle

   1. Net annual fee: $0 after easy-to-use credits

   2. Perks: Capital One and Priority Pass lounge access, primary rental car insurance, cell phone insurance, solid travel protections

   3. Rewards: 2x points (i.e., 2% back) on everything - a great rate for a card with no net fee

2. Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite*
   Best for: High spenders willing to jump through a few hoops

   1. Net annual fee: $100 after easy-to-use credits

   2. Perks: Priority Pass lounge access, same travel protections as VX

   3. Rewards: 4.38% back on travel/dining and 3.28% on everything else (yes - this is higher than the 2.9% interchange fee merchants pay)

   * The catch: you need to park $100k in a Merrill Edge account to unlock reward rates. However, it’s not too bad to implement if you have the funds parked in old retirement account and stash it away in low-cost ETFs. I’ve been a satisfied customer for over a year now.

   

   Capital One’s lounges are also very nice, and they intend to expand to LGA’s Terminal B by late 2025.

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Is it worth the effort?

If you think I’m a little nuts (I am) for optimizing this hard, let’s do the math:

Let’s say I spend $6,000 per month split evenly between travel/dining and everything else. With the BofA card, I’d average 3.83% back. Compared to a flat 2% card (like the Venture X), that’s 1.83% extra.

That adds up to $1,318 per year - or $1,218 after the $100 fee. I generally aim to keep a fixed cash allocation, so if I invest that extra cash each year and let it compound, it should reasonably grow to $10,030 in 30 years.*

If I keep this up for just a decade, it could theoretically shave a year or two off my working life. Small changes today, thanks to compounding, can grow into something monumental down the line.

* More on this kind of budgeting math coming next month once work eases up a bit - like how much cash to hold, how to create systems that push you to invest, etc.