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I have had the Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR) credit card from the time it was first offered back in 2016. I love the card and use it a lot but have not been very diligent in maximizing all its benefits. I recently sat down to figure out what the new benefits with Chase Sapphire Reserve are and what else I could be doing get some more points and benefits through this premium card. Many of you probably use a bunch of these benefits already, but hopefully you’ll find something of use.

What is the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card?

The CSR, as it is popularly called, is JP Morgan Chase’s premium card offering on the personal/non-business side.

As befits a premium card, it comes with a sizable annual fee. It used to be $450 annually but increased to $550 in 2022.

So, you have to figure out if that annual fee is worth it for you. That is, if the points it lets you earn and the benefits it offers are more than the cost of the card to you.

I had done a rough back of the napkin calculation back when I first got it and determined that if our family spends more than $6000 on the card on travel and dining every year, we should break even on the card- given that before that our staple card was Citi’s Double Cash card.

The Citi card was a workhorse- at no annual fee and 2% cash back on everything, it was a no-brainer at the time. I still have it but use it far less often since I try to keep all my spending on the Chase cards and earn those coveted Ultimate Rewards.

Since we spend multiples of that magic number $9k on travel and dining every year (minus the COVID years), we went for it. One of us is the primary account holder and the other is an authorized user for another $75 a year.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Benefits

This is not a comprehensive list of all the benefits CSR offers. For that, head over to Chase’s website and it will list all 51 benefits.

Of course, it comes with the standard fraud protection and zero liability benefits, etc. But those are not the reason someone ponies up for a premium card. The benefits that we have been using and that have made this card worthwhile to us are:

$300 annual travel credit

Every calendar year, the first $300 you spend on travel is automatically credited to your statement as you make those expenses. And they define travel rather loosely. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see that all kinds parking, tolls, ride-sharing like Uber/Lyft apart from airline tickets and hotels count towards these $300. It goes fast for us.

3x (or 5x!) on Travel and Dining

This used to be a big deal a few years back but there are non-premium cards these days that will give you the same benefit or close to it. For example, the no-annual fee Chase Freedom cards will also give you the same benefits.

This was the primary reason we got the card initially.

Now they give 5% back on travel booked through the Chase travel portal. That has its pros and cons. I once got a great deal on a luxury inclusive resort stay in Cancun via the portal a few years back. Most of the time though, the airline/hotel prices are the same on the Chase portal as at other third party discount websites. Think Kayak or Expedia and the like.

Many people like to book directly through the airline or hotel for ease of resolving problems if they arise. It usually costs more that way though. But people who have had a bad experience dealing with Chase when travel plans go awry often do not return to book via the portal. I don’t know if that was enough people that they had to sweeten the deal with 5x points!?

Then there is the Luxury Hotel and Resort Collection: booked through the portal, you get special offers at some fancy places to stay, such as complimentary meals and upgrades. If there’s a place you want to stay, look at the portal to see if on the Collection and you’re getting any good deals on there.

Trip Insurance

Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with its own trip insurance. And I’ve used it too!

We once got snowed-in in UT when it dumped I don’t remember how much snow over a one or two day period. Highways closed, we could not get out of the ski resort and get to Salt Lake City to catch our plane. The airline and resort were booked on CSR.

I called them, not knowing what to expect. And they covered both the extra day of stay and the airline ticket change for us.

This is anecdotal and I am not sure whether this is enough to recommend not getting any trip insurance if using CSR.

GlobalEntry or TSA Recheck or NEXUS Fee

You get $100 in statement credit every four years towards the application fee for one of the above. So, that goes towards one person’s fee since GlobalEntry is $100, renewed every five years.

No Foreign Transaction Fee

We take at least one international trip every year and my other cards tack on a 3% foreign transaction fee on to all my charges. Not CSR.

We were plenty happy with just these perks for all this time.

Beginning of this year, I decided to see how much I was missing out on. I am no points guru and even at this point, it is not my goal to maximize every point. I wanted to kinda get to the sweet spot of benefits without too much hassle or giving up too much time or convenience. These new benefits seem to do just that.

New benefits with Chase Sapphire Reserve

Instacart+

I have never been much for grocery delivery services. Not even during the pandemic. But now, as work ramps up, I am being more intentional with my time. And I am newly in love with grocery delivery. It shaves off 2hours off my week’s errands and doesn’t leave me tired. Which then lets me either cook with all those fresh ingredients, finish up work or spend some eyeball time with my littles.

Chase Sapphire Reserve, I just found out, has this new perk- since August 2022 of free membership towards a year of Instacart+, which is normally $99.

Instacart+ has $0 delivery fees on orders over $35 and lower service fees.

The Chase promotion also gives you $15 a month statement credit on your cc bill. (Chase Freedom card has a $10/quarter credit).

If you sign up for the annual subscription via CSR, you will get the yearly subscription for free. In order to get the $15/mo credit, you need to use the CSR at least once a month. I’ve heard of folks using the CSR for a small order once a month (make your order at least $35 to get free delivery) and using a different card (one that gives you higher points for grocery) for all the rest of the shopping. As always, you’ll either spend mo’ time or mo’ money. You get to pick.

Downsides to Instacart:

• Subscription cost: covered by CSR
• Things on Instacart usually cost more than in-store. This is at least partly how they make their money. The average markup is 15%, more at higher-end stores than discount stores.
• Delivery fees: waived for Instacart+ on orders above $35
• Service fee: waived for pick-up orders
• Driver tip: this is usually a percentage of your order, similar to other tipping practices. So, the bigger your order, the more the tip. For this reason, for very expensive items, you may want to make the hike to store and get it yourself.

With all of these extra charges, a good middle of the road solution may be to pickup your orders instead of getting them delivered. You still save time by not having to go in-store to browse for items (and get side-tracked). You also do not pay delivery fees or driver tips. On top of that, you get 5% credit back on eligible orders. I plan on trying the curbside pickup out to see if this might be the best solution for me.

DashPass

DashPass is Doordash’s premium service. CSR gives you free DashPass from whenever you activate your promotion to December 31st, 2024.

DasPass gives you free delivery from local restaurants above a minimum order value of $12 and 10% off your order.

It also gives you $5 statement credit that rolls over for 3 months up to a total of $15.

And similar to Instacart, you get 5% credit on orders you pickup curbside.

Lyft Pink AllAccess

We’re Uber users by habit. But may not be the smartest thing to do with being a CSR cardowner. Because while Uber gives you back 3% back as with other travel spending, Lyft gives you 10x back.

And two free years of the premium Lyft Pink AllAccess, followed by a 50% discount off the third year. You need to avail of this promotion by March 31st, 2023. If you don’t want to pay, be sure to cancel at the end of 2 years. Phone reminders, people.

I’m not smitten by the benefits of Lyft Pink AllAccess. It gives you 15% of lux rides (I dont anticipate lux riding very much), free Priority Pickup Upgrades, free SIXT renal car upgrades and some benefits with ebikes and scooters.

Interestingly, it comes with free GrubHub+ too. So, you have a choice between DashPass and Grubhub+.

I am just interested in the 7x greater points with Lyft compared to Uber.

Priority Pass Lounge Access

This one is not new but it is to us. We’ve never tried a lounge at the airport. We like spending as little time at airports as possible. But, we’re going to try out the lounge at our home airport and see if it’s worth the trouble. Each Pass holder can bring in a guest or two, so our family of four should be covered.

More than lounge access, I’m stoked about using the Priority Pass restaurant credit. So, there are a handful of restaurants scattered over some of the bigger airports around the country where you get essentially free food. They don’t word it quite like that though. Basically, you get $28 or so off for a cardholder/authorized user and one or two guests each.

That’s all I got for now. I will update you as I get acquainted with these new-fangled offers and see how they work out.

Do you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card? What are your favorite perks? Are any of these benefits enough to entice you to get one? Chime in below! Thanks for reading.