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The Points Guy believes that credit cards can transform lives, helping you leverage everyday spending for cash back or travel experiences that might otherwise be out of reach. That's why we publish a variety of editorial content and card comparisons: to help you find a great card to turn your goals into reality.
Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
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Reader question: Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve still worth it if you aren't using the travel credit?
Madison Blancaflor is the managing editor for TPG's content operations team. She focuses on helping TPG's broader editorial team bring news, features and advice to readers. She has nearly six years of experience covering the credit cards and travel industries.
March 30, 2020 • 8 min read
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Quick summary
A premium travel rewards card offers significant annual value through perks like lounge access, food delivery memberships and ride-share benefits.
The travel credit can be used for a wide range of travel-related purchases, not just airfare or hotels, making it potentially more useful than expected.
Business owners often prefer to use business cards for travel expenses to simplify tax deductions, but using a personal card for select business expenses is possible with careful record-keeping.
Upgrading from a mid-tier to a premium card may mean missing out on a new card bonus, depending on timing and eligibility.
What to consider
Mixing business and personal expenses on one card requires diligent tracking and documentation, especially for tax purposes.
Eligibility for a new card bonus may depend on how recently you received a previous bonus and whether you upgrade or apply outright.
Some perks require activation by specific dates and may not be useful if travel is limited.
What you'll miss from the article
Guidance on how to maximize travel credits and perks, plus strategies for timing upgrades and managing business versus personal expenses.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Editor’s note: This article is part of a column to answer your credit card questions. If you would like to ask us a question, tweet us at @thepointsguy, message us on Facebook or email us at info@thepointsguy.com.
The top-tier Chase Sapphire Reserve is the headliner in the Chase lineup of credit cards. It comes with a list of valuable benefits that can help make the $550 annual fee worth it, but if you aren't going to use one of the card's most lucrative perks — the $300 travel credit — is the card still worth holding?
[pullquote source="MITCH N."]I currently have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and the Chase Ink Business Preferred card. We are self-employed business owners, my wife and I. I want to upgrade from the CSP card to the Chase Sapphire Reserve, but my hang-up is I book all travel and hotels with our business card because of the 3x the points and it’s always a business expense because of self-employment.
So I wouldn’t really be able to utilize the $300 travel credit on the CSR card because then I’m not getting the business write-off. But I wouldn’t mind having some of the other perks.
Do you have any recommendations?[/pullquote]
Is the CSR worth the annual fee without the $300 travel credit?
The Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with a number of great perks for frequent travelers, but the $300 travel credit is one of the primary reasons cardholders hold onto it year after year. However, this doesn't mean the card can't be worth it even if Mitch won't use that benefit.
(Photo by Wyatt Smith/The Points Guy)
Here are some of the quantifiable perks that come with the card:
DoorDash benefits — You'll get a complimentary DashPass membership (typically $9.99 per month). I'll value this at $120 annually. Must activate by March 31, 2022.
Lyft Pink membership — This membership otherwise costs $19.99 per month, so I'll give it a $240 annual value.
In all, you're getting $874 in annual value from the Chase Sapphire Reserve, if you utilize each benefit to its fullest. That's more than enough to offset the cost of the $550 annual fee. And that's not including the value you'll get from some of the less quantifiable perks -- like being able to redeem points through the Ultimate Rewards Travel portal at 1.5 cents each, earning 3x on dining, and the travel protections that the card offers (which may not be helpful while we're all at home but can easily save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars when travel resumes).
However, by simply upgrading from an existing Sapphire Preferred card, Mitch will lose out on a 60,000-point bonus that comes with the Chase Sapphire Reserve (after you spend $4,000 in the first three months from account opening). If Mitch earned a sign-up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card more than 48 months ago, he should downgrade it to a no-annual-fee Chase card and apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve separately to get the bonus.
If he's had the card for less than 48 months, he'll need to decide whether it's worth it to skip the bonus and upgrade or if it's close enough to that 48-month mark to wait it out.
Chase's travel credit can be used for more than just airfare/hotels
Something else to consider is whether the $300 travel credit would really go unused, especially considering Chase's broad definition of travel. In fact, you can use that travel credit on so much more than just hotels and airfare:
Parking lots
Garages
Timeshares
Campgrounds
Passenger trains
Buses
Taxis
Car rental agencies
Cruise lines
Travel agencies
Discount travel sites
Limousines
Ferries
Toll bridges and highways
Mitch might be able to use the $300 travel credit, even if he doesn't spend it on airfare and hotels. Chase defines travel broadly, including taxis, buses and more. (Photo by d3sign/Getty Images)
So if you think you'll spend $300 on things like buses, ferries, tolls and parking, that credit could still be put to good use.
Using a personal card for business expenses
The reason why Mitch doesn't believe the $300 travel credit will be utilized is that he puts all travel on the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card for the business write-off during tax season.
Business credit cards are excellent tools for those who own businesses or are self-employed, but you are not required to use a business card for business expenses. Plenty of people use a personal credit card for business expenses — some find personal cards with bonus categories that fit their needs better while others value the enhanced consumer protections that are standard across personal cards but not guaranteed on business cards.
That means Mitch could use the Chase Sapphire Reserve on a business expense such as travel and still deduct that expense during tax season — with some caveats.
Generally speaking, it's not a good idea to mix business and personal expenses by putting them on the same card. When you have credit cards used only for business expenses, that makes it much easier to separate expenses during tax season. And it also makes it easier for you to prove to the IRS that business expenses are just that — business expenses — in the case of an audit.
You can still write off business expenses that you put on a personal card, but you have to be diligent about tracking and documenting those purchases for tax purposes. (Photo by Natee Meepian/EyeEm/Getty Images
But you can have business expenses and personal expenses on the same card. Just make sure that you're taking extra care to track those expenses — make note of the expense, why it's a business expense and the date of the transaction, and keep any receipts. It's definitely an extra hassle to try to utilize your personal card for business expenses, but it's not impossible.
If that's the route Mitch decides to go, I would suggest using the Chase Sapphire Reserve for just one expense per year (like a plane ticket or hotel reservation) that will utilize the entire credit. This way, he's only having to track and report one business expense from his personal card rather than keeping track of multiple small purchases.
Bottom line
Any time you're considering applying for (or upgrading to) a card that has a high annual fee, you should make sure that the fee is worth it. In Mitch's case, an argument can be made to get the Chase Sapphire Reserve even if he's not sure he'll take advantage of the full $300 credit, as long as he plans to utilize the other benefits.
If he does decide to upgrade (or downgrade his CSP before applying for the CSR outright), timing is important. He may not utilize many of those Chase Sapphire Reserve perks right now while travel is at a standstill, so it might be worth holding out until COVID-19 concerns subside before making a move to a card with a higher annual fee.
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
