Why You Should Sign up for a Travel Rewards Credit Card with a $450 Annual Fee

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card was launched in Aug 2016.  This card is a new product and is probably the #1 most anticipated, most sought after, best-overall-value credit card of all time...even though the card has a $450 annual fee.  How is this possible?  Because you can easily get $2,000+ worth of travel (flights, hotels, cruises, etc) from the sign-up bonus alone, plus tons of other perks and benefits.

Read on...

• The sign-up bonus is 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after $4,000 minimum spend in the first 3 months
• The card includes $300 per calendar year in automatic statement credit for travel purchases made with the card
• Points can be used for booking travel (flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, etc) thru the Chase travel portal at a rate of 1.5 cents per point
• Points can be transferred to various airline and hotel programs such as United and Hyatt, to book free flights and/or hotel nights
• Earn 3 points per dollar on travel and dining purchases
• Primary car rental collision damage waiver
• Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check application fee reimbursement
• Airport lounge access for lounges in the Priority Pass lounge network (much more useful internationally than domestically)

Why Such a Good Deal?

• 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points is a lot of points.  Most folks peg Chase UR point value around 1.5 to 1.8 cents per point, so the sign-up bonus points are worth $1,500 - $1,800.
• Transferring these points to airline miles or hotel points could get you four domestic round trip award flights, or nearly two round trip flights to Europe, or 5-10 nights at $200-300 a night Hyatt hotels, for example.
• Using the points to book paid travel thru the Chase travel portal means $1,500 toward whatever travel you want to buy.  Plus you still earn miles for flights booked this way, because you are buying a paid ticket, not using miles for a free award ticket.
• The $300 travel credit means you get $300 back as long as you spend $300 or more on travel-related expenses.  If you are signing up for a card like this, you most likely will be using the card for travel-related expenses, so this effectively reduces your annual fee from $450 to $150.
• The $300 travel credit can be earned once per calendar year, so you can get TWO $300 credits in the first 12 months you own the card.  In other words, you can get $600 in travel reimbursed from a single $450 annual fee cycle

More Background Information

• Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa card - Complete Guide (Frequent Miler)
• Top 10 Questions about the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card (Deals We Like)

Disclaimer

Do NOT sign up for this card until you understand a few things, including:

• Is my credit score good enough to get approved for this card?  If your score is above 750, you are likely safe.  This article (Doctor of Credit) has good information
• Will I be denied for this card because I've gotten too many credit cards in the past 24 months?  Read about and understand Chase's 5/24 rule before applying for this or any other credit card.  Chase 5/24 Rule Explained in Detail - What you Need to Know (Doctor of Credit)