The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers plenty of potential value, but knowing where to start can be a challenge.
From the sign-up bonus to the travel credits, this card offers a few ways to start earning back your $550 annual fee. But you’ll need to know how to qualify and activate many of the card’s best perks to take full advantage.
- Earn the sign-up bonus
- Earn your $300 travel credit
- Start booking your travel through Chase
- Apply for TSA PreCheck®, Global Entry or NEXUS
- Find the best airport lounge when you fly
- Add your card to a DoorDash account
- Learn the bonus spending categories
1. Earn the sign-up bonus
The best way to maximize the value of the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is to earn the sign-up bonus. Currently, the card offers 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months after your account opens.
Those points are worth $900 when redeemed for travel through Chase, but you might get even more value from your bonus if you transfer to one of their partner programs. Just make sure you check available redemptions and assess Credit Karma’s estimated point values before deciding how to use your rewards.
2. Earn your $300 travel credit
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® features a flexible $300 annual travel credit. The credit covers all qualifying travel purchases, not just what you book through the Chase Travel portal.
Plus, the definition of “travel” is loose enough that you should be able to earn the full value relatively quickly. It includes not only flights and hotels, but also some purchases that you might not think of like car rentals, cruises, trains, ferries, buses, taxis, tolls, parking garages, and campgrounds.
Just keep in mind that you won’t earn any rewards on purchases that use the travel credit.
3. Start booking your travel through Chase
Even though you can earn your travel credit with non-Chase bookings, it may still pay off to start booking your travel through Chase early in your card membership.
Your Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers 3 points per $1 on travel purchases (after you finish using your $300 travel credit). But when you book through Chase Travel, you’ll earn higher rates on certain purchases (also after earning the credit):
- 10 points per $1 on hotels and car rentals
- 5 points per $1 on flights
Your redemptions get a bonus with Chase Travel, too — your points are worth 50% more toward travel reservations.
4. Apply for TSA PreCheck®, Global Entry or NEXUS
Chase Sapphire Reserve® provides a statement credit of up to $120 every four years to cover the application fee for TSA PreCheck, Global Entry or NEXUS, three programs that can help you move through airport security faster.
Picking the right option for you is simple. PreCheck helps you get through TSA checks at U.S. airports, but Global Entry does that and helps speed up the security check at U.S. Customs upon entry into the country. Meanwhile, NEXUS includes the ability to gain expedited customs service when entering Canada.
If you don’t already have membership in one of these programs, keep in mind that you’ll need to go through the full application process before you can use these benefits. Your credit card only covers the application fee with a statement credit — it won’t get you through the application any faster.
5. Find the best airport lounge when you fly
Chase Sapphire Reserve® includes access to numerous airport lounges, but you’ll want to do your research to find the best option for your travels.
It’s smart to start your search with the flagship Chase Sapphire Lounges, which are currently available in major U.S. airports near New York City, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Of course, you’ll also have access to other, non-Chase lounges in other airports around the world with your complimentary Priority Pass membership. But you must enroll with Priority Pass for access to these lounges.
6. Add your card to a DoorDash account
If you order delivery often, Chase Sapphire Reserve® provides the potential for considerable value with a complimentary membership to DoorDash’s DashPass service.
DashPass provides $0 delivery fees and lower service fees on eligible orders with DoorDash and Caviar, and you’ll get it for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
Plus, you’ll also get $5 in order credits and another $20 in credits on two non-restaurant DoorDash orders (up to $10 each) every month.
To earn these perks, you’ll need to add your card as your default payment method on both DoorDash and Caviar, and then click the activation button.
Even if you don’t use delivery services regularly, these DoorDash benefits could prove useful enough to save you a bit of money here and there.
7. Learn the bonus spending categories
While perks and credits are great ways to get value from your Chase Sapphire Reserve® early in your card membership, maximizing value over time will require you to have enough points on hand to redeem for travel.
And the best way to earn points to do that is by building your rewards balance with purchases in your card’s bonus spending categories. You’ll earn:
- 10 points per $1 on hotels and car rentals booked through Chase Travel (after earning your $300 travel credit)
- 10 points on qualifying Lyft rides through March 2025
- 10 points on Chase Dining purchases with Ultimate Rewards
- 5 points per $1 on flights booked through Chase Travel (after earning your $300 travel credit)
- 3 points per $1 dining at restaurants (including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out)
- 3 points per $1 on other travel purchases (after earning your $300 travel credit)
- 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
It’s possible that you have another card that gets you more value in one of these categories, and it won’t be right for everyone to shift all their spending to the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
Next steps
Your Chase Sapphire Reserve® comes with other benefits, but the perks we’ve called out above are most likely to help you find value early in your card membership.
Once you start using your card more, you might find it has some gaps you’d like to fill. For instance, if you’re looking to maximize your rewards balance for redemptions, you may want to apply for another Chase card to add some bonus spending categories not available on this card.