The Chase Sapphire Reserve® originally debuted in August of 2016, and is now one of the most popular travel rewards cards on the market in 2026. When the card launched, it came with a $450 annual fee and a slew of useful travel benefits. The card has steadily evolved over the past 10 years, now coming with a $795 and a long list of travel and lifestyle benefits. This article will cover the evolution of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card over the past decade and the benefits you can expect today.
Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Benefits: 2016 to 2026
Many of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card‘s benefits have transformed over time, and one could argue that the card is now both a travel rewards and lifestyle credit card (formerly, benefits were more travel-focused only). Today, the card comes with a $795 and a generous welcome offer:
- Earn
125,000150,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months..
Let’s take a look at how the card’s benefits today (worth at least $7,000) compare to the perks when the card launched back in 2016, and how it has evolved into one of the top travel- and lifestyle-oriented, flexible rewards cards available.
Card Evolution Overview: 2016 to 2026
|
Benefit |
2016 |
2026 |
|
Welcome bonus offer |
$100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months |
Earn |
|
Annual fee |
$450 |
$795 |
|
Authorized user fee |
$75 |
$195 |
|
Earnings |
|
|
|
Card perks |
|
|
|
Lounge access |
Priority Pass Select membership providing access to over 900 airport lounges with unlimited guests |
|
2016: Launch
When the Chase Sapphire Reserve card launched on August 23, 2016, it was so popular that Chase actually ran out of the metal used to make the card. The card offered immense value in travel benefits, with an annual fee of just $450 that you could mostly offset with the $300 travel credit.
2017: Welcome Bonus Drops and Travel Credit Terms Change
In 2017, the online welcome offer dropped from 100,000 to 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and the $300 travel credit changed from once per calendar year (ideal, for example, if you applied for the card later in 2016 and used the credit, which reset again in 2017) to once per cardmember year, meaning it renewed on each card renewal anniversary.
In August of 2017, Chase made a rule that you could only hold 1 Sapphire card product at a time: either the Chase Sapphire Reserve card or the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
2018: Benefit Restrictions
In August 2018, Chase slightly amended some of the card’s most popular benefits, removing the ability to earn points on the $300 travel credit spend. It also removed the ability to bring unlimited guests intoPriority Pass lounges, limiting it to 2 guests.
2020: Chase Announces Annual Fee Increase
In 2020, Chase announced that the annual fee on the Chase Sapphire Reserve card would increase from $450 to $550, and that it would add DoorDash credits and 10x points on Lyft purchases. However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the rollout of the annual fee increase.
The pandemic also prompted Chase to offer temporary additional perks, such as bonus points on groceries and Peloton purchases.
2021: Annual Fee Increase Begins
The annual fee increase finally took full effect in 2021, though some cardholders reported receiving a $100 statement credit to offset the $100 increase before August 2021. After that, all previous cardholders and new applicants were charged the full $550 increased annual fee.
In August 2021, Chase also announced new bonus categories, including 5x points on airfare booked through Chase Travel and 10x points on hotel stays and rental cars through Chase Travel, as well as on Chase Dining.
2022: Bonus Increase and Chase Sapphire Lounges Launch
Chase launched its first Chase Sapphire Lounge by the Club in Terminal 1 of the Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) on October 25, 2022. Unfortunately, this lounge closed in January 2026.
2023 and 2024: The Edit Launches and First Domestic Lounge
The card’s welcome bonus fluctuated slightly during this 2-year period, but the Chase Sapphire Reserve card’s benefits, earning rates, and annual fee remained largely static during 2023 and 2024.
Chase announced a rebrand of its Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection program in 2023, which officially became The Edit by Chase Travel in 2024.
The Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club’s first domestic location opened at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) in 2023, followed by several others in 2024.
2025: Annual Fee and Welcome Bonus Increase, Plus a Benefits Overhaul and Move Toward Lifestyle Card
In June of 2025, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card underwent a massive refresh. First, the issuer changed the rule that you could hold only 1 Sapphire card. Now you can hold more than 1 Sapphire-branded credit card.
The welcome offer bonus shot back up to 100,000 points, alongside the annual fee, which rose to $795 and the authorized user fee to $195.
Earnings Changes
The new earnings rates on the card changed to the following structure:
- 10x points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases (through December 31, 2027)
- 8x points on all Chase Travel purchases
- 5x points on Lyft rides (through September 30, 2027)
- 4x points on flights and hotels booked directly
- 3x points on all dining purchases worldwide
- 1x points on all other purchases
Perks That Remained
Some benefits of the card stayed the same:
- $300 unrestricted annual travel credit
- $300 annually in monthly DoorDash promos and a complimentary DashPass membership worth $120 annually
- $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS credit every 4 years
- Entrance to the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club airport lounges, access to Priority Pass Select, and more than 20 select Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafés when traveling on a Star Alliance airline, and the ability to bring 2 guests with you on each visit
- Free access to Reserve Travel Designers
- Travel and purchase protections, including primary rental car insurance, trip delay insurance, and others
New Perks
2025 marked a major addition of many new benefits, though several were largely lifestyle-related rather than travel-related:
- $500 annual credit for The Edit, delivered in the form of up to 2 $250 statement credits for separate prepaid bookings
- $250 credit for select Chase hotels
- $300 annual dining credit and primetime reservations at Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables, available for booking on OpenTable, delivered in $150 credits twice a year
- $300 annual StubHub credit on concert and event tickets, delivered in $150 credits twice a year
- $120 in annual Lyft in-app credits, up to $10 monthly
- $288 in annual value through complimentary subscriptions to Apple TV+ and Apple Music
- Up to $120 in annual statement credits toward Peloton memberships
- Complimentary IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite status (including room upgrades, early check-in, and late checkout, all subject to availability)
- Spend $75,000 on the card in a calendar year and get access to even more perks: IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite status, Southwest Airlines A-List status, a $500 Southwest credit when booked through Chase Travel, and a $250 credit with The Shops at Chase, the issuer’s new online shopping platform.
- Points Boost: Ultimate Rewards points are worth up to 2 cents per point (maybe even 2.5 cents on some hotels) on thousands of top-booked hotels and flights with select airlines and hotels through Chase Travel.
2026: Massive Bonus Increase (And Bonus Limitations)
Here’s a quick overview of what the card offers today:
Chase launched its highest-ever welcome offer this year:
- Earn
125,000150,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
However, the card issuer also added restrictive language related to earning a bonus: You can only earn 1 welcome offer bonus per Sapphire card, assuming you haven’t earned a welcome offer bonus on that card previously (Source: Chase).
As of mid-2026, there are 8 Chase Sapphire Lounges by The Club (Source: Chase), if you count the Etihad-Chase collaborations: Boston (BOS), Las Vegas (LAS), New York (JFK), New York (LGA), Philadelphia (PHL), Phoenix (PHX), San Diego (SAN), and Washington, D.C. (IAD).
2027 and Beyond: New Lounges and New Products?
Presently, 2 additional Chase Sapphire Lounges are under construction at Los Angeles (LAX) and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), and it’s likely more will follow, as the brand has been steadily rolling them out over the past few years.
As for future card changes, it’s unlikely the card will see anything major, since it just underwent a major overhaul within the past year.
That said, the difference between the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred card’s annual fees ($795 and $95) is significantly large, and we hope to see a midtier flexible rewards card added to the Sapphire lineup in the future.
Final Thoughts
The Chase Sapphire Reserve card has seen many changes over the past decade, for better and for worse. Today, it comes with a higher fee than it did 10 years ago, but with new perks worth thousands of dollars. With new Chase Sapphire Lounges on the horizon and a host of valuable benefits, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is more than worth it in 2026.