The Chase Sapphire Reserve has a problem.
People love it too much.
And right now, Chase is throwing money at them.
Well, not cash. Points. Lots of them.
The Best Bonus In History
For the first time ever, you can pick up 150,001 Ultimate Rewards points.
One more than before.
The spend requirement?
$6,000 in three months.
That is the same spend as the old 125K offer, so you’re getting free points on top of that.
How much are these worth?
If I value my points at 1.7¢ each—which is conservative—those 150K are worth $2,550.
Think about that.
You swipe your card for dinner, flights, and groceries over a few months. You get $2,500+ in travel value. The annual fee feels like a rounding error.
This is not just a good deal. It is the deal. Ever.
But here is the catch.
Chase doesn’t care if you are ready. The offer could vanish today. Or next week.
Are You Allowed To Apply?
Check your wallet. Check your past.
Chase’s eligibility rules are messy. Vague, really.
Do this first: Make sure you do not currently have the Sapphire Reserve open.
If you close it, then re-apply? Maybe. But usually no. If you have ever held the Reserve in the past, the system flags you.
There is a specific sentence in the application that haunts people: “We may also consider the number of cards… in determining your bonus eligibility.”
Translation: Chase can say no for reasons that aren’t written in black and white.
However.
Having the Chase Sapphire Preferred? Irrelevant. Keep it. The Reserve bonus is separate.
Were you just an authorized user on a friend’s Reserve card? You are in. Being a secondary cardholder doesn’t count as “holding” the card.
The 5/24 Rule
Chase technically won’t give you a new card if you have opened five or more credit cards (across all issuers) in the last 24 months.
This is called 5/24.
But?
It is breaking. People are getting approved over the limit. Chase is testing things. You will usually see a message on the application screen before they hard pull your credit. It will tell you if you are eligible for the bonus.
If it says yes? You have nothing to lose by trying.
Is The Fee Worth It?
$795 a year.
Sounds like a lot until you do the math on what comes with it.
- $300 Annual Travel Credit : Resets every statement cycle. Covers flights, hotels, basically any purchase coded as travel. Net fee drops to $495 instantly.
- Lounge Access : Priority Pass Select (thousands of locations), Chase Sapphire Lounges in US hubs (often empty, great food), and Air Canada Rouge lounges.
- $500 Hotel Credit : Use it towards stays booked on Chase Travel.
- $300 Dining Credit : Use on DoorDash, UberEats, Grubhub, and dining out.
- Points Multiplier : 8x points on bookings via Chase Travel, 5x on flights/hotels booked directly, 3x on dining.
- Premium Protections : Trip delay insurance, baggage delay insurance, rental car coverage.
- TSA PreCheck / Global Entry : A statement credit for the application fee. Valid for 4 years. That alone covers the fee if you only use this for one thing.
Then there are the big spend bonuses.
Hit $75,000 in purchases in a calendar year?
You get IHG One Rewards Diamond, Southwest Rapid Rewards A-List, a $500 travel credit with Southwest, and a $250 credit for Shops at Chase.
This isn’t just a credit card. It is a hub for travel hacking.
The Real Talk
Why apply now?
Because the 150K point offer is unprecedented.
Most people will hit that $6,000 spend easily. It takes about a year or two of normal spending to earn that same value organically. With this bonus? Three months.
Is there any reason not to apply if you are eligible?
Not really.
If you don’t fly often, you might not care about the lounge access. But the points? Those are liquid. They work in a transfer partner like United, World of Hyatt, or British Airways.
Or you just book hotels through Chase and keep 50% bonus on top.
The window might be small. It might close when you blink.
Do you want those 25,001 extra points?
Or will you wait until the bonus drops back down to “standard”?
Standard isn’t bad. But “best ever”? That’s hard to pass up.
Ben Schlappig
