How to use Chase Sapphire Reserve Travel Credit

Chase Sapphire Reserve® is packed with luxury benefits like airport lounge access, travel protection, and the ability to earn transferable travel benefits, but it also comes with a hefty annual fee of $550. Thankfully, you can get more than half of that cost back thanks to the card's easily redeemable travel credits, giving you up to $300 in value each year.

If you've ever wanted to sign up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, now might be the perfect time to pass up. Thanks to a limited time bonus offer, a new cardmember can earn 75,000 bonus points when he spends $4,000 in his first three purchases. Several months have passed since the account was opened. This bonus is 25% higher than the standard offer, making his one of the best travel credit cards even better.

Earning Chase Sapphire Reserve Annual Travel Credit is now easier than ever. Just use your card for eligible travel purchases and the first $300 will be credited to your account as a statement credit. Unlike many other cards with similar benefits, you don't have to make these purchases through a specific site or rewards portal to earn credits.

This card offers good returns on travel spending, but you won't earn points on the first $300 of travel purchases. Frankly, this is a small sacrifice for the chance to get more than half of the card's annual fee refunded. According to your card's terms and conditions, statement credits will be posted to your account on the same day you post your qualifying travel purchase.

Flight and hotel reservations are just the beginning of transactions that qualify for this credit. Below are some of the purchase categories that count toward your $300 annual credit.

• Airlines
• Hotel
• motel
• time share
• rental car company
• cruise company
• Travel agency
• cheap travel sites
• camp site
• train
• bus
• taxi
• limousine
• ferry
• toll bridges and highways
• parking and garage

Whether a purchase gives you travel credit depends on how the merchant encodes the transaction. Although this is not a general issue, it is possible that certain travel services purchased as part of the package offer may not be eligible for credit.

You can add Authorized Users to your Sapphire Reserve account for $75 per person each year, and purchases by Authorized Users will trigger credits. However, there is only one travel credit per account, not per card. Therefore, if the primary account holder spends $300 on travel on the card and an authorized user spends $300 on travel, only her first $300 of combined travel purchases will be refunded.

Sapphire Reserve travel credits reset every cardmember year, not the calendar year. If you want to know how much credit you have used, you can easily find the information by calling the number on the back of your card or online on your Chase Ultimate Rewards® account page.

The Platinum Card® from American Express is a leader in providing travel credit to cardholders. However, Amex Platinum credit may require registration or activation, so there are barriers between you and the credit that aren't present with Sapphire Reserve. That said, you can use this card to earn well over $1,000 each year on purchases including airfare, digital entertainment, hotels, CLEAR memberships, and more. Terms and conditions apply.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is packed with luxurious benefits, and on top of these benefits, the annual fee is a hefty $550. However, there is an easy-to-use annual travel credit that allows cardmembers to earn up to $300 in cash back on eligible travel purchases each year on their card anniversary.

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