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In August 2021, Chase made some big improvements to its Sapphire cards' benefits and earning structures. Among those changes is the ability of Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholders to earn 10X Ultimate Rewards points for every dollar spent on takeout and prepaid reservations made with Chase Dining.
A few months prior, Chase ran a targeted promo, offering increased earning via Chase Dining for both the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees) and the Sapphire Reserve. As of August 17, 2021, 10X earning on Chase Dining purchases became a permanent feature of the Sapphire Reserve.
So let's take a closer look at how to use this benefit and how it affects the value of holding the Sapphire Reserve card.
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
- Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $900 toward travel.
- 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
- Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select and up to $120 application fee credit every four years for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck®
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Coverage, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 10X points on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 10X points on Chase Dining (including prepaid reservations and prepaid takeout purchased through Chase)
- 5X points on airfare purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on all other travel
- 3X points on dining at restaurants
- 1X points on all other purchases
How To Earn 10X Ultimate Rewards Points on Dining
The most important thing to know is that this benefit only applies to purchases made with the Sapphire Reserve through the Chase Dining website. If you swipe your card at a restaurant, you'll earn just 3X Ultimate Rewards points—which is now the same rate you get with the less expensive Sapphire Preferred card.
The Tock-powered Chase Dining was launched in late 2020 to provide cardholders with “access to connect with more than 4,000 restaurants and culinary experiences, including ordering takeout, with the exclusive ability to redeem points towards purchases.”
You can order takeout, delivery, and make prepaid reservations with participating restaurants through the dining hub. At the time of publication, there were just shy of 100 cities and regions covered by the Chase Dining website. There is no need to activate the 10X earning benefit; just make your purchase and watch the points stack up.
What About Non-Prepaid Reservations?
The Chase website states that “prepaid (emphasis added) restaurant reservations” will qualify for the 10X earning rate. This is a major limitation since not all restaurants have an option for paying in advance for in-person dining.
AwardWallet reached out to the Chase Sapphire team to find out if it's possible to earn 10X points at restaurants that don’t allow prepaid reservations. Unfortunately, the answer is no; only prepaid purchases qualify.
It's worth noting that some of Chase's front-line customer service representatives are (incorrectly) telling cardholders that non-prepaid reservations are eligible as long as they are booked in advance through Chase Dining. We made several phone calls and got a variety of explanations. But the official answer is that the 10x won't apply unless you prepay through the Chase Dining site.
For now, it looks like the 10x earning rate won’t be very useful for in-person dining—at least if you don’t live in a major city with a large selection of restaurants offering a prepaid option. Pre-paid takeout orders can still deliver big value, but the lack of options for dining out makes this benefit a lot less exciting than we first thought.
How Does this Impact Sapphire Reserve‘s Value?
Since you can't just walk up to your favorite neighborhood restaurant and use your Sapphire Reserve card to earn 10X points, the value of this benefit will depend on whether you live in an area covered by the Chase Dining portal and whether you're willing to take the extra time to book through Chase.
For frequent diners in the right location, 10X points is a huge return on restaurant spending. At the very minimum, Sapphire Reserve cardholders can redeem points through the Chase Travel Portal at 1.50 cents per point—which gives you a guaranteed 15% return on dining. And if you leverage one of the excellent Chase transfer partners, you may be able to get 2.50 cents per point (a whopping 25% return) or more based on AwardWallet's mile valuations.
On the other hand, 10X earning via Chase Dining won't add much value if there aren't enough participating restaurants in your area (or you just can't be bothered with making preemptive reservations through Chase). If you find yourself in this situation, check out our post on the best credit cards for dining to find a card that earns a bonus at restaurants based on the merchant category.
Final Thoughts
It's always nice to see card issuers announce new perks without a corresponding devaluation or increase in annual fees. In the case of Chase Dining, a lot depends on how Chase handles the rollout.
- Will Chase increase the number of restaurants that accept prepaid reservations?
- Will Chase invest in expanding the Dining network to cover cardholders that live far from major urban areas?
It will likely take some time to get answers on both fronts. Right now, Chase Dining has solid potential, but the 10X earning rate isn't likely to be decisive in whether the Sapphire Reserve is a good fit.
- Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
- Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $900 toward travel.
- 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
- Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select and up to $120 application fee credit every four years for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck®
- Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Coverage, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- 10X points on hotels and car rentals purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 10X points on Chase Dining (including prepaid reservations and prepaid takeout purchased through Chase)
- 5X points on airfare purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on all other travel
- 3X points on dining at restaurants
- 1X points on all other purchases
Have you used Chase Dining yet? Will this offer motivate you to check out the dining hub platform?
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees), and Chase Sapphire Reserve® (Rates & Fees)
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