Wow: Major Chase Sapphire Changes And Card Upgrades Coming!

Update: Chase confirms that significant changes to Sapphire Cards are on the way. News is expected to drop on August 15th, which makes the likelihood that the original article, below, discussing leaked rumors about the changes isn’t too far off. Read up!

From the jump, Chase is yet to confirm any of these intriguing new credit card rumors. If any of them are true though – it’s about to be a very exciting time for Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve credit card holders, with big new perks and earning opportunities.

After predicting recent Amex Platinum changes almost down to a tee, savvy Reddit internet sleuths appear to have uncovered major new changes headed for Chase Sapphire Card products, from next month. If true, ,they may make the current 100,000 point welcome bonus even more attractive, as the card gains value.

Chase Sapphire Card Rumors

Between Reddit & Doctor of Credit, there’s not much credit card companies can get away with these days, without an internet detective finding it early.

A reddit user found an early link to a “new” Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card agreement, which may have accidentally tipped some striking new upgrades to the Ultimate Rewards program, including…

• 5X Points on travel booked through Chase Travel (upgrade from current 2X).
• 10% anniversary bonus on points earned from all spending over the year.
• $50 annual hotel credit for hotel bookings through Chase Travel.
• 3X Points on dining, streaming and online grocery orders.

It’s not immediately clear, or necessarily likely, that an annual fee change would be forthcoming with the presumed upgrades to the Sapphire Preferred.

These benefits would be absolutely huge for cardholders, and squeezing more out of annual fees is rarely unattractive to executives, so there’s likely more to come. If Chase is able to maintain the under the radar Sapphire benefits the card already offers, the card would start to feel awfully premium, if the new benefits were to become official.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Rumors Too

On the face, matching or besting Chase Sapphire Reserve earning rates with the Chase Sapphire Preferred makes the Sapphire Preferred look more attractive, on balance.

But Chase has a few rumored changes in the pipeline for the Reserve as well, which could include a potentially huge points earning opportunity with hotels and rental cars, to the tune of 10X!

If Reddit and DoC rumors are to be believed, Chase will offer 10X earning with the Sapphire Reserve Card on both hotel and rental car bookings via Chase Travel. Here’s the full rumored suite of changes…

• 10X Points on Chase Dining (powered by Tock), which includes Delivery.
• 10X Points On Chase Travel bookings of hotels and rental cars (not airfare?!).
• 5X Points on airfare booked via Chase Travel ( a great way to use points too).

If these changes come through as expected, Chase would offer 5X points on flights booked via Chase Travel; with virtually all their most competitive rewards cards, even including the no annual fee Freedom Flex. That’s a strong way to capture travel spend.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve would have huge earning potential under these proposed changes, and even though the annual fee appears steep at $550, a very flexible travel credit of $300 really quickly makes it a much smaller ‘net’ fee from the outset.

As an example on the earning side of the potential Sapphire Reserve moves, $5,000 of hotel spending with the card via Chase Travel would net 50,000 points (at 10X earning). The points earned are easily valued at $750 or more, if used for travel purchases with Chase, thanks to the 1.5 cents per point value Chase offers to Reserve cardholders. That’s a massive rebate.

Ultimately, this could be big news for all premium rewards credit cards. Capital One spent the last two years attacking the Sapphire Preferred Card, which created a burst of 100,000 point welcome bonuses to fend off competition. If Chase brings things to a new level, others will too.