On August 26th, you can expect your Chase Sapphire Reserve to be not quite as valuable as it was before. Three changes are being implemented, but all in all, they aren’t really a big deal.
Here are the updates to the card:
- You will no longer earn 3x points on travel purchases that qualify for the $300 annual travel credit. This means you will earn 900 fewer points each year.
- You can only bring two guests to Priority Pass lounges. Additional guests can be admitted for $27 per person.
- Price Protection will no longer be included with this card.
Here’s my take on it. I don’t think the first one is a big deal because I’m surprised they allowed us to earn points on those purchases in the first place.
For the Priority Pass devaluation, this benefit was also overly generous. I personally have only ever had two people to bring in with me at a time. When I’ve traveled with larger groups, at least one other person in the group also has a Priority Pass membership. I suppose this would be annoying for families, but given the number of cards that offer a Priority Pass membership these days, it’s not hard for both parents to have lounge access through different cards.
I personally have never used Price Protection so it’s no big deal for me, but this is probably to worst of the devaluation for those who do. Currently, this benefit provides reimbursement for the difference in price on eligible items if the item is advertised for less than you paid within 90 days of purchase. You can get up to $500 per item for a maximum of $2,500 per year.
Final Thoughts
While devaluations by nature are not a good thing, I think this one is relatively harmless unless you have taken advantage of Price Protection in the past. For those concerned about the limit on Priority Pass guests, Priority Pass memberships are given out like candy these days, so it’s easy for other people you may travel with to get their own membership.
