Bolt on Points

chase

Earn 10x points on Lyft with Chase Sapphire Reserve (plus other ways to earn points through Lyft)

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Two weeks ago, I wrote about Chase’s announcement that it would be increasing annual fee ($550, up from $450) and with that announcement, two new benefits were added to the card

With the additional $100 fee, cardholders can expect to get:

Well now it appears Chase is taking their Lyft partnership further by offering an additional 7x points on all Lyft transactions, through March of 2022. The announcement is as follows:

One thing to note is that you must enroll your card as your payment method in the app:

Ensure your Sapphire Reserve card is your default payment method. To qualify for Lyft Pink you need to enter your card directly into the app – if you use Apple Pay or PayPal, we will not be able to offer you the complimentary membership.“

This is a fantastic new benefit, with one caveat

On the whole, this is a great development for Sapphire Reserve cardholders, with one exception: cardholders that don’t have Lyft in their city. I haven’t found verifiable US statistics, but I do know from experience that there are numerous cities – particularly smaller markets – that only have Uber.

For those cardholders that do have Lyft, this increase represents a massive earning opportunity for Ultimate Rewards points (valued at over 2 cents each). For me personally, I take 6 rides to or from SFO every month, averaging $35 with tip, which adds up to $210. At 10x, that’s 2,100 Ultimate Rewards points just from the rides I’m already taking to/from the airport. That doesn’t even factor Leigh’s and my normal rideshare habits (another $100+/month). This is also great for cities like San Francisco that have Lyft bike share or car rental programs.

For car-less millennials such as Leigh and myself, this deal is close to being arbitrage (though legal of course 😉 ), especially when you factor in other earning opportunities, such as the ability to earn Hilton Honors points AND Delta SkyMiles with every Lyft ride. My take is that as long as prices and wait times are similar, I can’t see any reason to take Uber over Lyft with all of the earning opportunities.

Do you plan on taking advantage of all the Lyft earning opportunities?

Chase Sapphire Reserve upping annual fee to $550

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When it was launched in 2016, the Chase Sapphire Reserve was a game changer for luxury travel cards. At $450, it was expensive, but when you factored in its benefits, it made financial sense for a lot of people. Since then, it’s become clear that Chase has lost money – hundreds of millions of dollars – on the card and that it hasn’t resulted in new customers for other products like they’d predicted.

Well in an effort to shore up the finances of the card, Chase has decided to raise the the annual fee from $450 to $550, while offering some new – albeit marginal – benefits.

Current benfits

Existing and new cardholders already receive a lot of benefits from the card, including:

  • $300 travel credit, with no strings attached (*cough* Amex *cough*)
  • 3x earning on all travel and dining purchases
  • Ultimate Rewards points are worth 50% more for Sapphire cardholders, including points that users transfer in from their other Chase cards, like the Chase Ink Business Preferred
  • TSA/Global Entry credit
  • Priority Pass Select membership, which includes airport restaurants (unlike American Express)

What’s new

For new applicants (January 12, 2020 and beyond), the fee will start at $550. For current cardholders, the fee for this year will remain at $450 so long as it hits prior to April 1, 2020.

With the additional $100 fee, cardholders can expect to get:

What is Lyft Pink?

Credit: Lyft

Lyft pink is a subscription service that Sapphire cardholders will now get for free. From Lyft’s website, benefits are:

  • 15% off unlimited car rides
    Save on every car ride you take — any time, anywhere. 
  • Priority airport pickups 
    Get picked up faster at the airport when it’s busy.
  • Relaxed cancellations 
    We’ll cover three cancel fees per month if you rebook within 15 minutes.
  • Surprise offers
    Get seasonal discounts and exclusive savings.
  • Waived lost and found fees
    We’ll take care of the return fee every time. 
  • Bikes and scooters
    Enjoy 3 free 30-min. bike or scooter rides per month (in select markets).

Overall, this is a good service to get for free, especially if you already take Uber/Lyft with any frequency. Bonus points if you live in a city that has Lyft bikes and scooters (like we do in San Francisco).

DoorDash Door Pass

We all know food delivery is more popular than ever, so Chase is offering users a way to save money. Cardholders can now activate their DoorDash accounts using their Sapphire Reserve card in order to receive a complimentary 12 month DoorPass subscription. With the subscription, users won’t have to pay delivery fees on orders of $12 or more.

Overall thoughts

What I would’ve liked to have seen from Chase is some changes in the bonus categories and/or more transfer partners. Chase’s 3x earning for dining and travel is solid, but no longer industry leading. Amex offers 4x on groceries and dining with the American Express Gold card, while offering 5x for Platinum cardholders that book flights directly through their travel portal. The Citi Prestige – Citi’s top card – offers 5x earning on the same air travel and dining categories as the Sapphire Reserve (the caveat being hotels are 3x). Further, with the loss of Korean Air last year as a transfer partner, Ultimate Rewards could use a shakeup, though I still find a lot of value with United and Hyatt transfers. I’d also like to see Chase do transfer bonuses like Amex.

Chase upping the annual fee felt inevitable given the fact they’re losing money on it, not to mention other premium cards are already over the $500 annual fee (Amex Platinum is $550). With that said, these new perks won’t offset the fee increase for a lot of people. The perks feel like they’re aimed at a certain type of customer that lives a certain type of life (a millennial living in an urban area without a car). Personally, I’ll get plenty of benefit out of the Lyft Pink membership, but I really don’t use food delivery that often (why do I want to pay for soggy, lukewarm food?). I imagine many will look at cancelling or downgrading their card to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Deal Alert – 36k point business class to Europe is live

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Image credit: Air France

Flying Blue is a great program for SkyTeam awards. Their new Promo Awards, Special Edition site has just launched and there are some great North America deals to be had (one-way / round trip):

  • Business – Seattle to Europe – 36,000 / 72,000 points
  • Premium economy – Los Angeles to Europe – 28,000 / 56,000
  • Business – Toronto to Europe – 32,000 / 64,000
  • Economy – New York to Europe – 11,000 / 22,000

Note that Air France charges carrier-imposed fees that range from about $130 in economy, to $400 in business. Even with the fees (which are as bad as hotel resort fees), this is still a good deal.

The terms of the deal says that flights have to be booked by October 20th, and travel must occur between November 2019 and March 2020. Flying Blue points are easy to accumulate, since they’re a transfer partner for all the major transferable currencies: American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One, and Citi Thank You Points. Unfortunately there aren’t any transfer bonuses at the moment.

Leigh and I are personally thinking about how to take advantage of the Seattle to Europe flight, since positioning from SFO is easy. Since we already have a trip planned to South Africa in March, we may just tack on a few days in Paris up front since Leigh has never been (and Air France has direct flights from Seattle.

With holiday travel coming up, this could also be a great way to escape to somewhere new or add onto a current trip. Will you take advantage of any of these deals?