Chase Sapphire Reserve is changing... Alternative cards with high points for MVC maintenance fee payments?

[rickandcindy23]

@mountainboy good to know about reservation. Last time we used Chase in Phoenix we had to wait. Almost did not have enough time.

All, I started to look at Chase flight boosters for a fall trip. The flight was more expensive than alternative airlines. Perhaps it is just a DP but so far not good.

I check Google Flights first, then go to Chase UR portal.

 

[mountainboy]

Merrill told me that there was a team which could pre-set the Preferred Rewards Tier, and so I was planning to reach out to them in a day or two and see if I could get that done so that I can start spending. So you might want to reach out to them and see if they can do that for you.

Re BoA/Merrill Platinum Honors (PH status):
Hope they DO fast-track it for all of you, who are starting new with them.
For me, as a pre-existing customer (with small amt of monies before), they indicated, we will need to wait for my avg 90 day balance to be >100k, before I get Platinum Honors (for the higher tier cashback to kick in).
No biggie long-term but hope when folks get it, they are not planning to charge large amts in 1st 90 days, if pre-existing customers without PH.
TY!

 

[rickandcindy23]

Those of us, owners at HGVC, love Aspire; many have multiple...
No PP restaurant access for either (or Amex Plan or CSR)
Citi Prestige (NOT the new Strata Elite) & USB AR still have them, if you have those cards.
BoA PRE is the only big bank issued CC, easily available currently, which does allow PP Restaurant access (just used few weeks ago at SFO)..

I know, but I don't own HGVC. I see no future in that card.

 

[Eric B]

I know, but I don't own HGVC. I see no future in that card.

... so buy an HGVC. Simple!!!

 

[mountainboy]

*Re Post #302, BoA did update me to PH status (so about a month after xfr'ing new monies in, although they had said I would need to wait 3 mo).
@daviator , hope your PH status also comes thru soon, if it hasn't already...
TY!

 

[daviator]

*Re Post #302, BoA did update me to PH status (so about a month after xfr'ing new monies in, although they had said I would need to wait 3 mo).
@daviator , hope your PH status also comes thru soon, if it hasn't already...
TY!

I am fighting with B of A and just about ready to pull my money back out of Merrill and kiss them goodbye forever. Despite having a significant net worth with lots of liquidity, zero unsecured debt (and minimal secured debt), and a perfect credit history with an 825ish credit score, they have not yet approved my credit card application and are now asking for my tax returns, which I’m not going to provide for a credit card application, it’s ridiculous and insulting. So all this work may have b even a bit waste of time.

They are confirming the opinion I had of them before I started any of this.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

@daviator Wow. Tax returns for a credit card app? That's overreach. I do not blame you for rejecting this request.

I had a negative BofA experience about 15 years ago when closing out accounts for a relative that passed. Administrative bureaucracy with no customer service. Reminds me of AT&T. Never went back to either company.

 

[Dean]

I am fighting with B of A and just about ready to pull my money back out of Merrill and kiss them goodbye forever. Despite having a significant net worth with lots of liquidity, zero unsecured debt (and minimal secured debt), and a perfect credit history with an 825ish credit score, they have not yet approved my credit card application and are now asking for my tax returns, which I’m not going to provide for a credit card application, it’s ridiculous and insulting. So all this work may have b even a bit waste of time.

They are confirming the opinion I had of them before I started any of this.

I assume your credit file is unlocked. If they're that big of an idiot (and they are), I'd just walk away from them.

 

[mountainboy]

I am fighting with B of A and just about ready to pull my money back out of Merrill and kiss them goodbye forever. Despite having a significant net worth with lots of liquidity, zero unsecured debt (and minimal secured debt), and a perfect credit history with an 825ish credit score, they have not yet approved my credit card application and are now asking for my tax returns, which I’m not going to provide for a credit card application, it’s ridiculous and insulting. So all this work may have b even a bit waste of time.

They are confirming the opinion I had of them before I started any of this.

OMG, sorry, you are going through this :-(
Agree, I would NOT give my tax return to anyone to verify my identity.
Having said that, even Chase, with whom I am a private client, asked me to upload my drivers license, to verify my identity (as I applied directly for the Marriott boundless, without going through my CPC banker)
Barclays is terrible ('mail us copy of SS card, driver license & utility bill' etc).
If somehow their compliance/fraud alert goes off, for any reason, all the big banks do ask you to do the verification; everyone does their different way...
Agree, if bad experience in the past & now with BoA, pls stay away.
Sorry, as I think you may have considered the BoA PRE based on a post from me re them giving the PP restaurant benefit (+ frustrations with coupon book AmEx Platinum & CSR) :-(...
Thx for sharing your terrible experience, so others may know different experiences & decide accordingly.
Hope BoA & Citi improve their customer experience significantly, so we have good alternatives for CSR & AmEx Platinum.
Until then, our precious time & safety are worth the modest AF for the premium cards like CSR/Amex Platinum etc
TY!

 

[mountainboy]

@daviator Wow. Tax returns for a credit card app? That's overreach. I do not blame you for rejecting this request.

I had a negative BofA experience about 15 years ago when closing out accounts for a relative that passed. Administrative bureaucracy with no customer service. Reminds me of AT&T. Never went back to either company.

Not nice..
Thx for sharing the negative feedback.
Hope BoA & Citi improve their cust svc significantly...
Until then, vote with our wallets (& not use those, who don't treat us well)..

 

[daviator]

Not nice..
Thx for sharing the negative feedback.
Hope BoA & Citi improve their cust svc significantly...
Until then, vote with our wallets (& not use those, who don't treat us well)..

They officially declined me because I refused to send them all 200 pages of my tax return. I’d have had to spend a hundred bucks on a printer cartridge, paper and shipping, lol, and there's no chance they’d have looked at them all. It’s pretty crazy, I’d think a bank would be happy to get their foot in the door with someone with my track record. But not B of A, apparently. They were so arrogant and rude when I talked to them, I’m really not sad.

Anyway, I will leave my funds in Merrill for another couple of months until I get the sign on bonus and then I’ll pull everything out and kiss B of A goodbye forever. So now I need to figure out if I want to bite the bullet and stick with Chase Sapphire Reserve or switch to someone else with a simpler/better value card.

I need to look more at Citi Strata Elite, and there is a card from UBS that still has the Priority Pass restaurant benefit but I’m not sure if it requires you to have a larger relationship with UBS or not. Another option is to go back to Amex Platinum, but they’re about to jack up their annual fee too and probably add more “coupon book” benefits which is kind of what I’m trying to avoid.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Did anyone receive the Chase Sapphire Reserve navy blue introduction flyer in the mail this week? It appears we could get some value for the $795 fee e.g. $300 travel fee for sure which brings the card to $495 but AFAIK a lot of busy work to recover the rest of the AF via coupons.

It would be nice to identify Booster deals, Restaurant deals and Edit hotel good values in another thread so we all aren't hunting and pecking for deals. I like the idea of $200 but not for a room that costs $1000 when I can book timeshares and apply FNCs.

Hmmm...I wonder if one could use and AI agent to search the Chase portal and identify these opportunities?

 

[bnoble]

I did. I'd consider it if I could make easy use of the restaurant credits---it is not hard for me to spend $150 in a single month dining out. But there are only four restaurants within striking distance of me, and really only one I'd go to routinely. As a timeshare owner, the hotel credits are a lot more iffy, with only one "local getaway" option. I suppose I could use it to tack on an extra night here or there in an expensive location (e.g. next year's HHV week) but that's not what I would ordinarily do.

 

[daviator]

Did anyone receive the Chase Sapphire Reserve navy blue introduction flyer in the mail this week? It appears we could get some value for the $795 fee e.g. $300 travel fee for sure which brings the card to $495 but AFAIK a lot of busy work to recover the rest of the AF via coupons.

It would be nice to identify Booster deals, Restaurant deals and Edit hotel good values in another thread so we all aren't hunting and pecking for deals. I like the idea of $200 but not for a room that costs $1000 when I can book timeshares and apply FNCs.

Hmmm...I wonder if one could use and AI agent to search the Chase portal and identify these opportunities?

I got it too. It kind of further validated my desire to look for alternatives. I don't think I'll be able to get nearly as much value out of the new CSR.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

That's my experience too. So far there are zero restaurants nearby so would have to use while traveling. They say they are adding more but so far many are not of interest. Again it's akin to the hotel situation - I am not going to pay $800/night to save $200. Or pay $25 for a watered down cocktail that I can make at home.

 

[Janann]

That's my experience too. So far there are zero restaurants nearby so would have to use while traveling. They say they are adding more but so far many are not of interest. Again it's akin to the hotel situation - I am not going to pay $800/night to save $200. Or pay $25 for a watered down cocktail that I can make at home.

So far the best hotel deals that I have found are in Las Vegas. There are also some deals in Orlando and scattered around Texas.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Good to know. With the exception of TX those locations are where inexpensive timeshare deals are abundant. Maybe worthwhile to stay longer or bridge to a less expensive flight?

 

[tschwa2]

I am finding the restaurant benefit a little confusing. I read the terms and conditions. I will be visiting my son in MN and want to take him and his girlfriend out. There are some reservations that just say Chase Sapphire Reserve. There are others where specific times say Sapphire. Do I have to book a time that says Sapphire to be eligible. I don't see any exclusions for specials or happy hours so do you think I am correct to assume that would all be included as eligible for the credit?

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Ugh. This sounds like the $200 Resort Benefit with the Hilton Aspire. You go to the website and it is not clear which properties apply and which don't. I signed up via OpenTable, hard to tell what's in the program vs. general OpenTable if you hit the wrong button.

Is the best way to find restaurants via Opentable? or do you need to always enter via a portal on Chase.com?

 

[bnoble]

See, if I have to work that hard to make the card make sense, it is not worth it. My time has value too.

 

[DanCali]

See, if I have to work that hard to make the card make sense, it is not worth it. My time has value too.

Totally agree.

It looks like they gathered some very smart people and gave them two tasks... (i) come up with benefits that seem very attractive on paper, and (ii) make them so hard/useless to redeem that only a small number of cardholders will take advantage. For example - how many people subscribe to both Apple Music and Apple TV+, but not Apple One (which is not covered at all by CSR)? Note that Apple One costs less than those two services combined and includes extra storage and Apple Arcade too.

I assume many of us here also have the Platinum Amex and know the "coupon" experience. In my case, every 6 months I trek to Saks to buy a $50 body wash that I would never even look at otherwise (the free 2-day Shoprunner shipping option for online was magically removed from Saks 2-3 years ago)... It's been 3-4 years since I used the $200 annual hotel benefit because most participating hotels in Vegas are now $600+/night as opposed to ~$200 pre-pandemic. The $15/month Uber cash is (sometimes) used on Uber Eats takeout once a month, but normally we don't to takeout at all so it's actually an incremental cost. I do use the digital entertainment credit of up to $20/month on various streaming services like Peacock that I never watch (of course Netfix is not included, and Sirius was removed as an option probably because it was too popular), and I don't even bother with the Walmart+ credit because of a couple of terrible experiences with their deliveries (online orders got routed to the nearest store and they never shipped the stuff).

I think one of those "coupon" cards is plenty, and as much as I dislike the Platinum Amex these days, Chase outdid them on a grand scale. I may keep it for an extra year because the 1.5x redemption on travel is too valuable to give up, but I'm in extreme usage mode of those points and will cancel the card soon after.

 

[Janann]

It's been 3-4 years since I used the $200 annual hotel benefit because most participating hotels in Vegas are now $600+/night as opposed to ~$200 pre-pandemic.

There are a bunch of hotels in Las Vegas that are in the program for less than $600/night. There are even some that are less than $200/night.

 

[Janann]

You go to the website and it is not clear which properties apply and which don't. I signed up via OpenTable, hard to tell what's in the program vs. general OpenTable if you hit the wrong button.

Is the best way to find restaurants via Opentable? or do you need to always enter via a portal on Chase.com?

The best way to find restaurants is via the Chase portal. Make sure that you have added your credit card to the Open Table website.

For example, here's the beginning of the Las Vegas list on the Open Table website. I got there through the Chase portal.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Thanks @Janann It appears this is part of the Visa Infinite Program.

All, I was able to find the listings - not easy to navigate because there are international locations but they don't always pop up. You need to go to the bottom of the Infinite page.

Another way to search is to use ChatGPT/Copilot. This may be helpful when traveling when you don't want to be searching bank websites. It not only gave me the list of applicable restaurants in my area but it also clarified the rules. \

@tschwa2 Apparently you do not need to make a reservation on OpenTable. The visa tables on OpenTable are difficult to reserve times but do not apply to the credit AFAIK.

Update: Copilot can be wrong. It just listed a restaurant not on the list. Best to use this list and scroll to the bottom to pick your location:

https://www.opentable.com/c/visadining/

We are 2 player so I wanted to inquire about whether the reservation needed to also be in my name to split the bill (and get 2 x $150 credit)

CoPilot Response:

Yes, you absolutely can split the bill between two Chase Sapphire Reserve cards to maximize the dining credit—as long as each cardholder pays separately.

🍽 How It Works

• Each Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers $150 in dining credit per half-year.
• If you and a companion each have your own Sapphire Reserve card, you can:
  • Ask the restaurant to split the bill into two separate charges (e.g., $150 on each card).
  • Each card will then automatically apply its own dining credit to the respective charge.

Tips for Success

• Let the server know upfront that you’d like to split the bill.
• Ensure each card is charged at least $150 to fully use the credit.
• Keep an eye on your Chase account to confirm the credit posts—usually within a few days.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

FYI...I was able to use OpenTable Visa Tables to reserve Acre in San Jose del Cabo for a trip in Feb 2026 using Sapphire Reserve. It will be nice to get potentially $300 discount on the meal. This may pay to keep the card if we can consistently use Visa tables with $300 restaurant and $300 travel credit making the card net $195.

cc @Eric B @GT75 @HuskerATL