As an avid traveler, I held on to my Chase Sapphire Reserve card for its reward program. I believe it had the best benefits for travels. Even with their high annual fee ($550), it was still worth it because of all the rewards and perks.
Their perks included:
- $300 Annual Travel Credit: If you spend $$ on travel, you can receive up to $300 in statement credit per year
- No foreign transaction fee: A MUST!!! for international travelers
- Global Entry or TSA Precheck Fee Credit: Receive up to $100 every 4 years for application fee
- Complimentary Airport Lounge Access: Enrollment through Priority Pass for access to their lounges
As for points, when using the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you would get 3 points on travel and dining and 1 point on every $1 spent on anything else. And every 100 points is worth a $1(1 cent per point) if we converted to cash.
However, you get even more bang for your buck when booking your travel through the Ultimate Rewards website using the points. 50% more! This was one of the biggest perks for me. But since I’ve stopped booking my international trips, I’m not using my points and they were just sitting there.
Well.. SAY NO MORE!
Chase has a new program called Pay Yourself Back and you can use the points on certain purchases (like grocery and dining out) with the same extra value (So 50% more!) and receive a statement credit. This is literally the same value as traveling! So why not take advantage of this and use the points?
So how do you use your points for Pay Yourself Back? Here are the step by step.
First, go to your ultimate rewards point website. You can go here by logging into your chase account.
From the homepage, click on the 3 dash bars on the top left corner. You should see a drop-down menu. From the drop-down menu, click on Pay Yourself Back. (As you can see, it is a new program)
Once you click on the Pay Yourself Back, you should see a list of all the purchases that are eligible. Most of mine were groceries and dining out. Click on the check box for ones that you are interested in using the points and click CONTINUE at the bottom.
On the next page, they will ask you how much of the points you want to use. I clicked on the Apply Full Amt since I just wanted to use all my points.
At the bottom of the page, it will tell you how much statement credit I would be getting back and how much points I used (and the balance). Without the Pay Yourself Back program, I would be spending around 60,000 for $600 but with the program, I’m saving so much!
And after clicking on Comfirm & Submit, BOOM! I’m getting $$$ back.
With the COVID-19 crisis, I was on the verge of cancelling my card since I am not traveling but with this new program, I feel that I’m still getting some value from it. Plus, this program will help a lot of people save money on things that are necessary like grocery. You are still getting the same/maximum point value. This is to be a limited time program so please go use it!
Moons on the Move 