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The Chase Sapphire Reserve has fantastic benefits including a 100,000 point sign-up bonus, $300 annual travel credit, and 3X points bonus on travel and dining purchases. But there’s also a $450 annual fee that’s NOT waived the first year.
You’ll pay the annual fee on your first monthly billing statement. But can you get a Chase Sapphire Reserve annual fee refund?
Thanks to Million Mile Secrets reader Lawrence for the post suggestion!
I’ll explain how the Sapphire Reserve annual fee works.
Why You Should NOT Request a Chase Sapphire Reserve Annual Fee Refund
Link: Chase Sapphire Reserve
Link: Is the Sapphire Reserve Worth the Annual Fee?
Link: When Should You Cancel Your Credit Cards?
When you open the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you’ll earn 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. You’ll also get:
- 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points on travel & dining
- $300 annual credit for travel purchases such as airfare and hotels
- $100 statement credit for Global Entry
- Priority Pass Select for access to airport lounges
- No foreign transaction fees
You’ll pay the card’s $450 annual fee on the first billing statement.
I called Chase and you can get the annual fee refunded if you cancel your card within 60 days of the fee being charged. But I wouldn’t recommend doing this. Because you’ll likely lose any Chase Ultimate Rewards points you earned.
Plus, I think the Sapphire Reserve is worth the annual fee! Because you can earn the annual fee back (and then some) if you use the $300 annual travel credit twice in the first year you have the card. You’ll also get lounge access (worth $400), travel protection, car rental insurance, and much more!
Still Want to Cancel?
If you decide to cancel soon after getting the new card, Chase could think you’re abusing their rewards program. This means you might not get approved for any Chase cards in the future.
If you decide the card’s perks aren’t worth the annual fee, you can call Chase to cancel the card within 60 days of the fee being charged. But Chase will likely remove any Chase Ultimate Rewards points you earned.
It’s possible Chase could allow you to downgrade to a no annual fee card. But I couldn’t confirm this with a Chase representative because the Sapphire Reserve is still so new.
I typically recommend keeping a card open ~8 to ~10 months. Then, you can decide if the card’s perks are worth the annual fee. This helps establish a good relationship with the banks.
I’m so confused with the $300 travel credit. Don’t you still pay $450 AF? You still gotta save the $300 that you supposedly spent on travel and cough up the extra $150 to pay the $450 AF. Don’t get me wrong, the $300 travel credit is great but I’m still confused on why everyone thinks it’s $150 AF after the $300 travel credit.
OneOfDaKine, the whole point of having a $450 AF (plus $75) for Authorized User and then a $300 travel credit is to make the card more exclusive than the Chase Sapphire Preferred. By making the AF $450, and then incentivizing cardholders to spend on travel, it is meant to attract higher net worth individuals who spend more on travel (hence the $300 travel credit, $100 global entry reimbursement, and the complimentary priority pass membership). But if you spend your $300 in the first month of charging, your annual fee will hit for $450, but then you also get a credit that month of $300, which means your out of pocket expense is essentially $150 (or $225 if you have an authorized user)
I heard that if you lower your Credit line on the card to less than 4 times the annual fee (i.e. less than $1800), they will automatically refund the annual fee. Is there any truth to this? A Chase representative said no, but someone I know did it and got the refund automatically. I also did it, and I got a $75 refund (pro-rated?). Anybody out there hear of this?
If I open card on December of 2016, am I going to get $300 annual travel credit or not?
Hello, I didn’t meet the $4000 in the first 3 months. I spent more than $4000 in the first 3 months, but annual fee does not count, and there is a $300 travel credit, so the total purchase is $3750 in the first 3 months. I just found it out from my bill yesterday. Does that mean I lost 100000 sign-up bonus points? Is there anything I can do?
Beg a rep! If no, call and beg another rep!
A, the reimbursement for global or travel doesn’t count towards the $4k. Had to be charges that you pay for and that isn’t fees or returns, etc. I just was approved today 10/20 and according to online my due date isn’t until dec 16. Guess they take 2 weeks to get you a card, 3 weeks to use it, then 21 days for your first due date.