The Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers a terrific sign-up bonus and lots of other amazing perks. And you can earn points faster in the 3X Chase Sapphire Reserve travel categories (excluding $300 travel credit). And in the dining category too.
That’s great, because eating and traveling are 2 of my favorite things. 😉
I’ll show you what types of purchases do and do NOT qualify for bonus points in the travel category!
Earn 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards Points in the Chase Sapphire Reserve Travel Categories
Link: Chase Sapphire Reserve
Link: Chase Rewards Category FAQs
You’ll earn 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of opening the Chase Sapphire Reserve card.
And you’ll also get great perks like:
- 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1 spent on travel (excluding $300 travel credit) & dining worldwide
- 1X Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Up to $300 credit each account anniversary year for travel purchases such as airfare and hotels
- Up to $100 statement credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck
- Priority Pass Select for access to airport lounges
- NO foreign transaction fees
- Visa Infinite benefits like $25 food and beverage credit at the Luxury Hotel Collection and complimentary car rental elite status with Avis, National, and Silvercar
The $450 annual fee is NOT waived the first year. But I’ve written about whether the annual fee could be worth it for you.
One of my favorite things about this card is you can earn valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards points faster if you like to spend on travel and dining. Because you’ll earn 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1 in these categories.
Travel Categories That Earn 3X Points With Chase Sapphire Reserve
Travel is a broad category, so here’s what WILL qualify for 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points when you use your Sapphire Reserve:
- Airlines (including tickets, baggage fees, change fees, etc.)
- Hotels
- Motels
- Timeshares
- Campgrounds
- Vacation rentals (like Airbnb)
- Car rental agencies
- Cruise lines
- Travel agencies
- Discount travel sites (like Orbitz and Expedia)
- Trains (like Amtrak, subway, and metro tickets)
- Buses (like city bus tickets, Greyhound tickets, and Megabus tickets)
- Taxis
- Limos
- Ferries
- Ride-sharing services (like Uber)
- Toll bridges & highways
- Parking lots & garages
If you have to pass through a toll on your way to work everyday, you could earn 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points for paying with your Chase Sapphire Reserve. I love earning points on purchases I already make anyway!
Or maybe you’re planning a cruise to the Caribbean? Use the Chase Sapphire Reserve to pay for your tickets, and earn 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points for that purchase too!
Travel Categories That Do NOT Earn 3X Points With Chase Sapphire Reserve
Here’s what does NOT earn 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points:
- In-flight goods and services
- On-board cruise ship purchases
- Sightseeing activities
- Tourist attractions
- Airport purchases
- Miles & points purchases (unless sold by airline or hotel directly)
- Rentals of equipment and vehicles used for moving purposes (like U-Haul)
Things like food and drink purchases during a flight, or that Sasquatch lawn ornament from the SkyMall magazine, will NOT count as a travel purchase. 😉 And your ticket to The Empire State Building Observatory won’t earn you bonus points either.
You’ll earn 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points on travel & dining when you’re overseas. And you won’t pay foreign transaction fees!
Pay for foreign purchases in the local currency and NOT US dollars. Because if you choose US dollars instead of the foreign currency, you’ll pay extra, in addition to the exchange rate.
Bottom Line
Along with a great sign-up bonus and numerous perks, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card earns 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1 on travel (excluding $300 travel credit) & dining purchases worldwide.
If you like to spend in these categories (like I do!), your bonus Chase Ultimate Rewards points could really add up!
Travel purchases like airfare, bus tickets, train rides, tolls, and parking fees will count as travel purchases.
But tickets to tourist attractions, purchases you make in the airport, and in-flight purchases will NOT earn 3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Because they don’t qualify as a travel purchase.
We use my husband’s CSR for all travel, so when we book a cruise, it is attached to our shipboard account. Our charges to our shipboard account on our Oceania cruise were posted as travel, and we got 3x points for the spend.
That has been my experience as well. I just completed a cruise on Celebrity and the onboard account charges billed from “CELEBRITY MIAMI FL” received travel 3 points per dollar.
I recently “audited” my Citi Prestige spend and found that I was missing about 1,700 points from 2X and 3X transactions in foreign countries that were miscoded. Like I bought an airline ticket directly from an airline in Mozambique and it was coded as something entirely different, I bought baseball tickets in Japan that weren’t coded as entertainment, etc.
A few secure messages to Citi and I got the points awarded.
FYI, I have booked two different whale watch boat trips here on Maui with the card, and both earned 3x……well one was a whale watch and one was a snorkel trip.
On-board cruise ship purchases counted for me on Carnival since they were charged to the room. Same ting for gift shop purchases, etc in a hotel. If I can charge it to my room, I will since I know it gets 3x points.