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What counts as travel with Chase Sapphire Reserve?

  • Jason Stauffer

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    (Photo by Summer Hull)

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    The Chase Sapphire Reserve® card has a solid sign-up bonus and lots of other amazing perks, including helping you earn points faster by way of the 3x Chase Sapphire Reserve travel and dining categories.

    That’s great, because eating and traveling are two of the most popular spending categories.

    Let’s take a look at what types of purchases do and do not qualify for bonus points in the travel category.

    Chase Sapphire Reserve travel categories

    You’ll earn 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $4,000 in the first three months of opening the Sapphire Reserve card.

    You’ll also get a wide range of benefits, including:

    The $550 annual fee is not waived the first year, and we’ve written about whether or not the Sapphire Reserve’s annual fee is worth it for you.

    The card comes with a Priority Pass Select membership, which gets you access to 1,200+ airport lounges worldwide. You can save 15% off Lyft rides with a complimentary year of Lyft Pink (normally $19.99/month), as long as you activate the membership by March 31, 2022. Cardholders are also eligible for at least a year of complimentary DashPass, which comes with waived delivery fees at select restaurants on orders of $12+.

    Travel categories that earn 3x points with the Sapphire Reserve

    Travel is a broad category, so here’s what will qualify for 3x Chase points when you use your Sapphire Reserve:

    If you have to pass through a toll on your way to work every day, you could earn 3x Chase points for paying with your Chase Sapphire Reserve. 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 the Sapphire Reserve

    Here’s what does not earn 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards points:

    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.

    But you will still earn 3x Chase points on travel and dining when you’re overseas and you won’t pay foreign transaction fees.

    Bottom line

    Along with a great sign-up bonus and numerous perks, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card earns 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards points on travel (excluding the $300 travel credit) and on dining purchases worldwide. If you like to spend in these categories, your bonus Chase Ultimate Rewards points can add up fast. Travel purchases such as 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 inflight purchases will not qualify as a travel purchase.

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    Featured photo by Summer Hull.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)