Chase is doing a major shake-up of their credit card portfolio.
Earlier this week, they announced they will completely overhaul the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card and change its value proposition, as well as make major changes to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card!
I wrote how that meant it was the last chance to earn grandfathered status on Sapphire Reserve, earn grandfathered status on Sapphire Preferred, and earn grandfathered status on Ink Preferred.
It’s also the last chance to signup for a Sapphire card under the current signup bonus rules, which are expected to get much stricter on 6/23.
What is grandfathered status?
On 6/23, point redemptions will go dynamic, with Points Boost. For Sapphire Reserve cardholders, instead of a flat value of 1.5 cents per point, cardholders will receive a value of 1 cent per point on all travel and a value of 1.25-2 cents per point on select airlines and hotels through Chase Travel.
Chase Hotels by The Edit can always be booked with a value of 2 cents each, so that will be a positive development for people who redeem points for luxury hotel stays.
For existing grandfathered Sapphire Reserve cardmembers who applied prior to June 23, 2025, points earned prior to October 26, 2025 can be redeemed at a value of 1.5 cents per point on Chase Travel until October 26, 2027.
For points earned prior to October 26, 2025, cardmembers will automatically receive the best offer available, whether it’s Points Boost or 1.5x on Chase Travel, maximizing rewards value for two years.
A similar change will be made to the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, with the current value of 1.25 cents per point being cut to 1 cent, but with Points Boost offers from 1.25-1.75 cents per point.
You’ll want to transfer points earned from other Chase cards or other household members to Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Preferred cards before 10/26/25 to retain the added value for 2 years.
Chase has provided answers to DansDeals for several questions that readers have asked, including:
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Q: If someone applies for Sapphire Reserve before 6/23, but isn’t approved until 6/23 or later, would they be grandfathered into the current card’s benefits and annual fee, or would the new fee and rules apply?
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A: As long as they apply before 6/23, they will receive the current card and annual fee.
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- Q: Will Pay Yourself Back with 25% bonus value still be part of the Sapphire Reserve program going forward?
- A: Pay Yourself Back will not be changing for Chase Sapphire Reserve at this time.
- Q: Do cardholders need to obtain the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Preferred by 6/22/25 as well to maintain the 25% Chase travel redemption bonus through 10/26/27?
- A: Yes, cardmembers must have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Ink Preferred before June 23, 2025, to maintain the 25% Chase Travel redemption bonus through October 26, 2027.
- Q: If a Sapphire Preferred is product changed to Sapphire Reserve or a Sapphire Reserve is product changed to Sapphire Preferred after 6/22/25, would they lose their 25% or 50% Chase travel redemption bonus?
- A: With your current card, cardmembers are eligible to redeem points earned prior to October 26, 2025, at a value of 1.25x or 1.5x on Chase Travel. After the product change, points will no longer be eligible at the 1.25x or 1.5x value on Chase Travel, nor can the 1.25x or 1.5x value be reinstated in any other Chase card in the future. Instead, they’ll be redeemable at 1x base rate. Cardmembers will continue to be eligible for Points Boost offers on Chase Travel.
- Q: If points are earned before and after 10/26/25, how will a cardholder be able to choose which points are selected for non-Chase Travel redemptions in order to preserve the points earned prior to 10/26/25 for Chase Travel redemptions? Will it be LIFO? FIFO? Or will there be different buckets they can choose from for other redemptions?
- A: Cardmembers will not be able to choose which points are selected for non-Chase Travel redemptions. The points will be FIFO regardless of what they are redeemed for.
- Q: Do you have any comment on what the Sapphire signup rules will be effective 6/23?
- A: We are transitioning away from the family of cards every 48-month eligibility to a same product premium eligibility. The timeframe will be longer than 48 months, but we aren’t able to share additional details.
- Q: Will Sapphire Reserve Business have a similar signup bonus restriction?
- A: This also applies to the Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business card.
- Q: I understand that if points are transferred from a Chase Freedom card to a Sapphire Reserve card before 6/23/25, they will be in the bank of points that can be redeemed with a 50% bonus value on Chase Travel. Will that also be the case for points transferred from a Chase Freedom card to a Sapphire Reserve card (which was opened before 6/23/25) if the points are transferred between 6/23/25-10/26/25?
- A: The points must be transferred to the Chase Sapphire Reserve account by October 26, 2025, to be redeemed with the 50% bonus value on Chase Travel.
So there you have it:
- Apply for Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, or Ink Preferred cards by 6/22 to have grandfathered 1.5x or 1.25x Chase Travel redemptions through 10/26/27 and to get the cards under the current signup rules, which will be getting stricter.
- Pay Yourself Back will remain a Sapphire Reserve benefit and will be a valuable way to get more value from your points.
- Don’t product change after 6/22/25 or else you will lose your grandfathered status.
- You won’t be able to choose which points to use for Chase Travel vs non-Chase Travel redemptions. Points will be redeemed on a FIFO basis, meaning that if you have 250,000 Chase points earned prior to 10/26/25 and 250,000 Chase points earned after 10/26/25 and you transfer 250,000 points to Hyatt after 10/26/25, you won’t be able to get the 1.25x or 1.5x value on a subsequent Chase Travel redemption as it will redeem the grandfathered points first, leaving you with only non-grandfathered points in that scenario.
- You can transfer points from all Chase Ultimate Rewards cards to grandfathered cards before 10/26/25 to have the 1.25x or 1.5x value through 10/26/27.
Have more questions about the major changes coming on Monday? Hit the comments!
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108 Comments On "Important Credit Card PSA: Do Not Do This After Today, Plus Your Questions Answered!"
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Do you think you can find out what changes are coming to JP Morgan Reserve? Thank you.
As I wrote in the original post, the same changes will apply to JPMR:
https://www.dansdeals.com/credit-cards/chase-will-completely-overhaul-the-sapphire-reserve-and-its-value-proposition-heres-what-you-need-to-know-and-why-you-may-want-to-signup-asap/
Do they realize these changes are literally going to kill the entire Chase ecosystem that people have built up over many years? I had 5 different Ink Unlimiteds for each of my businesses and now those will all be closed for a straight cashback card of 2%-2.5% with no annual fee…..Only reason to be with Chase was because of the 50% boost provided by the Sapphire Reserve…
The Sapphire Reserve has been a major money loser for them since it launched, to the tune of billions of dollars.
I guess they feel that the Points Boost up to 2x value and transfer partners like Hyatt and United will keep people in the ecosystem.
Only time will tell.
LOL ok…..Yes when it was a $450 annual fee. They are drastically increasing the fee with more coupon credits. The least they could have done was keep the 50% booster or at least drop it 25%. The removal of the 50% completely nerfs the entire program and what made the card different. No reason whatsover to have the Reserve over a flat 2.5% cash back card now.
It didn’t nerf the whole ecosystem, but it did nerf the Reserve for a very large portion of its user-base. Now, unless you spend the time to coupon book, there really is no reason to have a Reserve over a Preferred.
For the savvy point user such as Dan I assume he is not too disappointed in the loss of the 1.5 redemption – he always writes you can get a lot more value from partner transfers.. (in fact the point transfer will become so much more valuable vs.1 point!)Its the non savvy point users who are at a complete loss! I assume Dan’s biggest loss is the AF being raised. Dan is my assumption correct?
For the most part, yes. But it was still a nice backstop of value (in case of further mileage devaluations) that will be going away.
It still nerfs the Reserve for most of the user-base. Unless you are coupon-booking, why pay an effective $495 for the Reserve vs. $95 for the Preferred when both allow you to do the same transfers? Its not like there are any transfer partners or bonuses that are restricted to only the higher-tier card.
I am assuming most earn is being done on other cards, but even if you are using these cards for earn, it’s kind of a mixed bag as to which one actually has the better overall earn rate. PP membership and Global Entry are easy enough to get elsewhere. The misc other benefits (CDW, insurances, etc.), are mostly close enough to not justify $400 per year.
As for loss of the 1.5 – sometimes, emergencies or other things pop up, and there is no choice but to get a full-fare ticket. With the 1.5 redemption, at least you effectively pay 1/3 less. To me, that was the more important aspect.
Like I wrote, the AF is the biggest loss.
For the unsavvy mileage user – They destroyed the unlimited 1.5 card – Everyday spending will now be going to a 2 percent card. Also now there isn’t much difference between a chase freedom 5 percent card and a discover/citi etc 5 percent card. Honestly, I think they went too extreme on the CSR card They should have just blocked point transfers to the card but kept the 1.5 – My prediction if chase wants this card to stick around – the upcoming changes are not going to last in its stated form.
The AF isn’t the biggest loss. It’s the ability to justify the AF over the Preferred. An extra $155 to have a guaranteed 20% more value per point, on top of everything else, was a much easier argument to make than $400 extra for a coupon book and no guaranteed redemption bump. All I need is to use the extra .25 point one time, and I can cover the AF for a few years.
As an example, I was recently looking to book 3 RT tickets. I could not find any award space for the flight combos I was looking for that would have been cheaper than the cash price. For 3 round-trip tickets at $1K each, paying 200K points instead of 240K points covered 2+ years of extra AF. In the future, it’s going to be 300K points regardless.
As for your idea – that would either completely destroy the CSR, or else completely destroy the UR ecosystem. Either you are proposing that you can’t transfer UR to the Reserve, at which point it becomes nearly impossible to justify it over the Preferred (Sapphire or Ink), or else you can’t transfer UR to any of the 3 points-transferable cards, at which point the whole ecosystem is dead in the water.
A variation on your idea might work – you can still transfer to the Reserve, but only Reserve-earned points qualify for the 1.5x bump through Chase Travel. (Not bump up the actual earn by 1.5x, since there is still the points transfer option.) That would also encourage more spend on the Reserve vs other UR cards.
but after October 26, 2027. everyone will be in the same boat regardless when applied earned etc ?
Correct. But that’s over 30 months of grandfathered status.
But would still have to pay the $795 annual fee to retain the 50% bonus through 2027
I read somewhere that adding an authorized user to the card will no longer grant a priority pass card to the added user. Is that correct?
That is false.
What about points refunded from a likely elal cancelled flight.will those be grandfathered?
You won’t get them back by 10/26/25?
How quickly do they refund them?
Should be quick.
So would make sense not to combine any points earned after 10/26 to a SR that has points, rather keep them separate and combine to another card for example Ink Preferred for partner transfer.
Yes, absolutely!
Oh this is a great point. So if we’ve always had one household sapphire card at a time, currently my husband has one. my 48 months will be up in August. So then i should open mine for the earned points from 10/26/25 until 10/26/27 to keep them separate. Correct?
The 48 month rule ends today. It will get stricter tomorrow.
The other option it to open an Ink Preferred card, or upgrade a Freedom card to Sapphire.
If i have CSR can I still upgrade a Freedom to a CSP and have both?
If you currently have a reserve card and the freedom card, do the freedom points have to be transferred over to the reserve card before June 23 or October 26?
Before 10/26.
I am so confused. This sounds major. Dan can you make a video explaining? I got over 1m points should I run and apply for a new ink now?? And save my questions for later?
Which Chase Ultimate Rewards cards do you have now?
Is there a downside of upgrading to a sapphire reserve from a preferred before 6/23? I have about 350,000 points.
You would be on the hook for a higher annual fee, but would get the 50% bonus value on redemptions.
Your points will become $875 more valuable but you’ll be paying $155 more in effective AF (additional $455 on top of the $95 AF minus the $300 travel credit). If you use up your points via the chase travel portal within your first year then it’s probably worth it but if you have to pay additional $495 effective AF ($795 less $300) for the next 2 years to keep the value of those points since you hadn’t used them up yet, then it may not be.
Assuming points are only used for chase travel – there are very often partner travel bonuses so even if your not savvy with miles 1 point per mile is not too hard to find.. unless the bonuses get lowered or disappear!
Should I transfer all my points from other cards to my ink preferred now? Or they will not be valued at 1.25?
Sure, you have until 10/25/25 to make that transfer.
Can you explain how this points boost will work?
What can it be used for?
How useful is I’ll it be?
We’ll know more on Monday, but select flights and hotels will have a value of 1.25-2 cents each, and points at The Edit collection of hotels will have a value of 2 cents each.
Isn’t there a good argument to wait and sign up after 6/23 for a potential higher sign up bonus. I understand you won’t get grandfathered in for 1.5 redemption but if you don’t have a stash of points and you’re comparing the option of signing up now vs later wouldn’t there be a good chance of coming out ahead with a higher sign up bonus and all the benefits that come along with it?
I would expect a higher bonus. But there’s also a higher annual fee, and there are new signup rules coming on 6/23 that will make it much harder for most people to get approved.
FIFO and LIFO what does that stand for?
First in, first out.
Last in, first out.
I explain what the answer means in the bullet points afterward.
For those who already have a Reserve card for over 4 years, does it make sense to apply for another one before 6/23?
Yes, but it’s too late to downgrade it and make yourself eligible for a new one if you currently have a Sapphire card. I wrote about doing that earlier this week when it was still viable.
Thanks for all this information I can’t upgrade my preferred to the reserve because it’s under the year. Can I upgrade one of my freedoms to the reserve is that against having two sapphire cards?
You can.
My pleasure.
Will this affect the Chase Buisness Premier card?? (I hope not, I have millions of points on that)
Premier points can only be used for cashback at 1 cent per point, so no change there.
So long as the upgrade is done by 11:59 sunday, that should allow you to be granfathered in corrrect? When do you think the latest time to initiate that would be? I ask because I want to apply for one and try and get approved, and upgrade as a last resort…
I wouldn’t wait until the last minute.
@Dan
If I have grandfathered points in Sapphire preferred and earn more points after 10/26 and transfer it to ink preferred, then I transfer to Hyatt or United my ink preferred points, I would still stay with the grandfatherd points in the preferred, correct?
On which card are you earning the points on after 10/26?
Let’s say freedom or ink cash / unlimited
Sure
What about the 1.25x travel redemption from the ink business plus? Will it go away in the same timeframe as the sapphire preferred?
I assume it will go away with the same timeframe, but I’ll ask.
If I upgrade a freedom to CSR, when will the annual fee post? Is it the card anniversary date or just 2-3 billing cycles after the upgrade?
Dan,
I have points in my Freedom and Ink cash and Sapphire Preferred. I should transfer all my points into my Sapphire Preferred by 10/26 then? I use my points mainly for transfer to partners.
My spouse is an AU of my Freedom card, do I need to get an AU CSP card for my spouse in order to transfer points to her Frequent flyers programs account?
Thank you!
Sure.
Yes.
Any chance they match the sign up bonus if applying before 6/23?
They do match sometimes. YMMV.
What is the new reward for restaurants
So essentially points earned on my Sapphire preferred staring Monday will be worth 1 point, but points that I earn on another card starting Monday and transfer in will be worth 1.25 as long as I do it before 10/26?
No. All will be worth 1.25 if earned or transferred before 10/26.
dont understand what will change for ink, i never got more then 1 cent per point, no?
please explain
Ink Preferred and Ink Plus are worth 1.25 currently.
Even for gradfathered cards, we’ll still have to pay the new annual fee price at renewal right? And gonna have to do that in order to still get the 50% bonus on points redemtion?
For CSR, yes, for renewals after 10/26.
CSP/CIP fee isn’t changing, so you can transfer there for a 1.25 value.
Thanks. So youre saying I’m better off downgarding my CSR before the renewal and pay less money for annual fee and get 1.25 value vs the exorbiant CSR annual fee for 1.5 value?
That depends on how many points you’ll redeem for travel.
i have about just under 800k
“After the product change, points will no longer be eligible at the 1.25x or 1.5x value on Chase Travel, nor can the 1.25x or 1.5x value be reinstated in any other Chase card in the future.”
Ok here’s the “lomdush” question, what if I upgrade my preferred to reserve prior to 6/23 and then within 60 days cancel the PC and return it to preferred, will I still have 1.25?
That’s a good question… my gut says no, you won’t maintain grandfathered status in that case.
Whats the upside of doing this- you want to redeem some points at 1.5 in those 60 days but won’t be able to redeem all of them, and you don’t want to pay the higher AF by keeping it as a Reserve?
Personally, while 1.5 is worth it pretty often and can beat transfer partners, I don’t think I’d redeem at 1.25 anyways. At that point, I’d transfer to partners and worst case can still cash out at 1cpp. If I were you I’d upgrade to Reserve now and just keep it there and redeem what I can at 1.5. You won’t get charged the higher AF for quite a while, and will have some extra time with the new credits for free.
My AF for preferred is 7/1, I’m hoping I get charged $550 on 7/1 and then keep for another full year, however if it’s drags out a few months I.e. till 10/1 then I’ll get charged 795. I’d only keep it if I see there’s plenty of options for 2 cents/point
I just want to confirm that I have till October 2025 to transfer my points all to my Reserve card (from my freedom and preferred cards as well as from my husband’s cards). Or must it be done by tomorrow? Please advise and thanks again!!!
From what I’m told, you have until 10/25/25.
That being said, what’s the harm is transferring now?
I have reserve and ink business. How do I grandfather them? Do I have have to do something or is it automatic?
Automatic.
All my points are on my ink preferred which I was planning on canceling later this summer and getting another sapphire card, sounds like if I do that I will lose the gradfathered status correct?
Correct. You would have to apply for Sapphire today for that to work.
Can i transfer points from my wifes account, to mine, as i have reserve and she does not? And does that need to be done today?
Yes.
No, you should have until 10/25/25.
Tnx!
I’m a beginner so I’m not really following all this. I just want to clarify though if these changes in points value are only for redemption on chase travel portal (chase travel) or does it also affect somehow transfer partners as well. Thanks
I have CSP and CFU with points on both and I only use them for travel partners. Do I need to pay attention to these changes?
Chase Travel only.
Will sign up requirements get stricter for the ink biz preferred also or just the sapphires?
TBD.
Last month I downgraded graded my reserve to a freedom and then signed up for the preferred for 100k bonus. Now I can’t produce change it to the reserve. Any ideas how to get back a reserve ?
Don’t have another Freedom to upgrade?
HUCA and try again to upgrade the Freedom?
As I mentioned, I have the preferred card, can’t have both the same time. Can’t change the preferred within first year.
You can have both via upgrade, you just can’t get approved for both with a sign up bonus.
will pay yourself back at 1.25 still work with the preferred cards?
same question
Wow! Thanks Dan for doing the heavy lifting!
🙂
So, I have a CSP and not a CSR. If I call chase to upgrade to a CSR today, when would the new $795 annual fee increase kick in?
If I upgrade from Preferred to Reserve, can I downgrade back before the $750 annual fee posts and still keep my grandfathered bonus — or would that mess it up? Also wondering if it’s worth upgrading just to cash out points at 1.5 instead of 1.25.
That would mess it up.
So best to keep with my Preferred?
Will the ink business cards still get five points to the dollar spent at office supply stores? And if I stock up on Amazon gift cards now, is it correct that I have until October 25 to transfer those points to my sapphire reserve card?
No changes.
Yes.
This looks complicated, sorry I’m not savvy.
I have about 1M CHASE currency between Reserve, freedom, Ink etc.
If I currently have CSR will I be automatic grandfathered?
Should an all combine to CSR? OR leave them.
If main usage is to transfer to Hyatt or United
Always Appreciated all your post
You will be automatically grandfathered. You can combine them by 10/25.
What’s the process for changing a Freedom to a CSP? Can it be done online or does it require a phone call to customer service?
Phone call to do it today.
Does this apply to spouse? – You can transfer points from all Chase Ultimate Rewards cards to grandfathered cards before 10/26/25 to have the 1.25x or 1.5x value through 10/26/27.
If I am a sapphire reserve owner for a few years does that put me in the grandfather statues automatically?
Regarding Pay Yourself Back, a good question might be what are the 1.25 categories for Q3?
Chase telling us they “will not be changing at this time” does not mean much since they sunset every quarter anyway and could just quietly never come back.
@Dan, any chance you can go back to your regular style headlines? These new almost clickbait style headlines that many sites are using are the reason why I have moved away from those sites. We all look for the headlines and will open it if there is something of interest. This headline came up on your Telegram channel and I did not bother opening it because I am not looking to open a article to see if perhaps there is something of interest to me in the article.
The reason headlines were invented was to give one a glimpse as to what is written in the article.
I understand why you are doing it. It is the same as many websites but for me personally I dont bother even clicking. I used to read dailymail for news, but once they went all clicky baity in their headlines I now go exclusively to Telegram / Whatsapp for news.
“This one thing had doctors stunned and how you can avoid it”. “Banks are trying to hide this simple feature”. “Lawmaker gives shocking statement”.
Its not classy at all.
I always loved your writing and analysis, please dont become now like the rest.
People flock to you for your great content. You dont need to try these cheap gimmics, its beneath your stature. NY times/CNN dont engage in this style, it is what sets them apart from DailyMail. Daily mail is basically a tabloid now.
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