What it earns
| Category | Rate | Value per $ | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portal travel | 8× | 14.4¢ | flights, hotels and car hire |
| Flights | 4× | 7.2¢ | — |
| Hotels | 4× | 7.2¢ | — |
| Dining | 3× | 5.4¢ | — |
| Everything else | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Gas | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Groceries | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Home Improvement | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Insurance | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Media & Advertising | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Medical & Pharmacy | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Office Supplies | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Rent | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Shipping & Postage | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Software & Cloud | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Streaming Services | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Transit | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
| Wireless & Telephone | 1× | 1.8¢ | — |
Cents-per-dollar figures use our standard point valuations, not transfer-partner rates. Transferring to an airline or hotel partner at the right moment can beat these numbers; routine redemptions generally will not. We publish the conservative figure on purpose.
What the fee has to earn back
This card charges $795 a year. Its best rate is 14.4¢ per dollar on Portal travel, against 1.8¢ on everything else — an edge of 12.6¢ per dollar.
So the fee is covered at roughly $6,310 of portal travel spending a year, before any statement credits.
That is arithmetic on the published rates above, and it assumes the spending is real rather than moved around to chase the category. Statement credits can change the answer sharply in either direction — a credit you never use is not a discount. Whether your spending clears this is what the audit measures.
Welcome offer
100,000 points
After $6,000 of spending in the first 3 months.
A welcome offer is only worth what you can actually reach. The audit checks the minimum spend against what you really spend each month, rather than assuming you will hit it.
Notes
Hotels 10× via Chase Travel; Chase Sapphire Reserve Lounge access
Rates can change without notice; confirm with Chase before applying.
Disclosure — the Apply link for this card pays us. Applying through it earns a referral reward for MaxMyPoints or for someone here, at no cost to you. The offer through a referral link is sometimes better than the issuer’s public one; the welcome terms shown above are read from Chase’s public page, so treat them as the floor rather than the ceiling. None of this reaches the audit: it ranks cards on published rates and your own spending, and never reads which cards carry a referral link. This page itself carries no application link.