r/CreditCards • u/LooseRegular • 16h ago

Help Needed / Question Special offer to upgrade Chase Sapphire Preferred to Chase Sapphire Reserve

I got a targeted offer to upgrade my CSP to a CSR and spend $4000 in by mid-December to earn 75k points.

The appeal:

  • It doesn't cost me a 5/24 slot.
  • I've already gotten the bonus for the legacy CSR before so I wouldn't have ever been able to get the bonus from the CSR post-refresh (because of the newly introduced lifetime language).

The downside:

  • Not a particularly great offered compared to new cardholder bonus offers (but this is not as big of a deal to me because of the upsides listed above).
  • I have about 120k in points that maintain the 1.25x redemption rate through the Chase portal through the legacy conditions that took place before the Chase Sapphire product refreshes. I assume that if I upgrade that I would forfeit the 1.25x redemption rate if I chose to upgrade.

What would you do in my scenario? I think the main deciding factor is if the 1.25x redemption rate value of those 120k points is worth as much as it seems like at face value.

And maybe the big question is, "do people find good deals on flights/hotels in the Chase travel portal?" Or are the prices so inflated that the value of the 1.25x is significantly nerfed and doesn't actually provide the value expected?

15 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

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10

u/Rain_Unseen 15h ago

Depending on how long ago you had the CSR you may be eligible despite the lifetime language or coming up on it within a year or two. Usually 7-10 years is as far as “lifetime” really lasts with Amex’s lifetime language. Chase’s implementation is still fresh and it’s unknown but likely similar

9

u/Chase_UR_Dreams Capital One Duo 14h ago

Worth noting that the fixed 1.25x redemption rate ends in October 2027, so you're not grandfathered in permanently. If you think you'll burn the 120k within the next year, then you should keep it, but if not, you might as well take the upgrade. You should look at the portal and see what options there are and whether or not any of those options make sense for travel you anticipate having.

Also, the CSR lifetime language is retroactive, so it's quite possible that you are already ineligible for a new CSR, depending on when you had it.

2

u/pingvinbober 12h ago

You’re never gonna find very good deals in the portal. The value is from transfers, mainly Hyatt (which becomes 1:1 instead of 4:3)

2

u/AdLegal8084 5h ago

I have found great deals on the Chase portal, like 2x points boost on United flights with no fees (United charges fees for points fares). Plus portal flights register as revenue fares within Star Alliance, so I can get United PQP’s and PQF’s on a partner flight booked with points. I’ve also booked The Edit hotels and the CSR upgrades there were nice too.

1

u/grantwwu 4h ago edited 3h ago

Plus portal flights register as revenue fares within Star Alliance

No portal fare is ever going to register as an award ticket on any airline. (It could plausibly come up as a special fare that doesn't get regular earning but I've never actually seen a data point of that happening on a bank portal).

1

u/415pinoy 5h ago

Was that targeted offer in the mail, or via email?