On June 23, 2025, Chase Sapphire Reserve is removing the ability to redeem points giving a 1.5% value (1.5 cents per point) toward purchases with the Chase Travel booking platform.
If you apply for or upgrade to the Chase Sapphire Reserve card before June 23rd, you’ll lock in the 1.5% redemption option for more than two years, until October 2027, for all points earned before October 26, 2025. Points earned after October 26, 2025 will not have the 1.5% redemption option via Chase Travel.
Presumably, if someone upgrades to the Sapphire Reserve card before June 23rd, all of their points balances from prior earnings will maintain the 1.5% redemption option until 2027. Likewise, presumably, any points transferred to a Sapphire Reserve card before October 26, 2025 will maintain the 1.5% redemption option until 2027. (We have yet to receive confirmation on any of this.)
For someone interested in getting the Sapphire Reserve card by upgrading a Freedom or Sapphire Preferred card, many will opt to do so before June 23rd for two reasons:
- You’ll lock in your first membership year at the lower $550 annual fee
- You’ll get 2+ years of the 1.5% Chase Travel redemption option
Someone who appreciates the new perks and credits coming on the refreshed Sapphire Reserve card might prefer to upgrade after June 23rd to get a few extra months of those benefits.
Those looking to signup for a new Sapphire Reserve card will probably prefer to wait until after June 23rd since it’s likely the signup bonus will then be significantly higher at that time versus the current 60,000 points bonus. I wouldn’t give up on that upside unless I had boatloads of points that needed the 1.5% redemption option.
