Living With the New 795 Dollar Chase Sapphire Reserve in 2026: A Frequent Traveler’s Honest Verdict

I carried the Chase Sapphire Reserve in my wallet long before its 2025 revamp, and I have kept it into 2026 to see whether the new, higher-fee version still earns its place. Over the last year I booked flights through Chase Travel, leaned on the travel protections during delays, tested the revamped dining and entertainment credits, and tried to squeeze genuine value out of a card that now costs as much as a budget international flight every year. What follows is my honest view from actually using the new Sapphire Reserve in real life, not a points-optimizing fantasy.

The 795 Dollar Question: What I Actually Paid And Got Back

The elephant in the room is the annual fee. When I first got the Sapphire Reserve, it cost 550 dollars. By mid 2025, the annual fee for new cardholders jumped to 795 dollars, and starting October 26, 2025, existing cardholders like me began rolling into that new fee on our anniversaries. My renewal hit at the new price, so 2026 is my first full year living with a 795 dollar Reserve.

On paper, Chase now stuffs the card with well over 2,500 dollars in possible annual value. There is a 300 dollar general travel credit that still works almost everywhere travel codes, plus a 500 dollar hotel credit through The Edit by Chase Travel, a 300 dollar entertainment credit usable via StubHub and viagogo, a 300 dollar dining credit at select restaurants booked through a special OpenTable portal, extended DoorDash benefits, Apple subscriptions, Peloton and Lyft credits, and all the usual travel protections and lounge access layered on top.

In reality, what mattered to me was not the theoretical total but how much I could use without contorting my life around a credit card. In my first renewal year at the higher fee, I was able to reliably use the 300 dollar travel credit, about 350 dollars of the 500 dollar Edit hotel credit, roughly 220 dollars of the 300 dollar StubHub and viagogo credit, and the full 300 dollar dining credit. Add about 120 dollars in real value from DoorDash promos and monthly credits, plus a couple of small Lyft and Apple subscription perks, and I got very close to 1,300 dollars in concrete, easy-to-use value.

That sounds incredible, but there were catches. I overpaid for one Edit hotel stay compared with booking directly, I chose a concert through StubHub that I would not have otherwise attended, and I altered at least one dinner reservation just to keep the OpenTable-based dining credit alive. I still came out ahead in dollars, but not without some compromises and small annoyances along the way.

Travel Credits Versus Real Travel: How The Math Worked For Me

The most straightforward benefit remains the 300 dollar annual travel credit. In 2025 and into 2026, this credit still applies automatically to a very wide range of travel purchases: flights, hotels, rental cars, public transit, even certain tolls and rideshares. On my end, it disappeared within two weeks of booking a set of domestic flights for work. There was no friction, no special portal, nothing to remember. This is the one part of the card that still feels wonderfully simple and genuinely offsets the fee almost on its own.

The newer 500 dollar hotel credit through The Edit by Chase Travel has been more of a mixed bag. On one trip I booked a two-night stay at a boutique hotel abroad through Chase Travel using The Edit offer. The property was excellent and the 500 dollars came off as promised, but the nightly rate through Chase was about 15 percent higher than what the hotel was offering directly. Even after accounting for the markup, I still came out around 350 dollars ahead for that stay, but it was not a pure 500 dollar win. On another trip, Edit properties in the city I needed were all high-end or poorly located, so I skipped the credit entirely rather than reshaping my itinerary.

The entertainment credit, which applies to StubHub and viagogo, was stranger. I like live events, but I am not someone who goes to multiple big concerts or games every month. Over a year I used about 220 dollars of the 300 dollar allotment, mostly by choosing a pair of basketball games and one concert I was already inclined to attend. The checkout experience itself worked fine and the credits applied correctly. The downside was psychological: I caught myself browsing events just to use the credit, which is the sort of behavior I try to avoid with any rewards program.

On the pure travel side, though, the increased points-earning rates through Chase Travel did deliver. Booking flights and hotels through the portal at up to 8 points per dollar felt aggressive, and when I used those points for flights the value per point was still solid, especially for economy tickets abroad. It was not as game-changing as the early days of the Sapphire Reserve, but it made me comfortable concentrating most of my travel spend on this card rather than juggling several.

Dining, DoorDash, And Daily Life: When Lifestyle Credits Get Awkward

The 300 dollar dining credit sounded fantastic when I first read the fine print. In practice, it is tightly tied to a curated list of restaurants booked through an exclusive OpenTable portal. In 2026, the credit is split into two 150 dollar halves, one usable January through June and the other July through December. If you do not use a half in its window, it expires.

In New York and Los Angeles, I found more than enough eligible restaurants. The problem was that some of my actual favorite spots were not on the list, and the times available through the special portal were often less flexible than booking directly. There were nights when I chose a “Chase restaurant” over the place I really wanted, just to avoid leaving 150 dollars on the table. I still loved a couple of meals and one tasting menu that I would happily repeat, but the benefit gently nudged my dining decisions in a way that did not always align with my true preferences.

The extended DoorDash partnership, now stretching through at least December 31, 2027, has been more straightforward. Complimentary DashPass, plus monthly statement credits and promos on grocery and convenience orders, lined up decently well with how I already use delivery. The up to 10 dollar grocery promos twice a month combined with a smaller monthly restaurant credit easily added up to over 100 dollars a year in value for me, and I did not have to change my habits much.

That said, the “grocery” side of DoorDash is still a premium convenience, not a bargain. Prices are marked up, fees stack, and I constantly had to remind myself that the credit did not make overpriced milk or last-minute snacks any cheaper in a meaningful way. It softened the sting, but it did not transform DoorDash into a budget grocery option.

Smaller lifestyle credits for Apple subscriptions, Peloton, and Lyft felt like scattered candy. I already paid for Apple Music and Apple TV Plus, so the small offset there helped, but if I were not a user already, I doubt those benefits alone would justify signing up. Lyft credits were nice on the margins when I traveled, but they were not big or consistent enough to change which rideshare app I favored day to day.

Lounge Access, Insurance, And The Unexpected Stuff That Actually Helped

The Sapphire Reserve’s travel protections have always been its secret weapon, and that has not changed in 2026. I had one serious test: a winter trip where my connecting flight was delayed overnight because of a mechanical issue. I had booked the ticket on the Reserve. After more than six hours of delay, I was eligible for trip delay reimbursement. I kept my receipts for the airport hotel, dinner, and basic toiletries and submitted a claim.

The claims process was not instant. I filed online, waited for an email asking for clearer proof of the delay and my original itinerary, then waited again. In the end, I was reimbursed for just under 400 dollars. It did not erase the frustration of the missed day of my trip, but it turned a painful night into a manageable inconvenience instead of a financial hit. That single incident reminded me why I like having robust trip delay and cancellation protection bundled into a card I already use.

Baggage delay coverage also proved useful once. My checked bag went missing for about 36 hours on a flight to Europe. Because I had paid with the Reserve, I was eligible for reimbursement of essentials. I bought a change of clothes and basic toiletries, filed the claim once the airline delivered my bag, and a modest reimbursement showed up a few weeks later. It was not life-changing, but it took the edge off a stressful arrival.

On the lounge side, Priority Pass access remained solid, with the usual caveats. In major hubs I could usually find a participating lounge or partner restaurant, and the guest policy for me and up to two guests per visit is generous. However, crowding was a real issue. I was turned away at capacity more than once at peak times, which made the perk feel less like a guaranteed benefit and more like a pleasant surprise when it worked.

The newer partnerships, like access to Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges when flying Star Alliance, added a nice layer of optional luxury on a couple of trips. Compared with buying day passes at airports, the card’s lounge access easily saved me a few hundred dollars over the year, especially when traveling with someone. It did not always match the “premium travel” imagery from the glossy marketing, but it beat sitting at the gate nursing a five dollar bottle of water.

Dealing With The Fine Print, Portals, And Customer Service

What changed most between the older 550 dollar Sapphire Reserve and the new 795 dollar version, at least for me, was not the headline numbers. It was the amount of fine print and portal juggling required to grab all the value. The core travel credit is still automatic. Much of the rest is not.

The hotel credit only works through the Edit collection in the Chase Travel portal. The dining credit only works at specific restaurants booked through their exclusive OpenTable program, and it is time-boxed into two six-month periods. The entertainment credit funnels you through StubHub and viagogo, and the value is only as good as the ticket selection and fees in your city. DoorDash benefits have their own terms, activation steps, and expiration dates. Apple and Peloton credits each have their own specific routing rules.

In practice, I kept a simple spreadsheet just to track what I had used and what I had not. That is absurd for a credit card, but it was the only way to avoid leaving significant value on the table. I do not mind a little optimization, but the burden is noticeably higher now. If someone in my life asked me “Can I just use it and know I am getting my money’s worth?” my honest answer would be no, not at this fee level. You need to be intentional.

Customer service remained generally strong. When I called about a question on the dining credit and again about the Edit hotel markup, I reached a human quickly and got reasonably clear answers. They did not always resolve things in my favor, but I felt heard. On the claims side for travel insurance, communication was slower and more bureaucratic, but that is typical for any card-based insurance program I have used.

What I missed most was the relative simplicity of the original Reserve: a solid earning structure, a big automatic travel credit, great travel protections, and lounge access, all at a lower fee. The new version feels like a premium ecosystem, not just a card. That is fine if you want that, but it is a shift in philosophy that matters.

Who Came Out Ahead And Who Probably Will Not

Based on my own usage across 2025 and into 2026, I can say confidently that I came out ahead financially. After offsetting the annual fee with the 300 dollar travel credit, my net cost was effectively 495 dollars. Against that, I redeemed roughly 350 dollars of true value from the Edit hotel credit, about 220 dollars from StubHub and viagogo, 300 dollars in dining, around 120 dollars in DoorDash savings, maybe 60 to 80 dollars in Apple, Peloton and Lyft benefits, a few hundred dollars in lounge access I would probably have paid for otherwise, and two successful travel insurance claims worth about 500 dollars combined.

If I am brutally honest, though, that value came with strings. I had to be willing to book at least one hotel through a portal rather than directly, to select my nights out with Chase’s restaurant list in mind, to choose a couple of events from StubHub, and to stay on top of expiring credits. I also travel several times a year by air, enough to make the travel protections and lounge access a real part of my life, not just a theoretical perk.

When I project this onto friends and family, the picture gets more complicated. One friend who travels only once or twice a year and rarely buys concert or game tickets would struggle to use even half of the credits without contorting her plans. Another who lives in a smaller city with fewer Edit hotels, limited StubHub events that actually appeal, and a sparser list of Chase-partner restaurants would get significantly less from the card than I do in a major metro.

Income and spending patterns matter too. The card is clearly optimized for high spenders and frequent travelers, especially those who can chase the elevated elite-status perks that unlock at 75,000 dollars in annual spend. That is not most people. For a typical traveler with one or two bigger trips a year, some dining out, and occasional delivery, the 795 dollar fee is a very steep starting point, even with the generous credits attached.

The Takeaway

After living with the Chase Sapphire Reserve through its transition to a 795 dollar annual fee and into 2026, my conclusion is measured: it is still worth it for me, but in a narrower, more demanding way than before. The card delivers real value if you actually use the travel credit, at least a substantial portion of the Edit hotel and dining credits, some of the entertainment and delivery perks, and you place genuine weight on strong travel protections and airport lounge access.

If you are someone who takes several trips a year, flies enough to see delays and lost bags as “when” rather than “if,” stays in hotels that fit the Edit collection, dines out regularly in cities with a good roster of participating restaurants, and does not mind managing a small calendar of credits and expirations, the Sapphire Reserve can still be a powerful tool. In that scenario, the 795 dollars can turn into well over 1,000 dollars of realistic, usable value, plus peace of mind when travel goes sideways.

If, on the other hand, you travel infrequently, dislike portals and fine print, live somewhere without many Edit properties or Chase-partner restaurants, or simply do not want your life gently nudged by a card’s benefit structure, this is likely no longer the right product. You would be paying business-class prices for an economy-level experience, and a lower-fee travel card or a no-fee cashback setup would probably fit you better.

For me, the Reserve survives another year in my wallet, but with an asterisk. I no longer see it as an obvious slam dunk, the way I did back when the fee was lower and the structure was simpler. It is now a premium membership in a particular way of traveling and spending. As long as my lifestyle matches that, I will keep swiping. The moment it does not, no amount of theoretical “over 2,500 dollars in annual value” will justify a 795 dollar line item on my statement.

FAQ

Q1. Is the Chase Sapphire Reserve still worth it in 2026 after the annual fee increase?
For me it is, but only because I travel frequently, live in a big city with plenty of partner restaurants and events, and actively track and use the various credits. If you do not travel or dine out much, or you dislike juggling benefits, the 795 dollar fee will likely outweigh the value you get back.

Q2. How much of the card’s advertised “over 2,500 dollars” in value did you realistically use?
In my first year at the higher fee, I used around 1,300 dollars of concrete value from the core credits, plus a few hundred more from lounge access and travel protections. I did not come close to the full theoretical maximum, but I still comfortably beat the 795 dollar fee.

Q3. Did you find the 500 dollar Edit hotel credit easy to use without overpaying?
It was usable but not perfect. I used it for one two-night stay where the Chase rate was about 15 percent higher than booking direct. I still saved a net 350 dollars, but it did not feel like a clean 500 dollar win. In other destinations I skipped the credit because the available properties did not fit my plans.

Q4. How restrictive is the 300 dollar dining credit in real life?
In major cities it is less about restriction and more about steering. The restaurants are limited to a curated list and you must book through the special OpenTable portal, in two 150 dollar half-year windows. I could always find somewhere good, but sometimes I chose a “Chase restaurant” instead of my true first choice just to avoid wasting the credit.

Q5. Did the entertainment credit through StubHub and viagogo feel genuinely valuable?
Partly. I used most of it on events I genuinely wanted to attend, like a couple of games and a concert. But I also noticed myself browsing for something to buy just to not lose the credit, which is not an ideal mindset. The actual value depends heavily on how often you already go to ticketed events.

Q6. How reliable were the travel insurance benefits when things went wrong?
They worked, but required patience. For an overnight delay and a baggage delay I was reimbursed after submitting documentation and waiting a few weeks. It was not instant or frictionless, but it turned frustrating situations into manageable inconveniences instead of unexpected expenses.

Q7. Did you experience problems with Priority Pass lounge access?
Yes, especially crowding. In big airports at peak times I was turned away more often than I would have liked. When it worked, the lounges and partner restaurants were a real perk and probably saved me a few hundred dollars a year, but I learned not to assume access was guaranteed.

Q8. How much effort did it take to keep track of all the credits and benefits?
Enough that I kept a simple spreadsheet. Between the Edit hotel credit, dining windows, StubHub and viagogo credits, DoorDash promos, and smaller lifestyle perks, it was easy to forget something. The card still pays off for me, but only because I am willing to manage that complexity.

Q9. Would you recommend the Sapphire Reserve to a casual traveler in 2026?
Generally no. If you take one or two short trips a year, rarely buy event tickets, and do not care about lounges, a lower-fee travel card or even a good cashback card will likely serve you better. The Reserve is now aimed squarely at frequent travelers and high spenders who will really work the system.

Q10. What would make you finally cancel the card?
If my travel volume dropped, I moved to a smaller market with fewer partner options, or Chase added more hoops and restrictions around the credits, I would seriously reconsider. The moment I have to strain to break even, the nostalgia for the old 550 dollar version will not be enough to keep it in my wallet.