BREAKING NEWS Amex rival reveals fanciest credit card ever with astonishing array of perks worth more than $2.7k
JPMorgan Chase is rolling out a major update to its premium Sapphire Reserve credit card — and with it, a hefty 45 percent jump in the annual fee.
Starting June 23, the annual cost will rise to $795, up from $550. It's the biggest fee increase since the card's launch in 2016, but the bank is betting a new suite of perks will keep cardholders on board.
Chase says the revamped card will offer more than $2,700 in value, with expanded benefits across travel, dining, and entertainment.
That includes a $500 credit at its network of hotels and resorts, a $300 dining credit at select restaurants, and $300 in credits for StubHub or Viagogo purchases.
Subscribers will also receive complimentary access to Apple TV+ and Apple Music, valued at $250 annually, plus a new program that doubles the redemption value of points on select travel bookings.
High spenders — those who charge $75,000 or more annually — will unlock additional perks, including elite status with Southwest Airlines and IHG Hotels & Resorts.
Later this year, Amex is expected to update its Platinum card, which currently carries a $695 annual fee, and analysts expect that fee to rise.
Last year, Amex copied Capital One with change on airport lounge access.
Despite the steeper cost, Chase is touting a suite of new perks it says add up to over $2,700 in value, including expanded travel and dining credits, access to airport lounges, and new bonus programs through its travel platform.
JPMorgan is also introducing a Sapphire Reserve business card, with the same $795 fee and similar benefits, including credits for ZipRecruiter and Google Workspace.
The move brings the bank into more direct competition with American Express, whose Platinum Business card has long dominated the premium space.
Since debuting in 2016, Sapphire Reserve has helped JPMorgan become a major player in high-end credit cards by offering perks similar to Amex — but at a broader appeal.
Its rich sign-up bonuses and travel credits made it popular not just with the affluent, but also with younger, budget-conscious consumers.
Now, the fee hike raises the question: is the card still worth it?
'When the Sapphire Reserve first came out, it was a solid middle-class play that offered champagne travel on a beer budget,' said Ted Rossman, senior analyst at Bankrate.
'These premium cards are going more luxury, and I wonder if the $800 fees are becoming too much for some to stomach.'
Still, both JPMorgan and Amex appear committed to a subscription-style model where increasingly rich benefits justify rising costs.
Credit cards get lounge access
'These high-rate cards aren't for everyone, that's for sure,' said KBW analyst Sanjay Sakhrani. '
But JPMorgan and Amex believe that if the perks are valuable enough, they can build loyalty — and keep people spending.'
Meanwhile, a recent report showed how the value of credit card reward points has been gradually falling - as inflation has taken hold.
A reward point has long been worth around one cent when used to cover other purchases.
But one cent has lost around 20 percent of its purchasing power since 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
This means a point has also fallen in value by about the same amount, according to The Wall Street Journal.
If you built up 50,000 points with a major credit card issuer in 2020 and still have not spent them, they are now worth about 41,300.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Oil rises and US stock futures slide as markets react to US strike on Iran nuclear sites
The price of oil rose and U.S. stock futures fell as global markets react to the U.S. strike against nuclear targets in Iran. The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 3.9% to $80 a barrel. U.S. crude rose 4.3% to $77 a barrel. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.6%. Treasury yields fell slightly. On Saturday, U.S. forces attacked three Iranian nuclear and military sites, further increasing the stakes in the war between Israel and Iran. The conflict has sent oil prices yo-yoing over the last week, which has in turn caused see-saw moves for the U.S. stock market, because of rising and ebbing fears that the war could disrupt the global flow of crude. Iran is a major producer of oil and also sits on the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the world's crude passes.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
How Tesla's robotaxi efforts stack up against Waymo and Zoox
June 22 (Reuters) - Electric car maker Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab started a trial of its long-awaited robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, the first step toward what could be a showdown with Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Waymo, the only player currently offering fully autonomous paid rides in the United States. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has started off with about 10 Model Ys and promised to focus on safety. He says Tesla could scale quickly, and he plans a separate robotaxi vehicle. Social media influencers were seen booking and taking rides in the robotaxis in several Austin locations on Sunday, according to videos reposted by Musk. Here is how Tesla's cybercab efforts compare with those of Waymo and (AMZN.O), opens new tab Zoox, which is preparing its own commercial launch: LOCATIONS VEHICLE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
ALEX BRUMMER: Beware of bank mergers - they can go horribly wrong
Europe's banking scene is very different from 2007 when Royal Bank of Scotland, aided and abetted by Santander and Fortis, gate-crashed a proposed £69billion merger of Barclays with Dutch lender ABN Amro. Barclays boss John Varley, married to a scion of one of the bank's founding families, even conceded that the headquarters would be canal-side in Amsterdam. RBS's intervention led to all the parties involved being bailed out by governments, with RBS, later renamed NatWest, only escaping the clutches of the Treasury on May 31 this year. The road back for European banking has been perilous. Paradoxically, Wall Street banks, at the core of the Great Financial Crisis (GFC), bounced back to health bigger and stronger. Among Europe's challengers, only HSBC, with its stranglehold on Hong Kong, is in the same league as JP Morgan and Bank of America. The repairs to Europe's fractured banking system are now more-or-less done and the industry is throwing off huge volumes of cash. Consultants Oliver Wyman note that European banks have returned $300billion to shareholders since 2022. The cash generated by a restored sector is fostering an M&A boom, with $36billion of deals this year and dizzying reports of new alliances. Andrea Orcel, the investment banker behind the disastrous RBS-ABN Amro transaction, is leading the charge. Now boss of Italy's UniCredit, he is in hot pursuit of Commerzbank in Germany. He has been also trying to buy Banco BPM in Italy in a deal which has been on and off. The last bout of European bank mergers was brought to a nasty end by the GFC. The subsequent 2010 euro crisis, which began in Greece, saw the banking systems in the Club Med: Greece, Italy and Spain, struggling with bad debts. There is now a recognition that Europe's fractured banking system is no match for the bigger US beasts. If the euro is to establish itself as an alternate reserve currency to the dollar, cross-border bank mergers and capital markets must be established. Christine Lagarde, president of the ECB, is leading the charge. Britain is on the sidelines of European debate. Authorities in Frankfurt and Brussels are gung-ho for cross-border mergers, but national authorities are more circumspect. BBVA's multi-pronged effort at buying Sabadell in Catalonia has shaken Britain's TSB, spun-out from Lloyds after the financial crisis, out of the tree. There is no end of speculation about the fate of TSB and for that matter Santander in the UK. The latter was pieced together by Santander chairman Ana Botin out of the remains of consumer banks Abbey National, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley in the detritus of the financial crisis. NatWest reportedly wanted to buy Santander but the price was lofty. Santander itself is in search of more scale by buying TSB. Meanwhile in the UK, challenger banks are consolidating with the supermarket banks now owned by High Street lenders. The owner of RBS spin-off Shawbrook is looking at a deal with Metro Bank. NatWest chief executive Paul Thwaite, freed of government interference, makes no secret of its ambition to bolt on more customers. But NatWest has taken itself out of the TSB race. The former RBS learnt the hard way that bank bids can go horribly wrong. Investing in customer loyalty and financing growth for UK start-ups would be a smarter deployment of surplus resources.
