To reflect the major changes that kicked in as of January 12, 2020, our review of Chase Sapphire Reserve has been updated, so as many other reviews that involve this popular card.

In a nutshell, the changes for Sapphire Reserve are as the following:

• The annual fee for primary cardholder is increased from $450 to $550, which seems an industry wide trend (Amex Platinum is $550, Amex Delta Reserve will soon be $550, Citi Prestige is $495, ...)
• One year Lyft Pink membership - activate before March 31, 2022.  Lyft Pink (valued at least $199 on paper) offers 15% off every car ride, priority airport pickups, relaxed cancellations, and exclusive savings;
• 10x points on Lyft purchases through March 2022, i.e., 7 additional points over the 3 points on regular travel;
• One year DoorDash subscription service for free - activate before December 31, 2021.  This subscription service offers $0 delivery fee and reduced service fees on food orders over $12 via DoorDash;  
• Receive $60 statement credits for DoorDash purchases through December 2020 and another $60 through December 2021;

As we can see the new Lyft and DoorDash perks, which might be useful to some customers, are sort of temporary to mitigate the annual fee increase.  We think in general this card was devaluated.  Considering the easy-to-use $300 annual credit, the effective annual fee is increased from $150 to $250.  In order to cancel that out and beat the benchmark 2% cashback provided by several non-fee cards such as Citi Double Cash and Fidelity Visa, the minimum spending on the 3x categories (dining & travel) is increased from $6,000 to $10,000, with our valuation of Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 1.5 cents a piece, because $6,000 x 3 x 1.5% = $6,000 x 2% + $150 while $10,000 x 3 x 1.5% = $10,000 x 2% + $250.

When compared to another Chase card that offer flexible miles/points transfer feature - Sapphire Preferred which carries a $95 annual fee and offers 2x points on dining & travel, you need to spend $10,500 per year on dining & travel to cancel out the effective annual fee difference, because $10,500 x 3 x 1.5% - $250 = $10,500 x 2 x 1.5% - $95.  Previously, you only need to spend $3,700t on dining & travel to cancel out the difference in effective annual fees, and that was why it was an easier recommendation to get the seemingly more expensive Sapphire Reserve.  Now you really need to figure out if you could spend that much in those categories and how much you value the extra perks and protection provided by Sapphire Reserve.  Another factor to consider is that Sapphire Reserve is still a better card for Ultimate Rewards ecosystem (we always recommend comparing it with the non-fee Freedom Unlimited to get best out of this ecosystem), as in addition to the flexible miles/points transfer feature it does offer a better fixed travel redemption option at 1.5 cents when you book through Chase.

All in all, it is not as easy as before to recommend Chase Sapphire Reserve, but for cardholders who spend enough on dining & travel and/or value excellent travel perks such as airport lounge access, luxury hotel privileges, primary rental car insurance, premium roadside assistance, the best travel & consumer protection provided by any credit card, and the ultimate flexibility in redeeming points, this card still represents great value.  After number crunching, Sapphire Reserve maintains the No.1 spot on our Top 10 Best Credit Cards list, for now.

After Citi's September overhaul and Barclay's November overhaul of their credit card protection benefits, Amex will also have some major changes coming on January 1, 2020.  Here are the breakdowns of the upcoming changes.

• Trip Cancellation & Interruption: added to Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant.  This covers trips cancelled or interrupted due to weather, terrorism, sudden illness or injury, jury duty, up to $10,000 per trip and $20,000 per year.  In addition to tickets paid entirely with an Amex card, awards tickets and Pay with Points tickets are covered as well.
• Trip Delay: added to Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, for flight delays more than 6 hours, up to $500 per ticket.  Also added to Gold Card (personal and business), Green Card, and Delta Platinum (personal and business), for flight delays more than 12 hours, up to $300 per ticket.  In addition to tickets paid entirely with an Amex card, awards tickets and Pay with Points tickets are covered as well.
• Travel Accident Insurance: removed from all cards!
• Roadside Assistance: removed from all cards!  For most cards it is not big deal, as the benefit only dispatches a service provider and you still have to pay for the service.  However, certain premium Amex cards such as Platinum Card (personal and business), Gold Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant currently offer Premium Roadside Assistance which covers towing up to 10 miles and other incidentals for free, for up to 4 times per year, and this benefit will be gone as well!  Many cardholders including myself, actually use the Premium Roadside Assistance in lieu of AAA's basic plan, and in 2020 they have to look into alternatives such as Chase Sapphire Reserve (which unfortunately only covers up to $50 per use) or start paying AAA once again.
• Return Protection: removed from all cards except for Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant, Blue Cash Preferred, EveryDay Preferred, and Plum Card (business).
• Extended Warranty: coverage will be reduced from two years of extended warranty down to one year.  Remember Amex actually just increased the coverage from one year to two years back in August 2018, and in 2020 the only card issuer that continue to offer two years of extended warranty is Citi (and only for certain cards).  What is more, this benefit will be removed entirely for EveryDay Card, Blue Card, Blue Cash Card, and Cash Magnet.
• Purchase Protection: coverage will be reduced from 120 days back to 90 days.  The same story here - Amex just increased the coverage from 90 days to 120 days in August 2018.  The coverage usually covers only theft or damage, up to $1,000 per item and $50,000 per year, but Amex will add accidental loss and increase the per item limit to $10,000 for Platinum Card (personal and business), Gold Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant. 

Overall, the changes are mixed - some gain and some loss - but not as bad as Citi's drastic devaluation.  The cards that benefit from the changes are probably limited to those with an annual fee at least $450 - Platinum Card (personal and business), Delta Reserve (personal and business), Hilton Aspire, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant; the rest of the cards are generally considered to receive reduced coverage.  We think most cardholders will be unhappy about the changes.  We will update our Protection page once these changes kick in.

Following Citi's drastic devaluation of credit card protection benefits, Barclays has also cut quite a few protection benefits on its credit card portfolio effective November 1, 2019.  The following benefits are removed from most of their credit cards:

• Trip Delay
• Price Protection
• Extended Warranty
• Purchase Assurance a.k.a, Purchase Protection
• Satisfaction Guarantee a.k.a. Return Protection

At the same time, just like other MasterCard issuers, Barclays has added Cellphone Protection to its World MasterCard and World Elite MasterCard.  So after the devaluation, Barclays American Airlines Aviator Red Word Elite MasterCard, for example, will offer protection benefits such as Travel Accident Insurance, Travel Cancellation and Interruption, Baggage Delay, Cellphone Protection, Identity Theft, Rental Car Collision Damage Waiver (still secondary), etc.  For details of credit card protection benefits, please visit our Protection page.

Overall, the changes are not as bad as Citi's but still very bad for Barclays' cardholders.  BTW, American Express also has some major benefit changes on the way (kicking in as of 1/1/2020), which we will cover in the next post.  It seems like a trend in the industry, but we will see if other major players such as Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and US Bank will follow suit.

We never reviewed Amex Green Card because of the mediocre rewards (2x points on travel booked through Amex Travel, 1x everywhere else), until October 2019 when Amex had a major revamp of the card by increasing annual from $95 to $150 but enhancing travel & dining earning to 3x points and adding $100 CLEAR credit & $100 LoungeBuddy credit.  Please see our review for details.  It is now rated as one of the best credit cards for rewards.

The current signup bonus is 45,000 points after spending $2,000 within 3 months of new account opening; you also receive up to $100 in statement credits for purchases made directly with Away (a travel luggage brand) within the first three months when you apply by January 15, 2020.  This signup bonus is not available to applicants who have or have had this card or any previous Amex Green Card. 

Our analysis: "The annual $100 CLEAR credit and $100 LoungeBuddy credit can't be treated at face value for most customers, so we will still consider the annual fee to be $150 for this card.  Using our current valuation of MR points at 1.5 cents a piece, you need to spend $6,000 a year in travel & dining combined to beat the $150 annual fee and 2% cashback provided by non-fee cards such as Citi Double Cash and Fidelity Visa, because $6,000 x 3 point/$ x 1.5 cent/point - $150 = $6,000 x 2%."

The 3x rewards structure is exactly the same as our favorite card Chase Sapphire Reserve which happens to have an effective annual fee of $150 after considering the $300 annual travel credit, and our current valuation of Chase Ultimate Rewards points happens to be the same at 1.5 cents per point.  In general, however, Sapphire Reserve is still a better card due to its travel perks, consumer protection, and enhanced 1.5 cent per point fixed value travel redemption.

Amex Green Card also pairs well with Amex EveryDay Preferred (EDP) to form a formidable MR combo.  We wrote, "with 30 transactions per month, EDP returns 4.5x points on groceries (up to $6K spent each year, = 6.75% rewards) and 3x on gas (=4.5% rewards), while Amex Green returns 3x points on travel and dining (=4.5% rewards).  As for general spending, EDP returns higher rewards at 1.5x (=2.25% rewards) and will be ideal for most purchases other than foreign transactions.  With this powerful combo, you can easily cover all five most important bonus categories: grocery, gas, dining, airfare, and non-air travel, with impressive returns - that is an incredible deal! 

Starting September 22, 2019, Citi Double Cash allows its cash rewards to be transferred to ThankYou points.  This feature makes Double Cash the best personal card for general spending, returning 3% travel rewards based on our current valuation of ThankYou points, if paired with a premium ThankYou card such as Citi Prestige or Cit Premier.  Finally, we have a personal card comparable to Amex Blue Business Plus.  At least on paper, Double Cash beats Alliant Visa Signature which returns 2.5% cashback with a $99 annual fee.  A combo of Double Cash and Citi Prestige is also one of the best credit card combos.

The details can be found in the reviews and here are some highlights:

• A total of 2% cash rewards: unlimited 1% cash back for all purchases, and an additional 1% cash back for the payments made, as long as you at least pay minimum amount due each month.  You can redeem your cash rewards once your rewards balance exceeds $25, for statement credit, check, or direct deposit into your checking account.  Cash rewards expire after 12 months of account inactivity.  Starting September 2019, you might also transfer your cash rewards to ThankYou points at a ratio of 1:100.  The transfer is irreversible.
• Normally, you might redeem ThankYou (TY) points for cash, merchandise, gift cards, and travel, returning up to 1 cent per point (note: cash rewards in form of statement credit or check have 0.5 cent value and in form of bill pay have 0.65 cent value).  You might also transfer TY points earned from Double Cash to JetBlue's TrueBlue points at 1:0.8; as our current valuation of JetBlue points is 1.4 cents a piece, this option will make your TY points a little over 1 cent (1.12 to be exact); however, considering the hassle of redeeming points for flights, we actually won't recommend this option.  The bottom line: considering the valuation of TY points, for most consumers, it is better to keep the cash rewards earned from Double Cash as is and not to transfer them into TY points.
• However, if you have a premium TY card such as Citi Premier ($95) or Citi Prestige ($495), you might pool all your TY points together and take advantage of the better miles/points transfer feature: transferring TY points to miles/points of several frequent traveler programs at 1:1 ratio (including JetBlue).  In this way, you increase TY points earned from Double Cash quite a bit; based on our current valuation of 1.5 cents per TY point using this feature, Double Cash returns 3% rewards instead of 2% cashback!  Please see our featured review Marriott vs. MR vs. UR vs. TY vs. CR for the programs that allow points transfer to frequent traveler accounts.  In addition, Citi Premier has a fixed value flight redemption option at 1.25 cents per TY point; if you use this option, Double Cash then returns 2.5% rewards, a little lower than the miles/points transfer option but with a much easier redemption process.
• If you have a premium TY card and combine all your TY accounts, the TY points earned from Double Cash become transferrable to miles/points of several frequent traveler programs.  Based on our current valuation, Double Cash becomes a powerhouse for general spending, returning 3% travel rewards, beating both Chase Freedom Unlimited and Amex EveryDay Preferred.  Of course, you want to use Citi Prestige for dining & airlines & travel agencies (5x points, =7.5% rewards), hotels & cruise lines (3x points, =4.5% rewards), and foreign purchases.  You might replace Citi Prestige with Citi Premier which also allows frequent traveler miles/points transfer, returns lower rewards (3x points on travel & gas, = 4.5% rewards), but has a lower annual fee ($95, $150 lower than Citi Prestige's effective annual fee).

Sine June, Citi has been sending out emails to customers regarding the huge protection benefit change kicking in as of September 22, 2019.  Curiously I personally haven't received any email from Citi regarding this topic for any of my Citi cards - Prestige, DoubleCash, and ThankYou Preferred.  Maybe it was a glitch (for quite a few of us).  For whoever that haven't received email notifications, when you log into your Citi online account and go to the "Card Benefits" page, you will receive a pop up window with the exact same message as what is supposed to be in the email.  However, after you have viewed the message once, you won't see it again if you log back in.  Talking about being sneaky!

For example, on my Citi Prestige, I received the following message: "Effective September 22, 2019, Worldwide Car Rental Insurance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection, Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance, Trip Delay Protection, Baggage Delay Protection, Lost Baggage Protection, Medical Evacuation, Citi® Price Rewind, 90 Day Return Protection, and Missed Event Ticket Protection will be discontinued and will no longer be provided for purchases made on or after that date. Coverage for purchases made before that date will continue to be available, and you may continue to file for benefits in accordance with the current benefit terms. Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service and Travel & Emergency Assistance will be discontinued and will not be available on or after September 22, 2019.  We are making these changes so that we can continue providing the key benefits that our customers use and value most at no additional cost. This change requires no action on your part. See FAQs under Card Benefits for answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding these changes."

​This is absolutely the worst devaluation of benefit/protection we have seen in the history of not only Citi cards but all credit cards.  Different card products may show different messages.  It appears that after the devaluation, only a few protection benefits are left:

• Purchase Protection, Extended Warranty, FICO Score, Identity Theft Solution for Citi Prestige, Citi Premier, Citi ThankYou Preferred, Citi AA Executive, Citi AA Platinum, Citi AA Gold, Citi AA MileUp, etc.
• FICO score and Identify Theft Solution for Citi DoubleCash, Citi Costco, Citi Diamond Preferred, etc.
• Cellphone Protection will be available on World MasterCards and World Elite MasterCards.

We used to praise Citi cards for the extraordinary protection benefits, especially on the premium products.  Citi Prestige and Citi AA Executive are tied as #1 card for protection, and Citi Premier and Citi AA Platinum are tied as #4.  This surely will change after September 22, 2019.  In fact, ironically, Citi is going from the very top to the very bottom with regards to protection!  Stay tuned for the new Top 10 lists.

What can you do now?  If you think about cancelling your Citi card(s), I won't blame you.  As always, I will recommend keeping the card if it is one of your oldest cards to preserve your credit history.  It will also be good to keep non-fee cards such as Double Cash or Citi Costco Visa, if you enjoy their rewards.  If you have some purchases to make in the near future anyway, you probably want to make the purchases before September 22, 2019 to at least enjoy the protection such as Price Rewind, Return Protection, Extended Warranty, etc.  If you have a premium card you are paying annual fees on, you really need to sit down and reevaluate your situation.

There are some recent updates as the following and we are also working on updating several other card reviews.

• Barclays AA Aviator Business MasterCard now offers a historical high bonus - 75,000 AA miles, with an $95 annual fee. 
• Barclays AA Aviator Red MaterCard (personal) loses the 10% redeemed miles rebate (up to 10,000 miles per year) and $100 flight discount with $30K spending, and gains an annual $99 companion certificate with $20K spending.  Also it offers a fairly decent signup bonus now - 50,000 AA miles + an introductory $99 companion certificate.
• Citi AA Platinum Select MasterCard (personal) also loses the 10% redeemed miles rebate, and only gains an additional $25 flight discount (increased from $100 to $125) with $20K annual spending.
• Barclays Hawaiian Business MasterCard nows offers a historical high bonus - 70,000 Hawaiian miles plus a one-time 50% companion discount, with a $99 annual fee.  The personal version has a slightly less bonus (60K miles + one 50% companion discount), but is still a historical high.
• Citi Premier has increased the signup bonus from 50,000 points to 60,000 points; however, the $95 is no longer waived for the first year.

We have seen increased signup bonuses on a few credit cards this week:

• Wells Fargo Propel Amex has increased the signup bonus from 30,000 to 50,000 points.  Propel Amex is one of the best rewards cards, especially if you are not interested in redeeming points for airline miles or hotel points but rather choose fixed value travel rewards.  When you have another non-fee card Wells Fargo Visa Signature, you can transfer the points earned on Propel Amex to the Visa Signature and increase the points value from 1 cent to 1.5 cents per point.  In this way the 50K signup bonus of Propel Amex will be worth $750 in fixed value travel rewards.  Propel Amex is also a card to keep after the first year, as it returns 3x points (= 4.5% travel rewards if you have Wells Fargo Visa Signature) on travel, dining, gasoline, and streaming services.
• Chase Freedom Unlimited has been offering 15,000 points as signup bonus online for quite a while.  Now if you go to a Chase branch, you can apply for this card and receive a different signup bonus: 3x points on everything in the first year, up to $20,000 in purchase.  Note that as the card regularly earns 1.5x points, the maximum additional points considered as the signup bonus will be 30,000 points (when you spend $20K in the first year).  When you have a premium Ultimate Rewards card such as Sapphire Reserve (based on fixed value redemption or miles transfer) or Sapphire Preferred (based on miles transfer), these additional points will be worth $450 in our book.  In addition, Freedom Unlimited pairs really well with Sapphire Reserve, as it returns higher rewards for general spending, while you will use Sapphire Reserve for dining, travel, and foreign purchases.
• Chase Sapphire Preferred has a new signup bonus: 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 within 3 months of new account opening; however, the annual fee is NOT waived for the first year.  The previous signup bonus was 50K with the first year annual fee waiver.  As we value the additional 10K points at $150, more than the $95 annual fee, the new bonus is slightly better.

This week we have seen some elevated signup bonuses on a few credit cards (our value for the bonus minus first year annual fee is for your reference - your valuation may vary):

• Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles personal card ($95 annual fee, waived for the first year): 60,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs (Medallion Qualifying Mile) - our value $650
• Amex Gold Delta SkyMiles business card ($95 annual fee, waived for the first year): 70,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs - our value $750
• Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles personal card ($195 annual fee): 75,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 statement credit - our value $705 (historical high) 
• Amex Platinum Delta SkyMiles business card ($195 annual fee): 80,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs + $100 statement credit - our value $755 (historical high)
• Amex Delta Reserve personal card ($450 annual fee): 75,000 miles + 5,000 MQMs - our value $350 (historical high)
• Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa ($95 annual fee): 100,000 points - our value $655 (historical high)
• Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier MasterCard ($89 annual fee): 120,000 points - our value ($390 (historical high) 

With the new name for the world's largest loyalty program unveiled, the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card is finally rebranded as the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card.  Everything remains the same but the name - including (1) the $450 annual fee, (2) 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points after you spend $5,000 within the first 3 months of new account opening, (3) annual $300 credits at any Marriott portfolio hotels worldwide, (4) an annual free night at Marriott portfolio hotels or resorts with a redemption level of 50,000 points or less, (5) annual 15 night credits towards Marriott elite status,  (6) free Marriott Gold status and upgrade to Marriott Platinum status after $75K annual spending, and (7) Priority Pass Select membership with unlimited airport lounge access for you plus two guests.

At the same time, the Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card from American Express is rebranded as the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card.  The only thing that changes other than the name is the annual fee - increased from $95 to $125 and NOT waived for the first year any more.  However, if you apply before  3/28/19, you will continue to receive the first annual fee waiver and your annual fee after the first year will be grandfathered in at $95.  You will also receive 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points after spending $5,000 within the first 3 months.  If you have been thinking about applying for this card, you probably want to do it before March 28.