Chase Sapphire Reserve has been our favorite credit card not only for quite a few years, but also during this pandemic, as covered in the previous post.  Now, more benefits are coming to this card between 7/1/2020 and 9/30/2020:

• Earn 10x points on select streaming services, up to $1,500 in purchases; eligible services include Apple Music, Disney+, ESPN+, Fubo TV, Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Sling, SiriusXM, Spotify, Youtube TV, and Vudu.
• Earn 5x points on gas stations, up to $1,500 in purchases;
• Earn 5x points on Instacart, up to $3,000 in purchases;
• Receive up to $50 in statement credits towards Instacart Express membership; Instacart Express membership usually costs either $9.99 per month or $99 per year, and provides the following benefits: (1) zero delivery fees on orders over $35 (typically $3.99-$7.99 per order), (2) reduced service fees (typically 5%), and (3) zero busy pricing fees during peak delivery hours.

These are on top of the following temporary benefits cardmembers have previously received:

• The annual fee will be reduced from $550 to $450 when you renew between 4/1/2020 and 12/31/2020;
• The annual $300 travel credit will apply automatically to groceries and gas stations between 6/1/2020 and 12/31/2020 (in addition to the regular travel category);
• Between 5/31/2020 and 9/30/2020, Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed in statement credits for groceries & dining & home improvement at a fixed value of 1.5 cents per point (in addition to the regular travel category redemption through Chase booking portal);
• Earn 5x points on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchases per month, between 5/1/2020 and 6/30/2020.

In addition, don't forget these useful DoorDash benefits that has already existed before the pandemic:

• One year DoorDash DashPass subscription service for free - activate before 12/31/2021; this subscription service offers zero delivery fee and reduced service fees on food orders over $12 via DoorDash;
• Receive $60 statement credits for DoorDash purchases through 12/31/2020 and another $60 through 12/31/2021.

Chase Sapphire Preferred also receives similar but a little less lucrative benefits between 7/1/2020 and 9/30/2020:

• Earn 5x points on select streaming services, up to $1,500 in purchases;
• Earn 3x points on gas stations, up to $1,500 in purchases;
• Earn 3x points on Instacart, up to $3,000 in purchases;
• Receive up to $50 in statement credits towards Instacart Express membership.

These are in addition to the temporary benefits cardmembers have previously received:

• Between 5/31/2020 and 9/30/2020, Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed in statement credits for groceries & dining & home improvement at a fixed value of 1.25 cents per point (in addition to the regular travel category redemption through Chase booking portal);
• Earn 3x points on groceries, up to $1,500 in purchase per month, between 5/1/2020 and 6/30/2020.

​Sapphire Preferred cardmembers also continue to receive this DoorDash benefit:

• One year DoorDash DashPass subscription service for free - activate before 12/31/2021.

As we are concerned about the recent spikes of COVID-19 cases here in the U.S. and saddened by the continuing loss of life, we have to give credits to Chase for these impressive relief measures.

Just like many other credit cards that receive COVID-19 related temporary benefits, now Citi Premier also receives something pretty good: starting June 2, 2020, you will earn 3x points on groceries (increased from 1x) and dining (increased from 2x); however, the difference here is that this benefit is considered permanent rather than temporary.  Back in April, Citi announced the revamp of Citi Premier which would kick in as of August 23, 2020 and include 3x points on groceries and dining; obviously after seeing competitors ramping up the temporary COVID-19 relief, Citi has decided to move the implementation date of this benefit a couple of months earlier.  However, the whole revamp situation is kind of complicated, and here we would like to break it down for you.

• For those who applied on or after April 10, 2020: (1) effective June 2, 2020, earn 3x points on groceries and dining; (2) continue to earn 3x on travel & gas and 2x on entertainment through August 22, 2020; (3) effective August 23, 2020, earn 3x on airlines & hotels & gas & groceries & dining and 1x everywhere else; (4) effective August 23, 2020, earn $100 annual hotel credits when you purchase a hotel stay $500 or more through ThankYou.com; (5) effective April 10, 2021, the fixed value travel redemption will be reduced from 1.25 cents to 1 cent per point. 
• For those who applied before April 10, 2020: (1) effective June 2, 2020, earn 3x points on groceries and dining; (2) continue to earn 3x on travel & gas and 2x on entertainment through April 9, 2021; (3) effective April 10, 2021, earn 3x on airlines & hotels & gas & groceries & dining and 1x everywhere else; (4) effective August 23, 2020, earn $100 annual hotel credits when you purchase a hotel stay $500 or more through ThankYou.com; (5) effective April 10, 2021, the fixed value travel redemption will be reduced from 1.25 cents to 1 cent per point. 

​Confusing? Indeed.  As the the revamp for new applications will fully take effect on August 23, 2020, we will wait until then to re-rank this card and expect a higher ranking.

As covered in a previous post, we praised Chase Sapphire Reserve for offering powerful temporary COVID-19 related benefits such as reduced annual fees, 5x points on groceries, enhanced flexibility for $300 annual travel credit, and enhanced flexibility in points redemption.  Now Citi and US Bank are following Chase to offer some great temporary benefits for Sapphire Reserve's two major competitors.

• Citi Prestige: (1) earn 5x points on online purchases, up to $1,500 spent in this category (in addition to the regular 5x on airlines | travel agencies | dining, 3x on hotels | cruise lines), from 6/2/2020 through 8/31/2020; (2) as previously announced, the annual $250 travel credits can be used towards groceries and dining, from 5/1/2020 through 12/31/2020.
• US Bank Altitude Reserve: (1) the annual $325 travel credits can be used towards dining, from 6/1/2020 through 12/31/2020; (2) earn 3x points on dining (in addition to the regular 3x on travel and mobile wallets), from 6/1/2020 through 12/31/2020.

So with all these, which card is the "king of credit cards" during this pandemic?  Obviously it depends on your spending patterns.  In our opinions, as most consumers have been cutting down on travel and dining while increasing online and grocery purchases, who offers the most for the latter two categories will win.  In this way, we have to choose between Sapphire Reserve and Citi Prestige: the former offers 5x on groceries for two months (capped at $1,500 spent per month) and allows points to be redeemed for groceries | dining | home improvement in addition to travel at the impressive 1.5 cents per point value for seven months, and the latter offers 5x on a arguably wider category for three months but capped at $1,500 spent total.  Due to the higher spending cap as well as the enhanced flexibility of redemption, we think Sapphire Reserve is still the best card during the pandemic.

With the unfortunate recent devaluation of United miles, we have to adjust our ranking.  Chase United Club Visa is now replaced with Amex Green Card as the #10 Best Credit Card by Dr. Credit Card.  We don't want to cover the details of the devaluation - you might visit travel blogs such as onemileatatime for details.  In a nutshell, United has decided to align its Star Alliance partner redemption rates with those of its own metals, and as a result, our valuation of United miles is adjusted from 1.4 cents per mile (cpm) to 1.3 cpm.  Below is a comparison of our Top 10 list before and after this change.