Are the Awards From the New Chase Sapphire Grocery Store Worth It?
In the latest Ultimate Rewards update, Chase Sapphire credit cards have moved from travel to grocery shopping, which makes sense as travel has stopped and grocery spending has risen 17% during the pandemic. The points you can earn for the new bonus product category are pretty good, although not the best on the market.
Earn 2-3x points at grocery stores
Sapphire Preferred already offers 2x points for every dollar spent on travel and food, while the more trendy Sapphire Reserve offers 3x points for the same categories. Both cards offer one point per dollar spent on all other purchases. The new addition – the grocery store category – is limited to a limited time, from November 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021, with the following scoring:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders earn 2x more on monthly grocery purchases up to $ 1,000.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders earn 3x more on monthly grocery purchases up to $ 1,000.
Since your monthly in-store grocery spend is capped at $ 1,000, you can earn a total of 2,000 points with your Preferred card and up to 3,000 points with Reserve.
According to Guy’s latest cost estimate points, each Final Reward point is worth two cents, which means you would be redeeming $ 40 and $ 90 in value each month. Not bad at all.
80,000 bonus points offer
At the same time, Chase is offering an impressive 80,000 bonus points if you spend $ 4,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening your Preferred card (Reserve offers 50,000 points). This can be up to $ 1,600, according to The Points Guy .
Chasing bonus points isn’t always a good idea, however. You’ll want to factor in the annual fees for each of these cards – Preferred is reasonably $ 95, while Reserve is much more expensive at $ 550 as it has additional perks that are better suited for power users. Check out this breakdown of benefits Nerdwallet and see whether your behavior in terms of costs that is offered.
Advanced Pay Yourself Back feature
Chase has also expanded the scope of its Pay Yourself feature , whereby card members can now use Ultimate Rewards points to pay for purchases on their statements at a discount (25% for preferred and 50% for reserve).
Travel loan
Chase Sapphire Reserve includes a $ 300 annual travel credit, but this is obviously not as valuable during the pandemic, so cardholders can now use their $ 300 annual travel credit to buy gasoline and groceries.
Bottom line
Sapphire is considered one of the best travel cards, and the added grocery category is quite expensive, although it won’t beat American Express Gold or Blue Cash Everyday if you’re looking for a dedicated card for your grocery shopping. If you shop a lot and still travel, Sapphire can be a good map for you.