Goodbye Chase Sapphire Reserve, Hello Capital One Venture X

Move over, Chase Sapphire Reserve®. You’re being replaced.

We’ve had some great times traveling the world together, and your sleek metal exterior has always caught my eye. But out of nowhere, you got complicated and expensive, and it’s time to say our goodbyes.

I think you know what you’ve done, but for anyone who doesn’t:

• You’re increasing your annual fee to $795, a 45% hike.

• You’re adding a bunch of credits. And no, they’re not automatic or easy to use.

• You’re axing travel as a bonus category, replacing it with only direct bookings with the airline or hotel. 

This may be tough to hear, but your replacement has already been in my wallet for the last few months. It may lack all your new-found bells and whistles, but I never asked for those to begin with. Instead, I’m opting for a card that’s half your age and drips with simplicity while basically paying me to hold it.

Here’s why I’m moving on to the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.

» Learn more: Capital One Venture X vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve

Fewer hoops, easier value

I’ve jumped through every hoop you can imagine to optimize value from credit card rewards and benefits. But as life gets busy, the allure of simplicity is hard to ignore.

When I first saw the list of new benefits for Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholders, it made me dizzy. Monthly credits for this, semi-annual credits for that. Most importantly, they’re credits to places I would have to go out of my way to use, like an annual $500 credit for prepaid reservations through The Edit, Chase’s curated luxury hotel program. I don’t do prepaid reservations, and more so, I usually use points for hotel stays.

Your $300 dining credit at Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables restaurants is another example. I like a nice meal as much as the next guy, but the restaurants are in select cities that I don’t live in.

That’s not worth a $795 annual fee to me. I was willing to pay the old annual fee of $550 to gain access to a best-in-class $300 travel credit (which isn't changing) and 1.5 cent per point redemptions through Chase’s travel portal, but those redemptions have been replaced with Chase’s roulette wheel of “Points Boost” redemptions, where you’ll get 2 cents per point of value. For all other travel portal redemptions not labeled "Points Boost," you'll only get 1 cent per point of value (a 33% devaluation).

In contrast, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has a lower annual fee of $395, but comes with an annual $300 travel credit for any travel booked through Capital One’s travel portal. That combined with the 10,000 anniversary miles (worth at least $100) I get every year means the card has a negative annual fee for me.

A more straightforward earning structure

At the same time, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is also changing its bonus categories.

The new version will earn 4 points per dollar spent on direct bookings with an airline or hotel, but only 1 point per dollar on other travel spend, like car rentals, trains and online travel agencies (like Expedia or Hotels.com). I spend a lot of money on “other travel,” and usually book flights and hotels with points, so this is a big hit to the card’s value proposition for my spending habits.

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, meanwhile, earns a no-fuss 2 miles per dollar on all purchases that aren’t booked through Capital One Travel. (Capital One Travel bookings earn between 5 and 10 miles per dollar.) In my opinion, that's an easy win for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.

Capital One lounge access

Maybe it’s a hot take, but airport lounges are not that great. The majority of my time in lounges have been through the Priority Pass membership that comes with many credit cards, and those spaces are consistently underwhelming.

Then I gained access to Capital One Lounges through my Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card — I’ve been to most of them, and love every one. They’re modern, pleasant and consistently have the best food and drinks of any domestic lounge network. They’re the only lounges I actually look forward to visiting.

Sure, the lounge footprint is limited. But they happen to be in locations I fly through often, like Washington D.C., Dallas and Las Vegas. I can also join the waitlist for the lounge the second my plane lands, which makes overcrowding more or less a non-issue.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers access to Chase Sapphire Lounges by The Club. Don’t get me wrong, those spaces are fine and often more modern AmEx's Centurion Lounges. But I simply prefer the ambience and experiences I’ve had in Capital One lounges over the experiences I’ve had in Sapphire Lounges.

Cell phone insurance

As a perpetual destroyer of phones, I love the cell phone insurance that comes with my Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. I automate my monthly cell phone bill payment to the card, and boom, I’m covered.

I recently used the insurance to replace a Google Pixel I dropped in a puddle. The phone also had a cracked screen, so it was toast. I submitted a claim online, and within 48 hours received the funds to replace my phone. It was a very simple process. The insurance also includes theft and loss protection, making the coverage pretty robust.

Unfortunately, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® doesn’t offer cell phone coverage. My track record says I’ll break a phone about every year and a half, and I’d be out hundreds of dollars each time I need to replace a phone if I paid my bill with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

» Learn more: Best credit cards for cell phone insurance

What about travel partners?

The only potential hang-up to me parting ways with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is access to certain Chase travel partners. I love World of Hyatt, and being able to transfer points from Chase to Hyatt has provided me with more value over the years than any other partner.

World of Hyatt isn’t a partner with Capital One, so that would be a big loss. Fortunately, I also have an Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, so I can move the Chase Ultimate Rewards® I’ve earned from the Chase Sapphire Reserve® to that card before my break-up and still have access to Chase’s travel partners.

I also have a Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card, which has World of Hyatt as a transfer partner, leaving me with plenty of options.

Sure, Capital One is light on domestic airline and hotel transfer partners and is more geared towards international travel. But that’s okay, since I find a ton of value on international itineraries booked by transferring miles to Air France-KLM, Air Canada and Singapore Airlines. Those airlines all partner with Capital One, so I’ll still find outsized value for my points, even if the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card doesn’t give me access to World of Hyatt transfers.

It’s you, Chase Sapphire Reserve, not me

Maybe I’m getting old, but in a life that’s constantly pulling me in different directions, simplicity helps me sleep. I’ve loved you for a lot of years, Chase Sapphire Reserve®, but you decided to go rogue and emulate the coupon book “value” you get from many American Express cards.

That value is now comically complicated, and the changes come at a time when you know I need fewer distractions. I know I’m moving on fast, but you forced my hand. I’ll never forget the good times we’ve had, but for now, I’m off to catch a plane with my Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.