On May 28, 2020 Chase announced a number of temporary benefits for Sapphire Preferred & Reserve cardholders. One of these was a new feature called ‘Pay Yourself Back’ where points could be used to offset Grocery Stores, Dining & Home Improvement stores (and now Charity) purchases at a rate of 1 point = 1.5¢. This benefit was set to end on September 30th.
It was rumored that this program would be extended past September 30th. This has now been confirmed by Chase to Rewards Warrior Facebook group. Keep in mind that the categories on offer will change so if you can spend easily in the current categories it might make sense to cash out any points you want to cash out before that deadline. It looks like the program might also be extended to additional Chase cards, but it’s unclear if the rate will stay at 1.5¢ per point for those cards.
Will this be extended beyond 9/30/20? I’m deciding if I will liquidate a lot of UR points and pc my csr into a Freedom.
I think its staying but it will probably move to category next that isn’t as easy to scale such as gas or travel.
Do we have any details on how this is going to work at this point?
If I make a grocery store purchase on the 29th, do I have 90 days to still redeem the points for this charge? Or will it be a hard stop on the 30th when they introduce new categories?
Hoping I overlooked clear instructions somewhere on what’s happening… thanks!
That’s a good point you made. I just checked my transactions that are eligible for PYB and it is definitely 90 days after the post date. Therefore, it is a great idea to spend X amount at grocery, dining, etc. near the end of September so you have a buffer to use points you accumulate next quarter.
Since it is based on post date (and not transaction date), you should make your large purchase(s) 9/26 or earlier to be safe it will post in September before the categories possibly change or get removed completely.
That’s my plan,
Eric, and I hope Chase doesn’t throw any wrenches into the plan by removing these charges from being eligible on 10/01, which is what I fear.
I plan to print that page near the end of September showing how many days I have left to redeem each charge. That way if they do remove it (which I doubt they will) I will have something tangible to argue with. Maybe we’ll get lucky and the next categories will include Gas, which is just as good as Grocery.
Unless you can redeem on a category that is earning 3X or more, the effective redemption rate is only 1.5 on everything else.
In other words, the 3000 points earned from $1000 dining/travel spend on CSR can be cashed out with $45 of grocery spend, which itself only earns 45 points. In that case, all that’s been lost in “wasting” $45 of spend on a 1x (grocery) category vs a 3x category is 90 points (135 points – 45 points = 90 points), or $1.35. So, you’re spending $1.35 to cash out those 3000 points at $45 instead of the standard $30. Another way to look at it is that redeeming on purchases made at 1x is 89% as good as redeeming on purchases made at 3x because $1.35 of the $15 gain is eaten up by the lower 1x earn rate. IMO, well worth it.
The only way the “effective redemption rate” is only 1.5c per dollar of spend is if you earn points at 1x per dollar (and nobody around here does that) and then redeem them via Pay Yourself Back.
So I guess the rumored CIP “pay your self back” isn’t happening?
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/chase-hints-at-increased-cashout-rate-on-ink-preferred-1-25/
Hmm, maybe it’ll come in the next wave.
Doubt it, doesn’t make sense for a business card. It was done on the personal cards because people have a hard time traveling and eating out in the virus era. But business supplies and utilities are still needed.
My CSR is up for renewal at the end of this month. While an extension of the Pay Yourself Back program is enticing, I need some more facts SOON before I’m willing to take a gamble on a $450 renewal:
— What will the 5% earnings categories be after September? If not groceries, it’s useless to me.
— What will the Pay Yourself Back categories be after September? If not groceries, it’s useless to me.
— Will the Pay Yourself Back rate continue to be 1.5% after September. If not, it’s useless to me.
— Will groceries continue to satisfy the $300 travel credit in 2021? If not, the $450 fee is prohibitive.
Here are my constraints:
— I will not travel as long as the COVID-19 crisis continues, probably through 2021.
— I will not patronize restaurants as long as the COVID-19 crisis continues, probably through 2021.
— I will buy very little gas as long as the COVID-19 crisis continues, probably through 2021.
— I will not use Uber or Lyft as long as the COVID-19 crisis continues, probably through 2021.
— I never use restaurant delivery services like Door Dash.
— I never use grocery delivery services like Instacart.
— I never buy gift cards.
In summary: I need it to be like it was in June 2020.
Note: I’ve already burned through 120,000 Ultimate Rewards points in 2020 and currently have only a zero balance on my CSR and one month’s earnings on the Freedom. 60,000 of those URs were transferred to United for a May 2020 trip that didn’t happen, so those points are stuck at United until I travel again. I redeemed the other 60,000 points for groceries in June and July. I satisfied the travel credit with groceries in June as well.
*$550 annual fee
I thought they lowered it back to $450 for the next few months.
You should at least use Doordash for the $60 credit.
When I started earning credit card rewards ten years ago, I made some rules for myself. The very first rule was: “Never spend money on something you would not otherwise spend it on just to earn credit card rewards.” I’m an excellent cook, and I think restaurant food can be an occasional nice break if the food is consumed inside the restaurant immediately after it has been cooked. However, restaurant food consumed at home via a delivery service is like eating stale cafeteria food off a steam table. Even if the first $60 is free, I won’t do it.
At least near me, there are convenience stores on doordash that sell name brand packaged food/drinks that you might otherwise buy at the grocery store.
You can also just pick it up yourself.
Remember you’ll have 30 days after the fee posts to cancel without cost. Maybe there’ll be enough clarity by then for you. Also I *think* that if you product change rather than cancel Chase will pro-rate the annual fee. If true that will give you even more wiggle room to make a decision.
i’ve product changed my freedom to csr recently, and just received a letter in the mail saying i can still choose the reject the change before a certain date. problem is i’ve paid myself back with a lot of my points already from grocery/restaurant purchases. if i were to really follow through with the revert, would my converted credit stay as is? any downsides to reverting back the change? (my main incentive to upgrade the card was to pay myself back with points, which i’ve already done)
It is not worth it unless you travel and use PP. Most of my fav restaurants size up portions or offer discounts for not using DD.
Upgrade my Freedom to CSR about a month ago. It’s been well worth it having a huge stockpile of UR points. All the more incentive to keep the CSR going forward.
It’s been the highlight of my summer and has kept me using my CSR. Time will tell if i’m going to renew it in January.
You’ve had a sad summer, sir.
Here’s the message from the group:
CONFIRMED: The Chase Pay Yourself Back tool is a permanent program and will remain in place past September 30th!
I reached out to Chase and asked if the Pay Yourself Back Tool will be a permanent program. They responded to my request and confirmed the program will be permanent and will be used for different categories going forward. Eventually, Chase is looking to roll out this program for other cards besides the CSP and CSR.
Chase did not comment about any potential redemption rates past September 30th. Bottom line: the Pay Yourself Back Tool is permanent, but we don’t know if the cash redemption rates will remain as high as the are right now. I expect them to lower the cash out rates going forward, but that is just my guess.
What are your thoughts?
Personally I’m concerned the rate will fall below 1.5cpp.
Any thoughts on what the next set of categories will be?
Can you post more details, a screenshot of the comment, etc.?