A lot of readers signed up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card when it launched this year, it has a massive $450 annual fee but that is offset by the $300 travel credit. A lot of people still haven’t used their credit and that worries me, so consider this your forceful reminder.
It’s really important to keep in mind that your purchase needs to POST before your December 2016 statement closes. That means you need to use this credit ASAP and for some of you it will be too late. It is possible to change your statement closing date with Chase (although changing the first statement closing date usually doesn’t work, instead it will close at a different date the following month) – this is something I wouldn’t rely on either.
If you need inspiration on what to use your $300 travel credit for, we have a list of what does and doesn’t trigger the credit here. If you’re still struggling for ideas, we list the best options to turn that travel credit into cash here.
$300 is a lot of money and you’re not getting good value out of this card if you let any of that $300 go to waste. I don’t want any readers leaving money on the table, so use this credit before it’s too late so I can sleep at night. I imagine readers will have questions, feel free to ask them in the comments (and also see if yours is already answered) and I’ll do my best to answer them all (you can also answer them if you know the answer).
You can view other posts in this series:
- Haven’t Used Your American Express $200/$100 Travel Credit? Here’s What To Know
- Haven’t Used Your Citi Prestige $250 Travel Credit? Here’s What To Know
- Haven’t Used Your Chase Ritz-Carlton $300 Travel Credit? Here’s What To Know
Purchase of American Airlines GC triggered $300 travel credit
Hi – I got approved for Chase card on Dec 29 (today) and want to know if I will get $300 for 2016 as well as 2017. 1st statement date is Feb 19, 2017.
Cheers!
Chris
You’d be able to get it for 2017 and 2018, too late for 2016.
If I book ticket through Chase travel portal and put $300 on my Reserve card and use rewards points to pay for the rest of the amount, will that still give me $300 travel credit?
Seems I got my 2017 credit already. I bought some travel related stuff in December. Strange. But I’ll take it. 😀
I called December 8 to extend my statement date from Dec 9 to Dec 28. Was told had to have called in November to extend end of monthly statement date for Dec. Does this seem accurate to others?
I just got approved last week (couldn’t apply sooner because of 5/24). Tried calling 2x, and no luck (saying too late to move first statement to Dec). Sucks but frankly just lucky to have the card, will get a ton of value from it.
Approved in October 2016
$450 fee charged
Received $300 credit by mid November
Statement closed November 28
Just booked flights Dec 7, 2016
Received all of 2017 $300 credit
No real need to cancel the card due to the large credit limit. I figure it will always help my utilization on credit report
And I consider the benefits of the card are worth the $150 fee, for at least 2017.
Unless Im missing something. Should I be considering anything else when thinking to keep or product change?
Thank you
We talk more about that choice here: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/keep-downgrade-cancel-chase-sapphire-reserve/
Yikes. I applied and was approved yesterday in-branch. I spoke to the banker about this very issue and was told I was fine as long as I spent the $300 before December 31st. Now I am reading this. Will not have the card for a few more days but it is on my Chase.com account already. How do I see when my first statement closing date is? My due date is January 17th.
Mine showing February 1, 2017.
Hi, I just got approved for CSR card, I should recived this card by the end of this week. My questions is , should I use $300 this year or what should I do ?
You’ll need to find out when your first statement closes, if it’s before December 31st then you’ll be able to get the credit for 2016 – othrewise you’ll be working on your 2017 credit.
FWIW, I just called Chase and they told me if I applied today, my first statement would be January 7th. They were willing to move my first statement all the way to January 31st, but they were unwilling to move it forward to December 31st. :(. Perhaps you should give them a call and see if you have better luck.
Thanks Doc. Since it is too late to apply and get a 2016 credit, do I need to wait until January to apply for CSR if I want to double dip before the 2nd annual fee kicks in?
I’d recommend that, yes.
Just want to confirm my plan of attack… I’ll apply in January and use the statement credit sometime in 2017. I’m assuming my statement will be something like February 7th. So when December 8th (2017) rolls around, I should purchase a $300 gift card for Southwest or something. Since it will be after the December statement, the SW purchase will be on the January statement and apply toward my 2018 statement credit… correct? Then, I’ll cancel the card in January to avoid the second annual fee. Does this sound right? That should allow me to get two $300 credits while only paying a single annual fee.
Yup, that sounds right!