MAJOR update to this popular card

Good morning from beautiful Bandung, Indonesia — land of misty mountains, spicy sambal, and… me (yep, I have an actual home here now 😬).

While I unpack all of these IKEA boxes, we’ve got some big travel news to unpack — so let’s dive in:

• 💳 MAJOR changes to this popular travel card

• 🏨 65% transfer bonus to Marriott

• ✈️ Earn bonus AA miles on hotel stays

💳 Big changes to this premium travel card (and a new card, too)

Listen up, folks — Chase just dropped some major news.

One of our favorite premium travel cards, the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, is getting a massive overhaul, and for the first time ever, there’s also a business version of the card!

This isn’t just a facelift. We’re talking a full-blown, Pretty Woman-style glow-up… With new earning rates, bigger statement credits, refreshed lifestyle perks, plus more. The annual fee is going up, but so is the value: Chase says you’ll now get $2,700+ in value on this card and $2,500+ with the business version. 👀

The big picture

The new personal and business versions of this card officially launch on June 23, 2025.

If you already have the personal version, the new benefits will kick in automatically on October 26, 2025.

Like I said… There is so much to unpack here, but we’re seeing major changes (and new additions!) to earning rates, statement credits, elite status perks, and tons of other benefits.

Some of my favorites include a new $500 hotel credit and an industry-leading 8x points per dollar earned on travel booked through the bank’s portal.

There are also a ton of tasty new dining and lifestyle credits and perks that I can’t list here, but they are so tasty… trust me 🤤

And don’t worry — some oldie but goodie perks are staying, like lounge access and Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credits.

I know this is just a tease but… have I intrigued you? 😏

Meet the newest premium business card

While most of you will focus on the personal version of this card, this bank also launched a business version. It has the same high annual fee and most of the same great travel and lifestyle perks, with a few extras tailored for business owners.

Plus, there’s no fee for employee cards, and you’ll unlock even more enhanced perks after spending $120,000 per year.

So yeah, this card is designed for businesses that travel frequently and want to earn strong rewards while simplifying expenses.

If you’re interested in what this card can do for you and your business, I’d highly recommend you check out our in-depth article for all the deets.

⚠️ Heads Up: Already have the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card? You won’t be able to upgrade to this newest business card, but that does mean you can hold both.

Bottom line

This is one of the biggest premium card refreshes we’ve seen in years. With new ways to earn and redeem points, more premium perks, and bigger credits, the new version of the Sapphire Reserve has serious value — especially if you use it for travel, dining, and popular lifestyle brands.

If you can take advantage of just a few of its exciting benefits, the Sapphire Reserve can easily pay for itself — and then some. Personally, I think it’s an overall net improvement, and I’ll still be happily holding onto my own card.

🏨 65% transfer bonus to Marriott

If you read the last section and got excited about racking up a ton of Ultimate Rewards points, this might be one way to put them to use.

For the next two months, you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy with a 50 to 65% bonus.

Here’s how this works:

If you transfer points before June 30, you’ll get a 65% bonus. After that, you can still get a 50% bonus through August 15.

So, should you pull the trigger and transfer points?

It depends on your travel plans, but this could yield excellent value when combined with Marriott’s fifth-night-free perk.

For example, this hotel in New York City costs 48,000 points or over $700 per night after taxes.

Five nights here would cost you $3,675, or 192,000 points (with the fifth night free perk).

That’s already pretty solid value… but with this transfer bonus of 65%, you’re looking at shelling out just 116,000 Ultimate Rewards points for a 5-night stay in the Big Apple.

In this case, you’re getting a whopping 3.2 cents per point – better than what you’d typically get transferring to Hyatt.

Obviously, the 50% bonus will be harder to get good value with… but you also have a nice long window to transfer at that rate.

✈️ Earn bonus AA miles on hotel stays

Yesterday, I told you about some updates from American Airlines and IHG. As it turns out, there’s one more update involving both of them.

You can currently earn 2,000 bonus AA miles per IHG stay, but with some caveats.

Here is the fine print:

• You must change your IHG preferences to earn AA miles instead of IHG points

• You must book a stay of at least three nights

• Only applies to cash stays

• You must use a special rate

On that last point, you should see the option for this special rate when running a search once you’ve changed your preferences. 👇

This one is hit or miss for me… for those of you who value AA miles and don’t really care about hotel points, this is a great way to earn some valuable airline miles with a program that’s otherwise inaccessible with transferrable points.

On the other hand, you’re leaving a lot of value on the table – especially if you use an IHG credit card or have elite status (or both).

That’s all for today, folks! I don’t know about you, but I’m personally excited about the new card changes… I think it’ll be a little more work, but the payoff will be bigger.

See you next time,

6.9175° S, 107.6191° E

With contributions by Tiffany Eastham, McKay Moffitt, and Benji Stawski