Chase & Amex Changes: Navigating A New Points Landscape
The travel rewards world is experiencing its biggest shake-up in a decade — and we want to make sure TravelWealth members are prepared.
Chase Overhauls Its Points Program
The Chase Sapphire Reserve launched in 2016 and revolutionized the points game. But after nearly a decade of stability, Chase announced sweeping changes to the card. Over the last couple of days, you may have seen emails, articles, or social media posts celebrating new “enhancements” in the form of rebate credits and updated category multipliers. But let’s be clear: those sites make money when you click their links to apply for cards — and in this case, they are missing the mark with their assessment.
Here’s what’s really happening:
The annual fee is increasing from $550 to $795 — it’s now the most expensive personal card on the market.
The points-earning structure is more complicated and includes “boosted” categories that are harder to track and less flexible. Boosting “Hotels” and “Airfare” from 3x to 4x is more than offset by the loss of 3x on all other “Travel” purchases (e.g., rental car, Uber, Airbnb, cruises, TravelWealth membership, and more). Plus, there are other cards on the market with higher multipliers and broader application.
They’ve added a list of coupon-style credits (think: DoorDash, Instacart, Lyft) that look generous but are designed to go unused — Chase is betting that cardholders aren’t paying enough attention to apply these credits each month.
Most significantly, they’re slashing the baseline redemption value of points by 33%. This is a massive devaluation, but they have masked it by turning the focus to the other new (less valuable) features.
The new “Points Boost” feature is a disingenuous offering. Chase is touting this as a way to get more value for your points, but it has two massive drawbacks: 1) It forces you to use the user-unfriendly Chase Travel portal which frequently provides bad customer service, higher prices, and reservation management issues (the airlines won’t talk to you directly). 2) Based on our analysis of the “Points Boost” benefit is weighted heavily toward booking United Airlines flights – this results in less flexibility and worse value when booking other carriers.
So yes, you may earn a few more points in certain categories, but those points will oftentimes be worth less and harder to use. And the negative impact is not limited to the Sapphire Reserve – these changes will trickle down to impact all Chase cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points. This isn’t an enhancement, it’s a devaluation with a PR spin.
American Express Won’t Let Chase Steal The Limelight
Not to be outdone, American Express announced that it’s making major changes to the Platinum and Business Platinum cards later this year. This will includes the elimination of the 35% rebate on premium cabin flights — a benefit that helped set Amex apart. If that goes, it reduces the baseline redemption value of Membership Rewards points for many travelers.
Additionally, we expect a higher annual fee (could they push all the way to $1,000?), some new frustrating monthly credits, railroading cardholders to use the frustrating Amex Travel portal (it’s operated by Expedia, so it has the issues as the Chase portal mentioned above), and another round of marketing spin — but the net value will assuredly be a major decline.
So Where Should You Focus Now?
While Chase and Amex move backwards, other programs have stepped forward. At TravelWealth, we analyze real data from our members’ spending habits and redemptions — not just blog headlines or credit card commercials. That analysis considers:
Multiplier categories and average member spend
Redemption values (min and max)
Ease of use and program flexibility
Access to credit lines
Business + personal integration
Luxury perks like status and lounge access
Prior to the announcements by Chase and American Express, they were firmly entrenched as the #2 and #3 card programs respectively. And as recently as 2023, they had been the top two programs since the credit card points game 20 years ago. But as you can see below, Chase plummeted to the bottom of the list at #6, while Amex dropped #4. Here are our most up-to-date scores and Power Rankings for the top credit card programs:
What Should You Do Now?
If Chase or Amex are major players in your profile, this is the time to take action — not out of panic, but with intention.
We’re advising most members to re-evaluate their card mix to determine if it makes sense to shift future spending toward another program. There’s still a place for Chase and Amex, but they’re no longer the undisputed champions of the space.
Bottom line: This is a watershed moment in the points world. These types of structural shifts only happen every 10 years or so — and those who adapt now will benefit the most later.
If you’d like to reassess your strategy, schedule a time with your Points Wealth Manager. We’ll walk through your current card profile, recommend changes to help you stay ahead of the curve, and maximize value every step of the way.