Why I upgraded to a $450 annual fee card

I just upgraded my Chase Saphire Preferred card to the Chase Saphire Reserve card.

I did this as my first annual fee was approaching. I could have cancelled or downgraded the card and payed no fee, or else I could have kept it and payed the $99 annual fee.

Instead I opted to upgrade it to get 3X points on travel and dining and most importantly, Priority Pass.

Priority Pass gets you into over 1000 Airport Lounges around the world. Is that really worth the $450 annual fee you ask? Since the Reserve card automatically gives you a $300 credit towards travel each year, it is really a $150 annual fee. All you do is spend on travel and your account get reimbursed up  to $300. The same level Priority Pass (Prestige) costs $399, so in my opinion this is a great deal if you travel enough to use Priority Pass. You and a guest enjoy unlimited entry into lounges around the world.

There are also other benefits to the card, such as the 50,000 Ultimate Reward Point signup bonus. I did not get this as I already cashed in on the Sapphire Preferred bonus. You also get 50% more on travel redemption through the Chase Reward site. This might make some of them worth looking into.

If you are interested in this card please use my referral link to apply and I will get 10k points. You can then refer your friends and family to get up to 50k bonus points a year.

(Update)
I have checked on travel redemptions since my account started displaying Reserve instead of Preferred. While I thought Flying from Bali to Indianapolis for 40K points by transferring points to United was good, I see that I can redeem flights for 36K points through the Chase site. From LA to Bali was 32k points. Both flights were with Singapore Airlines. The hotel redemptions also look pretty good. Another benefit I am taking advantage of is a $100 credit for applying to Global Entry. This will make getting through immigration much faster. I will also look into the discount rates on rental cars while in Dallas. I also noticed the site shows I have already spent the $300 on travel, so I should see the statement credit soon. So far I am very happy I upgraded.

Here's the link:
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/19/M0GHJYSNAE

Thanks for reading,

Mike