Chase Launches Rewards Card For Affluent Market

Chase Card Services has debuted Chase Sapphire, a rewards card aimed at the top 15% of American households, as ranked by income. Chase Sapphire consists of two product offerings: Chase Sapphire and Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Both include premium travel services, a wide variety of rewards delivered through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards program, and 24/7 direct access to a dedicated customer service team.

Chase Sapphire Preferred provides enhanced benefits for a $95 annual fee, which is waived for the first year. Chase Sapphire Preferred offers: one-to-one point transfer to leading airline and hotel programs; points worth 25 percent more when redeeming for travel online; a spend bonus of 10,000 points for customers spending $50,000 annually; and enhanced identity protection.

“We designed Chase Sapphire to meet the needs of affluent consumers who seek rewards programs offering value, flexibility and meaning,” said Eileen Serra, president of Chase Card Services’ affluent/high net worth business, Chase Card Services in a statement. “Chase Sapphire addresses these needs by allowing cardmembers to use their points anytime, anywhere, for just about anything, without any restrictions.”

The earning structure for the card allots one point for each dollar spent on purchases, and two points for each dollar spent on airline travel when booked through the Ultimate Rewards travel tool. The card does not carry a preset spending limit, and holders will not be charged any over-limit fees.

Other benefits include:

Unrestricted benefits, including no annual spending caps, points that never expire and no travel restrictions or blackout dates on travel reward redemptions;

Premier travel benefits such as trip cancellation insurance, lost luggage protection, rental car insurance, emergency service assistance, and an interactive online travel concierge;

A cash-back option which starts at 5,000 points (worth $50);

A “Pay Yourself Back” feature which allows card members to purchase items on their own and simply use their points to pay for the purchase; and

Free access to dining recommendations through Zagat and booking with Open Table.

The Snarker’s Take: There’s another benefit Chase saw fit to tout in its press release: When a Sapphire cardholder calls Chase, “a specially trained advisor picks up the phone – with no need to navigate a voice-response system.” These specially trained advisors have the goal of resolving the customer’s need on the first call. (Chase didn’t say anything about the empowerment to do so, but perhaps that’s a picayune quibble). No phone tree has to be worth at least a ten point reduction in blood pressure. Can one really put a price on health? Perhaps not, but Sapphire seems to have given it an annual fee…