Are you considering whether you should keep or cancel your Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card? I get it. Times have changed in 2020. With the high annual fee, I had to really consider whether or not I was getting the most from the card.
Before 2020, I traveled quite a lot, visiting maybe 4-5 countries a year. I was and currently am living in Taiwan and I loved my Chase Sapphire Reserve Card. I do believe that whenever we spend money, we should always be getting something back.
Things I Liked About My Chase Card
- Lounge Pass: I loved using the lounge pass before my departures and it has really come in handy during long layovers. (Value: $429)
- 3x Points on Travel and Dining: Travel and dining are the two things I spend the most money on, so this was perfect for me. (Read more: My Favorite Place to Eat in Taiwan)
- No Foreign Transaction Fee: I’m in the U.S. maybe 3 weeks in a year, so that no foreign transaction fee was important for me to use in Taiwan or while I was traveling.
- $300 Travel Credit: I used this up usually in the first two months of the contract. This is money I was going to spend anyways. So to get that money back, reduced the annual fee to $150 in my head.
- Ultimate Rewards: I really liked their rewards. You can trade your points back for gift cards, money back, and Apple products. In the two years I had the card, I was able to trade my points for a new MacBook Pro (Value: $1,299)
For the full benefits, click here.
Why I Canceled My Chase Card
It sounds great right? So, what changed?
- 2020 and the pandemic
- increase in the annual fee
I Was No Longer Traveling…
The largest factor was the travel part. As the pandemic set in, international travel was just no longer a thing in 2020. I wasn’t spending money on travel. I wasn’t using the lounge pass and I getting points for travel because I wasn’t doing any travel.
They now offer 3x the points on groceries, but living in Taiwan, I wasn’t getting the full advantage of this.
The Perks Are Too Specific…
2020 is also the year they announced they were increasing the annual fee from $450 to $550 starting April 2020. The added perks were related to DoorDash and Lyft. I can see DoorDash being useful, but who is going anywhere during a pandemic that they need a Lyft?
Despite the added perks, it just wasn’t beneficial to me as an expat. Living in Taiwan, we don’t have DoorDash or Lyft. We have Uber, UberEats, and FoodPanda. If the card gave perks for UberEats, this might be a different story.
Paying $250 a year for benefits I wasn’t able to fully use made it clear that we needed to part ways.
So, the next question was…
Do I Downgrade or Cancel My Chase Card?
This being my first credit card, I researched my options. I read article after article about the effects of canceling my card.
The consensus online was to downgrade whenever possible. Downgrading the credit card to one without an annual fee can keep your credit score intact. You can keep the length of your credit history and maintain a high credit limit.
That Being Said…
There are some things to consider.
Short Credit History: I’ve only had the card for two years, so if I canceled the card now, I would only lose two years of credit history which isn’t really that long when I think about the next 50 years.
I’m young: However, I’m in my late 20’s and this is my first credit card, so I don’t really have a long credit history to begin with. This affects me more than it would someone who’s in their 40s or 50s and have decades of credit history.
Then, I looked into my downgrade options…
Foreign Transaction Fees: All the downgrade options for the Chase Sapphire Reserve with no annual fee had a foreign transaction fee. That means, if I used the card abroad, then I would have to pay an additional small percentage of the charge. This is not ideal for me as I live in Taiwan.
Welcome Bonuses: Another thing to consider is the welcome bonuses. Downgrading a credit card often means you also lose out on the welcome bonuses. For example, you can get $200 back if you spend a certain amount in the first 3 months.
The Final Decision…
After going back and forth in my head for two weeks, I finally decided to cancel my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card.
It probably would have been smarter to downgrade. Ultimately, I didn’t want to keep or manage a credit card I wasn’t going to use much.
Things to Do Before You Cancel Your Chase Card
- Redeem your rewards: Although Chase says you have 30 days after you cancel your card to redeem your rewards, I preferred to use up all my points before canceling.
- Pay off your balance: Make sure your balance is paid off.
- Make sure you know what it will take for you to keep the card: The first time I called to cancel, they tried to keep me by saying I have statement credit of $150. This would have lowered my annual fee to $400. Would a lower annual fee make you keep the card?
It was difficult parting with this credit card, because I did truly love it and got so many benefits from using it. Oh wells, stayed tuned for which card I picked to replace my Chase Sapphire Reserve.
If you have an credit card recommendations, let me know in the comments below. Also, if you have Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, I would love to know if you are keeping it.
Thanks again for reading! Be safe, be healthy, and be happy! Love you guys!
xx Tina
