Chase Sapphire Giveth And Taketh With New Changes

As reported by View From The Wing, Chase is removing the 7% annual dividend  from the Chase Sapphire card effective immediately for new applications.

At the same time, they’re changing/adding other benefits:

• They’re increasing the trip insurance coverage from $5,000 to $10,000.
• Rental car insurance is now primary instead of secondary.

I never got the Chase Sapphire card for the 7% dividend.  Sure, it’s a “nice to have”.  Who would turn down free points?

But, the true value of this card for me are things like double points on travel and dining spend (triple points on dining the first Friday of each month), as well as no foreign transaction fee.

And, the ability to transfer to a whole slew of partners makes Ultimate Rewards (the currency you earn with Chase Sapphire) the most flexible currency to earn.

I purchased trip insurance for a cruise our family took a number of years ago and have bought it off and on for other cruises, but I’ve never purchased it for any other travel.  So, increasing the trip insurance coverage isn’t really  very meaningful for me.

But, primary rental car collision coverage is.  That means this is just like opting for the ridiculously expensive coverage the car insurance companies will sell you, minus the ridiculously expensive part.  And, because it’s primary, if you get into a fender bender the Chase coverage will come before your personal insurance.

None of these changes is earth-shattering, and I’ll still keep my Chase Sapphire in a spot in my wallet.  I generally make sure I hit the minimum spend to earn my EQMs/PQMs with American Airlines and United Airlines and then focus on my Chase Sapphire and SPG Amex spending.