So with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® changes being rolled out next week, current cardholders keep asking me the same question: should I keep my card or should I downgrade it?

While it’s hard to explicitly give everyone a concrete answer, I think there are some key factors and timelines that are worth considering. Long story short: most cardholders should withhold any downgrading considerations until their new annual fee hits.

If you already have the card, the annual fee is not immediate (that wouldn’t be fair to you as a cardholder). It will take some time for the new annual fee to hit and by then, you might have some time to think more thoroughly about the revamped benefits and test things out as well.

This article assumes you have some general context on the upcoming changes, but we’ll still summarize them below.

What’s Changing About The Chase Sapphire Reserve®?

In summary, there are a few key things changing about the card next week:

• The annual fee is increasing from $550 to $795 (a 45% increase)
• The authorized user fee is also increasing from $75 to $195
• Introduction of several new credits, such as the:
  • Up to $500 credit at The Edit℠ (minimum 2 night stay)
  • Up to $300 Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables credit