The current Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see charges and charges) refresh ushered in the next annual charge and tons of latest perks, together with life-style credit, resort elite standing and Factors Enhance.
However one profit you might not have heard of is the power to e book a customized journey with the assistance of a Chase journey designer for no added value. Plus, for those who ask them to e book your journey by Chase Journey℠, you possibly can take full benefit of the Sapphire Reserve’s bonus factors and journey credit.
Let’s discover this lesser-known profit so you possibly can determine whether or not it is price reserving your subsequent journey by a Chase journey designer.
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How does the journey designer perk work?
In accordance with Chase’s web site, “The Reserve Journey Designer program is supplied as an unique profit for Chase Sapphire Reserve main cardmembers and Chase Sapphire Reserve for Enterprise authorizing officers.” Should you maintain both of those playing cards, you will not pay any journey company charges to make use of this service; you will simply pay for the price of your journey.
To entry this complimentary service, log in to the Chase Journey portal and discover the “Reserve Journey Designers” part. You’ll be able to then use the contact data supplied or the net chat operate.
Chase will join you with a journey designer who’s an professional in your vacation spot.
In accordance with Chase’s information, “Reserve Journey Designers are backed by the premium service and experience of Valerie Wilson Journey,” a journey company that amassed over 40 years of expertise earlier than being acquired by JPMorganChase in 2022.
Your journey designer will stroll you thru the method from begin to end. They will collaborate with you to craft a customized itinerary that matches your journey model and funds, then care for reserving nearly the whole lot and be obtainable for help by each step of your journey.
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As a result of journey designers solely work with vetted manufacturers, you possibly can relaxation simple realizing your journey shall be improbable — with out sifting by a whole bunch of on-line evaluations. Plus, your journey designer might know a terrific native information or hole-in-the-wall eating spot that you simply would not have discovered by yourself.
Why use a journey designer?
I have not used Chase’s journey designer service particularly, however I’ve booked a number of journeys by journey brokers — they usually had been a few of the finest journeys of my life.
As an example, take my journey to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley in Peru in 2021.
I did not have a lot journey expertise on the time, so planning a weeklong journey felt extraordinarily daunting, particularly with the nation’s COVID-19 restrictions consistently in flux. I selected to splurge on a journey agent, and it was price each penny to have a Peru professional maintain my hand by your entire course of.
These days, I often get pleasure from reserving my very own journeys, particularly if I am utilizing factors and miles.
However there are specific varieties of journeys the place I flip to an professional — usually once I’m heading to a growing nation or distant vacation spot that does not have a lot tourism infrastructure and the place English is not generally spoken.
For instance, Madagascar requires guests to rent an expert driver because of the excessive highway situations, however most drivers have little or no on-line presence. Once I began planning my honeymoon in Madagascar final 12 months, it was powerful to dig up drivers’ contact data, and consumer evaluations had been nearly nonexistent.
That was one cause why I made a decision to make use of a journey agent, who booked vetted drivers and wonderful native guides for each step of our journey. This gave us peace of thoughts main as much as our honeymoon and made it a breeze to navigate this less-touristed vacation spot.
In my expertise, reserving sure varieties of journeys by a journey planner has been effectively well worth the cash. However for those who maintain the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Chase Sapphire Reserve for Enterprise℠ (see charges and charges), you do not have to pay additional to entry the cardboard’s journey designer perk — so there is not any cause to not attempt it.
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Learn how to earn bonus factors and different card advantages
The icing on the cake? Should you ask your journey designer to e book your journey by the Chase Journey portal, you possibly can take full benefit of the related perks.
In accordance with the Sapphire Reserve provide phrases, “Journey purchases made utilizing your card by Reserve Journey Designers will solely qualify to earn 8 factors for every $1 spent if booked immediately by Chase Journey. … The promotional credit score isn’t legitimate for purchases made by FROSCH and its household of journey corporations, or by Reserve Journey Designers except booked immediately by Chase Journey.”
So, it appears you would ask your journey designer to e book your journey by Chase Journey and earn 8 Chase Final Rewards factors per greenback spent on the acquisition. Plus, you would use the as much as $250 biannual credit score towards pay as you go The Edit bookings (a two-night minimal keep is required).
Should you do not (or cannot) e book your journey by Chase Journey, the Sapphire Reserve nonetheless earns a formidable 4 factors per greenback spent on flights and motels booked immediately. Both means, your annual $300 journey credit score ought to apply to journey purchases booked by your journey designer.
And remember, you possibly can leverage the cardboard’s journey insurance coverage, auto rental protection and extra if you pay on your journey with the cardboard.
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How does a journey designer evaluate to AI instruments?
I do know what a few of you’re considering: Cannot I simply ChatGPT it?
It is true, synthetic intelligence journey planning instruments are flooding the journey panorama, and a few of them are fairly superior.
However there’s one main benefit to going by a journey agent: They will e book the journey for you. With the present technology of AI instruments, your chatbot might present hyperlinks to a reserving web page or a telephone quantity to name, however you continue to must e book every bit your self.
With a journey designer, you do not have to elevate a finger. And, in case your plans change, an agent might help you rebook or reschedule as wanted. You get to do the enjoyable half — planning your journey — with none of the legwork.
Different frequent drawbacks of AI embody misjudging how lengthy it should take to get from one place to a different and “hallucinating,” or inventing eating places and different locations that do not exist.
In fact, journey brokers could make errors, too, however they need to have higher inside data of a spot than a chatbot can present.
An excellent agent will hold their finger on the heart beat of a vacation spot, permitting them to suggest the most popular new eating places, warn you of current closures or site visitors situations, and get you on waitlists at motels which are booked up.
Lastly, since journey brokers are consistently constructing relationships with different actual individuals, they’re extra seemingly to supply one-of-a-kind experiences.
On my honeymoon in Madagascar, one in every of our native guides, Ambroise, took us to off-the-beaten-path villages the place Malagasy ready genuine meals, performed conventional music and even threw us a miniature Malagasy wedding ceremony celebration.
These locations could not be booked on-line; we would not have even been capable of finding them with out the assistance of our native information. Can a chatbot do this?
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How a lot is the Chase Sapphire Reserve journey designer perk price?
In accordance with Chase’s website, this service is valued at as much as $300 per journey. Nonetheless, remember the added worth of incomes bonus factors if you e book by the Chase Journey portal.
On my previous journeys booked by journey brokers, essentially the most I may earn was 2 factors per greenback — the usual charge for journey purchases — once I paid with my Chase Sapphire Most popular® Card (see charges and charges) or 2 miles per greenback — the speed for all purchases — when making purchases with my Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score Card.
However for those who ask your journey designer to e book your journey by Chase Journey, you possibly can earn a whopping 8 factors per greenback spent.
To place that in perspective: A $3,000 journey booked by Chase Journey would earn you 24,000 Chase Final Rewards factors, valued at as much as $492, per TPG’s September 2025 valuations. Evaluate that to solely 6,000 factors with the Sapphire Most popular.
Backside line
In my expertise, utilizing a journey planner for sure journeys has been effectively well worth the cash — and with the Sapphire Reserve‘s journey designer perk, you do not have to pay a dime for this time-saving service. Plus, it gives a uncommon technique to rack up bonus factors on journeys booked by a journey agent.
Whereas I am sadly ineligible to earn the Sapphire Reserve’s present 125,000-point welcome provide afrer spending $6,000 within the first three months from accont opening on account of having the Sapphire Most popular, if that stipulation did not apply and I did not have already got a Sapphire card, the journey designer perk would seemingly tempt me so as to add the Sapphire Reserve to my pockets.
