After many years, Chase has finally decided to launch its own version of a premium travel card for business (Sapphire Reserve for Business℠), similar to its competitors in the American Express Business Platinum and the Capital One Venture X Business cards.

While the business version offers a lot of similar benefits as the personal version of the card, there are some key differences worth understanding.

It’s abundantly clear that the card has a very specific niche that is definitely not going to be for every business owner. While it may work well for some businesses, it may not work well for others, which is why it’s important to make sure it can deliver the value you’re looking for in your business.

Perks Offered By Both The Consumer & Business Versions of the Sapphire Reserve

Given the business version is adopted from the personal, there are (unsurprisingly) a lot of overlap between the two:

• $300 annual travel credit, which can be used for all types of “travel” purchases, ranging from flights booked directly with the airline to Lyfts/Ubers
• Up to $500 credit for The Edit, which is Chase’s version of AMEX’s Fine Hotels and Resorts program
• $120 credit for TSA Precheck®, Global Entry, or NEXUS every 4 years
• Complimentary lounge access to the Chase Sapphire lounges, Priority Pass lounges, and Air Canada Maple Leaf lounges (terms & restrictions apply) with guests (varies by the lounge)
• Best in class travel insurance benefits
• Up to $25/mo in Doordash credits, split up into two $10 credits that can be used on nonrestaurant purchases

Key Benefits Offered Only By The Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business

Since this is a business card, it also offers a few unique benefits that the consumer Sapphire Reserve does not offer:

• 3x points on advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines
• $400 ZipRecruiter credit
• $200 Google Workspace credit
• $100 Giftcards.com credit
• No fee for authorized users, but authorized users have no lounge access

Additionally, after spending $120,000 each calendar year, cardmembers can also unlock the following benefits:

• IHG One Rewards Diamond Elite Status
• Southwest Airlines A-List Status
• $500 Southwest Airlines credit when booked through Chase Travel
• $500 credit to The Shops at Chase

Analyzing The Benefits & Perks

The problem I have with this card’s benefits is that they don’t seem to cater towards the needs of many business owners.

While I suspect the $300 annual travel credit will be useful for a majority of businesses, I find it difficult to see how the other credits can even fit in.

For starters, I can tell you the majority of startups probably won’t be using ZipRecruiter, and neither are many small businesses with lower employee churn are probably going to divert their efforts to lower-cost/local options (Craigslist, Facebook Jobs, referrals). This is a clear filter against smaller companies & sole proprietors, which reflects Chase’s push towards acquiring that middle market SMB type of company.

Secondly, the 3x advertising spend bonus multiplier can certainly be huge in the right hands. Given that it’s uncapped, it could single handedly replace the likes of the American Express Business Gold Card, which has a $150,000 limit on earning 4x points. However, given the Sapphire Reserve for Business lacks any other significant business spend bonuses, it may be moot for many. Notably, it does not have any increased rewards on dining spend, which is very unfortunate.

Finally, the “big spend” bonus of $120,000 offers rather questionable perks. Realistically, what fraction of major business owners will be flying Southwest nowadays or staying in IHG hotels? There’s no real incentive for many business owners to hit those targets.

I Won’t Be Getting The Card Just Yet

Even though the current new cardmember offer is 200,000 bonus points after you spend $30,000 on purchases in your first 6 months from account, I still don’t have plans to get the card.

The perks & benefits don’t really offer anything ancillary to what I already have nor do they provide any value to my existing businesses. The only credits I truly see myself using are the $300 travel credit and the $200 Google Workspace credit, but outside of that, it’s a questionable gray area. I feel like I would just be using the credits because I have them, not because they are useful to my business operations.

We haven’t spent a lot of time discussing the $500 The Edit hotel stays credit just yet because I also just can’t really see how/why a business owner would use them. Like, the hotels offered through The Edit are generally very high end, premium hotels that cost a lot of money. Even on a company trip, there’s usually a midrange hotel that meets most needs, but that wouldn’t be something featured on The Edit. For me, The Edit credits are effectively (and unfortunately) worth $0.

Is This Card For You?

It might be. Some people might find the benefits to be just in line with their spending. If you see yourself hitting some of these checkboxes, then I think you could actually come out ahead with this card:

• Over $150,000 spend annually on advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines (when compared to the American Express Business Gold Card)
• More than $400 in annual spend on ZipRecruiter
• Significant Southwest usage/spend
• Don’t currently have the Consumer Chase Sapphire Reserve®

If you don’t (I most certainly do not), I would urge caution before pursuing this card.