Compare the Features and Benefits of JP Morgan Reserve Card and
Chase Freedom Flex Review

If you are looking for a review of the JP Morgan Reserve card, you’re in the right spot.

However, it may be more elusive than you think….

What is the JP Morgan Reserve card?

Formerly known as the JP Morgan Palladium card, this unbelievably heavy metal credit card is now known as the JP Morgan Reserve card.

In the travel rewards credit card space, this is the equivalent of the famous American Express Black (Centurion) Card.

In nearly every way but the design and rarity, this card is the same as the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

One big difference?

The JP Morgan Reserve card includes an annual United Club membership.  

So in some ways, the JP Morgan Reserve card combined the best features of the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the United Club Infinite Card.

The annual fee is the same as the Sapphire Reserve as well.

How Do You Get a JP Morgan Reserve Card?

This card is available to Chase Private Bank clients, only. That means you will need over 10 Million dollars in assets with Chase.

Now, you may know someone with one of these cards that doesn’t have $10 million with Chase. That would be because when it was the Palladium card, mere Chase Private Client customers could apply. But no longer…

JP Morgan Reserve Benefits:

• United Club annual membership
• Primary car rental CDW coverage for rental cars.
• Priority Pass Select airport lounge access is included for the cardholder and up to two guests. This means that every time you visit a Priority Pass airport lounge, the cost of entry is included.  More info on Priority Pass.
• $100 credit for enrollment in Global Entry or PreCheck once every 5 years.
• $300 travel credit each year, credited automatically, as you spend on any travel.
• No foreign transaction fees.
• Pay Yourself Back (when available; categories subject to change)

JP Morgan Reserve  / Lyft Benefits

• Earn 10X Ultimate Rewards points on Lyft rides through March 2025
• Get a one-time complimentary Lyft Pink subscription (15% Lyft discounts, free bike/scooter rentals each month, and better cancellation rules) for 2 years if you activate by Dec 2024.

DoorDash Benefits

• Complimentary DashPass from DoorDash: You and your authorized user(s) will receive at least 12 months of complimentary DashPass for use on both the DoorDash and Caviar applications during the same membership period based on the first activation date, when the membership is activated with a J.P. Morgan Reserve card by 12/31/2024.
• Earn $5 monthly DoorDash Credits through 12/31/2024

Can you Product Change from a Chase Sapphire Reserve to a J.P. Morgan Reserve?

No. sorry.

The Bottom Line on the JP Morgan Reserve

If you are reading this, the odds are that you can’t get a JP Morgan Reserve card. If you do have the $10 million in assets with Chase, just give your Private Banker a call!

Otherwise, you may need to look at applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve instead…   for now.

This is a primary card in the Chase Trifecta, which includes a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve, a Chase Freedom Unlimited, and this card, the Chase Freedom Flex. You’ll earn 3% on dining and drugstore purchases with the Freedom Flex. But whereas the Freedom Unlimited gives you 1.5% cash back on other spend categories, The Flex earns only 1%. That is because it has the rotating 5% bonus categories.

The rotating bonus categories each quarter can be fantastic. Amazon is a popular choice, meaning you’d earn 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points ($75) if you spent $1,500 during that quarter.

Since the Chase Freedom Flex is a pure cash back credit card unless you also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred® with which to combine your Chase Ultimate Rewards points, it’s ideally used as part of a combo.

When you hold one of these premium Ultimate Rewards-earning credit cards, you can transfer points earned on the Freedom Flex to the premium card. Once you’ve moved the Ultimate Rewards over to the premium credit card, you can take advantage of points transfers to 12 Chase airline and hotel partners or book travel through the travel portal.

Best of all, you can accrue cash back on this card and decide to add a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred® later on – if you suddenly decide that you’d like to delve into the world of credit card rewards that transfer to frequent flyer and hotel programs to book free award flights and hotel nights.

If you book through the travel portal and have a Sapphire Reserve, your points redeem for 1.5 cents each, meaning that you earn 1.5X points or cash back per dollar and redeem them for 1.5X, giving you an effective 2.25% return on your spend.

If you book through the travel portal and have a Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred, your points redeem for 1.25 cents each, meaning that you earn 1.5X per dollar and redeem for 1.5X, giving you an effective 1.875% return on your spend.

But our absolute favorite way to redeem is always via airline and hotel transfer partners. The easiest high-value redemption is usually Hyatt. We often get better than 2 cents per World of Hyatt point. Keep in mind that Hyatt doesn’t charge any resort fees when you stay on a free night award. So let’s say you are looking at a hotel with a cash price of $259 and a $25 a night resort fee and 8% tax. That would come to $307 a night. But if that same room costs 8,000 or 12,000 Hyatt points, you could be using your points (which transfer at an even 1:1 ratio to all airline and hotel partners) with a rate of return of 3 – 4 cents.

To be clear, if you don’t also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Sapphire Reserve®, or Ink Business Preferred®, the rewards earned with the Chase Freedom Flex are purely cash back rewards.

That said, even without a card combo, it’s still a solid card to earn cash back, including 3% on dining , including takeout and eligible delivery services, and drugstores) since it has no annual fee.

The Chase Freedom Flex credit card comes with a solid range of benefits for a card with no annual fee. You’ll get Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty on the shopping side and you’ll be taken care of on canceled or shortened pre-paid trips if a covered reason arises. with the included Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance.