Compare the Features and Benefits of JP Morgan Reserve Card and
Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card

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.

Wells Fargo is a giant of retail banks, but it’s had a relatively small presence in the market for travel rewards credit cards, until now. With the recent introduction of the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey, it joints American Express, Chase, Capital One and Citi in the exclusive club of cards that offer rewards that can be transferred to airline miles or hotel points.

Why is this important? Most credit cards offer you about one cent in value per point redeemed, so saving up $100,000 points typically results in $1,000 worth of cash back, gift cards or travel reservations. But when you’re able to transfer your rewards to airline miles or hotel points, you could earn rewards worth far more. For example, you could transfer your Wells Fargo rewards points to miles with the Spanish carrier Iberia. You can then redeem as few as 68,000 Iberia Miles (it calls their points “Avios”), for a round-trip, business class ticket to Spain from Boston, New York or Washington D.C. Such a ticket would easily be worth at least $4,000, and few would rather have $1,000 worth of gift cards instead a business class ticket to Europe.

To compete against credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, the Capital One Venture and the Citi Strata Premier, Wells Fargo created a card that’s especially rewarding for travel purchases.

The Wells Fargo Autograph Journey offers 5x points on hotel purchases, 4x points on airline tickets and 3x points for dining and for all other travel purchases. This allows frequent travelers to earn more bonus points from this card than they could from any of its competitors. And unlike other bonus offers for travel purchases, you don’t have to use any particular travel agency – you are free to purchase your airline and hotel reservations directly, which is how most experienced travelers prefer to do it.

With a $95 annual fee, it’s an accessible card, but even that number overstates its true cost. This card is made for travelers, so it’s really easy to get the $50 annual air travel statement credit after you purchase your first ticket of at least $50. This brings the net cost of this card down to $45, which is far below it’s competitors.

So who is the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey card for?

This card makes sense for those who make a significant amount of travel purchases, and want to be rewarded as much as possible. Earning 5x at any hotel and 4x on any airline is great for so-called free agents who make decisions based on price and schedule, rather than loyalty to a particular brand. This is also a card for those who appreciate the value of having a credit card with strong travel insurance policies. For example, with trip cancellation and trip interruption protection, you’ll never incur a loss if you have to cancel a trip due to covered reasons, ranging from illness to jury duty.

And finally, this is an ideal travel rewards card for those who already have a banking relationship with Wells Fargo. When you have a credit card issued by the same bank where you have checking, savings or other accounts, you’re able to manage everything in one place, and payments are instantly credited.