Swipe, Spend, Repeat: The Perks Arms Race in Your Wallet

This episode of The Journal explores the increasing fees associated with premium credit cards, particularly the Chase Sapphire Reserve. It traces the evolution of credit card perks as a means of attracting customers, highlighting American Express's early dominance in the luxury card market and Chase's more recent challenge with the Sapphire Reserve. The episode discusses Chase's strategy of increasing fees while offering more exclusive benefits, testing how much customers are willing to pay for perceived exclusivity and access. It also presents customer reactions to the fee increase, and analyzes the bank's rationale behind this move, suggesting that increased spending by core customers will offset potential losses from price-sensitive customers. The episode concludes by suggesting that credit card companies are increasingly in the experience business, investing in hospitality and exclusive experiences to justify higher fees.