Credit cards are fairly common in the American wallet: about seven in 10 consumers have at least one of them. Usually, they’re nothing to get too excited about — but a new card offering from JP Morgan Chase has a certain niche of customers clamoring to get their hands on one.
Last month, JP Morgan revealed its Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, a high-end card with a wealth of travel rewards that seeks to stand among the ranks of competitors’ offerings, like the American Express Black Card or the Citi Prestige.
Hundreds of applications for the Sapphire Reserve poured in to Chase’s website before the launch was even official, and the credit card company soon ran out of its run of metal-alloy card material, having to issue temporary plastic ones instead.
“I have never seen such interest in a credit card, and I’ve been doing this for 15 years,” travel blogger Gary Leff told the Associated Press.
Leff is exactly the kind of demographic the new card appeals to: travel buffs. Its sign-up rewards include 100,000 travel points, and triple points are offered for spending on travel and dining anywhere in the world.
“It’s an incredible deal,” said another travel blogger, Ben Schlappig, to the New York Times. “The card is almost too good to be true. I think a lot of people are scared that some of the perks will be cut.”
Significantly, a majority of the Sapphire Reserve cardholders are Millennials, a demographic that has been statistically resistant to making purchases on credit.
The perks do not come without a price tag, though. The annual fee for the new Chase card is $450. Yet, its cult status already appears to have bolstered consumer interest and confidence.
“It significantly exceeded our expectations,” said Amy Bonitatibus, a spokesperson for Chase. She added that the company has no plans to change any of its loyalty or points programs for the card.
Chase’s New Credit Card is an Unlikely Hit with Millennials
