The news: JP Morgan Chase updated its Sapphire Reserve credit cards with enhanced travel and dining rewards and a hefty $795 annual fee, per a press release. 

• Cardholders will receive a $500 credit for hotels and resorts, a $300 credit for restaurants, and a $300 credit for Stubhub and Viagogo purchases.
• Cardholders who spend $75,000 or more on their card will receive top-tier status at Southwest Airlines and IHG Hotels and Resorts.
• Sapphire Reserve will also offer free Apple TV and Apple Music subscriptions.

Sapphire Reserve's existing perks, like a flexible $300 annual travel credit for the cardholders’ anniversary; the choice between Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or Nexus credit; lounge access; and travel protection remain in the package.

Chase also said it will roll out a new Sapphire Reserve Business card later this month. 

Not to be outdone: American Express also teased that “major updates” to the Platinum card are on the way. Still light on details, the company said the card refresh “will be the largest investment ever” in one of its card products. 

Card histories: Chase rolled out Sapphire Reserve in 2016 in response to Amex’s Platinum card offering to capture more luxury-seeking cardholders. 

However, as adoption of both Sapphire Reserve and Platinum cards skyrocketed after successful advertising campaigns, both elite cards reached an oversaturation point—too many cardholders mainstreamed what should have been an elite signifier. 

• Cardholders have long complained about overcrowded or booked-out airport lounges designed for exclusive cardholder access.
• Marketing for special events and concierge service have also fallen flat as too many people can access the perks.

Readjustment period: Chase and Amex may be trying to return some of that exclusivity to the cards with pumped up annual fees—the new Sapphire Reserve rate is a 45% increase on the previous fee. 

The new fees may deter aspirational cardholders from applying for the top-tier cards—and could encourage some current cardholders to trade down to less premium products. The trick will be to avoid losing them to other issuers entirely.

Our take: Winnowing down their elite cardholder population will need to be done with a scalpel instead of a cleaver—Chase and Amex are trying to increase their yearly fees slightly out of range for an upwardly-mobile middle class, with reward points geared toward priorities of the comfortably wealthy.

The credit card companies should provide exit offerings to cardholders who want to disenroll from their elite cards. Shifting cardholders onto its Sapphire Preferred and the Gold card, for example, should instill a continuing sense of luxury without cardholders entirely.